Thanks Frank for your helpful comments /insights- Yalmauchi on balance roots the Magi within a Zoroastrian tradition - in this sense they were polytheistic; yet he sees that any definitive position is controversial. There is an interesting section titled 'Astrology among the Jews'(p 447-48) but there is no exploration of your idea that the Magi were Jewish or at least infused with values and insights from the Jewish diaspora.