What Is the Origin of Magi Names?

According to the book of Matthew, "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" (Matthew 2:1). Only Matthew mentions these wise men, or magi, and his account includes neither names for them nor how many came. Over the centuries, tradition has limited their number to 3 and given them the names Balthazar, Gaspar and Melchior.

Title

The wise men who attended the birth of Jesus were almost assuredly priests or magicians from Persia. Many documents written after Matthew's gospel give the wise men the title of "king." There are said to have ruled various different countries like Arabia, Persia, Sava, Ethiopia and simply "the East."

Number

Matthew only referred to the "wise men from the east" and does not specify how many there were. Early church fathers disagreed on the actual number of magi with reports ranging from 2 to 14. Early accounts for the names of the wise men varied almost as wildly, with names like Hormazd, Karsudas and Melkon being attributed to them.

Justinian

The Roman emperor Justinian placed mosaics in churches at Ravenna and Bethlehem depicting the 3 wise men with the names Balthazar, Gaspar and Melchior. He also attributed ages to each man and had them depicted in Persian garb, although this was most likely a ploy to prevent the Persians from destroying the churches. When the Persians swept through Palestine, they left the churches intact.

Tombs at Cologne

At some time near 1164 A.D., 3 tombs were built at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany that reportedly held the remains of the 3 wise men, who were given the title of "saint." The inscription indicates the magi met in 54 A.D. to celebrate the feast of Christmas and each man died within the following few weeks. St. Balthazar is said to have died on January 6, 55 A.D., at the age of 112; St. Melchior is said to have died on January 1, 55 A.D., at the age of 116; St. Gaspar is said to have died on January 11, 55 A.D., at the age of 109.

Travels

The most thorough account of the magi comes from Marco Polo's "Travels." His account places the tombs of Balthazar, Melchior and Gaspar in a section of Persia called "Sewa," which is also called "Sava" or "Saba." Marco Polo also wrote how the people of the area recounted the story of the magi's travels to and from Bethlehem, what gifts they took and the symbolism behind the gifts and what happened after they returned. Marco Polo's account from around 1300 A.D. has sealed the names of the magi into our accepted tradition.