Though Judea was ruled by Herod as king, he was dependent upon and the servant of Augustus Caesar. Johnson -Augustus Caesar, the nephew and heir of Julius Caesar, the first of the Roman emperors, was now the ruler of the civilized world. But papyri and inscriptions have confirmed Luke on every point in these crucial verses 2:1-7. Robertson – It was thought that no such decree was given by Greek or Roman historians and it was for a long time assumed by many scholars that Luke was in error. Luke 2:1 (pg54, note 16) – Dake – “Caesar Augustus Caius Octavius, adopted son and successor of Julius Caesar. Lightfoot – I have placed the appearance of the Angel to Joseph after Mary’s return from the house of Elisabeth, as she came back from Hebron before the birth of John, three months after the annunciation of the Messiah. It was after this and after the birth of John, when Mary was now in her fourth month, and her pregnancy had become perceptible, that Joseph was minded to put her away. Edward Robinson – Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months and then returned to Nazareth Luke 1:56. This event would have had to occur after the return from Elizabeth’s house and probably after the birth of John (Luke 1:36,39). Matthew 1:18 (pg53, note 15) – Mary was probably in her fourth or fifth month of pregnancy before it was perceptible to Joseph. xvii.8, 1.4 xvii.9, 3).Therefore, placing the birth of Jesus just prior to the death of Herod Jesus would have been born July/August in the year of Rome 749 or B.C. Jesus was born before Herod’s death which was in the year of Rome 750 (Jos. Subsequently, Jesus would have been born in July or August the following year. Jesus was conceived in the six month which would be September or October (see footnote 10). Therefore, It is possible to approximate when John was born based on the time of Jesus’ birth. Secondly, John was born six months before Jesus. Assuming that John began his ministry like all other priests at the age of thirty, he would have been born in the year of Rome 749 or B.C. Tiberius was associated with Augustus in government before Augustus’ death, beginning in the year of Rome 765.Therefore, the fifteenth year of Tiberius would have been in the year of Rome 779 or A.D. Augustus died August 29th, in the year of Rome 767. Luke 1:57 (pg51, note 14) – John was probably born in January in the year of Rome 749 or BC 5.This is evident for two reasons: First, he began his ministry in the fifteenth year of Tiberius. Benjamin Davies – The sixth month here refers back, not to the vision, but to the conception of Elisabeth. It follows that John was conceived in April about the time of the Passover, 6 months before Mary conceived. Luke 1:36 (pg49, note 12) – Luke 1:36 supplies the evidence that John was 6 months older than Jesus. 5 about 8 months before the death of Herod in April of B.C. Subsequently Jesus would have been born in July of B.C. Luke 1:27 (pg48, note 10) – The sixth month would have been in late September or October dating from the Passover which is the beginning of the Jewish year (Ex.12:2).
The first Passover of Jesus ministry was during the 46th year of the temple, 780 AUC or A.D. John’s ministry began before Jesus ministry in the 15 th year of Tiberias.Ħ. Jesus was about 30 when he was baptized by John.ĥ. Jesus was born before Herod’s death (April B.C. Jesus was conceived in the sixth month (October).Ģ. – There are six fixed points for the birth of Jesus.ġ. All of these data,which will be discussed throughout this book, indicate that Jesus was born sometime between July and August B.C 5. We also know that John’s ministry began in the fifteenth year of Tiberius (Luke 3:1) and that Jesus was baptized shortly after the beginning of John’s ministry.
The records of Herod’s death are undeniable and are dated in the Spring of B.C. We are also convinced that Jesus was born before the death of Herod the Great according to Matthew 2:1,3,12,13,15,16,19 and Luke 1:5. We are convinced that Jesus was about 30 years of age when he was baptized by John according to Luke 3:23. Pg 45, note 7 – We will show proofs for the dating assigned to these events in this calendar throughout this book. (Note: Question marks in parenthesis, such as (?) are Greek words that will be edited in soon.) Spitsbergen has pastored The Abiding Place church in San Diego, California since 1985 and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Biblical languages. The footnotes given are specific to place the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus. There are many more footnotes concerning the specifics of the chronology of the Gospels that are not present here. The following explanation is taken from “ The Sequential Events in the Life of Jesus Christ: A Chronological Description of the Four Gospels” by Dr.