Establishing the Date of Jesus' Birth
By Arthur J Licursi
For Bible students, this is an exercise to determine the approximate birth date of Jesus. A "Conclusion" is at the end of the texts.
Key Text To Determine When John the Baptist & Jesus Christ Were Born:
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. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. 8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, 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. Luke 1:5-9 (KJV)
15 For he (John the Baptist) shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. 16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Luke 1:15-17 (KJV)
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23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his (Zacharias') ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. 24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,
Luke 1:23-24 (KJV)-----------------------------
26 And in the sixth month (of Elisabeth's pregnancy with John) the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
Luke 1:26-27 (KJV)
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. Luke 1:31 (KJV)35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this Is The Sixth Month With Her, who was called barren. Luke 1:35-36 (KJV)
John the Baptist was conceived, and thus born, 6 months before Jesus was. But when was this? Luke goes on in verses 5 and 8 to lead us to the answer.
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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. ... 8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, Luke 1:5, 8 (KJV)
Conclusion:
A key question then is; "When was "the course of Abia"? (as referred to in Luke 1:5 above). When did Zacharias serve his week in the Temple?
We find the answer here in 1Chronicles.
10 The seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah (Abia). 1 Chronicles 24:10 (KJV)
(Note the names are spelled somewhat differently in the Old Testament because it was written in Hebrew rather than Greek.)
Each "course" was one (1) week (cf., 2Kings 11:9, 2Chron 23:8) of service in the Temple.
"Abia" was the 8th week (1Chron 24:10 above), meaning 8th after the Passover; "this (Passover) shall be the beginning of months" (Exo 12:2).
Thus Zacharias was serving his week in the temple in the middle of June. According to Luke 1:23, it was "AFTER" this week of "ministration" (ministry in the Temple) that Zacharias traveled home to learn that Elisabeth, his wife had conceived - then in late June, 6 months before Jesus' conception.
Considering all this; the conception of John was in late June and Jesus' conception then was 6 months later, in late December; we don't know the exact day.
Therefore Jesus' birth must have occurred in late September.