Poetry in Context: “We Three Kings”

I haven’t dived into the context and origins of a poem in a while, so I thought I’d take a look at a Christmas carol this week. With so many to choose from, I finally settled on “We Three Kings,” also known as “We Three Kings of Orient Are.”

Biblical Origin

The story of the wise men or magi is found in only one place in the Bible, in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 2:

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
    
who will shepherd my people Israel.’
Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

As you can see, very few details are provided about the wise men: no number, no names. They aren’t even called kings. So where and when did the details about the magi originate?

Tradition

The idea of three wise men clearly comes from the three gifts that were offered to Jesus. The names Melchior, Caspar (also called Gaspar, as well as other variations), and Balthazar appear as early as AD 500 in a Greek manuscript. The wise men’s country of origin is not mentioned in the Bible, and many suggestions have been made. A common tradition is that they were scholars from Persia, India, and Babylon.

It seems that many details were added over the years, as can be seen in the great number of paintings of the magi created through the centuries. According to this article, “By the 14th century not only had one of the magi become black, they had also become kings. One of the most important figures in the transformation of the magi was John of Hildesheim, a Carmelite monk whose Historia Trium Regium became one of the most popular accounts of the “three kings”. In it, Hildesheim maintained that Balthazar was from “Saba” where “there groweth incense more than in all the other places of the world; it drippeth out of certain trees”; that Gaspar, who gave the infant Jesus myrrh, was an “Ethiope”; and that Melchior, who gave the gift of gold, came from Arabia.”

Wikipedia suggests that the wise men’s identification as kings is linked to Psalm 72:11, “May all kings fall down before him.”

We_Three_Kings_3
The Adoration of the Magi by Andrea Mantegna (c.1431-1506)

The Carol

The carol “We Three Kings” was written by John Henry Hopkins Jr., an Episcopal clergyman, for the 1857 pageant of the General Theological Seminary in New York City. He wrote both the lyrics and the music, which was unusual at the time. Although he wrote other hymns, and was also a writer and illustrator,  “We Three Kings” is his most well-known piece.

Publication

“We Three Kings” was published as “Three Kings of Orient” in Carols, Hymns and Song in 1863, six years after its composition. It later became the first purely American Christmas carol to be published in England.

We_Three_Kings_2
First published edition of “Three Kings of Orient”

Conclusion

Although the Bible does not state the there were three wise men or that they were kings, I do enjoy this carol’s explanation of the three gifts brought to Jesus. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh symbolize his kingship, his deity, and his death on our behalf — three things worthy of celebrating!

Sources

2 thoughts on “Poetry in Context: “We Three Kings”

  1. Beverly Troup (A good friend of Joy Ayer) says:

    I have always found it interesting that the wise men came to a “house” and saw a “child” not into a stable and a baby. It would have taken them some time on camel to get from Iran to Israel ( if that is where they came from) Herod wanted all babies under two years killed -suggesting he also understood the time it took for the wise men to travel.
    Does anyone have another idea about this?

  2. M.E. Bond
    M.E. Bond says:

    There certainly is a lot of speculation and writing about the whole magi story, probably because it is so brief. I should research more!

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