Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: mike@unmvax.cs.unm.edu (Michael I. Bushnell) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: The 3 (three) kings. Message-ID: Date: 20 Sep 89 08:21:19 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of No Money, Albuquerque, New Mexico Lines: 33 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article rock@sun.com (Bill Petro) writes: >"We Three Kings of Orient Are..." so the song goes, but already it has >made at least three errors. First, how many wise men made the trip to >Bethlehem is not known. And they were not "kings". And they did not >come from as far away as the "Orient", that is, the Far East. The term "Orient" does not refer to merely the Far East. It refers to the East in general. Webster's Second Unabridged defines the word as simply "East". The New Webster's Dictionary says "The east: contrasted with the occident; the eastern hemisphere; (cap.) the countries to the east and southeast of the Mediterranean." The word comes from the Latin "oriens" meaning east, which comes from the verb orior, "to rise" (in other words, where the sun rises). This is not bizarre usage. Orient has always referred to people from Asia and northeastern Africa. The status of Russia is in some geographic doubt. I once spoke to a Turk who was quite offended that he was not "oriental" when he went to the orientel students' group here on campus. The group went so far as to change its name to say "Asian", when it was pointed out that the Near East is part of Asia as well. I guess you'll have to change your essay to read "at least two errors". -- Michael I. Bushnell \ This above all; to thine own self be true LIBERTE, EGALITE, FRATERNITE \ And it must follow, as the night the day, mike@unmvax.cs.unm.edu /\ Thou canst not be false to any man. Telephone: +1 505 292 0001 / \ Farewell: my blessing season this in thee!