Nigel Parsons wrote: Except that, if we are accepting the Bible in general, then this was foretold in Psalm 72 (or commented on if you believe that the Book of Psalms was a late addition):

This requires a whole bunch of assumptions that I do not consider it justified to make, including that Psalm 72 (71 LXX) is about the Messiah rather than an ordinary king (the obvious reading), and that Matthew had that passage in mind.

I don't really think the Magi came from the west (apart from the fact that I think Matthew made the whole thing up); Magi were from Babylon, which was to the east, and Matthew 2:1 says they came from the east. It's just that the description of the star would seem to imply it.

Actually, based on the gifts, the most logical direction is arguably from the north. They started in Smyrna, picking up the item from Smyrna (unreliably translated "myrrh"), then went through Antioch to the Lebanon, picking up the item from Lebanon (unreliably translated "frankincense"), went on through Jerusalem to Bethlehem.

All of which is way too much meaning to wring out of a short passage full of ambiguities. :-)