The Star story would not have been unusual at the time. It was widely accepted in ancient times that births and deaths of great men were marked by heavenly signs. Virgil in the Aeneid (694) reports that a star guided Aeneas to the place where Rome should be founded. The Magi were familiar with stars as well
There are echoes here of the story of Balaam, a soothsayer or prophet in the Book of Numbers.
As the Israelites made their way up the Transjordan region en route to their entrance into Canaan, they defeated the Amorite kings, Sihon and Og (Num. 21:21–35). The Hebrews moved farther north and camped in the plains of Moab on the eastern side of Jordan across from Jericho.
Balak, a Moabite king, was exceedingly fearful of this great body of people. Accordingly, the pagan ruler sent for a prophet at Pethor by the Euphrates River, some four hundred miles away. His name was Balaam, a man who would live for millennia in prophetic infamy (2 Pet. 2:15; Jude 11; Rev. 2:14).
It was Balak’s intention that the covetous Balaam could be bribed to curse (i.e., pronounce a devastating curse upon) the Israelite people, thus thwarting further conquests. Balaam seeks wisdom from God and rather than curse Israel, he makes this prophesy: a star shall come forth out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab, and break down all the sons of Sheth. Edom shall be dispossessed. Balaam was forced to bless the Hebrews (Num. 22–23).
Numbers chapter twenty-four contains a series of prophecies uttered by Balaam as “the Spirit of God came upon him” (Numb. 24:2). He tells of a people (Israel) who will achieve victory and prosperity because of their relationship with the Almighty. He then looks to the distant future and amazingly declares.
“I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near.
There shall come a star out of Jacob,
and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.
And it shall crush the forehead of Moab
and break down all the sons of tumult” (Numbers 24:17 — ASV).
Does this predict the star that the Magi saw ?
Isaiah 60:1 has a passage addressed to Zion or Jerusalem as it awaits for its deliverer (see 59:20): “Be enlightened, O Jerusalem, for your light has come; and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.“
The star is mentioned twice with the Magi. One while they were at home “in the east” an then later as it “stood over where the young child was” (Matthew 2:2,9). There is no record that they saw it at all during the long journey to Jerusalem
Author Marcus Borg weighted in on the star. “The story of the star does not make it a statement about an astrological phenomenon but a statement about Jesus: his birth is the coming of the light that draws wise men of the Gentiles to the radiance.: Jesus as John puts it is the true light that enlightens every one, the light of the world. Christmas is in the time of the deepest darkness when Christ is needed the most. Christmas was established in 350 at the time of the Roman solstice – the Roman birthday of the sun god became the Christian birthday of the Son.
There are numerous theories about the star’s origin:
1 Super Nova – Kepler’s suggestion but no record at time of Jesus. Rare to find one visible to the naked eye.
There have only been a few visible supernovas reported in our galaxy, the oldest of which occurred in 1054 A.D., as reported by Chinese astronomers. There was one reported by Tycho Brahe in 1572 A.D., and one by Kepler in 1604 A.D. Others have been seen with the aid of large telescopes, but these were not available to the Magi, of course.
Although we have no firm official astronomical record of a visible supernova occurring at the time of Christ’s birth, such a stellar phenomenon would surely be appropriate to announce the birth of Christ. The Super Nova increases tremendously in brilliance, continuing so for several months until it finally fades away.
A number of the early Christian writers were fascinated with the account, and apparently did some contemporary research of their own in extra-Biblical sources.For example, Ignatius, who was the apostolic father closest in time to the New Testament writers (died 107 A.D.) wrote of the star as follows: “(It was) a star which so shone in heaven beyond all the stars, its newness caused excitement.
A recent (2005) hypothesis is that the star of Bethlehem was a supernova or hypernova occurring in the nearby Andromeda Galaxy. Although it is difficult to detect a supernova remnant in another galaxy, or obtain an accurate date of when it occurred, supernova remnants have been detected in Andromeda.
2 Comet – but not a star also thought to herald a catastrophe. Halley’s comet was there in 12 BC.
According to Colin J. Humphreys in “The Star of Bethlehem — a Comet in 5 BC — and the Date of the Birth of Christ,” from Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 32, 389-407 (1991), Jesus was probably born in 5 B.C., at the time the Chinese recorded a major, new, slow-moving comet — a “sui-hsing,” or star with a sweeping tail in the Capricorn region of the sky. This is the comet Humphreys believes was called the Star of Bethlehem.
This object was observed for over seventy days, possibly with no movement recorded. Ancient writers described comets as “hanging over” specific cities, just as the Star of Bethlehem was said to have “stood over” the “place” where Jesus was (the town of Bethlehem).
3. A planetary conjunction. Jupiter and Saturn every 20 years. A third planet Mars appeared with them 7-6 BC. In the years 5 to 2 B.C. there was an unusual astronomical phenomenon. In those years, on the first day of the Egyptian month, Mesori, Sirius, the dog star, rose at sunrise, and shone with extraordinary brilliance .
4. Aries Double occultation by Astronomer Michael R. Molnar. Molnar’s theory was debated by scientists, theologians, and historians during a colloquium on the Star of Bethlehem at the Netherlands’ University of Groningen in October 2014.
Dionysius is best known as the inventor of the Anno Domini era, which is used to number the years of both the Gregorian calendar and the Julian calendar. He lived AD 470 – c. AD 544, a monk born in Scythia Minor (probably modern Dobruja, in Romania and Bulgaria).
The calendar intended to show Jesus born in 0 by adding up the ruling years of Roman rulers. (Dionysius forgot the year 0!) However, it was 4 years off. Augustus rules 31BC-14AD. However, with his original name Octavian ruled 31BC-27BC in own name.
Jesus was born 5-6 BC Matthew says Jesus was born during time of Herod who died in 4BC. The Star led them from East, disappeared, reappears, leading them south to Bethlehem.
Astrologers related the constellation Aries the Ram with Judea. Aries rather than Pisces was the zodiac symbol for Judea. Every 70 years, Saturn, Jupiter , moon come together in Aries. But what was unique is that the other planets were on the side – Venus and Mars were in neighboring constellations. Date April 17, 6 BC. This was very rare. Zoroastrian astrologers who would have recognized the planetary alignment in Aries as a sign a powerful leader was born
The second part is that Jupiter, moves forward and back, seemingly reappearing standing still in Aries. This occurred on Dec. 19, 6 BC. Jupiter was believe to have the power to create kings. Thus when the Magi appeared in Dec. after 1,000 miles through Persia, Iraq, Tigris Euphrates River, they may have seen Jupiter in Aries.
5. Regulus, Jupiter, and Venus
Attorney Frederick Larson examined the biblical account in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 2 and found the following nine qualities of Bethlehem’s Star: It signified birth, it signified kingship, it was related to the Jewish nation, and it rose “in the East”; King Herod had not been aware of it;it appeared at an exact time; it endured over time; and, according to Matthew,it was in front of the Magi when they traveled south from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, and then it stopped over Bethlehem.
Using astronomy software, and an articlewritten by astronomer Craig Chesterbased on the work of Ernest Martin,Larson thinks all nine characteristics of the Star of Bethlehem are found in events that took place in the skies of 3-2 BC. Highlights include a triple conjunction of Jupiter, called the king planet, with the fixed star Regulus, called the king star, starting in September 3 BC. Larson believes that may be the time of Jesus’ conception. based on the work of Ernest Martin,Larson thinks all nine characteristics of the Star of Bethlehem are found in events that took place in the skies of 3-2 BC. Highlights include a triple conjunction of Jupiter, called the king planet, with the fixed star Regulus, called the king star, starting in September 3 BC. Larson believes that may be the time of Jesus’ conception.