John Chrysostom, On Matthew

it would be rather perplexing. For what argument persuaded them, what hope of what goods, to worship a king from so great a distance? For if he were going to rule over them, not even so would what was happening have made sense. For if he had been born in royal courts, and his father the king being present, one might reasonably say that these men, wishing to court the father, worshipped the newborn child, and by this means laid up for themselves a great store of good will. But as it is, not even expecting him to be their own king, but of a foreign nation and a country far removed from their own, nor seeing him already a grown man, for what reason do they undertake so great a journey, and offer gifts, and this, when they are about to do everything with dangers? For indeed Herod, when he heard, was troubled, and all the people were in an uproar, hearing these things from them. But these men did not know this beforehand. But this would not make sense. For even if they were exceedingly foolish, they would not have been ignorant of this, that by coming into a city that had a king, and proclaiming such things, and pointing to a king other than the one then reigning, they would bring upon themselves countless deaths. And why indeed did they worship one who was in swaddling clothes? For if he were a man, one might say that, expecting help from him, they cast themselves into manifest danger; which itself was also the height of irrationality, for a Persian, a barbarian, and one having nothing in common with the nation of the Jews, to wish to depart from his house, and to leave fatherland and kinsmen and family, and to subject himself to another kingdom. B. But if this is foolish, what comes after this is far more foolish. What is this? That having come on so long a journey, and having worshipped, and having troubled everyone, they departed immediately. And what symbol of royalty did they see at all, seeing a hut and a manger, and a child in swaddling clothes, and a poor mother? To whom did they offer the gifts, and for what reason? Was it law and custom to thus court kings who are born everywhere? and did they always go about the whole world, worshipping those they knew would be kings from humble and lowly beginnings, before they ascended the royal throne? But no one could say this. And for what reason did they worship? If for the sake of present things, what did they expect to receive from a child and a lowly mother? but if for the sake of future things, how did they know that the child, worshipped in swaddling clothes, would remember what was then happening? But if his mother were to remind him, not even so were they worthy of honor, but of punishment, for casting him into manifest danger. For from this, at least, Herod 57.64 was troubled, and was seeking, and was investigating, and was attempting to kill him. And everywhere, he who makes manifest the one who is to be king, from his earliest age while he is a private person, does nothing other than hand him over to slaughter, and kindles countless wars against him. Do you see how many absurdities appear, if we were to examine these things according to human reasoning and common custom? For not only these things, but it was possible to say even more than these, raising more questions than those which have been stated. But so that we do not make you dizzy by joining perplexities to perplexities, come, let us now proceed to the solution of the questions, making the beginning of the solution from the star itself. For if we learn what the star is, and of what kind, and if it is one of the many, or a strange one apart from the others, and if it is a star by nature, or only a star in appearance, we shall easily know all the other things as well. From where, then, will these things be clear? From the very Scriptures. For that this was not one of the many stars, or rather not a star at all, as it seems to me, but some invisible power transformed into this appearance, is clear first from its course. For there is not, there is not any star that travels this way; but whether you speak of the sun, or the moon, or all the other stars, we see them moving from east to west; but this one moved from north to south; for so Palestine is situated with respect to Persia. Secondly, this can also be seen from the time. For it does not appear at night,

ἀπορώτερον ἂν εἴη. Τίς γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἔπεισε λόγος, ποίων ἀγαθῶν ἐλπὶς, τὸν ἐκ τοσούτου διαστήματος προσκυνῆσαι βασιλέα; Εἰ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν ἔμελλε βασιλεύειν, μάλιστα μὲν οὐδὲ οὕτω λόγον εἶχε τὸ γινόμενον. Καὶ γὰρ εἰ μὲν ἐν βασιλικαῖς αὐλαῖς ἐτίκτετο, καὶ πατρὸς αὐτῷ βασιλέως παρόντος, εἰκότως ἄν τις ἔφη τούτους, βουλομένους τὸν πατέρα θεραπεῦσαι, προσκυνῆσαι τὸ τεχθὲν παιδίον, καὶ ταύτῃ πολλὴν ἑαυτοῖς ὑπόθεσιν προαποθέσθαι εὐνοίας. Νυνὶ δὲ οὐδὲ αὐτῶν προσδοκῶντες ἔσεσθαι βασιλέα, ἀλλὰ ἔθνους ἀλλοκότου καὶ πολὺ τῆς αὐτῶν ἀφεστηκότος χώρας, οὔτε ἄνδρα ὁρῶντες ἤδη γενόμενον, τίνος ἕνεκεν τοσαύτην στέλλονται ἀποδημίαν, καὶ δῶρα προσφέρουσι, καὶ ταῦτα μέλλοντες μετὰ κινδύνων ἅπαντα πράττειν; Καὶ γὰρ καὶ Ἡρώδης ἀκούσας διεταράχθη, καὶ ὁ δῆμος ἅπας ἐθορυβεῖτο, ταῦτα ἀκούσαντες παρ' αὐτῶν. Ἀλλ' οὐ προῄδεσαν οὗτοι ταῦτα. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἂν ἔχοι λόγον. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ σφόδρα ἦσαν ἀνόητοι, τοῦτο οὐκ ἂν ἠγνόησαν, ὅτι εἰς πόλιν βασιλευομένην ἐλθόντες, καὶ τοιαῦτα κηρύξαντες, καὶ βασιλέα ἕτερον παρὰ τὸν τότε ὄντα δείξαντες, οὐχὶ μυρίους καθ' ἑαυτῶν ἂν ἐπεσπάσαντο θανάτους. Τί δὲ ὅλως καὶ προσεκύνουν ἐν σπαργάνοις ὄντα; Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἀνὴρ ἦν, εἶχεν ἄν τις εἰπεῖν, ὅτι προσδοκῶντες τὴν παρ' αὐτοῦ βοήθειαν εἰς προὖπτον ἑαυτοὺς ἔῤῥιψαν κίνδυνον, ὅπερ καὶ αὐτὸ τῆς ἐσχάτης ἀλογίας ἦν, τὸν Πέρσην, τὸν βάρβαρον, καὶ οὐδὲν κοινὸν ἔχοντα πρὸς τὸ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνος, βούλεσθαι μὲν τῆς οἰκίας ἀφίστασθαι, καὶ πατρίδα καὶ συγγενεῖς καὶ οἰκείους ἀφιέναι, ἑτέρᾳ δὲ ἑαυτοὺς ὑποβάλλειν βασιλείᾳ. βʹ. Εἰ δὲ τοῦτο ἀνόητον, τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο ἀνοητότερον πολλῷ πλέον. Ποῖον δὴ τοῦτο; Τὸ μακρὰν οὕτως ἀποδημίαν ἐλθόντας, καὶ προσκυνήσαντας, καὶ ταράξαντας πάντας, ἀπελθεῖν εὐθέως. Τί δὲ ὅλως καὶ βασιλείας σύμβολον εἶδον, καλύβην καὶ φάτνην, καὶ παιδίον ἐν σπαργάνοις, καὶ μητέρα πτωχὴν ἰδόντες; Τίνι δὲ καὶ τὰ δῶρα προσέφερον, καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν; Ἆρα νόμος ἦν καὶ ἔθος, τοὺς πανταχοῦ τικτομένους βασιλέας οὕτω θεραπεύειν; καὶ πᾶσαν περιῄεσαν ἀεὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην, οὓς ᾔδεσαν ἐσομένους βασιλέας ἀπὸ μικρῶν καὶ εὐτελῶν, πρὶν ἐπὶ τὸν θρόνον τὸν βασιλικὸν ἀναβῆναι, προσκυνοῦντες; Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἂν ἔχοι τις τοῦτο εἰπεῖν. Τίνος δὲ ἕνεκεν καὶ προσεκύνουν; Εἰ μὲν τῶν παρόντων ἕνεκεν, καὶ τί προσεδόκων παρὰ παιδίου καὶ μητρὸς εὐτελοῦς λήψεσθαι; εἰ δὲ τῶν μελλόντων ἕνεκεν, καὶ πόθεν ᾔδεσαν ὅτι ἀπομνημονεύσει τῶν τότε γινομένων ὁ παῖς ἐν σπαργάνοις προσκυνηθείς; Εἰ δὲ ἡ μήτηρ ἔμελλεν ἀναμιμνήσκειν αὐτὸν, οὐδὲ οὕτω τιμῆς, ἀλλὰ κολάσεως ἦσαν ἄξιοι, εἰς προὖπτον ἐμβάλλοντες αὐτὸν κίνδυνον. Ἐντεῦθεν γοῦν ὁ Ἡρώδης 57.64 ταραχθεὶς, καὶ ἐζήτει, καὶ περιειργάζετο, καὶ ἀνελεῖν ἐπεχείρει. Καὶ πανταχοῦ δὲ ὁ τὸν μέλλοντα βασιλεύειν κατάδηλον ποιῶν, ἐκ πρώτης ἡλικίας ἰδιώτην ὄντα, οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἢ σφαγῇ παραδίδωσι, καὶ μυρίους ἀνάπτει πολέμους αὐτῷ. Εἶδες ὅσα τὰ ἄτοπα φαίνεται, εἰ κατὰ ἀνθρωπίνην ἀκολουθίαν καὶ κοινὴν συνήθειαν ταῦτα ἐξετάσαιμεν; Οὐδὲ γὰρ ταῦτα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πλείονα τούτων ἐνῆν εἰπεῖν, ζήτησιν ἔχοντα πλείω τῶν εἰρημένων. Ἀλλ' ἵνα μὴ συνάπτοντες ἀπορίας ἀπορίαις ἰλιγγιᾷν ὑμᾶς ποιῶμεν, φέρε δὴ λοιπὸν ἐπὶ τὴν λύσιν τῶν ζητουμένων ἔλθωμεν, ἀρχὴν τῆς λύσεως ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀστέρος αὐτοῦ ποιούμενοι. Ἂν γὰρ μάθωμεν τίς ὁ ἀστὴρ, καὶ ποταπὸς, καὶ εἰ τῶν πολλῶν εἷς, ἢ ξένος παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους, καὶ εἰ φύσει ἀστὴρ, ἢ ὄψει μόνον ἀστὴρ, εὐκόλως καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα εἰσόμεθα. Πόθεν οὖν ταῦτα ἔσται δῆλα; Ἀπὸ τῶν γεγραμμένων αὐτῶν. Ὅτι γὰρ οὐ τῶν πολλῶν εἷς ὁ ἀστὴρ οὗτος ἦν, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ ἀστὴρ, ὡς ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ, ἀλλὰ δύναμίς τις ἀόρατος εἰς ταύτην μετασχηματισθεῖσα τὴν ὄψιν, πρῶτον ἀπὸ τῆς πορείας αὐτῆς δῆλον. Οὐ γάρ ἐστιν, οὐκ ἔστιν ἀστήρ τις ταύτην βαδίζων τὴν ὁδόν· ἀλλὰ κἂν ἥλιον εἴπῃς, κἂν σελήνην, κἂν τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας ἀστέρας, ἐξ ἀνατολῶν ἐπὶ δύσιν ὁρῶμεν χωροῦντας· οὗτος δὲ ἀπὸ ἄρκτου πρὸς μεσημβρίαν ἐφέρετο· οὕτω γὰρ ἡ Παλαιστίνη πρὸς τὴν Περσίδα κεῖται. ∆εύτερον, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ καιροῦ τοῦτο ἔστιν ἰδεῖν. Οὐ γὰρ ἐν νυκτὶ φαίνεται,