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What year was Jesus Born

E

Elijah674

Guest
What Year was Jesus Born?
Some people have calculated that there were 4000 years from creation to the birth of Jesus. This would mean that 2000 A.D. placed us 6000 years after creation. Using the 7 day week as a template, and a day equaling a thousand years to God (2 Peter 3:8), this would seem to indicate six thousand years for man to inhabit earth, to be followed by a sabbath of 1000 years during the millennial reign of Christ.
This tends to focus great significance to the start of the 3rd millennium after the birth of Christ. A question then arises. Who formulated the current calendar, and how accurate were they? When would the 3rd millennium actually begin?
Dionysius Exiguus
In 525 A.D. a Sythian monk in Rome, Dionysius Exiguus (Dionysius the Little), was preparing new tables for determining the date of Easter, and he decided to abandon the pagan calendar in use at the time, that was based on the first year of the reign of Emperor Diocletian (29 Aug., 284). Instead he began a calendar based on his calculated year of the birth of Jesus Christ. Among the biblical data Dionysius had to work with was the following:
Luke 3:1 - Jesus was baptized in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius
Luke 3:23 says Jesus was about 30 years old at the start of his ministry, His baptism.*
Using this and other data available to him, he calculated the probable year of Jesus birth as occurring in the 753rd since the founding of the Roman empire, which he redesignated the year 1. This method of dating the year was not generally accepted for hundreds of years, but has been nearly universally adopted today.
* It can be demonstrated from the 70 week prophecy of Daniel 9 that the baptism of Jesus occurred in 27 A.D., which would place His birth about or before 3 B.C.
Was 2000 A.D. really the 2000th year since the birth of Christ?
Just about everyone knows that the year 2000 A.D. (Anno Domini) was supposed to indicate the number of years since the birth of Jesus Christ. But was Dionysius accurate in his calculations? In the book of Matthew we have an important bit of information:
Mat 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
​
The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus tells us that Herod died shortly after an eclipse of the moon (Antiquities of the Jews, Book XVII, Chapter VI, end of 4th paragraph), but prior to Passover (Wars of the Jews, Book II, Chapter I, paragraph 3.). This is an extremely important bit of information, because astronomers today know that there were eclipses of the moon on the following dates:
  • A total eclipse on March 23rd, 5 BC at 8.52 pm.
  • A partial eclipse on March 13th, 4 BC at 4.04 am.
  • A total eclipse on January 10th, 1 BC at 1.35 am.
Historians have determined, on this and other evidence, that King Herod apparently died in the Spring of what we now call 4 B.C. (Julian year 4710), probably early in the Jewish month of Nisan (April), after the partial eclipse of the moon occurring on March 13th, 4 B.C. If you will recall, Herod lived long enough after Jesus' birth to order the slaughter of the infants in Bethlehem, in an attempt to murder Jesus-
Mat 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
​
This would suggest that Jesus was born in either 5 or 6 B.C., as Herod set an upper age limit of 2 years for the infants to be slain. So, on this evidence alone, the current method of numbering the years since the birth of Jesus is in error by at least 4 years, and perhaps as much as 5 years. So if we were to correct for this error, 1996 would more accurately be numbered as no less than 2000 A.D., although even this may be off by as much as a year or so. In any case the year 2000 (as we are currently counting) was clearly not exactly 2000 years from the birth of Christ. Even if the calendar of today were accurate, the true 3rd millennium did not begin until Jan. 1st, 2001 due to the fact that there was no year 0 -
  • 1-100 is the first century
  • 101-200 is the second century
  • ---
  • 1901-2000 is the 20th century
  • 1-1000 is the first millennium
  • 1001-2000 is the second millennium
  • 2001-3000 is the third millennium
But now, figuring that Jesus was born in 5 B.C. this would be adjusted as follows:
  • 5 B.C.-996 A.D. is the first millennium
  • 997-1996 is the second millennium
  • 1997-2996 is the third millennium
So, no matter how you look at it, the year 2000 A.D. was really meaningless, because the current calendar is clearly in error. So interestingly enough, based on the best available evidence, 1997 may have actually marked the end of the 2000th year since the birth of Jesus Christ and the beginning of the 3rd millennium!
​

There is no evidence to support the 25th of December as the birth date of Jesus Christ, but there is a biblical case for placing His birth in the September - October timeframe. See What Day was Jesus Born? and Celebrating the Birth of the Sun.
​


http://biblelight.net/
 
Now I am not an astronomer, but I did take a class in it (which thus makes me an expert :D ), and I seem to recall (from both the class and knowledge gathered over the years from books and TV) that astrological events only occur every so often and usually with a great number of years in between them. Using this I'd say all we need is a "rough" date of His birth. From there we could then go to the Bible, read the account of the stars at the time of Jesus' birth, and then figure out when that was happening around the "rough" date. That would then be a very accurate date for the birth of Jesus.

But a very neat article, very informative. Thank you!
 
According to the Talmud that the year of Christ's death was 30 CE because it states that the lot for Azazel always came up starting in 30 CE until the temple was destroyed in 70CE.

The red cloth that symbolized that the sacrifice for sin being accepted by the Lord never turned white in the same years the lot came up for Azazel.

Between 30-70 CE the temple doors would open themselves up in the middle of the night by some unseen force. The doors were several tons in weight that took about 30 men to open and close.

The final comment in the Talmud is how the west Temple Menorah, this menorah lit all the other menorahs, went out every night during the night between time for Christ's death until the destruction of the temple. The west Temple Menorah had never went out before that time going all the way back to the construction of the second temple.

By using the Talmud we can place the year of His death at 30 CE, so according to scripture he was roughly 33 and half years old when He died. This puts His year of birth at 3-4 BCE during Yom Kippur since Luke 2 puts the presentation of Jesus after the 40 day wait. So His date of birth is September 19, 3 BCE or October 4, 4 BCE.
 
Not to demean the conversation, I am truly intrigued, but I do have to wonder, does it really matter when He was born or when He died? I am curious if there are things that can be learned from His exact birthday? Or is a rough estimate enough to get a taste for the culture?
 
Pard said:
Not to demean the conversation, I am truly intrigued, but I do have to wonder, does it really matter when He was born or when He died? I am curious if there are things that can be learned from His exact birthday? Or is a rough estimate enough to get a taste for the culture?
Click to expand...

It appeared to matter to the 'wise men' when he was born. I'm curious as to how they knew. Knowing just serves to confirm the source of their information.
 
Pard said:
Not to demean the conversation, I am truly intrigued, but I do have to wonder, does it really matter when He was born or when He died? I am curious if there are things that can be learned from His exact birthday? Or is a rough estimate enough to get a taste for the culture?
Click to expand...

These days we are easy going about it. People often say, "well he came, and that's the main thing isnt it?" However, when we read the gospels (and para biblical writings too) many were searching the scriptures concerning "the times".

Sinthesis mentions the wise men. Thats something that has interested me too. Another thing that is worth asking, is how John the Baptist pulled such big crowds? :chin His subject was, "the time is near." His audience had been counting something; that my theory anyway.
 
Cyberseeker said:
The SDA's are generally quite good on the 'weeks' but they are one year out. Jesus death can be proved to be AD30 but the SDA's are obliged to say AD31 because their 'prophetess' told them so. You cannot get them to admit it, but they treat Ellen Whites words as infallible.

As for the birth of Jesus I believe 5BC is best guess.
Click to expand...

Hi, it seems that you are quoting a SDA stand?? If so, give the quote if you will?? and where the Bible says that Christ was as you say... 'Jesus death[[can be proved to be AD30 ]]'

I for one would like these things documented. Thanks in advance!:thumbsup

--Elijah
 
I think this might be interesting?
__________________________
[SIZE=+1][/SIZE]
70w-800.gif
 
Elijah674 said:
What Year was Jesus Born?
Some people have calculated that there were 4000 years from creation to the birth of Jesus. This would mean that 2000 A.D. placed us 6000 years after creation. Using the 7 day week as a template, and a day equaling a thousand years to God (2 Peter 3:8), this would seem to indicate six thousand years for man to inhabit earth, to be followed by a sabbath of 1000 years during the millennial reign of Christ.
This tends to focus great significance to the start of the 3rd millennium after the birth of Christ. A question then arises. Who formulated the current calendar, and how accurate were they? When would the 3rd millennium actually begin?
Dionysius Exiguus
In 525 A.D. a Sythian monk in Rome, Dionysius Exiguus (Dionysius the Little), was preparing new tables for determining the date of Easter, and he decided to abandon the pagan calendar in use at the time, that was based on the first year of the reign of Emperor Diocletian (29 Aug., 284). Instead he began a calendar based on his calculated year of the birth of Jesus Christ. Among the biblical data Dionysius had to work with was the following:
Luke 3:1 - Jesus was baptized in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius
Luke 3:23 says Jesus was about 30 years old at the start of his ministry, His baptism.*
Using this and other data available to him, he calculated the probable year of Jesus birth as occurring in the 753rd since the founding of the Roman empire, which he redesignated the year 1. This method of dating the year was not generally accepted for hundreds of years, but has been nearly universally adopted today.
* It can be demonstrated from the 70 week prophecy of Daniel 9 that the baptism of Jesus occurred in 27 A.D., which would place His birth about or before 3 B.C.
Was 2000 A.D. really the 2000th year since the birth of Christ?
Just about everyone knows that the year 2000 A.D. (Anno Domini) was supposed to indicate the number of years since the birth of Jesus Christ. But was Dionysius accurate in his calculations? In the book of Matthew we have an important bit of information:
Mat 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
​
The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus tells us that Herod died shortly after an eclipse of the moon (Antiquities of the Jews, Book XVII, Chapter VI, end of 4th paragraph), but prior to Passover (Wars of the Jews, Book II, Chapter I, paragraph 3.). This is an extremely important bit of information, because astronomers today know that there were eclipses of the moon on the following dates:
  • A total eclipse on March 23rd, 5 BC at 8.52 pm.
  • A partial eclipse on March 13th, 4 BC at 4.04 am.
  • A total eclipse on January 10th, 1 BC at 1.35 am.
Historians have determined, on this and other evidence, that King Herod apparently died in the Spring of what we now call 4 B.C. (Julian year 4710), probably early in the Jewish month of Nisan (April), after the partial eclipse of the moon occurring on March 13th, 4 B.C. If you will recall, Herod lived long enough after Jesus' birth to order the slaughter of the infants in Bethlehem, in an attempt to murder Jesus-
Mat 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
​
This would suggest that Jesus was born in either 5 or 6 B.C., as Herod set an upper age limit of 2 years for the infants to be slain. So, on this evidence alone, the current method of numbering the years since the birth of Jesus is in error by at least 4 years, and perhaps as much as 5 years. So if we were to correct for this error, 1996 would more accurately be numbered as no less than 2000 A.D., although even this may be off by as much as a year or so. In any case the year 2000 (as we are currently counting) was clearly not exactly 2000 years from the birth of Christ. Even if the calendar of today were accurate, the true 3rd millennium did not begin until Jan. 1st, 2001 due to the fact that there was no year 0 -
  • 1-100 is the first century
  • 101-200 is the second century
  • ---
  • 1901-2000 is the 20th century

  • 1-1000 is the first millennium
  • 1001-2000 is the second millennium
  • 2001-3000 is the third millennium
But now, figuring that Jesus was born in 5 B.C. this would be adjusted as follows:
  • 5 B.C.-996 A.D. is the first millennium
  • 997-1996 is the second millennium
  • 1997-2996 is the third millennium
So, no matter how you look at it, the year 2000 A.D. was really meaningless, because the current calendar is clearly in error. So interestingly enough, based on the best available evidence, 1997 may have actually marked the end of the 2000th year since the birth of Jesus Christ and the beginning of the 3rd millennium!
​
There is no evidence to support the 25th of December as the birth date of Jesus Christ, but there is a biblical case for placing His birth in the September - October timeframe. See What Day was Jesus Born? and Celebrating the Birth of the Sun.​
Click to expand...


I'm really glad that you started this thread because in writing my reply I realized that there is an error in my understanding. So I'm going back to the drawing board - literally, to graphically map out the complete timeline of the chronology of Jesus life and ministry.

Yes I think that 30AD is the year of the crucifixion but it has to fit within a lot of established parameters.

Thank you,
Larry
​

 
Jasher said:

I'm really glad that you started this thread because in writing my reply I realized that there is an error in my understanding. So I'm going back to the drawing board - literally, to graphically map out the complete timeline of the chronology of Jesus life and ministry.

Yes I think that 30AD is the year of the crucifixion but it has to fit within a lot of established parameters.

Thank you,
Larry
​
Click to expand...

Hi, we ('i') need to establish this fact.. that PERFECT DOCTRINES do not save a Christless Church.

Read over Isa. 5 & see if you understand verse 3 + 7? Yet, if we are being LED of the Holy Spirit, (Rom. 8:14) we must have both, Christ's perfect Doctrine and the Eternal Christ of His DOCTRINE. Eph. 4:5

--Elijah
 
I was unable to track down an old book on the subject advocating a date closer to 1 BC. The reasons were interesting, though.

Herod's death is attributed to the 4BC eclipse, but I remember the book pointed out, with plausible interpretations of the classic texts excluding it, 1 BC is still a plausible date.

In the year prior to this situation, the governor of Syria had died. In the interim someone was appointed. Nobody knows who.
 
Elijah674 said:
I think this might be interesting?
__________________________
70w-800.gif
Click to expand...

Hi, me again. Why not just extend the complete prophecy of the 2300 Day's on out & see where it takes you? Start any place that you think best? And then backtrack or go forward. If if is God's Truth? then one would have some solid information to build other real doctrine on. (2 Tim. 3:16's doctrine!:thumbsup)

And I think that you can find the whole diagram on Bible Light.

--Elijah

PS: See Eccl. 3:1 +1 Peter 4:17
Eccl. 3
[1] To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

1 Peter 4
[17] For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

And we know that when Christ comes bodily again, that we see in Rev. that He brings His reward of eternal life to the saved at this 'time'. So we are to be at this time period, already pre/judged.
 
Should we not count the start of the third millennium from Christ's death instead of his birth? The work he came to do was not finished until his death and resurrection which ushered in the dispensation commonly called the "church age".

Now we can't agree on the death date, either, but we all know it's near to 30AD plus or minus a few years. So the third millennium should commence somewhere 2030AD plus or minus.
 
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