Topic
Wise men
15 passages cited, from 4 classic reference works.
These works date from 1884–1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Genesis 41:8ISBE · Nave Of Egypt
And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.
- Exodus 7:11ISBE · Nave Of Egypt
Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
- Genesis 41:24Nave Of Egypt
And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me.
- 1 Kings 4:29–34Nave Solomon
¶ And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore. And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was…
- Esther 1:13ISBE
¶ Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the times, (for so was the king’s manner toward all that knew law and judgment:
- Daniel 1:4ISBE
Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the…
- Daniel 2:12Easton
For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
- Daniel 2:27ISBE
Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;
- Daniel 4:18Nave Of Babylon
This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods…
- Daniel 5:8Nave Of Babylon
Then came in all the king’s wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.
- Daniel 5:15ISBE
And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing:
- Matthew 2:1–23ISBE
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.…
Show 3 more
- Matthew 2:1–12 Nave Of the East (the Magi)
- Matthew 2:7 Easton
- Acts 7:22 ISBE
In the reference works
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · 2 references
Mentioned in Dan. 2:12 included three classes, (1) astrologers, (2) Chaldeans, and (3) soothsayers. The word in the original (hakamim) probably means “medicine men. In Chaldea medicine was only a branch of magic. The “wise men” of Matt. 2:7, who came from the East to Jerusalem, were magi from Persia or Arabia.
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884) · 0 references
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 8 references
wiz'-men: In addition to the uses of "wise" specified in the article WISDOM, the adjective is employed occasionally as the technical description of men who are adepts in magic, divination, etc. (e.g. in Ge 41:8; Ex 7:11; Es 1:13; Da 2:27; 5:15). Naturally, however, in the ancient world the boundary between genuine knowledge and astrology, etc., was exceedingly vague, and it was never denied that real knowledge could be gained along lines that we know to be futile. So the initiation of Moses into all the wisdom of the Egyptians (Ac 7:22) or of Daniel into all the learning of the Chaldeans (Da 1:4) met with no disapproval. These great men could be trusted to avoid the moral and religious pitfalls of such pursuits. For the ordinary Israelites, however the uncompromising prohibition of idolatry closed the door definitely to all studies of this kind. See ASTROLOGY; DIVINATION, etc. And for the Wise-men of Mt 2 see MAGI.
Burton Scott Easton
In the topical indexes
Texts: Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897); Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884); International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915); Nave's Topical Bible (1896), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.