THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM, A COMET IN 5 BC ... - Tyndale House

44 TYNDALE BULLETIN 43.1 (1992)
seen rising in the East in the morning sky. Matthew 2:2 states that the
Magi first saw ‘his star in the East’. (An alternative translation of ‘in
the East’ in 2:2 is ‘at its rising’.) 46 If this alternative translation is
adopted the 5 BC comet again fits the description, since according to
the Chinese records it would be first seen at its rising in the East in the
morning sky.
The Chinese records also describe the 5 BC comet as being
visible for over 70 days. The implication is that the comet was
continuously visible, rather than being seen twice, once going in
towards perihelion and again going out (see Section 4). The visibility
for over 70 days is consistent with the probable journey time of the
Magi (1–2 months, see later) and the probable time for the comet to
move from east to south (45–90 days, see Section 4). Thus a
consistent picture emerges: the Magi first saw the comet soon after
perihelion in the east, in Capricornus, in the morning sky. They
travelled to Jerusalem, a journey time of 1–2 months, and saw the
comet in the south in the morning sky as they travelled from
Jerusalem to Bethlehem. The comet continued to move to the west
and became invisible after 70+ days.
VI. The Three Signs in the Sky
Why should this particular comet have caused the Magi to make their
journey? It is suggested that a combination of three astronomical
events was involved: the triple conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in 7
BC, the massing of three planets in 6 BC and finally the appearance of
the comet in Capricornus in 5 BC. The eighth century AD
astrological world history ‘On Conjunctions, Religions and Peoples’
by Masha’allah was based on an earlier Babylonian theory that
important religious and political changes are predicted by
conjunctions of the planets Saturn and Jupiter. 47 Thus Masha’allah
used Iranian astronomical computations to claim that the flood, the
birth of Christ and the birth of Muhammad were all predicted by
conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter in the appropriate astrological
circumstances. Rosenberg, 48 following the medieval Jewish writer
46D. Hughes, op. cit., (1979).
47Kennedy & Pingree, op. cit.
48R.A. Rosenberg, ‘The “Star of the Messiah” Reconsidered’, Biblica 53 (1972)
105–9.