How many wise men were following the star?

Matt 2 describes the visit of the wise men (or magi) to baby Jesus. There is no reference in this account to the number of wise men. The most that we can say is that there were more than one (hence “wise men” plural).

It is recorded that the wise men brought three gifts (Matt 2:11), which is probably the reason that later Christians assumed there were three wise men.

In various church traditions the wise men are named “Melchior”, “Caspar” and “Balthazar”, but these traditions are unlikely to date back to the first century so are of little historical value.