From Old Persian 'maguš,' this word entered Greek carrying the prestige of the Median priestly caste — men learned in astronomy, dream interpretation, and sacred rites. In Matthew 2, the Magi who visit the infant Jesus embody the honorable sense: foreign sages guided by a star, offering royal gifts. But by the first century the term had also acquired a darker connotation — a practitioner of magic arts, a charlatan who trades on occult power. In Acts 13:6-8, Bar-Jesus (Elymas) is called a magos in this pejorative sense: a false prophet and sorcerer who opposes the gospel. Spanish and French maintain a single root ('mago/mage') for both senses, but the plural 'magos/magi' versus singular 'mago/magician' often signals the distinction contextually.