Hello Maarten, thanks for taking the time to respond.

You said:

"Tim Zeak, rightly:

“The three “wise men” followed a star which obviously was of supernatural origin."

The Star wasn't supernatural.

It was entirely natural in every piece. It was Jupiter, and it performed every action Matthew records.

You can use any piece of modern astronomy software to watch it do all that they record.

Also, there's no indication there were three wise men. The number isn't given.

You said:

"But instead of it leading them to the child Jesus who was in Bethlehem, it led them directly to Jerusalem and King Herod."

We can see why.

Jupiter signified the birth of the King of the Jews.

The wise men naturally concluded that the King of the Jews would be born in the capital city, so that's where they went.

The Star wasn't some lantern leading the way in front of them on the road. Matthew doesn't describe anything like that.

You said:

"Because of this visit with the three, the King felt it necessary to slaughter all boys two years old and younger."

That's not why.

Herod only decided to do this when the wise men did not return to him, as they had agreed. When he realized he had been tricked, he sent soldiers to kill all the boys in Bethlehem, in order to prevent a rival claimant to the throne from living.

Herod murdered several of his own family members whom he thought he designs on the throne. His actions are entirely in keeping with his character.

You said:

"The star later corrected course and led them to where they had originally intended to go.”

The Star didn't alter course, because the Star wasn't leading them like a tour guide.

Jupiter's motion in the heavens indicated the birth of the king of the Jews. It didn't give GPS coordinates to where.

Only when the wise men heard from Herod that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem did they know to go there.

Once they left Jerusalem and looked south toward Bethlehem, they saw Jupiter hovering in the sky immediately above Bethlehem, stopped in the sky due to its retrograde motion.

Jupiter did lead the way straight to Bethlehem, but they didn't realize this until after they had been told to go to Bethlehem.

This, again, is what Matthew records. Tim Zeak does not seem to have a firm grasp on the details.

You said:

"In Matthew 2:7f, Herod could have sent an observer or spy with the magoi. Or, if necessary, could have sent a platoon of soldiers independently of the magoi, because the star was publicly visible."

Again, Tim does not seem to know the details.

Herod and the others in Jerusalem missed the Star completely. They were surprised when they heard the wise men's claims.

That means the Star wasn't some obvious glowing orb pointing to Bethlehem. It was a normal dot of light in the sky, as Jupiter is. If you're not paying attention to its movements, it means nothing to you.

You said:

"That would have prevented the mass murder of infants, which was politically highly risky. Herodes' approach is so clumsy that it affects the credibility of the story."

Herod had no qualms about killing people.

On his death bed, he ordered his soldiers to fill the stadiums in the land with the most well-loved leaders in the nation, then kill them when Herod died. He wanted weeping and lamentation on his death, and had no reservations about slaughtering hundreds of others to get it.

Killing a few children would have meant nothing to such a man.