Melchior

Where the name comes from

Matthew’s Gospel doesn’t name the Wise Men. Their names show up much later, and the oldest known document that gives them is an unusual one: the Excerpta Latina Barbari, a Latin translation of a lost Greek chronicle, probably written in Alexandria around 500. It lists three names, spelled in an early form: Bithisarea, Melichior and Gathaspa.

Around the same time, the names appeared in art. A mosaic in the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna shows the three Wise Men walking, with their names written above them. It’s very likely the oldest time those names appear in Christian art.

What tradition gives him

The description that set how the West pictures the three Wise Men comes from an early medieval collection once credited to Saint Bede. Since he probably didn’t write it, it’s usually cited as “Pseudo-Bede.” In it, Melchior is the old man, with white hair and a long beard.

Everything else follows from his age. He brings the gold, a gift for a king, traditionally seen as honoring Jesus as King. He kneels first, because he’s the oldest. And he’s often placed closest to the Child.

The three ages (an old man, a man in his prime, a young man) aren’t just for variety. Like the three different homelands, they show that all of humanity, of every age and every land, comes to honor the Christ Child. The full story is on the Three Wise Men page.

What varies from source to source

Tradition agrees on one thing: Melchior is the oldest and he brings the gold. Almost everything else changes from source to source.

• His kingdom. He’s called the king of Persia in some sources, the king of Tarsus in others, or simply a man from the East.
• His exact age. Medieval calendars, which loved precise details, have him dying at one hundred and sixteen.
• His part of the world. When the three Wise Men stand for Europe, Asia and Africa, Melchior usually gets Europe, but not always.

These differences aren’t mistakes to fix. They show that this is a living tradition, built up over time and in several languages, not an official record.

His figure

In nativity sets, Melchior is the easiest to spot: the elderly king with a white beard, almost always kneeling, holding a chest or a purse. Many makers show him with his crown taken off and set down in front of him. That one gesture says it all, and he’s often the most moving of the three figures.

For where to put him and how to move the three Wise Men along from December 25 to Epiphany, see the Three Wise Men page. They don’t belong at the stable on Christmas Eve.

Frequently asked questions