We have seen that the _Matthew_ narrator speaks of the infant Jesus, and Mary, his mother, being in a "_house_"--implying that he had been born there; and that the _Luke_ narrator speaks of the infant "lying in a manger"--implying that he was born in a stable. We will now show that there is still _another_ story related of the _place_ in which he was born. FOOTNOTES: [150:1] "The original word here is '_Magoi_,' from which comes our word '_Magician_.' . . . The persons _here_ denoted were philosophers, priests, or _astronomers_. They dwelt chiefly in Persia and Arabia. They were the learned men of the Eastern nations, devoted to _astronomy_, to religion, and to medicine. They were held in high esteem by the Persian court; were admitted as councilors, and followed the camps in war to give advice." (Barnes's Notes, vol. i. p. 25.) [150:2] Matthew, ii. 2. [150:3] Luke, ii. 8-16. [151:1] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. pp. 129, 130, and Maurice: Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. pp. 256, 257 and 317. Also, The Vishnu Purana. [151:2] Oriental Religions, pp. 500, 501. See also, Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 353. [151:3] Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 157. [151:4] Amberly's Analysis, p. 177. See also, Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 36. [151:5] Lillie: Buddha and Early Buddhism, p. 76. [151:6] Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 6, and Beal: Hist. Buddha, pp. 58, 60. [152:1] Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 36. [152:2] See Amberly's Analysis p. 231, and Bunsen's Angel Messiah, p. 36. [152:3] Beal: Hist. Buddha, p. 58. [152:4] Oriental Religions, p. 491. [152:5] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 200. [152:6] See Amberly's Analysis of Religious Belief, p. 226. [152:7] See Thornton's Hist. China, vol. i. p. 152. [152:8] King: The Gnostics and their Remains, pp. 134 and 149. [152:9] Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 353. [152:10] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 96. [153:1] Taylor's Diegesis, p. 150. Roman Antiquities, p. 136, and Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 27. [153:2] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 322. [153:3] Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 213. [153:4] Ibid. vol. i. p. 47. [153:5] Ibid. p. 20. CHAPTER XVI. THE BIRTH-PLACE OF CHRIST JESUS. The writer of that portion of the Gospel according to _Matthew_ which treats of the _place_ in which Jesus was born, implies, as we stated in our last chapter, that he was born in a _house_. His words are these: "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea _in the days of Herod the king_, behold, there came wise men from the east" to worship him. "And when they were come _into the house_, they saw the young child with Mary his mother."[154:1] The writer of the _Luke_ version implies that he was born in _a stable_, as the following statement will show: