The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it.  Daniel 5:15

            The term “wise men” appears more in the book of Daniel than any other book, almost as much as all of the books combined.  It was the role of an adviser to the Babylonian king that most likely had some metaphysical or spiritual aspect to it.  The title was mentioned specifically with other titles like enchanters, magicians and astrologers, so it wasn’t a general title that encompassed them all.

            The wise men owed Daniel a great debt for saving them when he correctly interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and saved them all from execution (Daniel 2:12-13).  They were “wise” but not Daniel wise.  They would know the ancient texts of the Jews who lived in that area for a century.  Those texts showed them the prophecy of a king and a star (Numbers 24:17).

            Plus, Babylon was located in modern day Iraq, east of Israel, so they would qualify as wise men from the East.

            Babylon was defeated by Persia, then Greece and later Rome took over.  It’s hard to say what the role of wise man became during all this, but apparently it dealt with astrology, ancient texts and some degree of influence to walk into a king’s palace (Herod).

            While the wise men who visited Jesus in the manger weren’t the same wise men who knew Daniel (600 years before Jesus), they were likely descendants of theirs.