One of the problems about the development of traditions around Christmas is that people writing hymns or plays set Jesus’ birth in their own world rather than in what we know of the first century. In particular, many assume that Jesus was born in winter, since Christmas is celebrated in winter in the northern hemisphere. (It would be interesting to see some genuinely antipodeal hymns: ‘In the deep midwinter’ would become ‘In the height of summer’…)
It is fairly widely recognised that the celebration of Christmas was not determined by the historical date of Jesus’ birth. There’s also a common (mostly anti-Christian) myth that the date of 25th December was chosen to displace the pagan festival of Sol Invictus, but Andrew McGowan of Yale University has demonstrated that this was 12th-century anti-Christmas propaganda. From the earliest times there appear to have been two contesting dates, December 25th in the West, and January 6th in the East of the empire. The December date comes from counting nine months on from the believed date of Jesus’ conception, March 25th, which was also (for theological reasons) believed to have been the same date that Jesus died on.
So can we know when in the year Jesus was born?
The first clue comes in noting the relation between the birth of Jesus and John the Baptist.
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. (Luke 1.26–27)
If Mary conceived soon after this, and assuming that Mary and Elizabeth both went to term, then Jesus was born five to six months after John. (Notice that the visit of Gabriel was in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy.)
The second clue comes in noting when John’s father, Zechariah, was serving his term as priest in the temple. Zechariah belonged to the priestly division of Abijah (Luke 1.5) and we know when this division served from 1 Chronicles 24.7–19:
The first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah,
the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim,
the fifth to Malkijah, the sixth to Mijamin,
the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah,
the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah…
Each of the 24 divisions served for a week, but all divisions served together at major festivals. We need to remember that the ecclesiastical calendar began in the month of Nisan, around the end of March, whereas the domestic calendar began at Rosh HaShannah (‘the head of the year’) at the end of September. (We also need to remember that the Jewish calendar uses lunar months of 29 or 30 days, and has to add an extra month in six years out of every 19 to align with the solar year. So correspondences with months in the Gregorian calendar vary from one year to another.) This pattern of service was interrupted during the exile when Solomon’s temple was destroyed, but it was restored (presumably from this text) on the return from exile and the rebuilding of the temple.
Assuming Zechariah was on his first duty of the year, the timing would look like this:
Event | Priestly division on duty | Month | Week |
1. Jehoiarib | 1 Nissan | 1 | |
2. Jedaiah | 2 | ||
Passover Festival | All 24 | 3 | |
3. Harim | 4 | ||
4. Seorim | 2 Iyar | 5 | |
5. Malkijah | 6 | ||
6. Mijamin | 7 | ||
7. Hakkoz | 8 | ||
8. Abijah | 3 Sivan | 9 | |
Schavuot (Weeks or Pentecost) | All 24 | 10 | |
Zechariah returns home: John conceived | 9. Jeshua | 11 | |
10. Shecaniah | 12 |
So John was likely conceived in the second half of Sivan, which is around the beginning of June. Adding the six months between John and Jesus, and the nine months of Mary’s gestation, brings us to around the middle of September the following year.
So Jesus would have been born in September.
Some interesting points arise from this calculation:
1. This would mean that the shepherds in their fields were outdoors in September (Luke 2.8). Given the mild weather at this time of year, this is highly plausible. The hill country around Jerusalem and Bethlehem is cold in the winter, often with snow, so this would be less likely in December.
2. There is a tradition that Jesus was conceived on or around 25th December (rather than born then), and this would fit with Elizabeth’s visit to her in her sixth month.
3. There is also a tradition that ‘Elijah’ who comes to prepare the way for the Messiah would be born at Passover, which is John’s date of birth by this calculation.
4. If Jesus was born in September, that would be close to one of the three major pilgrim feasts, that of Succoth, also called Tabernacles or ‘Booths’. This feast commemorates the period of time that Israel lived in tents in the wilderness. ‘Tents’ is succoth in Hebrew, tabernacula in Latin and skenai in Greek; we get our word ‘scene’ from this, since tent material would have been hung at the back of the stage in a Greek theatre. This connects with John 1.14:
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling [Gk: skenoo] among us.
which some have translated ‘tabernacled among us’ to bring out this connection. So it might be that John’s theological reflection on Jesus was prompted by knowing the date of his birth.
It is worth pointing out that it is rather unusual that we can be relatively confident of historical events at this kind of level of detail. The root source of this is the Jewish interest in schedules and calendars, in this case, the rota of priestly duties. Such precision and organisation is relatively rare in the ancient world, and it offers a historical framework for the material of the New Testament that is unrivalled.
A further theological point of interest is that Jesus’ life, death and ministry are then connected with all three of the pilgrim feasts. He was born at Succoth, crucified and risen at Passover (Pesach) and the Spirit was poured out at Pentecost (Shavuot). [Many years ago I read David Pawson arguing that Jesus’ return would happen at Pentecost, to complete the three, but I think he missed the significance of the outpouring of the Spirit at this festival.]
Of course, Gabriel’s appearance to Zechariah could have taken place during his second duty as priest, which would have been around six months later, putting the Annunciation in June and Jesus’ birth in March. I have found no arguments either for or against this in the literature.
Does this all mean we are wasting our time celebrating Christmas in December? Not at all. The main point of Christmas is not chronology but theology. As I comment elsewhere:
As the nights close in, and the days shorten, we long to see light. As the winter gets colder, we long for warmth. As nature around us seems strangled by death, we need signs of hope and life. And as the inconvenience of going out gets greater, and we are more isolated from friends and neighbours, we long for company…Who can bring us light but the light of the world (John 8.12)? Who can bring us warmth but the one who has poured God’s love into our hearts (Rom 5.5)? Who gives us hope beyond death, but the one who not only tasted death for us but swallowed it up in victory (1 Cor 15.54)? And who else can bring us into friendship with God (2 Cor 5.18–19)?
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Gavin Ashenden argued last year that Jesus was likely born on 25 December https://ashenden.org/2018/12/20/good-news-fake-news-and-the-truth-about-christmas/. Where does your analysis differ from his – where does he go wrong?
The critical factor is when the division of Abijah would serve. Ian, following the schedule in the link to Schneider, places this 6 weeks after Passover (“assuming Zechariah was on his first duty of the year”) which is end of May or beginning of June. Gavin Ashenden places the service around the time of Yom Kippur, at the end of September or beginning of October. He does not justify this.
There is a Wikipedia page on this which gives the dates the divisions would serve over the next few years:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priestly_divisions
However, this seems to imply that the 24 divisions seem to serve in a continuous sequence, without regard to festivals! As a result, each year the division will serve about a month earlier.
If this pattern is correct, then we need to know the year when Zechariah was visited by the angel in order to determine the month.
Then a bit more googling found this:
http://www.torahtimes.org/writings/machloqet-cohanim/article.html
which points out that we don’t know for certain how the divisions operate, but uses different systems of calculation to work back from the destruction of the temple to round about the right year. It discusses some of the issues in chosing a system. In particular, if the cycle restarts each year, then the early divisions will always have more work to do. If the cycle is continuous, then, as per Wikipedia, the time of year for a given division will shift from year to year.
Perhaps neither Ian nor Gavin should be quite so certain as to the time of year of Zechariah’s service in the temple.
The one indication of the time of year is that shepherd were out in the fields ‘keeping watch over their flocks by night.’ Some say the reason for this would be lambing. When does lambing happen in the hill country of Judea?
Or, as has been suggested/pointed out, the shepherds in question were watching the temple sheep. So they were out all year round.
If you want to sin in “peace” doing pagan December 25th holiday … feel free to do it …
Yet the truth of the Most High God will not be your portion …
In Christ Name Amen
There was no ‘pagan holiday’ on Dec 25th; the tradition of this date arose from it being nine months before the believed date of his death.
David, thanks for this. The Wikipedia article does appear to omit the festivals. I was interested as well in the comment that, following the destruction of the temple, the priestly divisions moved to locations around Israel. Richard Bauckham argues or assumes that they were always thus distributed in his recent article on Cana and the wedding.
The scheme you are using assumes:
– the ecclesiastical year starts in Nisan and not at Rosh HaShannah
– the priestly cycle (re-)started at this point
– the three week long (actually 8 day) festivals interrupted the cycle with ‘all hands on deck’.
Are there some pointers to the evidence for this?
Also, with this scheme, the total cycle length is 51 weeks (2 x 24 + 3). Who fills in the one or two weeks of the short cycle? This ‘unfairness’ is the basis for saying that the cycle just continues without regard to the year (as, indeed, do weeks ending with the Sabbath).
The unfairness extends into many areas. Weather for example. Do the same 12 courses get to deal winter and summer all the time, while the other 12 get nice spring/fall weather to deal with?
On a same time of year schedule, do the last few course gets some time off, when the year is shorten by a few weeks?
Others is the variableness of Temple attendance, outside the known 3 major feativals?
Also, for the 3 great festivals, patrons arrive typically a week early inorder to be cleansed. That puts pressure on those 3 courses working that week.
So, a course schedule of which moves earlier by 3 weeks each year is much more fair.
Also worth pointing out that 1 Nisan as the start of the ecclesiastical new year is well established, being recorded in the Mishnah from 200 AD, and is not an arbitrary choice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_calendar#New_year
I know of no evidence at all for counting 9th Av as the start of anything…
Also, part of the Greek word translated into “Fields” has in part, the root for “Agriculture”, of which indicates the fields were cultivated agricultural fields. It just so happens that also in spring, the farmers harvest their barley fields, which they turn over to the shepherds so their flocks can graze the stubble and fertilize the fields. It’s this harvest for which the “First Fruits Festival” is held on the last day of the Passover week.
Look for the meaning of a word in its source is called the genetic fallacy. Unfortunately it proves nothing.
The sheep were allowed onto the fields after harvest to “clean up” but came off the fields before winter otherwise the fields would not be ready for next years sowing. This means they would have been on the fields at time of tabernacles. Jesus being born at tabernacles – in a stable – also fits.
Lambing happens from mid March to mid April about 6 weeks. Passover 6 April 1 BC would be in the middle of that span.
I am of the : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priestly_divisions course cycles. It’s more fair, doesn’t put same courses at the same time of year, and shorten or remove some courses at years end.
Joseph also paid his temple tax. (To be tax). His paying temple tax had nothing to do with the Augustus decree registration of 6 months earlier during Johns birth. Yes, John’s birth, not Jesus! There is 6 months seperation in time from Luke 2:1-3 and Luke 2:4
Jesus, the Lamb of God, was born while the temple sacrifical lambs were also being born. And likewise was sacrificed at Passover as were the lambs.
Thanks Will. Gavin appears to have made multiple errors, but they are hidden because he has not laid out his calculation clearly.
As I mention above, the domestic calendar begins with the month of Nissan, usually our mid-March. For some reason, Gavin has started his year in Av, which is the start of neither the ecclesiastical nor the domestic calendar.
And he makes no mention of the feast weeks, when all 24 divisions are on duty.
His goal appears to confirm the tradition of the early church, which elsewhere he maintains expresses a historically reliable record of events, in parallel with the written record of Scripture—without any real evidence.
A strange argument really…
Gavin also claims here that Telesphorus, whom Gavin claims is the seventh bishop of Rome, celebrated Christmas on Dec 25th, but I know of no evidence that this was the case.
This website https://didyouknow.org/christmas/history/ makes the following comment:
“To avoid persecution during the Roman pagan festival, early Christians decked their homes with Saturnalia holly. As Christian numbers increased and their customs prevailed, the celebrations took on a Christian observance. But the early church actually did not celebrate the birth of Christ in December until Telesphorus, who was the second Bishop of Rome from 125 to 136AD, declared that Church services should be held during this time to celebrate “The Nativity of our Lord and Saviour.” However, since no-one was quite sure in which month Christ was born, Nativity was often held in September, which was during the Jewish Feast of Trumpets (modern-day Rosh Hashanah). In fact, for more than 300 years, people observed the birth of Jesus on various dates.
In the year 274 AD, solstice fell on 25th December. Roman Emperor Aurelian proclaimed the date as “Natalis Solis Invicti,” the festival of the birth of the invincible sun. In 320 AD, Pope Julius I specified the 25th of December as the official date of the birth of Jesus Christ.”
Again, Gavin wants the tradition to be right, so appears to invent facts to confirm this.
Consider that 25 Decemeber isn’t remembered for his birth, but rather for the date the wise men worshipped and gifted little Jesus? After all, when the wise men showed up in Jerusalem and asked questions of King Herod, that it caused quite the stir in the whole community. As such, it may be that date was the one remember, and not Jesus’s quiet and private birth 9 months earlier?
When I studied the Gospels for my Bachelor’s degree, I traced these things to the OT Scriptures and back again. I even looked into Lightfoot’s, Schaff’s and other authors writings. I think the concept of Jesus’ birth in September seems most likely. Thank you for posting this information out for others to read.
At the time I had a Christian friend who discovered his mother was Jewish, and he began paying a lot of attention to calendars, practices, festivals, and more. It served me well to pay attention to what we can learn from putting our attention on facts, rather than on beliefs.
I appreciate your hard work to keep up with studying, interviewing, and more. Thanks.
Interesting. Proximity to a festival might also explain why the guest room was already taken up although there could of course be any number of reasons for that, not least the census.
Taylor Marshall argued in a book and blog post that Jesus was born on 25 December, using priestly division on duty calculations, see https://taylormarshall.com/2012/12/yes-christ-was-really-born-on-december.html. Gavin Ashenden’s post may be based on this.
There has been a little debate about the historical climate of Bethlehem and Jerusalem with some suggesting that two thousands years ago was similar to today, others arguing that it was wetter and milder. Sadly I don’t have details on any research in this area.
But even if there was some frost and snow in winter, as Bethlehem can experience today, I wonder what would have happened to the sheep. Do we have any evidence that they were kept somewhere else in winter than in summer?
Dr. Paul, what is your opinion about the Jesus birth year? 30 or 33 AD?
Are you asking about the year of Jesus’ death…?
Yes.
Thomas, to take your questions in reverse order, there does seem to be evidence of sheep being taken into winter shelters in Roman practice. See this thesis, p 46: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2663&context=etd_hon_theses
Whether that applies to Judea, who knows?
This Catholic writer suggests that the climate might have been cooler and wetter in the first century: http://blog.adw.org/2017/03/climate-like-time-jesus/
I think Taylor Marshall’s argument is odd, and again he obscures his argument. The notion that the eighth division took place in October is based on the citation of a German work from 1887!
But this book, which was cited in a discussion online, gives the reason: http://www.nowoezone.com/NTC07.htm
In the Bablylonian Talmud, it was argued (on theological grounds) that the destruction of the temple happened on the same day on the two occasions, the ninth of AV. The division on duty was that of Jehioiarib, which is the first division.
I have to say that that is pretty flimsy logic; I am not sure there is any supporting evidence to suggest that the ecclesiastical year ever began then.
But it takes some digging because those arguing for 25th Dec don’t make their real reasons clear—and I can see why!
Surely if we can tie down the return of Christ to a festival (and I recognise the flaws in attempting such a thing), it must be the Feast of Trumpets. It’s the feast at the end of the harvest period, the trumpet is the sound of the return, and it doesn’t seem to symbolise anything else in the life of Christ.
I am not sure why we would want to do that….!
Why wouldn’t you accept the Return of Christ during the Festival of Trumpets???
It surely makes much much much more sense than to celebrate Christ’s birth on pagan date of Dec. 25th …
In Christ Name Amen
It is not a question of ‘accepting’ it. It is about the logic of the argument.
25th Dec is not, contrary to popular belief, a ‘pagan’ date. There is no evidence that this date was any pagan celebration.
I see a lot of “ifs” in there Ian, and, whilst your theological reasoning at the end is excellent, it does of course only work for the northern hemisphere. Have a meaningful Christmas whenever you celebrate Christ’s birth and thank you for your continuing thought provoking articles
Thanks Chris. But the only real ‘if’ is whether Jesus was born in September or March, depending on whether Zechariah was doing his first or second duty.
I would suggest that this is a plausible reconstruction, rather than speculation…
Foe one who is so far from the events in question it can only be arrogance that would categorically declare that “the only question is”.
At the end of the day other than fulfilling a need to show oneself to be smarter than everyone else what does it matter? Those who do not believe will continue to glom onto the thought that the story of Jesus is made up, thus saturnalia comes in. Those who question will not accept the stated facts of the story as one respondent above wants to think this explains the extra room being filled. No matter that the story explains that already.
Why is it so important that your understanding is THE CORRECT ONE? Is this not one of those areas in which we should be able to give great grace to one another and not act as though we possess the divine inspiration?
Yes, perhaps so. But a couple of things worth noting:
First, this discussion has mostly been driven by those who staunchly defend the traditional date. I don’t there is any reason or grounds for doing that.
Secondly, once we sit loose to the date, then we can focus on theological issues.
Thirdly, it is remarkable that we can have the possibility of knowing at this level of details—thanks to Jewish obsession with calendars.
And, fourthly, you would be amazed to find out how many people find this kind of historical details fascinating.
I enjoy it.
Ian, you say you know of no grounds for defending the traditional date. Edersheim disagrees with you, although he doesn’t go into (enough) detail to defend his case. Just saying.
Brian, I know of no argument *based on evidence*.
All the arguments that have been unearthed in the threads above are based on one argument from a Talmudic source about the timing of the divisions. But this is not really supported with evidence, and goes quite against what we do know about the ecclesiastical year.
See my replied to Will Jones, Thomas Renz and David Wilson.
‘As the nights close in, and the days shorten, we long to see light. As the winter gets colder, we long for warmth.’
Oh dear, personally I prefer autumn & winter to summer, I enjoy the cold and the dark nights!
Am I the only one?
Peter
Definitely not the only one, Peter! Another winter fan here.
Hurrah!
Ha! I almost suggested something like this as a guest blog. Nice and to the point. It looks like you switched the East and West dates at the beginning (thus why Russia still celebrates Christmas on January 7). Also, what do you make of Hippolytus’ early dating of Christmas to December 25? https://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2010/01/12/the-text-tradition-of-hippolytus-commentary-on-daniel/
Whoops! East and West corrected…
I think the Hippolytus tradition is interesting, and shows the tradition that developed.
But it is based on the notion that heroes died on the day they were conceived, and that a woman gives birth nine months to the day after conception.
I am not sure it tells us more than the early belief in these two realities. And no-one now defends this date of Jesus’ death, since it doesn’t match with what we know of Jewish calendars.
I always thought the reason that the Russians celebrate Christmas on the 7th January of the Gregorian calendar is that this is the 25th December of the Julian calendar and why the October revolution of 1917 was in November of the Gregorian calendar.
Thank you. I do enjoy this matter and I am a firm believer (by mere instinct) in the December 25th date. I’m also content to wait until eternity to be proved right. Meantime, Edersheim does say: “There is no adequate reason for questioning the historical accuracy of this date (i.e. 25th December). The objections generally made rest on grounds, which seem to me historically untenable. The subject has been fully discussed in an article by Cassel in Herzog’s Real. Ency. xvii. pp. 588-594” but I have been unable to track down that article in well equipped libraries and even on the information superhighway. I have a feeling however that the truth is out there…
Dr. Michael Heiser – When Was Jesus Really Born? | CT 054
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYW7EgLcxc4
This is really frustrating! He talks about ‘plugging it into an astronomy machine’but he doesn’t really explain what he is doing with this passage.
Worse that than, he ignores *most* of the OT allusions in the passage, and appears to ignore all the correlation with the Python/Leto myth, which all the best informed see as vital to understanding the shape of Rev 12.
I don’t think this passage has anything to do with the date of Jesus’ birth! Even though he agrees with me on a September date.
Would this work for your first verse Ian…..?
In the height of summer
desert winds they cry.
Earth was dry and barren
sun baked from on high.
Sands were shifting, sand on sand,
sand on sand.
In the height of summer,
in that Holy Land.
Well, it would if you are wanting to match a Southern Hemisphere summer!
But can you do one for a rainy late summer/early autumn as September would be…?!
I also came to the conclusion that Jesus was born in September, at Succoth, based on a Bible study of 1 Chronicles 24.7–19. For me, it ticks all the boxes, viewed from the perspective of the Old Testament and Hebrew calendar, the Feasts of the Lord. The winter Feast of Dedication, mentioned in John 10:22, Hanukkah, the time of seed sowing, the commemoration of the re-dedication of the Temple in 164 BC, the miracle of the oil, all combine in perfect and beautiful symbolism, pointing to the conception of the Seed/Light of God in the womb/Temple of Mary. Even Mary/Maryam’s name, ‘bitterness’, comes from the same root as the word ‘myrrh’, which can mean distilled oil.
And Edersheim’s point about the Messiah being born at Migdal Eder – the Tower of the Flock, outside Bethlehem, is also significant.
Is there any objective, rather than speculative, evidence for that?
Thanks–but that assumes that Jesus *must* have been born at this festival. It might work well if he was; but why is that necessary?
Because every major thing that ever happened in the Bible, happened on a Feast Day. Even Noah’s Ark resting on Mt. Ararat. It was the 17th day of the 7th month, which later became the first month and was the Feast of Firstfruits aka when Christ rose from the Dead. He surely must have been born on a Feast Day-most likely Feast of Trumpets or Sukkot/Tabernacles. He died on Passover and rose on Firstfruits. The Holy Spirit was poured out on Feast of Pentecost. No doubt He will return on a Feast Day as well. Jesus’ life fulfills all the Feasts. Am I wrong?
If he ‘must surely have been born on a feast day’ how come not a single NT author mentions this?
Ian, Sara has indeed hit on the fact that Jesus was indeed born on a feast day. Passover as a matter of fact. Jesus was born on Passover just as lambs are born in that season for a sacrifice and he died on a Passover just as lambs are sacrificed.
Amen to that, Sara!
Thank you for sharing
The Jews beleive that Elijah AND the Messiah will come on a Passover. They will never recognize a Messiah unless he comes on Passover. It is necessary for Christ to be discovered to have been born on Passover for them to accept him as the Messiah.
Amen to that, Kate!
Thank you for sharing
Ian, many thanks for this thoughtful and careful explanation. Having recently finished Colin Nicholl’s book ‘The Great Christ Comet’, in which he uses a wealth of astronomical data to arrive at the conclusion that Jesus was probably born near the end of October (in the year 6 B.C.) two questions spring to mind: 1) How much margin for error is there in your calculations – and is it sufficient to cover a date a few weeks later? 2) I think your argument for September is independent of the year; is that correct?
Yes, that is correct. I think astronomical explanations are interesting—but I am persuaded by Dick France who points that that *no* star can stand above and point out a house. He concludes from this that it was indeed miraculous.
If the sheep were gathered into a shelter, you could presumably call that shelter a stable.
I guess you could. Except that I don’t know anyone who, when hearing ‘stable’, would think ‘Living room’. Do you?
“The north wind is tossing the leaves,
The red dust is over the town,
The sparrows are under the eaves
And the grass in the paddock is brown
As we lift up our voices and sing
To the Christ child, the heavenly king!”
You can look it up at hymnary.org under the first line. Who knows how they’ve represented the tune, which I remember in terms of clashing chords. This is from a little book of Australian carols which was quite famous in its day, but seems to have faded into obscurity.
Can you please give a link to the Yale scholar you mentioned? Thanks and Happy (secular) New Year when we celebrate the annual return of unwanted presents and unkept resolutions.
Hi Ian,
I know this is on a slightly different matter, but I wondered if you could offer some evidence to debunk the following idea.
David.
The first gospel written was Mark in about 66-70 AD. It has nothing about Jesus’ birth or early life. Matthew and Luke were written in the 80s or 90s using Mark and other sources. There were prophesies about the Messiah widely accepted by Jews at the time: that he would be descended from David, be born in Bethlehem, be born to a virgin and come out of Egypt. The birth stories in Matthew and Luke fit with these prophesies. It seems quite possible that the bits which purport to fulfil these prophesies were added to provide evidence that God was behind it all. By the time Matthew and Luke were written, it is unlikely that anyone would have still been around who knew anything about Jesus early life, so the authors could get away with writing anything. The events surrounding Jesus’ early life wouldn’t have been public knowledge anyway, but would only have been known by his parents, who would certainly have been dead by the time Matthew and Luke added them to the gospel. It is unlikely that the magi would have recorded them for posterity as they went back home. And the shepherds would probably have been illiterate and not too concerned about recording history. The claims made about his early life have no historical support outside the bible. In fact, the birth story seems unlikely on historical grounds. Firstly, Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem for the census of Quirinius, then fled to Egypt because Herod (the Great, 37-4 BC) decreed that all boys in and around Bethlehem under two should be killed. But Herod the Great died 9 years before the census. The Census was held when Herod’s son, Herod Archelaus, was deposed when Rome established direct rule over Judea in 6 AD. So even Herod Archelaus couldn’t have given the decree. Secondly, by Roman custom, the census would have required people to be counted in their own town, not in the town of a distant ancestor, so they wouldn’t have needed to go to Bethlehem.
Hi David. I thin this comment (not sure where it is from) is mistaken on just about every claim it makes. For example, there were no such prophecies widely circulated; the majority of scholars would date the gospels earlier; there is good evidence that eye-witnesses provide information behind all the gospels; Matthew’s account does not fit the OT texts; the historical points are just wrong (See John Hudghton’s long historical comment on the Epiphany article here); and so on.
There are complex questions about the census; see my article on that.
I am not sure that the traditions of East and West account for Christmas on Jan 7th in orthodox calandar. The British Church, society and colonies including America lost 3-13th of September 1742 to transfer to the Gregorian Calendar from the Roman Julian Calendar (and the Continent did the change nearly 200 eyrs earlier than the UK). The reason was to correct the calculation for Easter which had slipped 10 days. That means that the Christmas date of 25 December in the Julian Roman calandar now falls on 7 January. The star is relevant too. I have always gone by the calculation that Jupiter and Saturn aligned as one star in early December 7BC (I believe) which was while Herod the Great (died 4 BC) was still alive.
Thanks. But I think it is really difficult to tie the alignment of planets with Jesus’ birth. For one, there is a big debate about whether Herod did actually die in 4 BC. For another, planets cannot point to the house where Jesus was born.
Consider… Jesus was the “STAR” the wise men followed. Not some astronomical event. 😉
If you add in the “star”, you can get the year as well
https://www.peter-ould.net/2007/12/22/dating-christs-birth/
Thanks for this. I like your observations about the parallels with the festival psalms. Not quite convinced by all the reasoning; we need to be careful not to think that, just because things fit nicely, that is evidence of dating!
Thanks to all for this discussion. I love it as long as we hold it fairly lightly.
A few days or weeks delay in the conception of John the baptist could allow Jesus’ birth to be in October when “The Bethlehem Star” would be visible low in the sky to the South when viewed from Jerusalem. Stars (whether wandering or fixed) can’t point but they can appear to “rest over the place” (South of Jerusalem) as observed and then recorded for us to read.
The late 1Harold Hoehner (in his Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ) argues for the month of December; I like the September proposal if only for the fact that Jesus’ birth was an August occasion. Proximity matters!
At 86 years of age and having acquiesced to (note I did NOT say “I have endured”) such discussions for a great many of those years there are a couple of thoughts that really stand out:
1. Assuming our creator (whom we seem to believe in great force saw to it to have preserved the Bible ((or at least the majority of it)) preserved for our use and education);
2. Which Bible is replete with passages and dates that are easily verified/confirmed ;
Why did he not identify the exact date and time for observing the birth of the Messiah, “IF it was to be commemorated yearly?
And, along with the notion that so many festivals WERE to be commemorated by his people (the descendants of Abraham) and which were in many cases not optional to celebrate, would he not have ensured that they would have been able to do so?
To that question there are only two plausible answers:
a. He had no intention of requiring celebration of that day;
b. if there was originally in the works of any of the Bible writers such information but which was obliterated by anti-biblical forces — recall the fate of many of the zealous Bible distributors /publishers — either of which might excuse us of obligation to so commemorate the birth of the Messiah, in which case I would conclude that we are under no Christian obligation observe the Birth of the Messiah.
respectfully,
Larry —
Your conclusion that theology is more important that chronology is a sound conclusion. We have to accept that if Jesus and the gospel writers did not record the date of the birth of Jesus, it was not important to them. Likewise it should not be important to us. His birth was amazing and miraculous, that is enough to inspire us to follow him and believe in the God of heaven who does wonderful and miraculous things.
Thanks. I am not quite sure that ‘it was not important to them, so should not be important to us’ follows. I agree that it might raise a question about the exact date, but doesn’t answer the question about how festivals might encourage faith.
I’m sure even Jesus wouldn’t want his birthday to be celebrated because king Solomon stated in the Bible that ‘the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth’
All evidences point to the fact that Jesus was born within September and October.
December 25th was just assumed to cover the pagan festivals then.
I don’t think that is true. There is an urban myth that Christians took over the pagan festival of Saturnalia, but there is little actual evidence for this.
If Jesus was born in late Sept early October, then that would place his conception in December, maybe during the Festival of Lights. So December especially Dec 25 if Sept 29 is assumed would still be a important part of the history. Whether he was born in December or not the reasons why Christians were celebrating it on Dec 25 has no connection to Roman Pagan Festivals. Saturnalia is even on Dec 25 it’s Dec 17-23. The evidence show that many Early Jewish believers were celebrating Dec 25 at least as early as 202 AD, and more likely even earlier. As he mentioned it had to do with a Jewish tradition The fact that because of calendar difference the one half in Dec 25 and the other half is Jan 6 refutes the Pagan theory. Saturnalia would not explain Jan 6
I do have to say the objection to Dec because it’s too cold, is not a strong one The average temperatures are consistent with Florida Winters and Snow fall is rare in Dec.
He was born. He died. He was resurrected on the 3rd day (counting from Friday to Sunday) is all that matters.
Yes—though other things are interesting too…
Why do Christians fetishize the birthday of Jesus when so many of them claim – quite insistently – to be certain that it is conception that makes one a human being? Why isn’t Jesus’ (anachronistic) day of conception the big holiday for Christians? Why don’t they worship the foetus Jesus along with the baby Jesus? I think honest answers to these questions would tell us much about modern day Christians’ real thinking.
I think it is because one’s birthday is the day one is born. Having said that, the Annunciation is indeed a feast in the Church, so Christians do celebrate something close to the moment of conception.
the most abundant and common records globally are tax and census records. One would believe that the easiest way of determining the actual time of the year would be through the edicts and mandates and records revolving around the census.
I actually fail to see the importance or the need to spend energy on the question at all.
It seems to have been overlooked that December 25 is at – give or take a couple of days – the Festival of Chanukkah/Hanukah/etc (Feast of Dedication). This is very conceivably (forgive the pun) the time of the conception of Jesus.
Looky there. The “Light of the world” was conceived during what was later called the “Festival of Lights.” Coinkidink??? I think not.
It was prophesied in the book of Haggai that Jesus Christ, the foundation stone of the True Temple made without hands would be born on the 24the of Kislev which is one day before Hanukah, the feast of dedication or lights. So you’re right it’s not a coincidence and neither is the fact that the name Haggai is interpreted “My Feast”.
Yes, you are right about the meaning of Haggai. But where is this supposed prophecy?
Dear Ian
In the Complete Jewish Bible and many other versions , Luke 1:26 does not read the way you have stated in this article. Elizbeth’s pregnancy is not mention in verse 26. In fact it precisely says,
Luke 26 In the Sixth Month, the angel Gavri’el was sent by God to a city in the Galil called Natzeret, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Yosef, of the house of David; the virgin’s name was Miryam. 28 Approaching her, the angel said, “Shalom, favored lady! Adonai is with you!”
NOW at this time on the Biblical calendar established by GOD at the exodus from Egypt, It would have been the Sixth Month which the Hebrews called Elul which is would have been August-September for the time of conception! God’s names for the months are numerical. The Hebrews choose to add Babylonian names to those numerical names First thru 12th month. Here is a link to the correct calendar for the time period.
https://godtime.blog/messiah-was-conceived-in-september-born-in-may/
Thanks, that is interesting.
You are quite right that the text says Ἐν δὲ τῷ μηνὶ τῷ ἕκτῳ ‘And in the sixth month’. The question is, sixth month of what? The reason why I think all commentators believe this is the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, is that in Luke 1.24, Luke has commented ‘For five months she kept herself hidden’. We then have the disjunctive de, ‘But, in the sixth month…’
So the contrast shows here that it was the sixth month of her being pregnant, not the sixth month of the year. That is why you have not heard any sermons on this.
Ian,
Have you seen the following? https://www.quora.com/What-evidence-do-you-have-that-Jesus-was-born-on-April-6th/answer/LeEric-Marvin
I would love some feedback!
Best regards, LeEric
The crucifixion was 30AD
We are off on our AD calandar.
How do you know?
about 99 percent of this page is comments
then best not to add to them…?
https://baltimoretimes-online.com/news/2021/12/02/breaking-news-jesus-was-indeed-born-in-december-christmas-is-correctly-dated/
Wondering what you think about the points made in this article. Personally I’m fine with Sept which would place the Incarnation in Dec, which is really when his life began anyways. There is historical evidence that some Christians were already celebrating it in December around 200 AD or earlier, so that refutes all the Pagan silliness.