The Star of Bethlehem

By Timothy L. Norris

The birth of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of human history. Our years are numbered in accordance with the eras BC and AD signifying Before Christ and Anno Domini, i.e., “in the year of the Lord.” We celebrate the biggest holiday of the year in remembrance of His birth but amazingly, we still do not know the actual day He was born. For over two thousand years now, the date has remained shrouded in mystery.

However, God may have provided for us just enough information to untangle this longstanding riddle. Sifting through that information will be the focus of this book. Using a combination of secular history, archaeology, astronomy, and Holy Scripture, we will develop a comprehensive theory, piece by piece, that supports the chronology for the birth, ministry, and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. The evidence will be built on a firm foundation starting with God’s declaration in Genesis 1:14 that among other things, the heavens are for signs. The famous star that “stood over where the child was,” or the “Star of Bethlehem” is one of those signs.

Step by step, we will sort through the evidence to build our case one layer at a time, comparing our theory and chronology with secular history, supporting our belief that God’s only Son truly walked among us, and that the Bible has provided for us an actual historically accurate account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth.

The book was developed and organized in an attempt to enable the reader to validate, challenge, or refute the evidence for themselves. A total of four hundred and forty-seven (447) endnotes have been provided to facilitate independent assessment and verification of the source references by the reader. The book’s findings are supported by a variety of illustrations, having seventy seven (77) figures and tables covering a wide range of topics using: celestial sky maps to illustrate the Star of Bethlehem’s course in the heavens, detailed timelines from the course of Abijah in Luke 1:5 to the birth of Christ in Luke 2:7, Herod’s last years, the Passion Week, Josephus’ histories of King Herod, and the Census of Quirinius. Tables dating the Governors of Syria, images of ancient coins, timelines of Gaius Caesar's Syrian governorship, the War of Varus, and much more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9781312705951

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The Star of Bethlehem

Timothy L. Norris

Copyright © 2023 Timothy L. Norris

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Scripture quotations (unless otherwise indicated) are from the King James Bible in the Public Domain available online at http://www.davince.com/pdf-holybible.

In some cases, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Title: The Star of Bethlehem

Author: Timothy L. Norris

ISBN: 978-1-312-70595-1 (e)

Published by: Lulu.com

Table of Contents

Cover Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

Table of Figures

Table of Tables

About this Book

Introduction

Psalm 19

1      Genesis 1:14, the Course of Abijah, and the Birth of Christ

1.1      Introduction

1.2      God told us long ago that He would give us a sign (Genesis 1:14)

1.3      Courses of the Priests

1.3.1      Two Theories: Continuous Courses or First Course Starts Anew Each New Year

1.4      Calendars

1.4.1      Current Modern Julian / Gregorian Calendar

1.4.2      The Hebrew Calendar

1.5      The Course of Abijah

1.6      John’s Conception and Elizabeth’s Hiding

1.7      Mary and the Sixth Month

1.8      Daniel and the Magi

1.9      The Messiah and the Star of Bethlehem

1.9.1      His coming was predicted: The prophecies concerning the Messiah

1.9.2      His coming was expected

1.9.3      He did come

1.9.4      The Star of Bethlehem

1.9.5      Hypothetical guideposts for the Magi to identify His star

1.10      The Birth of Jesus in a Biblical Clue

1.11      The Sign of His Coming on Tishri 1, 3 BC; The First Day of the Jewish New Year

1.12      Jupiter Circumscribes a Crown Around Regulus

1.12.1      Retrograde motion

1.12.2      Why this is unique

1.13      The Days After Gabriel’s Visit On Tishri 1, 3 BC

1.14      The Conception: Eve of the Feast of Tabernacles - 14 Tishri 3 BC

1.15      Confirming the Date and Time of Jesus’ Conception

1.16      The Birth: 14 Sivan 2 BC (17 June 2 BC)

1.17      The Time of Jesus’ Birth

1.18      Circumcision and Receiving the Name Jesus on the Summer Solstice

1.19      Expanding and Validating the Theory

1.20      Summarizing from Abijah to the Birth of Christ

2      The Historical Evidence for Jesus’ Birth in 2 BC

2.1      Early Church Historians and Chronologists

2.1.1      Tertullian

2.1.2      Epiphanius of Salamis

2.1.3      Clement of Alexandria

2.1.4      Julius Africanus

2.1.5      Paulus Orosius

2.2      Summary: History and astronomy support the birth of Christ in 2 BC

3      Christmas, the Magi, and the Lunar Eclipse Before Herod Died

3.1      King Herod, The Magi, and the 25 December Christmas Story

3.2      King Herod’s Death Following a Lunar Eclipse

3.2.1      The Eclipses Prior to the 13 March 4 BC Eclipse: 23 March 5 BC and 15 September 5 BC

3.2.2      The 13 March 4 BC Eclipse

3.2.2.1      Arguments in favor of the 13 March 4 BC eclipse

3.2.2.2      Arguments against the 13 March 4 BC eclipse

3.2.2.2.1      The Timeline for the 13 March 4 BC eclipse

3.2.2.2.2      Purim Festival and the Fast of Esther

3.2.3      The 1 BC Eclipses

3.2.3.1      Eclipse of 10 January 1 BC

3.2.3.1.1      Eclipse, Rabbis burnt alive, and massacre of innocents nearly simultaneous events

3.2.3.1.2      Rabbis burnt alive on preparation day continuing into the evening of the Sabbath

3.2.3.1.3      Holy family refuge in Egypt for only one month prior to Herod’s death

3.2.3.2      Eclipse of 29 December 1 BC

3.2.4      An exploration of the possibility that Herod’s death was on 2 Shevat 1 AD

4      Jesus’ Life, Ministry, and Crucifixion

4.1      The Birth

4.2      Determining the Start of Jesus’ Ministry

4.2.1      Establishing the Date of the 1st Regnal Year of Tiberius from Coin Data

4.2.2      Establishing the Date of the 1st Regnal Year of Tiberius from Consular Dates

4.2.3      Determining the Year that John the Baptist and Jesus began their ministries

4.2.4      One last confirmation; Jesus will raise this temple in three days

4.2.4.1      The hypothesis: John 2:18-20 occurred right before Passover in 30 AD

4.2.4.2      Testing the hypothesis: Events of John 2:18-20 occurred right before Passover in 30 AD

4.2.4.3      Calculating the range of possible dates for the 46th year after the temple completed

4.2.4.3.1      Earliest completion date for the temple (19t1)

4.2.4.3.2      Latest completion date for the temple (18t1)

4.2.4.3.3      The Forty-Sixth Year after the Earliest Temple Completion Date (28t/29t)

4.2.4.3.4      The Forty-Sixth Year after the Latest Temple Completion Date (29t/30t)

4.2.4.3.5      The Range of Temple Build Dates that validate John 2:20

4.3      Determining the Length of Jesus’ Ministry

4.3.1      Original Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread as declared by God

4.3.2      Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread in Jesus’ time

4.3.3      Using scripture to determine the year Jesus was crucified

4.4      The Chronology of Jesus’ Last Week (the Passion Week)

4.4.1      7 Nisan, Thursday sunset to Friday sunset

4.4.2      8 Nisan, Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, the Sabbath

4.4.3      9 Nisan, Saturday sunset to Sunday sunset (Jesus travels from Jericho to Bethany)

4.4.4      10 Nisan, Sunday sunset to Palm Monday sunset

4.4.5      11 Nisan, Monday sunset to Tuesday sunset

4.4.6      12 Nisan, Tuesday sunset to Wednesday sunset

4.4.7      13 Nisan, Wednesday sunset to Thursday sunset

4.4.8      14 Nisan, Thursday sunset through Good Friday sunset

4.4.9      15 Nisan, Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, the Sabbath

4.4.10      16 Nisan, Saturday sunset to Sunday sunset, the first day of the week

4.5      The Crucifixion

4.5.1      The Day of the Crucifixion

4.5.2      A Last Look at the Heavens

4.5.3      Historical Affirmation of the Crucifixion: Literary records

4.5.3.1      The Crucifixion Predicted

4.5.3.2      Jerome (325-420 AD), The Chronicle (citing Phlegon)

4.5.3.3      George Syncellus (9th century AD), Chronography, citing Julius Africanus

4.5.3.4      Origen (185 - 254 AD), Against Celsus, citing Phlegon

4.5.3.5      Tertullian (c. 155 - 245 AD)

4.5.3.6      The Apocryphal Gospels: Acts of Pontius Pilate

4.5.3.7      The Gospel of the Hebrews: Temple destruction on the day of crucifixion

4.5.4      Historical Affirmation of the Crucifixion: Earthquake Records

4.5.4.1      The Science of dating earthquakes

4.5.4.2      Dead Sea earthquake records and recent investigations

4.5.5      Conclusion: History, Geology, and Astronomy affirm Jesus of Nazareth was crucified in 33 AD.

4.6      The Resurrection

4.7      The Aftermath

4.7.1      Changed Lives and altering the Arc of History

4.7.1.1      Pliny the Younger (61 - c. 113 AD)

4.7.1.2      Justin Martyr (c. 100 - 165 AD)

4.7.1.3      Lucian of Samosata (c. 125 - after 180 AD)

4.7.1.4      Tertullian (c 155 - c. 240 AD)

4.7.2      The Temple falls in 70 AD

4.8      Summary of the Life of Jesus

5      Coins, Artifacts, and the Governors of Syria

5.1      The Goal is Chronological Truth

5.2      Coins

5.2.1      Varus Coins (or Varro Coins)

5.2.1.1      Varus and Varro, two governors with one Greek name

5.2.1.2      Josephus’ account of Varro, the governor of Syria

5.2.1.3      Summary and conclusions regarding Varro’s governorship based on coin and literary evidence

5.2.2      Volusius Saturninus Coin

5.2.3      Parthian Hostage Coin

5.3      Artifact of Marcus Titius, Governor of Syria

5.4      Sorting Out the List of Syrian Governors

5.4.1      Marcus Agrippa (15-12 BC)

5.4.2      Marcus Titius (11-7 BC)

5.4.3      Sentius Saturninus (6-2 BC)

5.4.4      Sulpicius Quirinius (3-2 BC) with Saturninus

5.4.5      Quinctilius Varus (1 BC-1 AD)

5.4.6      Gaius Caesar (1-4 AD)

5.4.7      Volusius Saturninus (5 AD)

5.4.8      Sulpicius Quirinius (6-7 AD)

5.4.9      Summary and next steps

5.5      A Revised List of the Governors of Syria for 12 BC through 7 AD

6      The Day King Herod Died

6.1      Introduction

6.2      An Alternate Theory: Coregency and a Possible Chronological Error

6.2.1      The Evidence for a Coregency

6.2.2      The Unique Case of Philip the Tetrarch - A Possible Chronological Error in Josephus’ Narrative

6.2.2.1      The Chronological issue - a disputed passage

6.2.2.2      An approach to solve the problem - A logical evaluation of the chronology involved

6.2.2.3      Timeline summary analysis and conclusions

6.2.2.4      The Disputed Passage - Exploring the options

6.2.2.4.1      Option 1: Philip died in the 20th year of Tiberius in the 37th year of Philip’s reign

6.2.2.4.2      Option 2: Philip died in the 22nd year of Tiberius in the 37th year of Philip’s reign

6.2.2.5      Implications of the two options

6.2.2.6      Summary and Conclusions regarding the disputed passage

6.3      Summary and Conclusions: Herod died on 2 Shevat = 16 January 1 AD

7      Untangling The Chronology of Herod’s Reign

7.1      General Issues with Josephus’ Account of Herod’s Reign

7.2      The Histories of Josephus

7.3      The Chapters in Time - An Advance Summary

7.4      Josephus, Antiquity of the Jews (29 December 1 BC Eclipse)

7.4.1      Book XVI, Chapter 1 (18-16 BC)

7.4.2      Book XVI, Chapter 2 (15-14 BC)

7.4.3      Book XVI, Chapter 3 (14-11 BC)

7.4.4      Book XVI, Chapter 4 (11 BC)

7.4.4.1      Summary of Book XVI, Chapters 1-4

7.4.5      Book XVI, Chapter 5 (10-8 BC)

7.4.5.1      Summary of Book XVI, Chapter 5

7.4.6      Book XVI, Chapter 6 (various)

7.4.7      Book XVI, Chapter 7 (9-8 BC)

7.4.7.1      Summary of Book XVI, Chapter 7

7.4.8      Book XVI, Chapter 8 (7 BC)

7.4.8.1      Summary of Book XVI, Chapter 8

7.4.9      Book XVI, Chapter 9 (6-4 BC)

7.4.9.1      Summary of Book XVI, Chapter 9

7.4.10      Book XVI, Chapter 10 (5-4 BC)

7.4.10.1      Summary of Book XVI, Chapter 10

7.4.11      Book XVI, Chapter 11 (4 BC)

7.4.11.1      Summary of Book XVI, Chapter 11

7.4.12      Book XVII, Chapters 1-8 (3 BC-1 AD)

7.4.12.1      Summary of Book XVII, Chapters 1-8 Summary

7.4.13      Summary and Conclusions for the 29 December 1 BC Eclipse Chronology

7.5      Timelines for the 29 December 1 BC Eclipse Case (Baseline Case)

7.6      Josephus, Antiquity of the Jews (13 March 4 BC Eclipse)

7.6.1      Issues with the 4 BC Eclipse Case

7.6.1.1      The 4 BC eclipse issue

7.6.1.2      The archeological artifact issue

7.6.1.3      The coin evidence issue

7.6.1.4      The textual issues: extracting part of the narrative impacts the natural chronological flow

7.6.1.4.1      Chapter 9 issue: Appears to place Saturninus related events during Titius’ governorship

7.6.1.4.2      Chapter 7 issue: Places the missed marriage of Chapter 7 prior to Chapter 4.

7.6.1.5      Summarizing the textual issues and chronological distortions

7.6.2      Book XVI, Chapters 1-3 (18-11 BC); similar to the 1 BC Case

7.6.3      Book XVI, A Trip to Rome in 12 BC for the Trial of Alexander and Aristobolus

7.6.4      Book XVI, A Trip to Rome in 11 BC for the Trial of Alexander and Aristobolus

7.6.5      Book XVI, Create time gap in Chapter 9 to accommodate Titius / Saturninus transition

7.6.6      Book XVI, Illustrate Synchronization for Chapters 9 and 10

7.6.7      Book XVII, Execution of his sons until the death of Herod in April 4 BC.

7.6.8      Summary and Conclusions for the 13 March 4 BC Eclipse Chronology

7.6.8.1      Timeline Summaries for the 4 BC eclipse case

7.6.8.2      Summary and Conclusions

7.7      Timelines for the 13 March 4 BC Eclipse Case (Traditional Case)

8      Gaius Caesar and the War of Varus

8.1      Introduction

8.2      Dates with Historical Confirmation

8.3      Background

8.4      The History of Gaius Caesar from 3 BC until his death in 4 AD

8.4.1      Judaea (3 BC through 1 AD)

8.4.2      Gaius (3 BC through 1 BC and the commission to go to Syria)

8.4.3      Gaius (late 1 BC through the time of his departure to Syria in mid-1 AD)

8.4.3.1      A Note on the timing of Sabinus’ arrival in Caesarea and meeting Archelaus

8.4.4      The War of Varus (Passover 1 AD - late 1 AD / early 2 AD)

8.4.5      Gaius’ activities during the War of Varus (mid 1 AD - late 1 AD / early 2 AD)

8.4.6      Gaius’ activities after the War of Varus (late 1 AD / early 2 AD - 4 AD)

8.5      Parthia and Armenia (2 BC - 3 AD)

8.6      Summary and Conclusions

9      The Census of Quirinius

9.1      Introduction

9.1.1      Background

9.1.2      Luke’s introduction to Theophilus

9.1.3      Luke 2:1-7 The Census of Quirinius

9.1.4      Luke as an Historian

9.1.4.1      General Comments on Luke’s credibility

9.1.4.2      Specific historical details in Luke’s narrative verified through archaeology or inscription evidence

9.1.4.2.1      Derbe, Lystra in Lycaonia

9.1.4.2.2      Lysanius the Tetrarch

9.2      The Somewhat Implausible Case of the Sceptics

9.3      A Possible Explanation

9.4      The Beginnings of a Solution

9.5      The Roman Census - History and Background

9.5.1      Background / History of the census in the Roman Republic

9.5.2      Background / History of the census and taxation in the time of Augustus

9.5.2.1      Italy and Roman Citizens throughout the empire

9.5.2.2      Gaul

9.5.2.3      Sicily

9.5.2.4      Cyrenaica

9.5.2.5      Judaea

9.5.2.6      Syria

9.5.2.7      Egypt

9.6      The History of the Evidence Supporting the Census of Quirinius

9.6.1      The Discovery of Egyptian Papyri - early 1890s

9.6.2      Sir William Ramsay - 1898

9.6.3      Roger Bagnall - 1991

9.6.4      Dominic Rathbone - 1993

9.6.5      Andrew Monson - 2014

9.6.6      W. Graham Claytor and Roger Bagnall - 2015

9.7      Emil Schurer

9.7.1      The approach to the analysis of Luke’s narrative

9.7.2      Schurer’s preamble

9.7.2.1      Luke 2:1-5 is a registration, not a valuation census

9.7.2.2      Determining what Luke meant, developing the options

9.7.2.3      Roman Taxation: Tributum Capitis and Tributum Soli

9.7.2.4      Census and Taxation intervals

9.7.2.5      Selecting an option for Luke’s meaning; what Schurer claims he must prove

9.7.3      I. Of a general imperial census in the time of Augustus, history otherwise knows nothing.

9.7.3.1      Critique of Analysis

9.7.3.1.1      The Breviarium Totius Imperii

9.7.3.1.2      Cassiodorus, Isidorus, Suidas, and Orosius

9.7.3.1.3      Schurer’s conclusion regarding the empire wide census

9.7.3.2      The Early Evidence

9.7.3.2.1      Brief history of Augustus and his role as empire administrator and chief financial officer

9.7.3.2.2      The Evidence of Silence regarding Luke’s narrative from the Jews and Rome

9.7.3.2.3      The Breviarium Totius Imperii

9.7.3.2.4      Dio’s missing years (the lost evidence)

9.7.3.2.5      Clement of Alexandria

9.7.3.3      The Later Evidence

9.7.3.3.1      Our Starting Point - Emil Schurer: 1890

9.7.3.3.2      Egyptian Papyri Discoveries: 1893-1898

9.7.3.3.3      Egyptian Papyri Discoveries - Grenfell and Hunt: Oxyrhynchus Papyri: 1899

9.7.3.3.4      Sir William Ramsay: 1898-99

9.7.3.3.5      Roger Bagnall: 1991

9.7.3.3.6      Dominic Rathbone - 1993

9.7.3.3.7      Andrew Monson - 2014

9.7.3.3.8      The Clincher: Claytor and Bagnall - 2015

9.7.3.3.9      The evidence of the decree - A summary

9.7.3.4      What do the supporters and critics say?

9.7.3.5      Summary and Conclusions

9.7.4      II. Under a Roman census, Joseph would not have been obliged to travel to Bethlehem, and Mary would not have been required to accompany him thither.

9.7.4.1      Critique of Analysis

9.7.4.2      The Evidence

9.7.4.3      An Alternate Theory - Joseph had a home in Bethlehem

9.7.4.4      What do the critics say?

9.7.4.5      Summary and Conclusions

9.7.5      III. A Roman census could not have been made in Palestine during the time of King Herod.

9.7.5.1      Critique of Analysis

9.7.5.2      The Evidence

9.7.5.3      Summary and Conclusions

9.7.6      IV. Josephus knows nothing of a Roman census in Palestine in the time of Herod: speaks rather of the census of A.D. 7 as something new and previously unheard of.

9.7.6.1      Introduction and Background

9.7.6.2      Critique of Analysis

9.7.6.3      The Evidence

9.7.6.3.1      The tax environment in the client kingdom of Judaea during the last years of Herod

9.7.6.3.2      The tax environment after the annexation of Judaea into Syria; changes experienced after Archelaus’ deposition and Judaean annexation by Rome

9.7.6.4      Did Josephus really know nothing of a census in the days of King Herod?

9.7.6.5      Summary and Conclusions

9.7.7      V. A census held under Quirinius could not have occurred in the time of Herod, for Quirinius was never governor of Syria during the lifetime of Herod.

9.7.7.1      Critique of Analysis

9.7.7.2      The Evidence

9.7.7.2.1      Did Luke mean The supreme command, i.e., was governor of Syria as Schurer claims?

9.7.7.2.2      The Day Herod Died

9.7.7.2.3      Aemilius Secundus: Apamean census in 3-2 BC, 2-1 BC or 6-7 AD?

9.7.7.3      Summary and Conclusions

9.8      The Census Evidence

9.8.1      What we will show

9.8.2      Egyptian Papyri (Seven-year cycle of registrations with a census in 4/3 BC)

9.8.3      Breviarium Totius Imperii - an indicator of routine census collection starting in the time of Augustus

9.8.4      John Malalas: Augustus’ census decree in May / June 4 BC

9.8.5      The Apocryphal Gospels: The year of the decree; between October 4 BC and March 2 BC

9.8.6      Documented evidence of an Egyptian census in 4/3 BC

9.8.6.1      The papyri source evidence

9.8.6.2      Signed census declaration in January 3 BC

9.8.7      The census and an oath of loyalty in Judaea: October 3 BC - October 2 BC

9.8.8      An oath in Paphlagonia: 3 BC or 2 BC

9.8.9      A census in Armenia: 3 BC

9.8.10      A census in Judaea as related by Clement of Alexandria: September 3 BC - August 2 BC

9.8.11      A census in Judaea as related by Paulus Orosius: 2 BC

9.8.12      A census in Judaea by Saturninus as related by Tertullian: August 3 BC - August 2 BC

9.8.13      A census in Judaea by Quirinius as related by Justin Martyr

9.8.14      Cassiodorus: Augustus’ census and land survey recorded by Hyrummetricus

9.8.15      Suidas: Augustus’ census conducted by twenty men of virtue and integrity

9.8.16      A census in Apamea, Syria

9.8.17      A census in Judaea as related by Luke

9.8.18      Summary and Conclusions

10      Summary and Conclusions

10.1      Chapter 1: Summary (Genesis 1:14, the Course of Abijah, and the Birth of Christ)

10.2      Chapter 2: Summary (The Historical Evidence for Jesus’ Birth in 2 BC)

10.3      Chapter 3: Summary (Christmas, the Magi, and the Lunar Eclipse before Herod Died)

10.4      Chapter 4: Summary (Jesus’ Life, Ministry, and Crucifixion)

10.5      Chapter 5: Summary (Coins, Artifacts, and the Governors of Syria)

10.6      Chapter 6: Summary (The Day King Herod Died)

10.7      Chapter 7: Summary (Untangling the Chronology of Herod’s Reign)

10.8      Chapter 8: Summary (Gaius Caesar and the War of Varus)

10.9      Chapter 9: Summary (The Census of Quirinius)

10.10      Final Thoughts

11      Bibliography

12      Endnotes

Table of Figures

Figure ‎1-1: Calculation of Daniel’s prophetic window in time for the coming of the Messiah

Figure ‎1-2: Heavens before sunrise on 7 September 3 BC; His star rising in the East

Figure ‎1-3: The great wonder of Revelation 12:1, the sign of the coming of the Messiah

Figure ‎1-4: Jupiter, the Bethlehem Star places a crown around Regulus the King Star in LEO

Figure ‎1-5: Approaching nine lunar months from Christ’s conception (7 June 2 BC)

Figure ‎1-6: Incredibly rare astronomical events shaping up (15 June 2 BC)

Figure ‎1-7: Jesus Christ is born on the full moon of 14 Sivan (17 June 2 BC)

Figure ‎1-8: The two conjunctions of Jupiter and Venus ending with the birth of Christ

Figure ‎1-9: Time sequence showing the exact time Jesus was born

Figure ‎1-10: Timeline from the course of Abijah in Luke 1:5 to the birth of Christ in Luke 2:7

Figure ‎2-1: The celestial chronology for the Star of Bethlehem (Jupiter)

Figure ‎3-1: His star stops, and the Magi come bearing gifts on 25 December 2 BC

Figure ‎3-2: Timeline of the Period from the 13 March 4 BC eclipse to Passover

Figure ‎3-3: Trial and Execution of the Rabbis on the Festival of Purim - 3 Days of Adar

Figure ‎3-4: Modified Timeline for Purim and the Fast of Esther

Figure ‎3-5: Events in The Star that Astonished the World with suggested event durations

Figure ‎3-6: Timeline for the 29 December 1 BC eclipse

Figure ‎3-7: Timeline summarizing the events from the birth of Jesus to Herod’s death in early 1 AD.

Figure ‎4-1: John 2:20 hypothesis and validation requirements

Figure ‎4-2: Range of completion dates for the temple in Jerusalem

Figure ‎4-3: Range of dates 46 years after completion of the temple

Figure ‎4-4: Summary of the First Passover of the Exodus, including the Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread as declared by God.

Figure ‎4-5: Updated Timeline for God’s Passover versus the Jewish Passover in Jesus’ time

Figure ‎4-6: Jesus’ last week (The Passion Week)

Figure ‎4-7: Lunar eclipse at moonrise on the evening of the crucifixion - Friday, 3 April 33 AD

Figure ‎4-8: Blood Moon Eclipse

Figure ‎4-9: The heavens on the evening of the crucifixion - Friday, 3 April 33 AD

Figure ‎4-10: Annual sediment deposition on the bottom of the Dead Sea

Figure ‎4-11: Varve disturbance due to earthquake seismic activity; resulting seismite

Figure ‎4-12: Location of Dead Sea core samples

Figure ‎5-1: Varus / Varro coin; Year EK = 25th year

Figure ‎5-2: Varro as Governor of Syria from 25-23 BC

Figure ‎5-3: Coin representing delivery of Parthian Hostages to Augustus in 8 BC

Figure ‎6-1: Coin of Herod Antipas Year ΜΓ = 43rd year

Figure ‎6-2: Timeline to properly identify the date of Philip’s death

Figure ‎6-3: Placement of Philip’s death in accordance with the Antiquities narrative flow

Figure ‎6-4: Placement of Philip’s death in accordance with Antiquities, Book XVIII, Chapter 4.6

Figure ‎7-1: Timeline (Book XVI, Chapters 1-3) covering the period from 15-13 BC

Figure ‎7-2: Timeline (Book XVI, Chapters 3-4) covering the period from 13-11 BC

Figure ‎7-3: Timeline (Book XVI, Chapters 5-7) covering the period from 10-8 BC

Figure ‎7-4: Timeline (Book XVI, Chapters 8-9) covering the period from 7-4 BC

Figure ‎7-5: Timeline (Book XVI, Chapters 9-11) covering the period from 6-4 BC

Figure ‎7-6: Timeline (Book XVII, Chapters 1-8) covering the period from 3 BC-1 AD

Figure ‎7-7: 4 BC Case - (Book XVI, Chapters 1-3) covering the period from 15-13 BC

Figure ‎7-8: 4 BC Case - Rome trip to accuse sons in 12 BC

Figure ‎7-9: 4 BC Case - Rome Trip to accuse sons in 11 BC

Figure ‎7-10: 4 BC Case - Gap in Chapter 9 due to Titius/Saturninus governorship transition

Figure ‎7-11: 4 BC Case - Chapters 9 and 10 synchronized by Nicholas’ trip to Rome

Figure ‎7-12: 4 BC Case - Period from execution of Alexander and Aristobolus to Herod’s death in 4 BC

Figure ‎8-1: Gaius Caesar’s Activities from 2 BC to 4 AD

Figure ‎8-2: Parthian and Armenian Activities from 2 BC to 4 AD

Figure ‎9-1: Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum Volume 3:4521

Figure ‎9-2: Egyptian Years and Julian Years from Tribunician Potestas on 27 June 23 BC

Figure ‎9-3: Artistic Rendering of the Lapis Venetus - CIL III 6687

Figure ‎9-4: Census data supporting the 17 June 2 BC birth of Christ

Table of Tables

Table ‎1-1: The 24 priestly courses

Table ‎1-2: Hebrew calendar months

Table ‎1-3: First two courses of priests starting with Jehoiarib in the Jewish New Year in 4 BC

Table ‎1-4: The second round for the course of Abijah referenced in Luke 1:5-9

Table ‎1-5: Hebrew months with Julian equivalents; the months of John’s conception

Table ‎1-6: Heavenly symbolism

Table ‎1-7: Other configurations similar to Revelation 12:1

Table ‎1-8: The Hebrew months and key events in the conception and birth of John the Baptist

Table ‎1-9: Complete chronology from the New Year in 4 BC to the birth of Christ

Table ‎2-1: Historical Accounts of the Birth of Christ

Table ‎3-1: Eclipse record from 7 BC to 1 AD

Table ‎3-2: Summary of all eclipses that may be associated with the death of King Herod

Table ‎4-1: Dating Greek coins

Table ‎4-2: God’s Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread according to Exodus and Leviticus.

Table ‎4-3: Updated Table for God’s Passover versus the Jewish Passover in Jesus’ time

Table ‎5-1: Governors of Syria for the 4 BC eclipse chronology

Table ‎5-2: Governors of Syria for the 1 BC eclipse chronology

Table ‎7-1: Chronological Markers for the 1 BC Eclipse

Table ‎7-2: Chronological Markers for the 4 BC Eclipse

Table ‎9-1: Types of Taxes in the Provinces of the Roman Empire

Table ‎9-2: Judaea before and after the annexation into Syria in 6-7 AD

Table ‎9-3: The Distinguishing Characteristics of the Registrations in Luke 2:1-5 and Acts 5:37

About this Book

The birth of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of human history. Our years are numbered in accordance with the eras BC and AD signifying Before Christ and Anno Domini, i.e., in the year of the Lord. We celebrate the biggest holiday of the year in remembrance of His birth but amazingly, we still do not know the actual day He was born. For over two thousand years now, the date has remained shrouded in mystery.

However, God may have provided for us just enough information to untangle this longstanding riddle. Sifting through that information will be the focus of this book. Using a combination of secular history, archaeology, astronomy, and Holy Scripture, we will develop a comprehensive theory, piece by piece, that supports the chronology for the birth, ministry, and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. The evidence will be built on a firm foundation starting with God’s declaration in Genesis 1:14 that among other things, the heavens are for signs. The famous star that "stood over where the child was," or the Star of Bethlehem is one of those signs.

Step by step, we will sort through the evidence to build our case one layer at a time, comparing our theory and chronology with secular history, supporting our belief that God’s only Son truly walked among us, and that the Bible has provided for us an actual historically accurate account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. Follow along as we:

•      Learn the week the angel Gabriel visited Zacharias in the temple, and when John the Baptist was conceived.

•      Discover the heavenly sign heralding Gabriel’s visit to Mary to announce the coming of our Saviour.

•      Find the signs in the heavens that highlight for us the exact day that Mary was overshadowed with the Holy Spirit and Jesus was conceived.

•      Track the Star of Bethlehem as the Magi did two thousand years ago and learn the signs that reveal for us the exact day and time when Jesus was born.

•      Observe biblical and secular chronology melding together harmoniously, anchoring Christ as the cornerstone of all human history, and separating time from BC to AD.

•      Determine the significance of the 25 December Christmas story and its real relationship to the birth of Christ.

•      Highlight the series of celestial and historical events that comprise either some of the most amazing coincidences of all time or point us to God’s timeline for the conception and birth of our Saviour.

•      Research the various options and conclude why there is only one eclipse prior to Herod’s death that satisfies both biblical and secular history and points to the exact day that King Herod the Great died.

•      Use history and Holy Scripture to determine the year Jesus began His ministry, and the date he was crucified.

•      Deconflict and reconcile the perceived contradictions in the Scriptural accounts between the synoptic gospels and the Gospel of John to develop a day-by-day chronology for the Passion Week of our Lord.

•      Learn why Palm Sunday is actually Palm Monday.

•      Discover how the very crust of the earth recorded, and secular historians recounted, the earthquake that shook Judaea on the day of the crucifixion.

•      Study existing coin evidence and a recently discovered archaeological artifact to reconstruct a revised list for the governors of Syria in the final years of Herod’s reign consistent with both the bible and secular history.

•      Pinpoint the timing and chronology of the War of Varus and see how that war aligns with the Birth of Christ and the death of Herod.

•      Untangle the narrative of Josephus that has caused so much confusion over the years in determining the proper chronology for King Herod’s last years.

•      Unearth the ancient papyri, archaeological, and literary evidence that supports the biblical account of the census of Quirinius, corroborating that it took place just as Luke told us over two thousand years ago.

•      Summarize all the available evidence that illustrates why the resulting theory may represent the most likely chronology for the conception, birth, ministry, and crucifixion of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus of Nazareth, and place His life among us within the actual history of mankind.

Timothy L. Norris

San Diego, California

Introduction

For years, researchers have attempted to place the life of Jesus of Nazareth in its proper historical and chronological context. Early Christian historians and chronologists believed that Christ was born around 3 to 2 BC. Later historians and theologians, based primarily on the writings of Flavius Josephus, sought to place his birthdate slightly earlier, around 6 to 5 BC.

This has been the prevailing opinion for quite some time. More recently however, a new set of investigations have once again led to a reappraisal of a 3 to 2 BC birthdate as a real possibility. These recent investigations include those of W. E. Filmer’s The Chronology of the Reign of Herod the Great questioning the widely accepted 4 BC eclipse as the one prior to Herod’s death, Ernest L. Martin’s biblical and celestial observations in The Star that Astonished the World, and Roger T. Beckwith’s theory regarding the courses of the Jewish Priests in St Luke, the Date of Christmas, and the Priestly Courses at Qumran.

These efforts were acknowledged by renowned biblical scholar Jack Finegan in his work The Handbook of Biblical Chronology. This new information caused him to abandon his original support for a birthdate no later than the year 4 BC in an earlier edition of his book, in favor of a 3 to 2 BC dating for the birth of Christ in his more recent edition.

More recently, Rick Larson produced a DVD called The Star of Bethlehem that further strengthened the case for placing the birth of Christ in the 3 to 2 BC timeframe. Specifically, the DVD identifies the 17 June 2 BC conjunction of Jupiter and Venus as the birthdate of Jesus of Nazareth.

The effort undertaken here develops a theory that supports the 17 June 2 BC birthdate by incorporating additional details regarding the course of Abijah, the date of Jesus’ conception, and some interesting and related celestial and biblical observations. We will develop the narrative of Abijah based on Beckwith’s theory and incorporate Martin’s and Larson’s findings into a unified theory for the birthday of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

However, determining our Saviour’s birthday addresses only one part of a much larger set of issues. To be viable, a complete theory must develop a counterargument for the death of King Herod that most historians believe followed soon after the eclipse of 13 March 4 BC. There are several additional issues that must be accounted for as well before a 3/2 BC birthdate can be accepted by the larger community. These include reconciling both the biblical and historical accounts regarding the reign of Herod’s sons, the course of Abijah, the census of Quirinius, the timing of the visit of the Magi, the War of Varus, coin evidence, the timing and duration of Jesus’ ministry and crucifixion, etc.

It is our intention in the following pages to use a combination of secular history, archaeology, astronomy, and Holy Scripture to develop a comprehensive theory, piece by piece, that supports the chronology for the birth of Jesus of Nazareth on 17 June 2 BC while addressing this larger set of issues as it must. Once our task is completed, the results will be summarized and left for the reader to decide if we have accomplished our goals. For our goal is nothing less than untangling and settling the long-standing issues in determining a chronology that is consistent with both secular history and Holy Scripture, and accurately dating the birth, ministry, and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth and securing His proper place in history.

Psalm 19

Psalm {19:1} The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. {19:2} Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. {19:3} [There is] no speech nor language, [where] their voice is not heard. {19:4} Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun.

There have been many attempts to determine the birthdate of Jesus of Nazareth but there is no date that is universally accepted. Opinion most generally seems to be divided along two schools of thought. One school adheres to a 6-5 BC birth date based primarily on the writings of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, while a second maintains that Jesus was born around 3-2 BC. This school of thought is based on the writings of the early Christian historians and chronologists. The following study develops a theory and a timeline that identifies a specific birthdate for Jesus. The birthdate proposed is 14 Sivan 2 BC on the Hebrew Calendar or in Julian Calendar terms, 17 June 2 BC.

People have long wondered about that most famous of stars that is associated with Jesus’ birth, the Star of Bethlehem. It led the Magi to seek the King of the Jews and was indirectly responsible for the murder of innocent babies in Herod’s quest to eliminate all potential rivals to the throne. But for two thousand years after it was introduced in the Gospel of Matthew, its identity has remained shrouded in mystery.

However, with recent developments in computer technology and astronomical software, it has become relatively easy to view the heavens as they appeared over the course of the last several thousand years. This has led many to seek the Star of Bethlehem anew. The effort has met with great success.

We have been close to identifying the Star of Bethlehem for quite some time. It appears that Roger Sinnott, of Sky and Telescope in the December 1968 edition, was the first to suggest that the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus on 17 June 2 BC may in fact have been the Star of Bethlehem. ¹

Based on Sinnott’s data, Isaac Azimov proposed some of the key planetary events related to the nativity story in an article called Star in the East that appeared in the December 1974 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. He identified the 17 June 2 BC conjunction of Jupiter and Venus as being a striking example of celestial occurrences that may have gotten the attention of the Magi and also noted its relationship to the constellation LEO, the Lion of Judah. He considered the attractiveness of the possibility that this was the star but rejected it thinking the timing too late given his belief that Herod died in 4 BC when Jesus would already be at least two years old. ²

Ernest Martin wrote an article for the 3 December 1976 issue of Christianity Today called The Celestial Pageantry Dating Christ’s Birth. Although he did not identify an actual birth date for Jesus, he did indicate the likelihood that Jupiter was the Star of Bethlehem. He also pointed to 25 December 2 BC as the date that the star stood over where the young child was (Matthew 2:9), thereby dating the visit of the Magi to see the newborn King. Jupiter had become stationary in the sky for several days as Jupiter entered a period of retrograde motion. ³

Martin, not long afterwards, discovered a biblical clue that appeared to unlock the birthdate of Jesus of Nazareth. He found it in the Book of Revelation 12:1 "… a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet." He initially believed this sign pointed to a birth date around September 2 BC. However, he ultimately opted for a similar celestial alignment a year earlier that occurred on 11 September 3 BC. He published his initial findings in The Birth of Christ Recalculated in 1978, a revised edition in 1980, and then a final version in The Star that Astonished the World in 1991. ⁴ ⁵

Several years later in 2007, Rick Larson developed and released a DVD called The Star of Bethlehem that appeared to build on Martin’s efforts. He pointed out that the sign of Revelation 12:1 was actually just a precursor to the spectacular conjunction of Jupiter and Venus on 17 June 2 BC, originally highlighted by Roger Sinnott, that occurred approximately nine months after the sign of Revelation 12:1. He believed that it was this conjunction that coincided with the actual birth of Christ.

The efforts discussed above are compelling but that has not eliminated the sceptics, and for good reason. To be viable, a complete theory must develop a counterargument for the death of King Herod that most historians believe followed soon after the eclipse of 13 March 4 BC. There are several additional issues that must be accounted for as well before a 3/2 BC birthdate can be accepted by the larger community. These include reconciling both biblical and historical accounts regarding the reign of Herod’s sons, the course of Abijah, the census of Quirinius, the timing of the visit of the Magi, the War of Varus, coin evidence, the timing and duration of Jesus’ ministry and crucifixion, etc.

Identifying the birthdate of Jesus of Nazareth and untangling and resolving all these issues is the objective of our effort in the following pages. We intend to develop a theory piece by piece that supports the 17 June 2 BC birthdate by incorporating additional details regarding the course of Abijah, the date of Jesus’ conception, and some interesting and related celestial observations. Once that is accomplished, we will set out to do the same for the larger set of issues until we have a complete and coherent theory for the birth, ministry, and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. We begin in Genesis.

God told us long ago, in the very first book of the Bible that He would give us a sign:

Genesis {1:14} And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.

So, among other things, God placed lights in the firmament for signs.

Now because the story of Zacharias and John the Baptist is fundamental to the birth of Jesus, we will look at that next. Zacharias was a priest that served in the temple, and he was of the course of Abijah. To understand the chronology involved in the conception and birth of John the Baptist and Jesus, we need to start with a brief description of the courses of the priests.

For our purposes, we are interested in the divisions (or courses) of the Jewish priests for what they can reveal of the chronology leading up to the birthdate of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth. Additional background information on the priestly courses can be found by referring to the Handbook of Biblical Chronology by Jack Finegan. ⁶

There was a total of twenty-four courses of priests, a number that was determined in Old Testament times. These courses were established in 1 Chronicles 24:7-18 and are replicated in Table ‎1-1: The 24 priestly courses. The function of the priests was to serve in the temple, each course serving for one week, starting on the morning of the weekly Sabbath. The next course would relieve the prior course at the end of the week and this rotation would continue for twenty-four weeks until all the courses had served. Then the first course would start again and cycle through all twenty-four courses once more.

Table ‎1-1: The 24 priestly courses

These are the twenty-four priestly courses identified in 1 Chronicles 24:7-18. The course we will be most interested in is the 8th course of Abijah.

There are two basic theories for how the courses served in the temple. In the first instance, the priestly courses served in an unbroken chain, week after week, year after year without regard to the start of a new year. In the second instance, the priestly courses were always reset at the beginning of the Jewish New Year, starting with the first course of Jehoiarib. In either case, the chronological implications are important. If we have one date when a particular course serves, we can chronologically determine and date any other course. Each theory has its advocates with evidence to support either one.

Thomas Lewin in Fasti Sacri adheres to the theory of continuous service. ⁷ The second temple was destroyed by Titus on the 9th of Av during the reign of Vespasian in the year 70 AD. From the Seder Olam, we learn from Rabbi Joseph ben Halaphta that Jehoiarib was known to be serving in the temple at that time (Av 9 = Sunday, August 5, 70 AD). ⁸ Using this information, Lewin was able to calculate backwards in time to determine an approximate birth date for John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. He determined the birth date of Jesus was August 1, 6 BC. ⁹

Alternatively, Roger T. Beckwith in his work, St Luke, The Date of Christmas, and the Priestly Courses at Qumran promoted a different theory. His research indicated that the courses reset each year, so that the course of Jehoiarib would begin service on the Sabbath that fell on or before Tishri 1 (Jewish New Year’s Day), to be on duty on the first day of the Jewish New Year. ¹⁰ While not explicit, this appears to be consistent with the scriptural account in Ezra 3:6.

Beckwith reached this conclusion by assuming as above that Jehoiarib was on duty on the 9th of Av, 70 AD when the temple fell. Cycling backwards through the courses indeed confirms that the course of Jehoiarib would have been serving at the start of the Jewish New Year in 69 AD, i.e., on Tishri 1 or in Julian calendar terms, Wednesday, September 6, 69 AD. This was additional evidence (or an improbable coincidence) that the priestly courses reset at the start of the Jewish New Year with Jehoiarib.

After the courses had run two full cycles for a total of 24 + 24 = 48 weeks, they started a short final cycle until they reached the end of the Hebrew year, and then fell back to restart once more with Jehoiarib on duty for Tishri 1 of the new year. It was assumed by Beckwith that Jehoiarib also initiated the short final cycle that lasted until the annual reset. This is the theory Jack Finegan adopted in the Handbook of Biblical Chronology and the one we will use in this analysis. ¹¹

Because much of what follows is dependent on the Hebrew calendar, it will be helpful to include a brief discussion of calendars before moving on.

In Genesis 1:14 God tells us that in addition to signs, the heavens are for seasons, days, and years. In other words, the heavens provide signs that God wishes to convey to us, and they establish the basis for our calendars that enable us to date and track the events we experience in this world. This is important.

The current Julian/Gregorian solar calendar used in most of the western world and the United States today is aligned with the Vernal Equinox. The earth takes approximately 365.25 days to complete a full cycle around the sun; this cycle forms the basis of our calendar.

We add a leap day every four years to account for the 0.25 part of 365.25 days. This ensures that the Vernal (Spring) Equinox (the day when the sun is nearly 12 hours in the sky above the horizon, and 12 hours below the horizon) falls almost on the same day every year (i.e., around 20 March). Thus, the calendar is aligned with the Vernal Equinox. The equinoxes occur twice a year when the Earth’s axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the Sun, accounting for the nearly equal hours of night and day.

This period of 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness occurs once more each year on the Autumnal Equinox as we head into the fall. The Summer Solstice (longest day) and Winter Solstice (shortest day) are then aligned as well by default. The Hebrew calendar also attempts to align to the Vernal Equinox as described in the next section.

Whereas our modern calendar is solar, the Hebrew calendar is considered luni-solar, where the months are based on lunar cycles and the years are periodically adjusted to the solar year by alignment with the Vernal Equinox. In Old Testament times, two Jewish witnesses would view the phases of the moon to determine when to start the new month. They followed the moon as it went from a small crescent in the sky, to a quarter moon, to a full moon and then back again to a quarter moon, a small crescent, and then it would disappear and become a new moon again. A new moon occurs when the moon is between the earth and the sun and cannot be seen during the day because the light from the moon is not reflected back to earth while in this position.

As the new moon phase passed, the witnesses would observe the sky looking for the first sign of the new month, which was the first observable small crescent after sunset. After the sighting, that sunset was considered the beginning of the new month, and from that sunset until the sunset on the following day was the first day of the new month.

This is obviously different than modern reckoning where our day starts at midnight. Hebrew calendar days begin at sunset and last until sunset the following day. Midnight was harder to calculate in Old Testament times; sunset was easily observed and was considered the start of the day.

The months of the Hebrew calendar are provided below in Table ‎1-2: Hebrew calendar months. The months vary slightly in duration but are typically around 29 to 30 days per month like those in the Julian/Gregorian calendar.

Table ‎1-2: Hebrew calendar months

The Jewish months of the year are listed with the equivalent months in our Julian / Gregorian Calendrical system. Note month 13, the occasional intercalary month of Adar 2 also known as Veadar.

There are three columns in the table. The first column provides a number label for the month, starting with 1 and ending with 13. The second column provides the Hebrew month names. The third column provides the rough equivalent in our more familiar Julian/Gregorian calendar months.

There are typically twelve months in the Hebrew calendar but occasionally it is necessary to add an intercalary month. An intercalary month is an extra month, also called a leap month, that gets added to keep the calendar in alignment with the Vernal Equinox and the seasons of the year. For the Hebrew calendar there is one intercalary month labeled 13 in the table that is called either Adar 2 or Veadar.

As stated previously, the Hebrew calendar months are based on the lunar cycles of the moon. The moon circles the earth every 29.5 days. 12 months x 29.5 days/month = 354 days. Since our year is composed of slightly more than 365 days/year, we have an additional 365-354 = 11 days to account for. Over a 2-3 year time frame, the Hebrew calendar will get out of sync or alignment with the Vernal (Spring) Equinox; the equinox will fall later and later (at the rate of 11 days later per year) in the year relative to the Hebrew months. You can see that in 3 years, we would have the Vernal Equinox falling 11 days/year x 3 years = 33 days later in the year. If the Vernal Equinox was in alignment with the first day of Nisan (month 1) in year 1, then in 3 years’ time it would have moved 33 days later in the annual cycle and would fall in the first few days of month 2 (i.e., the month of Iyyar). This means that Nisan 1st would then be 33 days earlier than the Vernal Equinox. In order to compensate, every 2-3 years the Hebrew calendar would add an intercalary or leap month (Adar 2 or Veadar) in order to align Nisan 1st close to the Vernal Equinox again.

With this background in the workings of the Hebrew calendar and having earlier selected our methodology for using the chronological data provided by the priestly courses, we can begin to construct our timeline and the chronology of the events leading up to the birth of Christ. We start with the Jewish New Year in 4 BC.

In our proposed theory, the Jewish New Year in 4 BC would begin with the first course of Jehoiarib on duty on Tishri 1, 4 BC. It would be convenient to be able to convert the Hebrew dates we will be using into their more familiar Julian / Gregorian calendar counterparts. The online Torah calendar was utilized to perform these date conversions. (Reference: http://www.torahcalendar.com/). The website uses numbers for the months (e.g., Tishri is month 7 as seen in Table ‎1-2: Hebrew calendar months above).

Note: The first day of the month in the Hebrew calendar was determined by the visible sighting of the new moon so there is some inherent uncertainty in the exact day selected as the first of any Hebrew month. This uncertainty is likely no more than plus or minus a day but will depend on the conversion calendar selected and the criteria/algorithm used to select day one, i.e., the sighting of the new moon.

The Jewish New Year begins on Tishri 1 (Rosh Hashanah). Using the Torah calendar to locate Tishri 1 in 4 BC we find that date corresponds to Sunday, 23 September 4 BC (Julian Day = 1,720,228). We will henceforth abbreviate Julian Day as JD. Julian Days will be used to facilitate our upcoming calculations.

Note: Julian Day (JD) is an astronomical term that sequentially numbers each day since noon January 1, 4713 BC. ¹² This is different than a standard Julian day, which is just the normal day of the month in the Julian/Gregorian calendar as seen in the first column of Table ‎1-3 below. JDs are in the 6th column.

Per Beckwith’s theory, the course of Jehoiarib began its temple service on the Sabbath (Saturday) which fell just one day prior to New Year’s Day that year. Therefore, in 4 BC at least, the first course of Jehoiarib commenced on the last day of the previous month of Elul which was the last day of the year, i.e., 30 Elul = Saturday, 22 September 4 BC which is JD: 1,720,227.

A table was established to lay out the entire period from the first course of Jehoiarib on 22 September 4 BC through the birth of Christ. The first few entries of the table are shown in Table ‎1-3: First two courses of priests starting with Jehoiarib in the Jewish New Year in 4 BC.

Table ‎1-3: First two courses of priests starting with Jehoiarib in the Jewish New Year in 4 BC

This initial part of the table timeline shows Jehoiarib initiating the temple service on the Sabbath of 22 September 4 BC to be on duty for Rosh Hashanah, or Tishri 1 which is the Jewish New Year’s Day. Thus, the course of Jehoiarib starts on JD: 1,720,227, one day prior to Rosh Hashanah.

As stated earlier, the courses of the priests served their terms in the temple every week throughout the Jewish year. There were twenty-four (24) courses. Since there are fifty-two (52) weeks in a year and only twenty-four courses, these courses would repeat a second time each year. In other words, each course would serve both a first and a second round during the year. This means that Jehoiarib’s second round for that year would commence 24 weeks after the first round; in this case, on the twenty-fifth (25th) week. The start date for the second round can be easily calculated and it corresponds to the commencement of Jehoiarib’s second round on Saturday, 21 Adar 3 BC (9 March 3 BC). It is this second round that will be critical to the timing of the birth of John the Baptist and more importantly, Jesus. Let’s calculate this.

The formula is: Final Julian Day = Initial Julian Day + (# of weeks later x 7 days/week). Therefore, the Final Julian Day = 1,720,227 + (24 weeks later x 7 days/week) = JD: 1,720,395. This JD corresponds to the date of 21 Adar or 9 March 3 BC for the start of Jehoiarib’s second round as stated above.

It is during the second round of Abijah (8th course), which is seven weeks (49 days) after that of Jehoiarib that we come upon the story and timing for the birth of John the Baptist. Therefore, if we simply add 49 days (JD = 1,720,395 + 49 = JD: 1,720,444), we get the commencement date for the course of Abijah. Using the Torah Calendar website or our table, we can see that the course of Abijah begins on the Sabbath of 11 Iyyar 3 BC which corresponds to 27 April 3 BC. The results are shown in Table ‎1-4: The second round for the course of Abijah referenced in Luke 1:5-9.

Table ‎1-4: The second round for the course of Abijah referenced in Luke 1:5-9

In this table, we see that the second round for the course of Abijah begins on 11 Iyyar or 27 April 3 BC. This is the exact point in time referred to in the Bible in Luke 1:5-9. Zacharias starts his temple service and then learns his wife Elizabeth is to become pregnant with their son, John the Baptist. We assume that John was conceived after Zacharias came home from his temple duties on the afternoon of 18 Iyyar or 4 May 3 BC. The countdown clock on the birth of John (and of Jesus Christ) has now been triggered.

At this point we need to review the biblical passages that refer to this exact point in time.

Luke {1:5} There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia (Abijah): and his wife [was] of the daughters of Aaron, and her name [was] Elisabeth… {1:8} And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, {1:9} According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord {1:10} And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. {1:11} And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense….

Zacharias is performing his temple duties in the order of his course when an angel of the Lord appears. Their exchange is recorded by Luke and leads directly to John’s conception as we learn next.

Luke now relates the story of Zacharias who is of the course of Abijah. Zacharias, while serving in his course and performing his temple duties is visited by Gabriel, an angel of the Lord who promises him a son by his then barren wife Elizabeth. After the completion of his temple service, Zacharias went home to Elizabeth and told her all that the Lord had promised. God was true to His word, and we will assume that she became pregnant on the same day his temple service was completed, seven days after he began his course. Therefore, the date assumed for Elizabeth’s conception is the Saturday afternoon he returned home on 18 Iyyar (JD: 1,720,444 + 7 = JD: 1,720,451 which corresponds to 4 May 3 BC). From Luke we learn:

Luke {1:24} And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, {1:25} Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on [me,] to take away my reproach among men.

So immediately upon conception in Luke 1:24, Elizabeth hid herself five months. We assumed just above that John was conceived on the afternoon of 18 Iyyar, making this the first month of her hiding.

In order then, referring to the Hebrew calendar in Table ‎1-2, the five months of her hiding were:

Iyyar (Month of conception; 1st month of hiding)

Sivan

Tammuz

Av

Elul (5th month of hiding)

The meaning of five months is taken here to be typical of the way the Jews counted years, months, days, etc. The Talmud prescribes using a Nisan based year, with inclusive reckoning for calculating the reigns of kings. In that case, a part of one month is considered to be a full month, a part of a year is considered to be a full year, etc. There are multiple examples of this in ancient Jewish calendrical calculations. Guidance is provided in the Talmud Tract Rosh Hashanah: Chapter 1: Gemara: ¹³

For Kings … The rabbis taught: A king who ascends the throne on the 29th of Adar must be considered to have reigned one year as soon as the first of Nissan comes, but if he ascends the throne on the first of Nisan he is not considered to have reigned one year until the first of Nissan of the following year…

What this means is that if a king ascends to the throne even a day before the New Year on Nisan 1 (the New year for Kings), they consider that one day to count as one full year of reign. Nisan 1 would then begin the king’s second year. Here, we use a partial month of Iyyar to be the first month of hiding.

This additional calendrical information for Elizabeth’s hiding and pregnancy can now be added to the Hebrew calendar Table ‎1-2 discussed earlier. This amended calendar table including Elizabeth’s nine-month pregnancy and the birth of John the Baptist is provided in Table ‎1-5: Hebrew months with Julian equivalents; the months of John’s conception.

Table ‎1-5: Hebrew months with Julian equivalents; the months of John’s conception

Here the Jewish months of the year are listed with the equivalent months in our Julian / Gregorian calendrical system. In the last three columns we have added information that follows the biblical narrative of Luke as a visual reference to show the alignment of the biblical passages in relation to the Hebrew months.

Given the above, we now have enough information to approximate John’s birthdate. His birth date is calculated from conception plus nine lunar cycles or months.

A lunar cycle is 29.53 days for the moon to complete a cycle about the earth. Thus, 9 cycles x 29.53 days/cycle = 265.77 days which we will round to 266 days.

This results in a birth date for John of JD: 1,720,451 (conception) + 266 (gestation) = JD: 1,720,717 (birth) which corresponds to 18 Shevat or 25 January 2 BC. These dates can be verified by using the online Torah Calendar referenced earlier.

Luke quickly transitions from Elizabeth’s conception to another angelic visitation, this time to a young woman, a virgin whose name is Mary. For in the very next verse, Luke says:

Luke {1:26} And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, {1:27} To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name [was] Mary.

This brings us now