# to ask them exactly what time the star had appeared
This can be translated as a direct quotation. AT: "and he asked them, 'When exactly did this star appear?'" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-quotations]])
# what time the star had appeared
It is implied that the learned men told him when the star appeared. AT: "what time the star had appeared. The learned men told Herod when the star first appeared" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-explicit]])
Here "word" is a metonym for "message" or "new." AT: "let me know" or "tell me" or "report back to me" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]])