Luke 2:4
So Joseph also went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, since he was from the house and line of David.
Scripture: Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain
- WHERE
- Bethlehem, Nazareth, Galilee 1 and 1 more
- 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
- Micah 5:2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel — One whose origins are of old, from the days…
- John 7:42 Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Christ will come from the line of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”
- 1 Samuel 16:1 Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of…
- Matthew 2:23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
- Luke 1:26-27 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, …
- Ruth 4:17 The neighbor women said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse, the father of David.
- Luke 4:16 Then Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath. And when He stood up to read,
- Ruth 2:4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters, “The LORD be with you.” “The LORD bless you,” they replied.
Cross-references: OpenBible.info, CC BY 4.0
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