Star of Bethlehem - Determining The Year Jesus Was Born

Determining The Year Jesus Was Born

See also: Chronology of Jesus

If the story of the star was inspired by an actual event, this event might have occurred at the time Jesus was born. The Gospel of Matthew describes the birth of Jesus as taking place when Herod was king. According to Josephus, Herod died after a lunar eclipse. This is usually identified as the eclipse of March 13, 4 BC. The narrative implies that Jesus was born sometime between the first appearance of the star and the appearance of the Magi at Herod's court. That the king is said to have ordered the execution of boys two years of age and younger, implies that the star made its appearance within the preceding two years. Modern scholars date the birth of Jesus as 6–4 BC. Early Christian writers, such as Tertullian and Irenaeus, gave the date as 2 BC or 3 BC.

The Gospel of Luke implies that the birth took place when Herod was alive, but it also says that Jesus was born during the census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria. However Quirinius did not become governor until AD 6, nine years after Herod died. The Luke account also describes the family of Jesus leaving Bethlehem shortly after the birth.

Read more about this topic:  Star Of Bethlehem

Famous quotes containing the words determining the, determining, year, jesus and/or born:

    “I esteem it the happiness of this country that its settlers, whilst they were exploring their granted and natural rights and determining the power of the magistrate, were united by personal affection. Members of a church before whose searching covenant all rank was abolished, they stood in awe of each other, as religious men.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    “The true rule, in determining to embrace, or reject any thing, is not whether it have any evil in it; but whether it have more of evil, than of good. There are few things wholly evil, or wholly good.”
    —Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)

    “... breaks ancestrally each year into
    Regenerate union. Let it always be there.”
    —Philip Larkin (1922–1986)

    “Thinking as I do that the Creator of this world is a very cruel being, & being a worshipper of Christ, I cannot help saying: “the Son, O how unlike the Father!” First God Almighty comes with a thump on the head. Then Jesus Christ comes with a balm to heal it.”
    —William Blake (1757–1827)

    “I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth.”
    —Pete Townshend (b. 1945)