DID YOU KNOW?
The answer
Matthew 2 never counts them. It says "magi" — a plural — and lists three gifts (gold, frankincense, myrrh). The number three came from the gifts, not the visitors.
Why it’s interesting
Three gifts became three men, then kings, then names — Caspar, Melchior, Balthasar — all added by later tradition. The Gospel itself gives none of it.
Scholarly consensus
You can know the Bible.
Not just the stories, but the history, authorship, and scholarship behind it.