The Visit of the Wise Men
Matthew 2:4 “And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.”
the chief priests... Heads of the 24 courses (1Ch. 24:1-31) and of the council (Greek: Sanhedrin, Acts 5:21).
and scribes of... Referred to 120 times in the Bible. Formerly secretaries to kings (2Sam. 8:17; 20:25; 2Kgs. 12:10; 22:3-12). Later, they were copyists and interpreters of the Scriptures and laws of Israel, keepers of all records, and were the lawyers and schoolmasters in Israel (Ezr. 7:6-21; Neh. 8:1-13; Mat. 23:2-34; Mark 9:11; 14:43; 15:1; Luke 5:17; 22:66; 23:10; Acts 4:5; 5:34; 1Tim. 1:7).
These men that he gathered were the rabbis, the religious leaders of that day; the men who knew the law and knew of the promise of Messiah. In the Old Testament, it was prophesied that Christ would be born in Bethlehem Ephratah (Mic. 5:2).
Again, He therefore called the Jewish scholars together and inquired where the Christ was to be born (Mat. 2:4). Interestingly Herod connected the One “born king of the Jews” (Mat. 2:2) with “the Christ,” the Messiah. Obviously Israel had a messianic hope and believed that the Messiah would be born.
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