(btw - the circumcision takes place after the 7 days of being unclean.

The 7 days unclean are followed by 33 more days unclean.

i.e. the circumcision must take place on the 1^st of those 33 days, otherwise the 8^th day would not have been an "unclean day".

There was no “day off” from the uncleanness, there were mentioned 7 and 33 days of the uncleanness, for a total of 40 days, like after the resurrection.

Therefore, the circumcision, 8 days after the birth, must have taken place in the second set of unclean days, on the first of those 33 days.)

Leviticus 12:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean.

  3 And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

  4 And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.

(Additionally, the wise men probably didn’t just see the star once, at the beginning, and then not at all again for 2 more years.

Otherwise, from the east, they would not have been able to determine the exact coordinates, and could have just as easily ended up at Damascus or Egypt.

From the book of Acts, we know there was a significant Jewish population in Damascus, which they would have known of at that time.

Also, Moses was born in Egypt, which they also would have known of, so they could just as easily considered those two as viable places to find where he was born.

Probably, the star got them as far as Jerusalem, and then they didn’t see it again, until they left Herod.

So, likely the star guided them from the east, and then when they saw it again, it guided them to the exact location of where Jesus was, better than any modern GPS.)

(Also, simple magicians would not like have been able to finance such an expedition & gifts.

This expedition was more like when the queen of Sheba came to Solomon.

There must have been some royal financing for such a thing, which if they were “under-kings”, like Herod was, they could have easily financed the trip.

Also, they were of an high enough station, that they could boldly go to the king, Herod, and to demand to know, from him, where the King of the Jews was born, without having their heads cut off on the spot.

Also, after they left the other way, and Herod was enraged, he didn’t have them tracked down and taken or killed, as that would have caused an international incident, or war, for which Rome would have killed Herod.)

(Considering what kind of man Herod was, a number of Jews probably maintained their distance, just outside Herod’s jurisdiction.

Joseph would probably have taken the family to a Jewish community, with a rabbi available to do the circumcision.

That only considered a Jewish community which would have been just outside Israel, hence the possibly about it being in the Sinai Peninsula, which would have been only 2 or 3 days away.

However, hadn’t yet check into any historical records of Jewish communities just over the border, nor yet checked where the border with Egypt exactly was at that time.)

(btw - the two word term, young child, does only show up in seven lines of the scriptures, all in Matthew 2.

However, it shows up twice in the line, Matthew 2:13, so the term is used 8 times in the scriptures, all and only in Matthew 2, and only regarding Jesus.

Considering that eight shows new beginnings, the birth of Jesus certainly qualifies.)

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