2 ms·

I think the number three comes from the three gifts which are explicitly listed in Luke: gold, frankincense and myrrh.

• pmjordan 11y ago
  That seems a likely explanation. It seems unlikely that there were actually only 3 magi, considering the bible's obsession with numbers even in places where it's unlikely that the number is accurate. It seems to me the authors would have leapt at the opportunity of putting a 3 in there, had they seen fit.