{"id": "card_n_250b46e425dd", "kind": "note", "title": "Easton: Wise men", "body": "Mentioned in Dan. 2:12 included three classes, (1) astrologers, (2) Chaldeans, and (3) soothsayers. The word in the original (hakamim) probably means “medicine men. In Chaldea medicine was only a branch of magic. The “wise men” of Matt. 2:7, who came from the East to Jerusalem, were magi from Persia or Arabia.", "source": {"label": "Matthew Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary (1897)", "url": "/encyclopedia.html?ref=Wise_men", "ref": "Wise men", "authority_tier": "external_aligned"}, "shelf": "dictionary", "box": "easton_concept_u_z", "bands": ["easton", "bible_dictionary", "concept"], "connections": [{"to_card_id": "card_n_b3d286d98c09", "relationship": "cites", "via_connection_card_id": "card_c_7cd134d7334c"}], "author": "engine", "created_at": "2026-05-19T13:11:12.435303+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-05-19T19:50:26.739731+00:00", "visibility": "public", "lifecycle_stage": "public", "volatility": "permanent", "metrics": {"paperclips_count": 0, "helpful_count": 0, "not_helpful_count": 0, "cite_count": 2, "walks_through_count": 0, "flagged_count": 0}, "source_hash": "6d73fe40c571c82e15e99c57fab6fc9813d1056ba2735610bcb3215aeb7c1cf4", "witnesses": [{"class": "manuscript_tradition", "label": "Original 1897 publication — Thomas Nelson, London", "ref": "Easton-1897"}, {"class": "republication", "label": "Project Gutenberg — Easton's Bible Dictionary", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45696", "ref": "PG-45696"}, {"class": "republication", "label": "Internet Archive — multiple scans", "url": "https://archive.org/details/eastonsillustra00east", "ref": "IA-Easton"}, {"class": "republication", "label": "CCEL — Easton's Bible Dictionary", "url": "https://www.ccel.org/e/easton/ebd/", "ref": "CCEL-Easton"}, {"class": "republication", "label": "Blue Letter Bible — searchable Easton's", "url": "https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/easton/", "ref": "BLB-Easton"}], "witness_status": "passed", "witness_status_reason": "5 witnesses across 2 independence classes: ['manuscript_tradition', 'republication']", "surface": "secular"}