How do you say REYES MAGOS in English?

                       
                           "I told you not to turn left. Now we are in some place called Ecuador!"











 

  The REYES MAGOS, as we know them in Spanish, are not called Magician Kings in English. In fact, they are said to be only "wise men". The idea that they were kings came later because the Gospel of Matthew is the only one out of the four that mentions them. He does not say they were kings, or magicians, their names, or even if they were three exactly. We only know they came from the east, that they brought presents for Jesus (Gold, Incense ad Myrrh) and that they were men of science (astronomers perhaps since they were guided by a star). 
So calling them WISE MEN  or The MAGI is appropriate.
The word Magi may be misleading though, since one may think they had powers of their own, but no. They were men of science who practiced "magic" according to the common men of that time who did not understand the science of the Wise Men and deemed their practices as some sort of witchcraft.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Comments

Mery Chamba said…
It's a very curious because many of the spanish-speakers translate things too literally and make a big mistake.
On the other hand, I really believed that they were real magicians, never crossed through my mind that they were scientifics so because of the ignorance of that time they were calling by that name.
January 9, 2022 at 12:06 AM
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