The wise men had seen a sign and came looking for the person it pointed to. They said plainly why: "we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him" (Matthew 2:2). They did not ask whether a King had been born. They spoke as men already sure of it, and asked only where to find Him. Barnes describes such men as philosophers, priests, or astronomers, living chiefly in Persia and Arabia, and says there was a widespread expectation at the time that a remarkable person would appear in Judea. Gill suggests they may have known Balaam's prophecy, "there shall come a Star out of Jacob" (Numbers 24:17). Matthew Henry draws the lesson from their eager search: "Those who know something of Christ cannot but covet to know more of him."

No one in Jerusalem is recorded welcoming the news. Instead Herod "was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him" (Matthew 2:3). Herod gathered the chief priests and scribes, who answered from the prophet: "In Bethlehem of Judaea" (Matthew 2:5-6). Herod then sent the wise men to Bethlehem, asking them to "bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also" (Matthew 2:8). The final answer came from God's own sign: the star "went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was," and they "fell down, and worshipped him" (Matthew 2:9-11).

The wise men (Greek magoi) were, in Barnes' words, "the learned men of the eastern nations." Barnes thought the star was probably a luminous appearance, like a meteor, rather than a star in the usual sense. The phrase "in the east" translates en te anatole, which the ESV renders "when it rose."

The verb "worship" is proskuneo, to bow down or do reverence. Barnes notes this was the way homage was paid to earthly kings, so the wise men came to honor a King. Herod, called "Herod the Great," was in Barnes' words "as much distinguished for his cruelty and his crimes as he was for his greatness." Gill adds that Herod knew he had no just right to the throne, being a foreigner, and feared losing it. A question about another King of the Jews was dangerous news in his city.

This question is a search for Jesus, and it comes from outsiders. Men from far away, guided by a sign God placed in the sky, came to worship, while the city that held the Scriptures was troubled. Their question names Jesus by a title He will carry to the end of Matthew's Gospel. Pilate will ask, "Art thou the King of the Jews?" (Matthew 27:11), and the charge over the cross will read, "THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS" (Matthew 27:37).

The chapter also shows God guiding seekers step by step. A star brought them to Jerusalem, the Scriptures pointed them to Bethlehem (Matthew 2:5-6; Micah 5:2), and the star led them to the very house (Matthew 2:9-11). God did not leave honest seekers without an answer.