The question implies that the wise men were not Jews; otherwise they would have said “our king.” It seems to have been generally recognized that the savior-king expected by the nations round about was to arise in Judea (see on v. 1). Upon entering Jerusalem, the wise men first made their way to the Temple, over which the star had faded from sight, but in its sacred precincts they found only ignorance, surprise, fear, and contempt (DA 60, 61).

 Neither a conjunction of planets, as some have thought, nor a nova, as others have suggested. The “star” that appeared on the night of Christ’s birth was a “distant company of shining angels” (DA 60; v. 7). The wise men were led to interpret this unusual phenomenon as the fulfillment of Balaam’s prophecy of “a Star out of Jacob” (Num. 24:17; see DA 60).

 Gr. anatolē, literally, “rising.” The word translated “east” in v. 1 is anatolai, plural of anatolē. Also, in the Greek, anatole-has the definite article, whereas anatolai has not. This difference between the two expressions has led some to the conclusion that in v. 2 Matthew is not referring to the east either as the direction in the sky in which the star appeared or as the designation of the country from which the wise men came, but rather uses anatolē in its literal meaning, “rising.” The clause may be translated “for we have seen his star in [its] rising,” that is, when it first appeared. This proved to be the point in their story that most interested Herod (v. 7). The other interpretation, “for we have seen his star in the east country” is, of course, also possible.