In the New Testament account of the birth of Jesus, the original wise men, or magi, were astrologers. By reading the stars, they knew that the Messiah, the son of God, had been born. They went to visit this infant, Jesus, and brought him costly gifts, although he was the child of humble parents. This might have been foolish in the eyes of the world, but it showed their love for him and for God.
In the eyes of the world, it may also have seemed foolish for Jim and Della to buy each other costly gifts, especially as the sacrifices each one made to buy the gift rendered the gift worthless: Della sold her hair to buy Jim a watch chain, and Jim sold his watch to buy a comb and brush set for Della. Nevertheless, they were wise, like the magi, because they poured themselves out in love for one another. It is the love behind the gift, not the gift itself, that counts.
"Magi" is the plural of "magus," or wise man. The reference in the title is, of course, to the three wise men who visited the baby Jesus. In the final paragraph of "The Gift of the Magi" Della and Jim are described by the narrator as "two children who were not wise." It's not hard to see why they are referred to in this way. Della has sold some of her pretty hair to buy Jim a watch chain that he now doesn't need because he in turn has sold his watch to buy Della some combs that she no longer needs. So in the narrow materialistic sense both Jim and Della have been somewhat less than wise.
Nevertheless, they have both displayed great wisdom where it really matters. The gifts they give to each other are expressions of love. Both Jim and Della sell the most valuable material objects they have in order to buy gifts for each other. In doing so, they realize that love is much more important than having material possessions. And such a realization is truly an expression of wisdom.
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