Matthew 2:9 is the ninth verse of the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew

Gospel of Matthew

The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...

 in the New Testament

New Testament

The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....

. King Herod

Herod the Great

Herod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...

 has dispatched the magi

Magi

Magi is a term, used since at least the 4th century BC, to denote a follower of Zoroaster, or rather, a follower of what the Hellenistic world associated Zoroaster with, which...

 to Bethlehem

Bethlehem

Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...

 to find the infant Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

. In this verse they follow the Star of Bethlehem

Star of Bethlehem

In Christian tradition, the Star of Bethlehem, also called the Christmas Star, revealed the birth of Jesus to the magi, or "wise men", and later led them to Bethlehem. The star appears in the nativity story of the Gospel of Matthew, where magi "from the east" are inspired by the star to travel to...

 to find the infant.

In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:

When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the

star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till

it came and stood over where the young child was.

The World English Bible

World English Bible

The World English Bible is a public domain translation of the Bible that is currently in draft form. Work on the World English Bible began in 1997 and was known as the American Standard Version 1997...

 translates the passage as:

They, having heard the king, went their way; and behold,

the star, which they saw in the east, went before them,

until it came and stood over where the young child was.

For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 2:9

Unlike the previous mention of the Star of Bethlehem

Star of Bethlehem

In Christian tradition, the Star of Bethlehem, also called the Christmas Star, revealed the birth of Jesus to the magi, or "wise men", and later led them to Bethlehem. The star appears in the nativity story of the Gospel of Matthew, where magi "from the east" are inspired by the star to travel to...

 this verse clearly indicates that it guided the magi to their destination. In combination with the next verse it seems to be clear that the star pointed out the specific house Jesus was in, or perhaps the entire village. How it did this is unspecified in the text, and artists have portrayed a wide array of means.

The phrase "went before" can mean either that the star was moving throughout their journey or that it remained stationary and served only as a fixed guide. However the phrase "came and stood" unambiguously means that it ceased moving and came to a rest at this point. Hill comments that the undeniably miraculous behaviour of the star in this verse defies all the various attempts to rationalize the star it as a natural nova

Nova

A nova is a cataclysmic nuclear explosion in a star caused by the accretion of hydrogen on to the surface of a white dwarf star, which ignites and starts nuclear fusion in a runaway manner...

 or conjunction

Conjunction

Conjunction can refer to:* Conjunction , an astronomical phenomenon* Astrological aspect, an aspect in horoscopic astrology* Conjunction , a part of speech** Conjunctive mood , same as subjunctive mood...

. This might be a reference to the pillar of cloud that guide the Israelites through the wilderness. Fortnas notes that the astronomical theory of the time thought of the stars a points of light moving along a fixed heavenly dome. This made it far easier to imagine a star stopping its motion.

It is unclear exactly how long after Jesus' birth the magi arrived. Traditionally they were seen to arrive at most a few days after the birth of Jesus as the Gospel of Luke

Gospel of Luke

The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...

has Jesus leaving for Jerusalem by the time he was forty days old from whence he went to Nazareth. This left a fairly brief window of time for the magi to visit him in Jerusalem, especially considering they needed time to travel from the east via Jerusalem. In this verse the author of Matthew refers to Jesus as a child rather than an infant, perhaps indicating that he was older. Today most scholars feel that Matthew probably meant that Jesus was several months old at the time the magi visited.