HOW MANY WISE MEN?

The Bible does not say. It is usually assumed to be three. Three men traveling from Persia to Palestine by themselves would also certainly invite disaster. Back then thieves laid in wait for unsuspecting passengers, or better yet small caravans. Three people carrying caravans with gold frankincense, and myrrh would certainly have fallen among thieves, exactly like the good Samaritan.

More likely it was a small army, probably 100 to 150 people, some of who would have been soldiers, in order to discourage attacks. Consider all the pack animals, food for men , horses, and animals, tents, supplies, water, tools, and you get an idea. Even mighty Caesar never traveled along without his Praetorian guard. It was too risky.

It took them probably a year and a half to two years to travel from Persia to Palestine. They were not at the manger! They showed up on the doorsteps of King Herod the Great's palace asking where is he that was born king of Judah? That means if Jesus was born in 5 or 6 B.C. a small army would have confirmed in his mind he was about to be deposed in favor of the new born infant they were seeking. That is why he had every child two years and under killed in Bethlehem, because it took them two years to travel to Palestine from Persia.

But if Herod died in 4 BC and the star did not appear until 2 BC then he is already dead by the time the star appeared. So the wise men had to appear before his death. Except for the fact the Magi noticed that Jupiter began drifting west in the sky from September to May of 3 B.C. until it finally aligned with Venus on June 17 in 2 B.C.Even then when the drift first become noticeable Herod is already dead. So maybe it was indeed a nova they saw. It is till a mystery.

But if the star, the alignment of Jupiter and Venus, took place in  2 B.C. that was after Christ was born in 5 or 6 B.C. making him at least 3 or 4 years old, a toddler , not a infant. So what does the Bible say? It may be our chronology is mixed up and the star did not appear until after his birth.

Matthew 2 verse 11- and when they were come into the house (Notice house not manger) they saw the young child (child not infant)

Matthew 2 verse 12- and being warned of God in a dream (God  warning Non-Jewish pagans? See how the Judeo-Christian doctrine is unable to explain this? ) They must have been holy in his eyes, perhaps a forerunner of Christianity, much closer to the truth than most Israelites in Palestine. But if they were fellow Israelites of forgotten heritage, and if today's Jews are not really descendants of the Biblical Israelites, then it all falls into place, does it not?