Historical Curiosities - The Birth Date of John the Baptist

[Mungo]

Another Historical Curiosity* is that of the date we give for the birth of John the Baptism, which is 24th June.

We celebrate the Incarnation of Jesus in the womb of the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:26-38) on 25th March, when the angel Gabriel announced to Mary she was to become the mother of Jesus. And we celebrate the birth of Jesus nine months later on 25th December.
Of course we cannot be sure of the exact dates, nor the exact length of Mary's pregnancy but that's another argument.

The angel says to Mary "And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren." (vs 36). So we take John the Baptist birth to be 3 months after the visit of the angel.
But you might think - that should be June 25th, not the 24th!

The reason we use 24th goes back to the Roman method of counting days of the month. They didn't count forward from the 1st of the month as we do but backwards from fixed days in the month.
These fixed dates were:~
Calends (or Kalends) - 1st
Nones -5th or 7th depending on the month
Ides - 13th or 15th depending on the month

The 25th March is the octave of the Calends of April
The 25th December is the octave of the Calends of January
The 24th June (not 25th) is the octave of the Calends of July because June only has 30 days in the month not 31.

*Historical Curiosities - The Four Seasons

 

[for_his_glory]

Jewish month​	Begins the New moon of​	John the Baptist​	Jesus​
1. Abib / Nisan	March-April​	Birth of John 15 Nisan​	4​
2. Zif / Iyyar	April-May​	​	5​
3. Sivan	May-June​	Conception of John after 3rd Sabbath​	6​
4. Tammuz	June-July​	1​	7​
5. Ab / Av	July-August​	2​	8​
6. Elul	August-September​	3​	9​
7. Ethanim / Tishri	September-October​	4​	Birth of Jesus 15 Tishri​
8. Bul / Marheshvan / Heshvan	October-November​	5​	​
9. Chisleu / Chislev / Kislev	November-December​	6​	Conception of Jesus 25 Kislev?​
10. Tebeth / Tevet	December-January​	7​	1​
11. Shebat / Shevat	January-February​	8​	2​
12. Adar	February-March​	9​	3​
	​	​	​

The Conception of John the Baptist.

Luke 1:23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own Luke 1:24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived

Beginning with the first month, Nisan, in the spring (March-April), the schedule of the priest's courses would result with Zachariah serving during the 10th week of the 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 occurred before his scheduled duty. This places Zachariah administration in the Temple as beginning on the second Sabbath of the third month, Sivan (May-June).
Having completed his Temple service on the third Sabbath of Sivan, Zachariah returned home and soon conceived his son John. So John the Baptist was probably conceived shortly after the third Sabbath of the month of Sivan.

 

[Mungo]

Jewish month​	Begins the New moon of​	John the Baptist​	Jesus​
1. Abib / Nisan	March-April​	Birth of John 15 Nisan​	4​
2. Zif / Iyyar	April-May​	​	5​
3. Sivan	May-June​	Conception of John after 3rd Sabbath​	6​
4. Tammuz	June-July​	1​	7​
5. Ab / Av	July-August​	2​	8​
6. Elul	August-September​	3​	9​
7. Ethanim / Tishri	September-October​	4​	Birth of Jesus 15 Tishri​
8. Bul / Marheshvan / Heshvan	October-November​	5​	​
9. Chisleu / Chislev / Kislev	November-December​	6​	Conception of Jesus 25 Kislev?​
10. Tebeth / Tevet	December-January​	7​	1​
11. Shebat / Shevat	January-February​	8​	2​
12. Adar	February-March​	9​	3​
	​	​	​

The Conception of John the Baptist.

Luke 1:23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own Luke 1:24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived

Beginning with the first month, Nisan, in the spring (March-April), the schedule of the priest's courses would result with Zachariah serving during the 10th week of the 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 occurred before his scheduled duty. This places Zachariah administration in the Temple as beginning on the second Sabbath of the third month, Sivan (May-June).
Having completed his Temple service on the third Sabbath of Sivan, Zachariah returned home and soon conceived his son John. So John the Baptist was probably conceived shortly after the third Sabbath of the month of Sivan.

According to one source the family of Ajbijah served twice a year, once in the third month (8-14) and once in the eighth month (24-30). The Byzantine calendar they celebrate John's conception on 23 September. This would fit with a birth in June.

As long ago as 1958, the Israeli scholar Shemaryahu Talmon published an in-depth study on the calendar of the Qumran sect [Ed. based , in part, on Parchment Number 321 -- 4 Q 321 -- of the Qumran Dead Sea Scrolls, see picture at left], and he reconstructed without the shadow of doubt the order of the sacerdotal rota system for the temple of Jerusalem (1 Paralipomenon/Chronicles 24, 7-18) in New Testament times. Here the family of Abijah, of which Zechariah (Zachary) was a descendant, father of John the herald and forerunner (Luke 1, 5), was required to officiate twice a year, on the days 8-14 of the third month, and on the days 24-30 of the eighth month. This latter period fell at about the end of September. It is not without reason that the Byzantine calendar celebrated 'John's conception' on September 23 and his birth nine months later, on June 24. The 'six months' after the Annunciation established as a liturgical feast on March 25, comes three months before the forerunner's birth, prelude to the nine months in December: December 25 is a date of history."
This comes from an Italian Catholic publication quoting from an article in Osservatore Romano by Professor Tommaso Federici, Professor at the Pontifical Urbanian University.

 

[for_his_glory]

King David on God's instructions (1 Chr 28:11-13) had divided the sons of Aaron into 24 groups (1 Chr 24:1-4), to setup a schedule by which the Temple of the Lord could be staffed with priests all year round in an orderly manner. After the 24 groups of priests were established, lots were drawn to determine the sequence in which each group would serve in the Temple. (1 Chr 24: 7-19). That sequence is as follows:​

1 Chr 24:7​	1. Jehoiarib​	2. Jedaiah​
1 Chr 24:8​	3. Harim​	4. Seorim​
1 Chr 24:9​	5. Malchijah​	6. Mijamin​
1 Chr 24:10​	7. Hakkoz​	8. Abijah​
1 Chr 24:11​	9. Jeshuah​	10. Shecaniah​
1 Chr 24:12​	11. Eliashib​	12. Jakim​
1 Chr 24:13​	13. Huppah​	14. Jeshebeab​
1 Chr 24:14​	15. Bilgah​	16. Immer​
1 Chr 24:15​	17. Hezir​	18. Aphses​
1 Chr 24:16​	19. Pethahiah​	20. Jehezekel​
1 Chr 24:17​	21. Jachim​	22. Gamul​
1 Chr 24:18​	23. Delaiah​	24. Maaziah​

1 Chr 24:19 These were the orderings of them in their service to come into the house of the LORD, according to their manner, under Aaron their father, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded him.

Now each one of the 24 "courses" of priests would begin and end their service in the Temple on the Sabbath, a tour of duty being for one week (2 Chr 23:8, 1 Chr 9:25). On three occasions during the year, all the men of Israel were required to travel to Jerusalem for festivals of the Lord, so on those occasions all the priests would be needed in the Temple to accommodate the crowds. Those three festivals were Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and Tabernacles (Deut 16:16).​

The Yearly Cycle of Service in the Temple.


The Jewish calendar begins in the spring, during the month of Nisan, so the first "course" of priests, would be that of the family of Jehoiarib, who would serve for one week, Sabbath to Sabbath. The second week would then be the responsibility of the family of Jedaiah. The third week would be the feast of Unleavened Bread, and all priests would be present for service. Then the schedule would resume with the third course of priests, the family of Harim. By this plan, when the 24th course was completed, the general cycle of courses would repeat. This schedule would cover 51 weeks or 357 days, enough for the lunar Jewish calendar (about 354 days). So, in a period of a year, each group of priests would serve in the Temple twice on their scheduled course, in addition to the 3 major festivals, for a total of about five weeks of duty.​