How Many Wise Men Were There?

The Bible never tells us how many wise men came to Jesus. It simply says “wise men from the east” (Matthew 2:1). Scripture also does not say there were “three gifts.” What it says is that they presented three types of gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matthew 2:11). The passage does not tell us how many men came, nor how much of each gift was given. There could have been two, three, or many and each could have brought one or more of these same types of gifts. The common idea of “three wise men” comes from tradition, not from the text itself. When we read Scripture carefully, we learn to separate what the Bible actually says from what has been repeated so often that it feels true. This matters because it shows how easily people can be deceived. If someone can be convinced the Bible says there were only three wise men, when it never says that, then it becomes even easier to be misled on much larger and more important doctrines. Small assumptions train people not to check the text, and that is where real error begins.