Four items appear below:
1 The Birth Date of Jesus and The Star of Bethlehem
Anonymous #81
2 The Star of Bethlehem - How Bright?
Anonymous #82
3 Jesus' Date of Birth Query
Malcolm #118
4 Jesus' Date of Birth
Anonymous #119
THE BIRTH DATE OF JESUS
and
THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM
Anonymous
(Investigator 81, 2001 November)
BIRTH 2 BC
The birth year of Jesus appears easy to calculate from the Bible:
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, in the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zachariah in the wilderness; and he went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (Luke 3:1-3)The same chapter says John the Baptist baptized Jesus when: "Jesus…was about thirty years of age." (3:23)
Tiberius was joint emperor with Augustus from 12 AD but reigned as "Caesar" from 14 AD. His "fifteenth year" would therefore end some time in 29 AD. Subtract the age of Jesus at baptism — about 30 years — gives 2 BC for Jesus’ birth. (Note, there is no year "0".)
In 525 AD the monk Dionysius Exiguus (died 556 AD) calculated Jesus was born in 1 BC. This became the basis for dividing history into BC and AD.
Nearly every researcher, however, rejects both 2 BC and 1 BC. The main reasons are:
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrolment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. (Luke 2:1-3)King Herod — who had the infants around Bethlehem murdered in order to kill the newborn Jesus — is believed to have died in 4 BC; Jesus was apparently born during a census:
However, no census in 2 BC was known.
CHRISTMAS STAR THEORIES
Jesus’ birth-year is connected to the identity of the "Star of Bethlehem" or "Christmas Star" that guided the "wise men" or "Magi" (probably astrologers) to Judea.
The two most popular explanations for the Christmas Star — other than the story being false — are planetary conjunctions and comets.
Florentine painter Giotto Ambroglio di Bondone (1266-1337) painted 38 frescoes in the Capella dell’ Arena in Padua, Italy. "The Adoration of the Magi" painted in 1303 shows a comet above the nativity scene. Halley’s comet had appeared in 1301 and was Giotto’s inspiration. Four centuries later Edmund Halley (1656-1742) calculated that this comet returned every 76 years.
12 BC
Halley’s Comet neared the Earth in 12 BC.
Jim Fleming, lecturer in historical geography at Hebrew University, Jerusalem,
reasoned that the Magi saw the "star" twice, first in the east and later
in the west when they reached Judea. Whenever Halley’s Comet comes it appears
twice — firstly as it approaches the Sun and secondly after going around
the Sun. Furthermore, a census was ordered in 12 BC. Therefore, says Fleming,
the Star of Bethlehem was Halley’s Comet. (The Advertiser, December 21,
1985)
7 BC
In 7 BC the planets Jupiter and Saturn performed
a "celestial dance" in the constellation of Pisces. In May Jupiter, as
viewed from Earth, passed Saturn. In October the Earth’s motion made both
planets seem to approach each other. In December the planets met again.
The German astronomers Johann Kepler (1571-1630) and Christian Idele (19th
century) considered these events the Star of Bethlehem.
David Hughes, a planetary scientist at Sheffield University, wrote:
All in all, Jupiter and Saturn have orbital periodicities of 12 and 29 years respectively, so Jupiter on average passes Saturn every 20 years. About every 120 years, three successive conjunctions take place over about six months, this being known as a triple or great conjunction. Such a conjunction will occur every 120 years and a similar one would have occurred in 7 BC… On May 29, September 29 and December 4, 7 BC, a conjunction occurred in the constellation of Pisces, which is astrologically associated with the Jewish people." (Nature, Volume 264, 1976)6 BC
Michael Molnar (1992) suggests the "Star" was a twice-over "lunar occultation of Jupiter" — meaning the Moon covered Jupiter. These happened in 6 BC on March 20 just after sunset and on April 17 before dawn. On both occasions the Moon was a crescent just above the horizon difficult to see. Jupiter was also on the horizon and probably invisible! Molnar argues that ancient astrologers were able to calculate the occurrence of non-visible astrological events. Marcus Chown (1995) calls this hypothesis the "invisible star of Bethlehem". Its main advantage is that 6 BC meshes with Herod killing the infants up to two years of age and himself dying in 4 BC.
5 BC
In addition to Halley’s Comet in 12 BC the
Chinese recorded comets in 5 BC and 4 BC. Professor Colin Humphreys of
Cambridge University advocates the 5 BC comet. It was observed for 70 days,
Herod was still alive, and it’s consistent with the census ordered by Caesar
Augustus in 8 BC. (The Advertiser, November 2, 1991)
3 BC to 2 BC
Venus and Jupiter are the two brightest
objects in the night sky after the Moon. On August 12, 3 BC the two planets
almost seemed to touch. And on June 17, 2 BC again — people in Babylon
would have seen the two planets merge into one in the west toward Judea.
Supernova
Supernova bright enough to be seen during
the day occurred in 1006, 1054, 1572 and 1604. Some speculate that the
Star of Bethlehem was a supernova — except there’s no record of one at
that time.
THE CENSUS
No widescale census involving the Jews during the period we’re considering is known. An inscription discovered in Turkey in 1924 mentioned the census of 8 BC. That census, however, applied to Roman citizens and would not have involved the Jewish parents of Jesus. The RSV Bible, quoted above uses the word "enrolment" — does this help?
American Bible scholar Ernest Martin has identified a combined census and oath of allegiance to Caesar Augustus in 3 BC to 2 BC. This corresponded with the 750th anniversary of the founding of Rome and with the 25th anniversary of the reign of Augustus. On February 5, 2 BC the Roman Senate bestowed on Augustus the title "pater patriae" (Father of the Country). Bestowal of this title may be connected to the census/oath of that year. (Pratt 1990)
The Jewish historian Josephus Flavius (37-95AD) is a major source of the history of the Jews. He wrote Wars of the Jews and Antiquities of the Jews. Josephus records that 6,000 Pharisees refused to pledge their good will to Caesar a year before Herod died. (Antiquities XVII 4/4) This refusal may also refer to the census/oath of 2 BC — except for the problem of Herod dying in 4 BC.
Another problem is that Luke 2:1-3 says the
enrolment occurred when "Quirinius was governor of Syria". But Roman records
mention Quirinius as governor in 6-9 AD! However, scholarly debate suggests
that Quirinius was governor or joint governor on an earlier occasion in
the BC period. The Lapis Tiburtinus inscription found in Rome 1764 AD mentions
a Roman who became governor twice in Syria. Unfortunately the inscription
is damaged and the man’s name is missing — but most scholars believe it
refers to Quirinius.
HEROD’S DEATH AND THE LUNAR ECLIPSE
Herod’s death is usually put at 4 BC, sometimes 3 BC.
In 40/39 BC Rome appointed Herod tretrarch (tributary king) of Judea. Herod’s reign can also be counted from 37 BC when he took Jerusalem and had the previous king, Antigonus, executed:
…he died…having reigned, since he had procured Antigonus to be slain, thirty-four years; but since he had been declared king by the Romans, thirty seven. (Antiquities XVII 8:1; Wars I 33:8)This suggests Herod died in 3 BC.
Pratt (1990) queries why both periods — 40
BC and 37 BC — are mentioned because otherwise Josephus’ reference point
is 37 BC:
…the fight happened at Actium, between Octavius Caesar and Antony, in the seventh year of the reign of Herod. (Antiquities XV 5:2)
Pratt (1990) speculates that Josephus used a source that said Herod reigned 37 years without stating the starting point. Josephus also knew that Herod’s sons (Archelaus, Antipas and Philip) reckoned their reigns as starting in 4 BC or 3 BC. And indeed ancient coins have been found suggesting this is when their reigns started. Josephus therefore counted back 37 years from 4 BC or 3 BC but this did not give him his normal reference point of 37 BC. To make his history consistent he assumed the 37 years started in 40 BC and he added mention of the 34 years to avoid ambiguity.…the thirteenth year of the reign of Herod. (Antiquities XV 9:1)
Pratt further argues that another son was co-regent with Herod for several years but died prior to Herod. The brothers may have antedated their reigns to the date of their brother’s death — and Josephus did not know this. In other words Josephus should have counted 37 years from 37 BC to Herod’s death not from 40 BC.
A different possibility is that Josephus counted the reign of each new king of Judea from the start of the Jewish new-year—the month Nisan (March/April). In other words Herod might have reigned for almost a year without this time being counted as part of the 37 years or the 34 years. This argument would put Herod’s death in 2 BC or early in 1 BC.
Another consideration is the lunar eclipse. Josephus in 700 pages mentions only one lunar eclipse — which occurred shortly before Herod’s death. (Antiquities XVII 6/4) Partial lunar eclipses visible in Palestine occur almost every year — but total eclipses are rare.
Astronomers calculate that lunar eclipses occurred:
5 BC September 14 (Eclipse three hours after
sunset)
4 BC March 13 (Partial eclipse near midnight)
1 BC January 10 (Total eclipse near midnight)
1 BC December 29 (Partial eclipse at sunset)
The problem with the 4 BC eclipse as the
one before Herod’s death is that Josephus records too many events from
the eclipse to the Passover festival. In 4 BC this was 29 days. There occurred:
This impossible schedule suggests that
Herod died not after the 4 BC eclipse but after another eclipse when there
was more time between eclipse and Passover.
The January 10, 1 BC, eclipse was a total eclipse whereas the others were partial. This eclipse would allow about three months until the Passover for the above-listed events to occur. This also fits with a Jewish tradition that Herod died in the month of Shebat — January/February.
Another problem is Josephus says that when Herod died the governor of Syria was Varus — and coins have been found showing Varus as governor in 4 BC. However, Pratt (1990) cites other evidence suggesting Varus was governor twice, the second appointment being in 1 BC.
If Herod died in 1 BC what was the Star of
Bethlehem?
VENUS
Today we distinguish stars which are self-luminous from planets which reflect light. In ancient times both were called "stars" but planets were also "wandering stars". In Jude 13, for example, false Christians are compared to "wandering stars".
In the Bible book of Revelation, Venus is a symbol of Jesus:
I am the root and offspring of David, the bright morning star. (22:16)Venus can be either the "morning star" or "evening star" depending on its position in its orbit. (Tauber 1979)
Is Revelation 22:16 a hint to the Star of Bethlehem?
Jonathon Leake (1996) reports:
A powerful computer program…has shown how the paths of planets in our solar system crossed to create a bright celestial body at about the time Christ is thought to have been born.It’s now known that on August 12, 3 BC the two brightest planets in our Solar System, Venus and Jupiter, approached each other — 4.3 arcseconds apart — so that they almost seemed to touch. Ten months later, on June 17, 2 BC Venus and Jupiter approached each other again so close — 0.5 arcseconds apart — that to the naked eye they merged into one "star". (Bidelman 1991; Sinnott 1968) To astrologers this would be very significant.
According to the program, the "star" appeared in June of the year 2 BC and…was the result of the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus…
That Jupiter and Venus appeared close together in the sky in 2BC was already known, but previous calculations suggested they did not join together.
The Star appeared twice — before the Magi
set out and again when they arrived. The evidence is satisfied if the 3
BC conjunction of Venus and Jupiter motivated the Magi to start their journey
at the end of which they saw the same "star" again in June 2 BC.
BABIES KILLED
Was Jesus then born in June 2 BC? The Magi probably considered the first Venus/Jupiter conjunction as indicating the conception of the new king and the second his birth or recent birth. It’s often argued that the Magi arrived some time after his birth because:
a) Mary gave birth in a stable — but the
Magi visited a “house”. (Matthew 2:10)
b) Herod ordered infants killed up to two
years of age: “according to the time he had ascertained from the wise men.”
(Matthew 2:16)
Luke tells of the shepherds who visited Jesus at his birth and also of Jesus taken to Jerusalem for a ceremony that occurred 40 days after birth. (2:22-24) Therefore Joseph and Mary may have stayed in Bethlehem at least 40 days. Matthew tells of the Star and the Magi and that Joseph and Mary then took Jesus to Egypt.
Herod’s killing of older babies could have
been his way of making sure Jesus was included. Probably he was uncertain
whether the first conjunction indicated the conception or birth of Jesus.
THE STAR "CAME TO REST"
The Star pointed the Magi to Judea — that’s as precise as it initially got. They then visited Herod and asked: "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?" Herod in turn asked his priests and scribes and they quoted the Old Testament:
From you shall come a ruler
Who will govern my people Israel.
(Micah 5:2)
…and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. (Matthew 2:9-12)Skeptics argue that a star or planet cannot "rest over" any one house or even over any one continent:
Anything celestial — whether supernova or planet — rises and arcs and sets below the horizon as the evening wears on. No heavenly body could remain motionless in the sky over Bethlehem. Only a star directly above the north pole could remain relatively motionless… (Berman 1990)The phrase "when they saw" suggests the Magi did not see the "star" continuously — they saw it intermittently. This would be the case if there were clouds that night. Also the Bible does not state for how long the Star "came to rest" — Berman assumes the entire night whereas the Bible doesn’t say.
On Christmas Eve 2000 AD slow clouds hung
over Adelaide, South Australia. I observed a bright star apparently resting
over the area a little north of my home. The illusion resulted from the
star being surrounded by almost stationary clouds. Had the clouds been
thicker and the houses more spaced the star might have appeared to rest
over one particular house.
CONCLUSION
By the above analysis Herod died early in
1 BC about two years later than commonly accepted. The census and oath
of 2 BC may be the "enrolment" referred to by Luke. Jesus, therefore, was
born in 2 BC and the Star of Bethlehem was a twice-over meeting of Venus
and Jupiter ten months apart. Luke’s statement that Jesus was about 30
years old "in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar" gave
the correct and simple answer all along.
REFERENCES
Berman, B Discover, December
1990, pp 78-79
Bidelman, W P Planetarian,
Volume 20, No. 3, September 1991
Chester, C Imprimis, Volume
22, No. 12, December 1993
Chown, M New Scientist, 23/30
December, 1995, pp 34-35
Federer, C A Sky & Telescope,
Volume 36, 1968, p.396
Henbest, N New Scientist,
19/26 December, 1992, pp 29-31
Hughes, D Nature Volume 264,
1976, pp 513-517
-------------- 1979 The Star
of Bethlehem Mystery, Dent & Sons
-------------- New Scientist,
25 December 1999/1 January 2000, p. 82
Jenkins, R & Simpson,
J New Scientist, 27 June, 1985, pp 50-53
Josephus Complete Works, Translated
by W Whiston, Kregel Publications
Kidger, M 1999 The Star of
Bethlehem: An Astronomer’s View, Princeton University
Leak, J The Australian, December
10, 1996, p. 11
Martin, E 1991 The Star that
Astonished the World, ASK Publications
Matthews, M The Advertiser,
December 23, 1993, p. 12
Molnar, M R Sky & Telscope,
Volume 83, January 1992, pp 37-39
Molnar, M 1999 The Star of
Bethlehem: The Legacy of the Magi, Rutgers University
Moore, P Astronomy Now, December
1989, pp 18-20
Pratt, J P Planetarium, Volume
19, No. 4, December 1990, pp 8-14
Sinott, R W Sky & Telescope,
Volume 36, 1968, p. 384
Tauber, G E Man’s View of
the Universe, Crown Publishers, p. 47
Thomas, S The Advertiser,
December 25, 1997, p. 23
STAR OF BETHLEHEM—HOW BRIGHT?
Anonymous
(Investigator No. 82, 2002 January)
In my "Star of Bethlehem" article I wrote: "Venus and Jupiter are the two brightest objects in the night sky after the Moon." (#81 p. 20)
Standard textbooks give the "apparent magnitude" — or maximum brightness as observed from Earth — of various objects as follows:
Sun -26.6
Capella +0.09
Full Moon -12.5
Rigel +0.15
Venus -4
Procyon +0.37
Jupiter -2
Achernar +0.53
Sirius -1.4
Beta Centauri +0.66
Canopus -0.7
Betelguese +0.7
Alpha Centauri -0.3
Altair +0.80
Arcturus 0.00
Aldebaran +0.85
Vega +0.04
Acrux +0.87
A difference in magnitude of 1 between two stars means one star is 2.51 times as bright as the other. Jupiter (the second brightest planet) beats Sirius (the brightest star).
Supernovae (caused when stars blow apart) of 1054 and 1572 AD were visible during the day and so were brighter than Sirius, Jupiter or Venus.
G E Tauber (Man's View of the Universe, 1979) assigns the supernova of 1572 a magnitude of –4. Hence, the conjunctions of Venus and Jupiter in 3 BC and 2 BC — my interpretation of the Star of Bethlehem — may have been comparable to this supernova.
Anon—SA
JESUS’ DATE OF BIRTH QUERY
(Investigator 118, 2008 January)
Malcolm
The writer of “THE BIRTH DATE OF JESUS” (#81) calculated Jesus’ year of birth from him being 30 years old in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius.
He forgot that Tiberius’ reign began on 19th AUGUST A.D. 14 and added a full 15 years and arrived at 29 A.D., then added 3 1/2 years of Jesus' Ministry and arrived at A.D. 33 for Jesus' death. Therefore when counting backwards 33½ years he arrived at 2 B.C.
A.D. 29 would be when Tiberius’ 15th year finished — NOT when it began. He should have realised that the 15th year of reign began on 19th August A.D. 28 and sometime thereafter Jesus turned 30.
Should Dr. Martin be correct that Jesus was born in September, then in September A.D. 28 Jesus would have turned 30 after August 19 in the same year, and would be logically in Tiberius 15th year of reign.
Three and a half years of Ministry would take us to PASSOVER A.D. 32 with Christ’s death. Counting backwards 33½ years takes us to B.C. 3 probably in September.
Calculating the figures the way Investigator did IS NOT WHAT SCRIPTURE IMPLIES — FOR IT SAYS IN THE 15th YEAR, NOT WHEN IT WAS COMPLETED!
From Flavius Josephus’ Antiquities, it has been traditionally inferred that Herod died at the end of March 4 B.C. David. W. Beyer in “Josephus Re-Examined” (1998) presents NEW EVIDENCE corroborating the date of Herod’s death as 1 B.C. The primary reason given is a false printer typesetting of the Manuscript. “Antiquities” was messed up in the year 1544.
Every Josephus manuscript, found in libraries, before the 1544 printing supports that King Herod died in 1 B.C.
Should Jesus have been born in September 3 B.C. with Herod’s death late January 1B.C. the time between is about 15 months.
There seems NO LOGICAL REASON why King Herod
killed children TWO YEARS of age unless concluding that Jesus could have
been already 12-15 months old.
JESUS’ DATE OF BIRTH
Anonymous
(Investigator 119, 2008 March)
I calculated Jesus’ birth date in Investigator 81 by subtracting 30 from the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. The 15th year, as Malcolm (#118 p. 5) notes, began in August 28 AD and finished in August 29 AD.
I did not distinguish “15 years” and ”15th year” i.e. cardinal and ordinal numbers in #81 since the Bible does not specify the month. So I provisionally assumed mid year.
The 15th year marked when the ministry of John the Baptist began (Luke 3:2), not Jesus’ ministry.
John was about 6 months older than Jesus (Luke 1:26). Therefore Jesus’ ministry may have begun 6 months after John’s. Jesus was also tempted for 40 days in Judea. Walking to and from Judea might involve 10-15 days.
All this suggests 29 AD.
When Jesus began his ministry he was “about
thirty”. (Luke 3:23) The Greek hosei occurs 34 times in the New
Testament and when used with numbers means “about”:
- Luke 1:56 “about three months”.
- Luke 9:28 “about eight days”.
- Luke 22:59 “about an hour”
- Luke 23:44 “about the sixth hour”
- Acts 10:3 “about the ninth hour”.
There was a census in 2 BC which could be the census mentioned in Luke 2:1 that brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem.
All this fitted with the Star of Bethlehem being the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter on June 17, 2 BC.
Jesus was born at least 40 days before the “star” and the “three wise men” arrived. (Luke 2:22-24)
A further way to lock in the above dates might be to note that Jesus was crucified prior to a “high Sabbath” (John 19:31), which was when a regular Sabbath and Passover coincided. Perhaps astronomy can calculate which year in the 30s of the 1st century this happened. Then we would subtract 3½ years, and 30 years.
Placing Jesus’ birth in 2 BC requires that Herod be alive until 2 BC whereas historians put his death in 4 BC. I answered this by demonstrating that the 1st century historian Josephus probably made a mistake. (#81)
Malcolm cites Josephus Re-examined
(D. W. Beyer 1998) and says that 4 BC came from a mistake in the typesetting
of the manuscript in 1544 AD and correct is 1 BC. That’s interesting!
www.adam.com.au/bstett/