Luke 2:15
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”
Scripture: Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain
- WHERE
- Bethlehem
- WHEN
- 6-4 BC?
- WHO
- Jesus
ON THE MAP
WHO APPEARS
WHEN
6-4 BC?
dated by the text itself
The most debated date in the Bible, and the disagreement is between the sources, not our reading. The two reconstructions put forward place the birth between 6 and 4 BC.
WHO RULED
- Augustus emperor of Rome 27 BC – AD 14
- Herod the Great king of Judea 37-4 BC
- Archelaus ethnarch of Judea 4 BC – AD 6
- Herod Antipas tetrarch of Galilee 4 BC – AD 39
- Philip tetrarch of Ituraea 4 BC – AD 34
SOURCES
- date — Luke 2:1-2 dates itself by the census of Quirinius. Josephus (Antiquities XVIII.1) puts that census in AD 6; Matthew 2 puts the birth under Herod, who died in 4 BC.
- Augustus — Suetonius, Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Augustus; Res Gestae Divi Augusti
- Herod the Great — Josephus, Antiquities XIV-XVII
- Archelaus — Josephus, Antiquities XVII.13; Jewish War II.7
- Herod Antipas — Josephus, Antiquities XVII.8-XVIII.7
- Philip — Josephus, Antiquities XVII.8, XVIII.4
SEE ALSO
- Matthew 2:1-2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, …
- 1 Peter 3:22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.
- Exodus 3:3 So Moses thought, “I must go over and see this marvelous sight. Why is the bush not burning up?”
- Matthew 2:9-11 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the Child was. …
- Luke 24:51 While He was blessing them, He left them and was carried up into heaven.
Cross-references: OpenBible.info, CC BY 4.0
UPDATED