The word in the original is στοιχεῖα; on this Valesius annotates “This does not mean the four elements, for the Persian Magi did not worship the four elements but only fire and the sun and moon.” In illustration of this use of the word he quotes Chrysostom. Hom. 58 in Matth. ὁ γὰρ δαίμων ἐπὶ διαβολᾐ τοῦ στοιχείου καὶ ἐπιτίθεται τοῖς ἀλοῦσι, καὶ ἀνίησιν αὐτοὺς κατὰ τοὺς τῆς σελήνης δρόμους; and St. Jerome Ep. ad Hedyb. 4 where he speaks of the days of the week as being described by the heathen “Idolorum et elementorum nominibus.”