Luke 2:16
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby, who was lying in the manger.
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
- Luke 19:32 So those who were sent went out and found it just as Jesus had told them.
- Luke 2:12 And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
- Luke 2:7 And she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
- Luke 22:13 So they went and found it just as Jesus had told them. And they prepared the Passover.
- Luke 1:39 In those days Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah,
Cross-references: OpenBible.info, CC BY 4.0
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