# The Gifts to Baby Jesus

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gifts-to-baby-jesus/431209>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 25, 2007, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gifts-to-baby-jesus/431209 "2007-12-25T17:19:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2007, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gifts-to-baby-jesus/431209/1 "2007-12-25T17:19:54Z")

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What were the gifts brought to Baby Jesus, and why are they significant? (And, were they brought by three kings, or three wise men? Or, does it depend on your branch of Christianity?)

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**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gifts-to-baby-jesus/431209/2 "2007-12-25T17:29:18Z")

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Gold, frankincense and myrrh.

> [@](#):
>
> Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain  
> Gold I bring to crown Him again  
> King forever, ceasing never  
> Over us all to rein
> 
> Frankincense to offer have I  
> Incense owns a Deity nigh  
> Pray’r and praising, all men raising  
> Worship Him, God most high
> 
> Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume  
> Breathes of life of gathering gloom  
> Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying  
> Sealed in the stone-cold tomb

Gold, because he was King of the world.  
Frankincense (incense was burned in the temple), because he was God.  
Myrrh (an herb used to prepare bodies for burial), to foreshadow his death.

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**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2007, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gifts-to-baby-jesus/431209/3 "2007-12-25T17:30:25Z")

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[QUOTE=Jinx]  
(And, were they brought by three kings, or three wise men? Or, does it depend on your branch of Christianity?)  
[/QUOTE]

The Bible says nothing about kings. It does mention wise men. The notion that they were kings (along with the names and the races) came later.

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gifts-to-baby-jesus/431209/4 "2007-12-25T17:32:27Z")

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See [here](http://www.joyfulministry.com/goldt.htm) for details, but basically the three types of gifts represent three roles of Jesus the Messiah: His kingly office is represented by gold, His divinity by frankincense, and His manhood by myrrh.

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**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2007, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gifts-to-baby-jesus/431209/5 "2007-12-25T17:52:20Z")

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> [@Jinx](#):
>
> (And, were they brought by three kings, or three wise men? Or, does it depend on your branch of Christianity?)

[QUOTE=jayjay]  
The Bible says nothing about kings. It does mention wise men. The notion that they were kings (along with the names and the races) came later.  
[/QUOTE]

The Bible also never gives a number, except it’s in the plural in all the English translations I’ve seen. It’s probably assumed to be three since there are three gifts.