After apostasy, the time will come to restore things. In the very important, old Jewish Testament of Levi, he prophesies to his sons, “Then shall the Lord raise up a new priest. And to him all the words of the Lord shall be revealed. . . . His star shall rise in heaven as of a king. The heavens shall be opened. . . . And in his priesthood the Gentiles shall be multiplied in knowledge upon the earth.” One thinks immediately of the star of Bethlehem, of course, and few Christians would deny it some element of reality, if only on the charts of the magi. It was in the form of a star, according to an early apocryphon, that Michael led the magi to Christ.30 Judah, in the Testament of Judah, tells the same sort of thing. After long ages of darkness and captivity, “after these things shall a star arise to you from Jacob, in peace, and a man shall arise [from my seed] like the Sun of Righteousness, . . . and the heavens shall be opened unto him.” The righteous, according to 4 Ezra, “are destined to be made like the light of the stars, henceforth incorruptible.” Their faces “shall shine above the stars,” while the faces of the wicked are “blacker than the darkness.” Again we have the faces shining above stars—as in Lehi’s vision. “The stars shined in their watches, and were glad,” says the book of Baruch, which again reminds us of the designation of the watchers as stars. When he called, they said, “We are here” (the stars all called out together). They shined with gladness unto him that made them.33 We are reminded of the morning stars shouting for joy at the creation. In the War Scroll of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the deliverer, the leader of the sects of that time, a prophet who led them in the desert, was called the Star from Jacob—reference to the older writing, in which a star is said to arise from Jacob. Sometimes he’s referred to just as “the Star,” the name for the leader of the community.
In the Zadokite Fragment, the Star is the searcher of the law, a real person who came to Damascus, as it is written.
The Star is specifically an inspired lawgiver to the order. The mystery of Christ’s birth was made known to the Aeons, says Ignatius, speaking in what some would call the purest gnostic theme, by a star—a completely new star.
Presentation, the Magi & the Flight to Egypt
Luke brings the child to the temple, where Simeon and Anna know him; Matthew brings wise men from the east to worship him while Herod seeks his life, and the family is carried into Egypt and back, to Nazareth.
Tap a Gospel to show or hide its column. Narrow to any two to read them side by side.
Note. Matthew and Luke preserve different infancy scenes; here they are set in sequence, the Gospels meeting again only at the return to Nazareth.
? How to read this edition
The reading is the Joseph Smith Translation, in the text of the Covenant Christian Edition, carried beside each Gospel and set against the King James baseline. Headers give both numbering systems: the CCE chapter and verse, and the traditional KJV reference.
Each movement Joseph discusses carries a JS link down to his letter; the letter carries a roman-numeral link back up to the movement.
On the eighth day the child is named Jesus; at forty days he is brought to the temple, where Simeon takes him up and Anna gives thanks: two aged witnesses who knew the consolation of Israel had come.
21And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived. 22And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, 23as it is written in the law of the Lord: Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord; 24and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in is written in the law of the Lord: a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
25And behold, there was a man at Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the holy ghost was upon him. 26And it was revealed unto him by the holy ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27And he came by the spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child, even Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, 28then he took him up in his arms, and blessed God and said, 29Lord, now lettest thou let your servant depart in peace, according to your word, 30for my eyes have seen your salvation 31which you have prepared before the face of all people, 32a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.
33And Joseph and his mother Mary marveled at those things which were spoken of him the child. 34And Simeon blessed them and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against. 35Yea, a sword spear shall pierce through him to the wounding of your own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
36And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher — she was of great age and had lived with a husband only seven years from her virginity, whom she married in her youth, 37and she lived a widow about eighty-four years — who departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. 38And she, coming in that hour, gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spoke of him to all them who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
Wise men follow the star to Jerusalem, seeking the child born Messiah of the Jews; Herod, troubled, learns from the prophets that Bethlehem is the place, and sends them on, and the star leads them to the house, where they worship and give gifts.
1Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2saying, Where is he the child that is born King the Messiah of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him. 3When Herod the king had heard these things of the child, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born., saying, Where is the place that is written of by the prophets in which Christ should be born? For he greatly feared, yet he believed not the prophets. 5And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judæa: for thus it is written by the prophet, It is written by the prophet that he should be born in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus have they said: 6The word of the Lord came unto us, saying, And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. which lays in the land of Judea, in you shall be born a Prince who is not the least among the princes of Judea; for out of you shall come the Messiah who shall save my people Israel.
7Then Herod, when he had called the wise men privately, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. 8And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child. And when you have found him the child, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9When they had heard the king, they departed. And behold, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother and fell down and worshipped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts: gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
12And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
Warned in a vision, Joseph carries the child by night into Egypt; and Herod, mocked, slays the children of Bethlehem: the weeping of Rachel for her children.
13And when they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream vision, saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt, and be thou there remain there until I bring you word, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. 14And then he arose, and took the young child and his mother the child’s mother by night, and departed into Egypt, 15and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my Son.
16Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem and all the region thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. 17Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, 18In Ramah there was a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning; Rachel weeping for the loss of her children and would not be comforted because they were not.
When Herod is dead, the angel calls them back; fearing Archelaus, Joseph turns aside to Galilee and settles in Nazareth, where, Luke adds, they had returned when the law was fulfilled.
19But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream vision to Joseph in Egypt, 20saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for they are dead who sought the young child’s life. 21And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the stead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. But, notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream vision, he went into the eastern parts of Galilee, 23and he came and dwelled in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets: He shall be called a Nazarene.
39And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to unto their own city Nazareth.
Under Herod’s Edict
The Other Child in Herod’s Reach
Joseph Smith did not comment on this chapter, and what follows is not an exposition of it. Writing on the persecution of the prophets, he began the New Testament with John the Baptist, and his first sentence is the other side of verse 16: Herod’s order reached John too, six months older than Jesus, and Zacharias hid him in the mountains. It is shown here as a resonance, the same slaughter seen from the Baptist’s house.
Editorial, “Persecution of the Prophets,” Times and Seasons, 1 September 1842 (3:902) · Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 261 · Joseph Smith Papers ↗Let us come into new Testament times—so many are ever praising the Lord and his apostles. We will commence with John the Baptist. When Herod’s edict went forth to destroy the young children, John was about six months older than Jesus, and came under this hellish edict, and Zachariah caused his mother to take him into the mountains, where he was raised on locusts and wild honey. When his father refused to discover his hiding place, and being the officiating high priest at the Temple that year, was slain by Herod’s order, between the porch and the altar, as Jesus said. John’s head was taken to Herod, the son of this infant murderer, in a charger—notwithstanding there was never a greater prophet born of a woman than him!
The Star and the Magi
Nibley took the star of Bethlehem seriously, and noted an early tradition that the magi were led to Christ by no ordinary light.
The Magi’s Gifts: The Symbols of the Temple
The magi’s three gifts were, for Barker, the three symbols of first-temple worship (the gold of its vessels, the frankincense and myrrh of its holy incense and anointing oil) brought to the new Adam.
Gold, frankincense and myrrh were the gifts brought to Jesus by the wise men. They were also the three symbols of worship in the original temple. The vessels and furnishings of the temple were made of gold; frankincense and myrrh were the main ingredients of the two perfumes used in the holy of holies. The specially blended incense - known as the incense of spices [qtrt smym]- was based on frankincense, and the specially blended anointing oil [smn msht qds] was perfumed mainly with myrrh.
In addition, the original temple represented the Garden of Eden, and the lost Garden of Eden was remembered as the original temple which had been destroyed at the end of the sixth century BCE.
This temple had been destroyed in two ways: in the reign of King Josiah, much of the older cult had been purged, and twenty five years later, the Babylonians sacked the temple and deported many of the priests. Others fled. People never forgot what had been lost in the time of Josiah - including the perfumed oil. They said that the time of the Messiah, that is, when the oil was restored and there could again be an Anointed One, the original temple and its furnishings would be restored.
The story of the temple perfumes is linked to memories of the lost temple and the lost Garden of Eden. Adam was remembered as the original high priest, and the Garden he left was the lost temple, a garden temple where the Lord had walked and talked with Adam, and where Adam had worn garments of glory and not the skin of a mortal body. When Adam left Eden, they said he took with him gold, frankincense and myrrh, the symbols of Eden and the temple.
Early Church tradition claimed that Adam’s disaster had been put right, and the faithful could now return to the Garden of Eden. When St John wrote to the seven churches in Asia Minor, he said that faithful Christians would return to Paradise and eat again from the tree of life (Revelation 2.7; 22.14). Returning to Eden, and thus to the original temple, must have been an important part of early Christianity, one of the ways this was expressed was through the perfumes.
Adam took three treasures from Eden: gold, frankincense and myrrh and hid them in the cave of treasure… The magi brought the symbols of the lost temple to Jesus; they restored the oil… These were the symbols not only of the garden of Eden, but also of the temple, and when the magi brought them to Jesus, it showed that he was the new Adam who would restore the true temple and open the way back to Paradise.
Ellipses mark omissions within Barker’s own sentences.