HAVING LIVED ON A FARM, if I were giving or had recently given birth I'd rather have the shepherds around than those astrologers. The shepherds would likely have aided sheep who had a hard time birthing, the astrologers, not so much, I'm guessing.
In the second chapter of Matthew, it doesn't say that they were ever at the place Jesus was born, only that the star showed them where he was. It could have been months or up to a couple of years after he was born. And it doesn't say how many of them there were. I've read that in the Orthodox tradition they sometimes present it as twelve kings, though I'd imagine it would make the costuming and role giving at the Christmas pageant more complicated. Dressing up Shepherds is easy. Especially if you don't use live sheep.
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