They might think that a king of Judaea was born, since the birth of temporal princes is sometimes attended by a star. These Chaldean Magi inspected the stars, not with malevolence, but with the true desire of knowledge; following, it may be supposed, the tradition from Balaam; so that when they saw this new and singular star, they understood it to be that of which Balaam had prophesied, as marking the birth of a King of Judaea.
Reproduced in full. Translation: Oxford 1841 (Newman), public domain (Public domain).
Also cites: Hil. Quaest. V. and N. Test. q. 63