| E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898. |
| | | Ma’gi (The), | | |
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according to one tradition, were Mel’chior, Gaspar, and Balthazar, three kings of the East. The first offered gold, the emblem of royalty, to the infant Jesus; the second, frankincense, in token of divinity; and the third, myrrh, in prophetic allusion to the persecution unto death which awaited the “Man of Sorrows.” | 1 |
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| MELCHIOR means “king of light.” |
| GASPAR, or CASPAR, means “the white one.” |
| BALTHAZAR means “the lord of treasures.” | |
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(Klopstock, in his Messiah, book v., gives these five names: Hadad, Selima, Zimri, Beled, and Sunith.) | 2 |
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Magi, in Camoens’ Lusiad, means the Indian “Brahmins.” Ammia’nus Marcelli’nus says that the Persian magi derivèd their knowledge from the Brahmins of India (i. 23); and Aria’nus expressly calls the Brahmins “magi” (i.7.). | 3 |
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