“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”
And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. The Magi fall down and worship — the full prostration of royal homage before the one they have come to honor. The three gifts have generated extensive symbolic interpretation: gold for kingship, frankincense for priesthood, myrrh for burial. Whether or not Matthew intends these symbolic readings, the gifts are royal tribute — the kind brought by subject nations to a great king, consistent with Isaiah 60:6 which envisions all nations bringing gold and frankincense to the coming glory of Israel's God. Psalm 72:10–11 imagined kings of distant lands bringing gifts to the king of Israel; here it is enacted.
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