The Star of Bethlehem and the Comet of Comet of AD 66

The Star of Bethlehem and the comet of AD 66 R. M. Jenkins The search for an explanation of the Star of Bethlehem is almost as old as the story itself. To date there is no generally accepted answer. This paper briefly reviews the possible explanations and concludes that it was almost certainly a fictional story perhaps inspired by the appearance of Comet Halley in AD 66. Introduction The full text as presented in the authorised King James Version of the Bible2 is as follows: This paper presents the results of a study to establish an Chapter 2 explanation of what the Star of Bethlehem may have been. 1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of It is important for any such study to establish the a priori Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to assumptions. One of the most important is to take a stance Jerusalem, on the subject of astrology. Over the centuries the Jewish 2 Saying, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have and Christian hierarchies have taken a fairly ambivalent po- seen his star in the east, and we have come to worship him. sition on the question of the authenticity or otherwise of 3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, astrological predictions, and many previous studies con- and all Jerusalem with him. cerning the star have also tended to fudge the issue. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the Well before Christian times careful observation of the night people together he demanded of them where Christ should be born. sky led to the establishment of useful calendars. These al- 5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judæa: for thus it is lowed basic predictions to be made that aided agriculture and written by the prophet. helped communities prepare for the likely weather and condi- 6 And thou Bethlehem in the land of Juda, art not the least among tions ahead. One such prediction was that the heliacal rising the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that of the star Sirius signalled the annual flooding of the Nile.1 shall rule my people Israel. It is a human weakness to try to extend this approach to 7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired other events where there is no causal relationship. This must of them diligently what time the star appeared. have been particularly tempting for ancient non-scientifi- 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search dili- cally based communities in which superstitions were rife. gently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring However, it is a fundamental assumption of this study that me word again, that I may come and worship him also. the configuration of the heavenly bodies can only affect 9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo the star, happenings on Earth when there is a true causal reason. which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and This rules out the validity of almost all astrology. Certain stood over where the young child was. astrological predictions can of course become self-fulfilling 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. prophecies such as the death of a king or the loss of a battle, 11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young or even the claimed birth of a Messiah. child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped Another starting assumption is that the appearance of him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. the star was not a miracle. If it was then the story is not 12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return amenable to scientific analysis. to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. These basic assumptions in themselves rule out the story 13 And when they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord of the Magi and the star as a factual account, but they do not appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the rule out the possibility of a star inspiring the story. young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. 14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, The primary source and departed into Egypt: 15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Any search for an explanation of the Star of Bethlehem must Egypt have I called my son. start with the Gospel according to St Matthew, as this is the 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, sole source of the original story. was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children 336 J. Br. Astron. Assoc. 114, 6, 2004 Jenkins: The Star of Bethlehem and the comet of AD 66 that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two Ignatius, the second Bishop of Antioch in Syria in about AD years old and under, according to the time which he had dili- 107, wrote ‘a star shone forth in heaven above all the other gently inquired of the wise men. stars, the light of which was inexpressible, while its novelty In the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible3 that claims struck men with astonishment. And all the rest of the stars, to be based on the translation of the best available manu- with the Sun and Moon, formed a chorus to this star, and its scripts and recent advances in biblical, archeological and light was exceedingly great above them all’. linguistic scholarship, ‘star in the east’ becomes ‘star at its Careful analysis of the text of St Matthew’s Gospel re- rising’ and ‘went before them, till it came and stood over’ veals a number of important points that are sometimes mis- becomes ‘ahead of them went the star until it stopped over’. quoted or misinterpreted. For example: The phrase ‘star in the east’ is usually interpreted as ‘star at – It is not stated either explicitly or implicitly that the Magi its heliacal rising’. The literal translation from the Greek is followed the star to Jerusalem. Of course if they had followed ‘star in the first rays of dawn’. the star and they came from the east the star would have had to In the New International Version4 ‘wise men’ becomes have been in the west. ‘Magi’ which is the Greek original. In the New English Bi- – The number of Magi is not specified. 5 ble ‘wise men’ becomes ‘astrologers’ and in another ver- – There is no reference to their being kings. 6 sion ‘scholars who were students of the stars’. Elsewhere – The text does not say that Herod had not seen the star; it they have been described as scholarly envoys; magicians; merely says he inquired when it first appeared. sorcerers; dabblers in the black arts; fortune tellers; and – There is nothing that implies how bright the star was other than priestly augurers, a caste who were adept at various forms of it was obviously a naked eye object. secret lore who could interpret dreams.7,8 According to a contemporary of Jesus, Philo of Alexan- dria, there existed astrologers who were the more scientific Magi, and other Magi who were charlatans and magicians − the ‘good and the bad’ Magi.7 Matthew was probably Important dates referring to the former type. They were thought to be Babylonian Jews who were familiar with the beliefs of Zo- Date of the Nativity roastrianism. They believed in good and evil, and that good would triumph, resurrecting the dead and creating para- Estimates for the date of Christ’s birth have ranged from at dise on earth. They lived in the expectation of the coming least 12 BC to AD 9.13 Some estimates have a much sounder of the Messiah. basis than others. On the other hand Pliny was more familiar with the lat- It is now accepted, but not by everyone,14 that Christ was ter type of Magi and was very much against them. In his probably born between 7 and 5 BC. Natural History he states ‘I have often indeed refuted the fraudulent lies of the Magi.’9 This negative view also seems to be the interpretation in other parts of the Bible Date of St Matthew’s Gospel where Magi feature. The Gospel according to St Luke also tells the tale of Due to the dependence of St Matthew’s gospel on St Mark’s, the Nativity,10 but Luke does not mention the star, the it could not have been written before AD 70.15 In addition as Magi or Herod and there was no slaughter of the inno- it was referred to by Ignatius of Antioch in his letters written cents. Instead there were the swaddling clothes, the man- at the start of the second century, it must have been written ger and the shepherds. In fact the star does not appear by AD 100.16 It is also claimed that it was known to Clement anywhere else in the New Testament.

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