2), it is clear that Jesus was born sometime in 4 BC. This means, counting back the nine months of gestation and the six-month difference in age, John must have been conceived in the first half of 5 BC. This fact forces us to choose the first shift of the course of Abijah as the time when Gabriel visited Zacharias in the Temple.
Full Answer
· Thus, John was born in the spring of 4 BC, probably between March 18 and 31. By projecting forward another six months to Jesus' birth, the most probable time for His birth occurred between September 16 and 29.
complete the year. Zacharias worked in the eighth course of Abijah. While he was serving in his course, the Angel Gabriel appeared to him and told him he would have a son named John. (Luk 1:5-17) These calendars show the possible conception and birth dates for John the Baptist and Jesus Christ based on the Course of Abijah.
· Tradition teaches that Jesus was born on December 25, when it is very cold, and sometimes snowy, in Bethlehem. We believe the evidence supports the conclusion that Jesus was born in September. Tradition would have us believe that there were three wise men, and that they came to the manger.
6 year. This is because he was a member of the course of Abia (Abijah), the 8th course, and both the Feast of Unleavened Bread (15-21 Nisan) and Pentecost (6 Sivan) would have
University of Cambridge Professor Colin Humphreys has argued in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society that a comet in the early 5 BC was likely the "Star of Bethlehem", putting Jesus' birth in or near April, 5 BC.
The Virgin Mary, pregnant with the son of God, would hence have given birth to Jesus nine months later on the winter solstice. From Rome, the Christ's Nativity celebration spread to other Christian churches to the west and east, and soon most Christians were celebrating Christ's birth on December 25.
Herodian Kingdom of JudeaJohn the Baptist / Born
Role in the TempleDivisionNameshould start workingFifthMalchijah24/2/2024SixthMijamin2/3/2024SeventhHakkoz9/3/2024EighthAbijah16/3/202420 more rows
Dec. 25 is not the date mentioned in the Bible as the day of Jesus's birth; the Bible is actually silent on the day or the time of year when Mary was said to have given birth to him in Bethlehem. The earliest Christians did not celebrate his birth.
December 25Christmas, the holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, is celebrated by a majority of Christians on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar.
3:11.) Age 30 was, significantly, the age at which the Levites began their ministry and the rabbis their teaching. When Jesus “began to be about thirty years of age,” he went to be baptized of John at the river Jordan. (Luke 3:23.)
The feast of Saint John in France celebrates the birth of St John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin who baptised him in the Jordan River. The Church has given it the date of 24 June, which is at the time of the summer solstice.
Herodian Kingdom of JudeaJohn the Baptist / Place of birthThe Herodian Kingdom of Judea was a client state of the Roman Republic from 37 BCE, when Herod the Great was appointed "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate. When Herod died in 4 BCE, the kingdom was divided among his sons into the Herodian Tetrarchy. Wikipedia
Abijah, also spelled Abia, Hebrew Abiyyah, or Abiyyahu, (“Yahweh Is My Father”), any of nine different persons mentioned in the Bible, of whom the most noteworthy are the following: (1) The son and successor of Rehoboam, king of Judah (II Chronicles 12:16, 13), who reigned about two years (c.
A descendant of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, a chief of the eighth of the twenty-four orders into which the priesthood was divided by David and an ancestor of Zechariah, the priest who was the father of John the Baptist.
BethlehemBirthplace of Jesus: Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route, Bethlehem. The inscribed property is situated 10 km south of Jerusalem on the site identified by Christian tradition as the birthplace of Jesus since the 2nd century.
Having established the date of Jesus’ birth, we can now determine the time when He began His public ministry—at 30 years of age. Coincidentally, 30 was the age that a Hebrew man could begin His ministry, as described in the traditions of the elders.
It is certain that Jesus was not born in December, because shepherds do not keep watch over their sheep outdoors this late in the season . Luke testifies that during the time of Jesus’ birth, there were shepherds with their sheep out in the fields.
These dates are verified by the secular record of Suetonius, revealing that Tiberius Caesar began his reign on August 19, 14 A.D. [11] According to Luke’s Gospel, in the 15th year of Tiberius’ reign, Jesus was baptized at the Jordan River by John the Baptist, in the Fall of 28 A.D.
Adding 3 1/2 years or four Passovers, we come to 32 A.D., when Jesus was crucified on Passover, April 14, 32 A.D.
Elizabeth conceived John the Baptist on July 13, 4 B.C., which allows us to know the date of Jesus’ conception—the fourth week of December, 4 B.C. (See the chart above.)
The following chart will help you visualize how and when these events took place. The first course of Jehoiarib began on August 5, 70 A.D. [9] We know this from the writings of Josephus and the Talmud. [10] Counting backwards, as these times of service were consistent in the precise months in which they would occur; in 4 B.C., when Zacharias received his turn to serve in the Temple, it would have been during the course of Abijah, which was completed on July 13th, 4 B.C.
Luke 1:5 “ There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.”
In my next Post I will present both astronomical/zodiac evidence and a scriptural reference from Rev. 12:1-6 to “prove” that Jesus was born on September 11, 3 BC, when the astronomical signs in Revelation aligned precisely and uniquely with this specific date. Establishing the birth date of Jesus from the birth date of John ...
The biblical method of calculating the birthday of Jesus involves figuring the birthdate of John the Baptist and then applying other information in Luke’s Gospel regarding the time difference between their births. This clearly places Jesus’ birthdate in the fall of the year.
Of course, the other possibility is that the date that the angel struck Zechariah and caused him to lose his speech was during Zechariah’s second service term in the second half of the year, rather than during the first term of service in the spring. However, this is unlikely, as it would have caused the birth of John the Baptist to be ...
Therefore, he left for home. Sometime between May 26 and June 1, Elizabeth would have conceived. She later gave birth to John the Baptist near March 10 in 3 BC (after the gestation period of 9 months and 10 days, a total of 280 days). This would place the birth of Jesus six months later (Luke 1:26-38) in the first half of September, in 3 BC.
A normal year on the present Hebrew calendar consists of 12-lunar months of 29 or 30 days, for a total of 354 days, which is about 11 days fewer than a solar year (365.24 days). During a regular Jewish year, which occurs 12 times in a 19-year cycle, a total of 51 weeks would require Temple coverage ...
This is an important clue, as the priestly division of Abijah was the eighth of the 24 divisions which King David, on God’s instructions, had set up to service the Temple (1 Chronicles 24:1-19; 28:12-13). King David had divided the descendants of the sons of Eleazar and Ithamar, the two sons of Aaron, into 24 groups (courses) ...
Determining the birth date of John the Baptist is the first puzzle piece in our process of assembling the “puzzle” of Jesus’ birth.
Tradition teaches that Jesus was born on December 25, when it is very cold, and sometimes snowy, in Bethlehem. We believe the evidence supports the conclusion that Jesus was born in September. Tradition would have us believe that there were three wise men, and that they came to the manger.
How else do we know that Jesus was not born in the Winter? Luke 2:8 speaks about the shepherds near Bethlehem who were in the fields, watching their flocks at night. Shepherds in that region did not keep their sheep out at night during the Winter because it was cold and sometimes even snowy, but they did keep them in the fields during the Fall, after the end-of-Summer harvest. At that time, the sheep could eat the stalks of grain left over after the harvest, and they would then fertilize the ground prior to the late Fall planting.
And we believe that research shows that he was born on September 11 (Tishri 1 on the Jewish calendar), on which day the sun was in Virgo, as per the prophecy in Revelation 12:1 of “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet” (Rev. 12:1). [1]
We think it is sad that so many people on earth associate the birth of Jesus Christ with a fictitious being called “Santa Claus,” who has come to be known as the Giver of good gifts.
We quote from Jesus Christ Our Promised Seed: “In 274 A.D., the Romans designated December 25 as the birthday of the unconquered sun, being the time when the sun begins noticeably to show an increase in light, resulting in longer daylight hours.
In 4 B.C., the year prior to Christ’s birth, the first of those two courses took place during the last week of our month of May. Zechariah and Elizabeth were quite elderly, and had no children, and the angel gave them the wonderful news that they would have a son, to be named John.
As the NIV Study Bible says regarding that verse: “Contrary to tradition, the Magi did not visit Jesus at the manger on the night of his birth as did the shepherds. They first came to Jerusalem, apparently thinking that in the capital city of Israel they should be able to find out where the king had been born.
The birth of Jesus fell during the 7 th month of the Biblical calendar which is our September/October. It is during the 7 th month that the Biblical holy day of Succoth is celebrated. The term Succoth comes from the Hebrew word “cukkah” which literally means booth or tabernacle.
Most are familiar with story of the birth of Christ from Luke 2. But it is Luke 1 that provides the means by which the timing of the birth of Jesus can be determined. In Luke 1 we have the story of Zacharias, the priest, and his wife, Elisabeth. Zacharias and Elisabeth were well on in years and without children.
John 1:14 makes a possible allusion to the birth of Jesus during the feast of Succoth. John 1:14 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. The “ Word ” (Jesus) “ was made flesh ” (conceived) “ and dwelt ” ...
As it is told in Luke 1, Zacharias was performing his duty in the temple when the angel appeared and told him they would have a son and to call his name John. Needless to say Zacharias was somewhat incredulous considering their age.
The second clue has to do with the conception of John the Baptist who was conceived six months before Jesus was conceived. Scriptures about the two conceptions are found in Luke 1 below:
Luk 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. Luk 1:6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
Although the Bible does not give us the date of Jesus’ birth, it does give clues as to when he was born. Together, these clues give us at least the year and the season, if not the actual day.