Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 67:3 (Sep 2024)
Article: Information In The Gospels That Cannot Be Used To Determine The Date Of Jesus’s Birth
Author: Andrew E. Steinmann

JETS 67:3 (September 2024) p. 493

Information In The Gospels That Cannot Be Used To Determine The Date Of Jesus’s Birth

Andrew E. Steinmann*

* Andrew E. Steinmann is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Theology and Hebrew at Concordia University Chicago. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Abstract: Three pieces of information contained in the birth narratives in Matthew and Luke have often been pressed into service in attempts to determine or bolster a particular view of the date of the nativity. This study argues that Zechariah’s priestly duty as part of the course of Abijah (Luke 1:5), Herod’s execution of the young boys in Bethlehem (Matt 2:16), and the star that led the magi to Jesus (Matt 2:1–2, 9–10) cannot be employed for this purpose either because of ambiguity in the text, variables in chronology that cannot be resolved, or because the text does not present a natural phenomenon but a supernatural event.

Key words: Matthew, Luke, priestly courses, Jehoiarib, Abijah, Herod, star of Bethlehem

In recent years, the date for Jesus’s birth has been a subject of some discussion not only within scholarly circles in peer-reviewed articles but also on the internet. Although scholarly and popular literature often place the date of Jesus’s birth in 4 BC or earlier, I believe that Rodger Young and I have presented a convincing series of articles demonstrating that Jesus was born in late 3 BC or in 2 BC (i.e., before the death of Herod in early 1 BC before Passover).1 These articles were based on the seminal work of W. E. Filmer.2 Finegan, in the revised edition of his Handbook, adopted Filmer’s arguments and recognized Jesus’s birth “in 3 or 2 BC.”3

Such studies of the chronology relating to Jesus’s birth are based on statements in the Gospels and coordinated with extrabiblical sources, including Josephus, several Roman historians, and numismatics. Yet there are statements in the Gospels that Young and I did not use in our studies of the date of Jesus’s birth. There are good reasons for not employing these statements for chronological purposes, since I believe they cannot be used to date Jesus’s birth reliably. They are as follows: Zechariah’s service in the temple during the week that Abijah’s division

JETS 67:3 (September 2024) p. 494

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