The Great Christ Comet (72 page)

56
 For the nontechnical usage of
anatol
ē
referring to a heliacal rising, see the first-century BC Greek astronomer and mathematician Geminos's
Introduction to the Phaenomena
13.3–5. Note especially
Introduction aux phénomènes
, ed. and trans. Germaine Aujac (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1975), 68n1, which points out that, although Geminos insisted on using distinct terms for heliacal and daily risings and criticized others for employing them interchangeably, he actually did this himself on occasion, as did other astronomical writers, for example Autolykos (see James Evans and J. Lennart Berggren,
Geminos's
Introduction to the Phenomena
: A Translation and Study of a Hellenistic Survey of Astronomy
[Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006], 70–71). Other instances of
anatol
ē
being used in the same nontechnical way as Matthew to refer to a heliacal rising include Homer,
Odyssey
12:4; Plato,
Politicus
269a; Euripides,
Phoenissae
504; Testament of Levi 18:3; and
Papyri Graecae Magicae
13:1027. The term for a heliacal rising preferred by Ptolemy was
epitol
ē
.

57
 Cf. Clive L. N. Ruggles,
Ancient Astronomy: An Encyclopedia of Cosmologies and Myth
(Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2005), 398. For a contemporary Greco-Roman explanation of heliacal risings, see Geminos's
Introduction to the Phenomena
13.3, 5 and 9–10 (Evans and Berggren,
Geminos's
Introduction, 200–201). For the importance of heliacal risings in Babylonian astronomy, see Rochberg,
Babylonian Horoscopes
, 6, 124. With respect to the Moon or a comet, a heliacal rising may also occur in the western evening sky, as the entity moves away from the Sun after being in conjunction with it. See the discussion in Courtney Roberts,
The Star of the Magi: The Mystery That Heralded the Coming of Christ
(Franklin, NJ: Career Press, 2007), 120–121.

58
 By “inner solar system” I am referring to the area from the asteroid belt to the Sun. Some distinguished comets, like Hale-Bopp, are capable of heliacally rising also when in the “outer solar system” (i.e., the region from Neptune to Jupiter).

59
 The Babylonian Diaries contain many records of the weather and reveal that, surprisingly often, astronomical observations were impossible due to clouds, rain, mist, and fog, and that frequently over a number of nights in a row observations of the stars were rendered impossible (Noel M. Swerdlow,
The Babylonian Theory of the Planets
[Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998], 17–18).

60
 Among the many who have appreciated that a heliacal rising is in view here are: A. H. McNeile,
The Gospel according to St. Matthew: Greek Text with Introduction, Notes, and Indices
(London: Macmillan, 1915), 15;
W. D. Davies and Dale C. Allison,
A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew
, 3 vols., International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1988–1997), 1:235–236; Kidger,
Star of Bethlehem
, 27; J. Neville Birdsall, in Owen Gingerich, “Review Symposium: The Star of Bethlehem,”
Journal of Biblical Literature
33 (2002): 391, 393, 394; Tim Hegedus,
Early Christianity and Ancient Astrology
(New York: Peter Lang, 2007), 202; and Richard Coates, “A Linguist's Angle on the Star of Bethlehem,”
Astronomy and Geophysics
49.5 (October 2008): 28.

61
 Brown,
Birth of the Messiah
, 173. The “ecliptic” is the apparent path of the Sun through the sky. The “zodiac” in astronomy refers to the band of sky around the ecliptic through which the Sun, Moon, and planets appear to traverse. The zodiacal constellations are the 13 constellations through which the ecliptic passes. On the ecliptic and the zodiacal constellations, see fig. 7.12. The vast majority of constellations fall outside the zodiac. Zodiacal signs—fixed 30-degree geometric zones of the ecliptical band—should not be confused with zodiacal constellations, which are star groupings of unequal sizes.

62
 Matthew employs
en
plus the dative in a general time reference in, for example, 3:1; 11:25; 12:1 and 14:1. In Luke 14:14 Jesus states that eschatological rewards will be dispensed “at the resurrection” (
en t
ē
anastasei
), and in 20:33 the Sadducees ask whose wife the woman who was married to the seven brothers will be “at the resurrection” (
en t
ē
anastasei
). In each case the temporal
en
-phrase is used generally of the period that begins with the resurrection. “At its rising” in Matt. 2:2 could be regarded as synecdoche (a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole, or vice versa) for the entire period during which the Star was in the eastern sky; cf. Matt. 5:45, where the Sun's rising represents its shining during its entire daily course through the sky.

63
 Rochberg,
Babylonian Horoscopes
, 15.

64
 Ibid., 1–2, 33–39.

65
 Ibid., 33.

66
 Ibid., 3.

67
 Ibid., 7.

68
 Ibid., 11, 39–45.

69
 Ibid., 14.

70
 Johannes P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida,
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains
(New York: United Bible Societies, 1988), §53.56.

71
 See, for example, Matt. 4:9–10; 14:33; 28:9, 17; so H. Greeven, “
proskune
ō
,” in
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
, ed. Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich, 10 vols. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerd­mans, 1964–1976),
6:763–764; Davies and Allison,
Matthew
, 1:236–237; John P. Meier,
Matthew
, New Testament Message (Dublin: Veritas, 1980), 11.

72
 David L. Turner,
Matthew
, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 81.

73
 Davies and Allison,
Matthew
, 1:236–237, 248. They also argue that Matthew, in his redaction, tends to use the word only with reference to God (237).

74
 E.g., Josephus,
Ant.
16.10.2 §311.

75
 See Josephus,
Ant.
15–17; Harold W. Hoehner,
Herod Antipas
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972), 269–276; Peter Richardson,
Herod
:
King of the Jews and Friend of the Romans
(Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1996), 33–36; Jerry Knoblet,
Herod the Great
(Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2005), 133–138.

76
 Richardson,
Herod
, 295, who qualifies his statement by pointing out that Herod took a more tolerant approach to the Essene movement.

77
 Notably, when speaking to the Magi, Herod claimed to hold to a high Christology (“that I too may come and worship him”), evidently because his Eastern visitors did (v. 8).

78
 Richardson,
Herod
, 295.

79
 Blomberg,
Matthew
, 63; R. A. Horsley,
The Liberation of Christmas
:
The Infancy Narratives in Social Context
(New York: Crossroad, 1989), 49–52; and Turner,
Matthew
, 81.

80
 So, for example, Kenneth Boa and William Proctor,
The Return of the Star of Bethlehem: Comet, Stellar Explosion, or Signal from Above?
(New York: Doubleday, 1980), 24, 38.

81
 Cf. Kidger,
Star of Bethlehem
, 29.

82
 Brown,
Birth of the Messiah
, 175.

83
 My translation.

84
 Incidentally, Luke 2:4–5 informs us that Jesus's legal father, Joseph, was forced to go with his betrothed to Bethlehem for a census because “he was of the house and lineage of David.”

85
 At the same time, Micah seems to portray Israel/Zion as being in labor and giving birth to the Messiah.

86
 Davies and Allison,
Matthew
, 1:244.

87
 See Carson, “Matthew,” 115.

88
 R. T. France,
The Gospel of Matthew
, New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerd­mans, 2007), 73.

89
 Cf. Stanley Hauerwas,
Matthew
, Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2006), 40.

90
 Most scholars appreciate that Herod had already concocted his plan to assassinate the newborn Messiah (so, for example, Luz,
Matthew 1–7
, 136; Carson, “Matthew,” 115).

91
 My translation.

92
 Brown,
Birth of the Messiah
, 175.

93
 As we shall see, when the Magi saw the Star, it was in the southern sky (the direction of Bethlehem from Jerusalem) and hence at its culmination (the highest point of a celestial body's nightly path across the sky). That rules out the possibility that the Star had been below the horizon before the Magi saw it. If skies were clear, in the hours before it was seen by the Magi the Star must have been in the dome of the sky but below the threshold for easy daytime visibility. Accordingly, assuming clear skies, the Star must have appeared around sunset.

94
 The secret summoning of the Magi has been interpreted by some scholars (e.g., Robert H. Gundry,
Matthew
:
A Commentary on His Handbook for a Mixed Church under Persecution
, 2nd ed. [Grand Rapids, MI: Eerd­mans, 1994], 30; Luz,
Matthew 1–7
, 137) as disclosing that the meeting occurred under cover of darkness. However, secretive behavior is not restricted to the deep darkness of night.

95
 The main Jerusalem-to-Hebron (north-south) road, the Way to Ephrath, was the obvious choice for travelers heading from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. When the Star guided the Magi to Bethlehem, it must have been moving toward the south-southwest.

96
 Although the verb
hist
ē
mi
can mean “stop” when the subject has previously been moving, here, where it is followed by the preposition
epan
ō
(“over”), the most natural meaning is “stood over,” without any necessary nuance of cessation of movement (see “came and stood over,” KJV, ASV, NASB; contra ESV, RSV, NRSV, NIV, NET). Note that Josephus,
J.W.
6.5.3 (§289) refers to a sword-like star that “stood over the city” of Rome, using the same verb with the preposition
huper
(“over”).

97
 Carson, “Matthew,” 115.

98
 Hagner,
Matthew
, 1:30, who goes on to say that if the Star was an astronomical phenomenon, v. 9 would have to be regarded as “romantic myth” or a theological touch.

99
 Hughes,
Star of Bethlehem Mystery
, 20–21.

100
 France,
Gospel of Matthew
, 74; cf. Gundry,
Matthew
, 31.

101
 So, for example, Hughes,
Star of Bethlehem Mystery
, 22.

102
 My translation. It is regrettable that some modern English translations treat the Greek participle “coming” as redundant (e.g., NIV; NET).

103
 E.g., Leon Morris,
The Gospel according to Matthew
(Downers Grove, IL: Inter­Varsity Press, 1992), 41.

104
 E.g., France,
Gospel of Matthew
, 74.

105
 Luz,
Matthew 1–7
, 137.

106
 Davies and Allison,
Matthew
, 1:248.

107
 See W. W. Müller, “Frankincense,” in
The Anchor Bible Dictionary
, ed. D. N. Freedman, 6 vols. (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 2:854.

108
 Davies and Allison,
Matthew
, 1:249; Victor Matthews, “Perfumes and Spices,” in Freedman,
Anchor Bible Dictionary
, 5:226–227.

109
 Nabataea, through which travelers taking a reasonably direct route from Babylon to Jerusalem would have passed, was a major hub for international trade in gold and especially frankincense and myrrh (Diodorus Siculus 19.94.5; Strabo 17.1.13).

110
 Frankincense and myrrh were the costliest spices in the Near East (Müller, “Frankincense,” 2:854).

111
 Did the Magi inform Joseph of their warning dream, exposing Herod's scheme and putting Joseph on high alert in the brief period leading up to his own dream?

112
 See chapter 1, note 24.

113
 Hauerwas,
Matthew
, 41; and Turner,
Matthew
, 78.