The montli and day of the birth of Christ cannot be determined with a like degree of approximation, but it could not, at all events, have fallen in December or Jan- uary', since at this time of the year the Hocks are not found in the open fields during the night ( Luke Ii, 8), but In pens ("the first rain descends the 17tli of the month Marchesvan [November], and then the cattle returned home ; nor did the shepherds any longer lodge in huts In the fields," Gemara, Xedtir, 03) ; moreover, a census {tm-vypacpi}), which made travelling necessary (Luke ii, 2 sq.), would not have been ordered at this season. "We may naturally suppose that the month of jMarch is the time for driving out cattle to pasture, at least in Southern Palestine (Siiskind, in Bengel's Archil', i, 215; comp. A. J. u. d. llardt, De momentis quihttsd. hist, et chroii. ad de- termiii. Chr. diem natal. Ilelmst. 1754 ; Korner, De die na- tali Sereatoris, Lips. 1778; Funck, Be die Sti-vat. natali, Pint. 1735 ; also In his Dissert. Acad. p. 149 sq. ; MUnter, Stern der Weisen, Copenh. 1827, p. 110 sq.). If we can rely upon a statement of the Jewish I'abbins, that the first of the twenty-four courses of priests entered upon their duties in the regular cycle the very week in which the Temple was destroyed by the Romans (Mishna, iii, 298, 3), we are furnished with the means, by comparison with the time of the service of Zachariah (Luke i, 5, 8), who belonged to the eighth divifion (1 Chron. xxiv, 10), of detcvmining with considerable certainty (Browne's Ordo Sfecloriim, p. 33 sq.) the dat^ of the nativity as occurring, if in B.C. 6, about the month of August (Strong's Harm, and K.rpos. Append, i, p. 23). The at- tempts of Scaliger and Bengel to determine the month of the nativity from this element (compare JMaurit. De sortit. p. 334 sq.) are unsatisfactory (see Van Til, ttt sup. p. 75 sq. ; Allix, Diatr. de anno et mense J. C. nat. p. 44 sq. ; Paulas, Comment, i, 36 sq.). Lately Jarvis {Introd. p. 535 sq.) has endeavored to maintain the traditionary date of Christmas of the Latin Church ; and Seyffarth has anew adopted the conclusion (Chronoloff. Sacj-a, p. 97 sq.) that John the Baptist was born on the 24th of June, and consequently Jesus on the 25th (22d in his Siimmar;/ of recent Discoveries in Chronolof);/. N. York, 1857, p. 23G) of December, based on the sujiposition that the Israelites reckoned by solar months: this pays no regard to Luke ii, 8 ( see llaso, \\. 67). See Christmas.
b. The year of Clirist's criiciji.rion Is no less disputed (comp. Paulus, Comni' ut. iii. 7.s4 sq.). The two extreme limits of the date are the above-mentioned 15th year of Tiberius, in which John the Baptist began his career (Luke iii, 1), i. e. Aug. 781 to Aug. 782 of Rome (A.D. 28-29), and the year of the death of tliat emperor, 790 of Rome (A.D. 37), in which Pilate had already left the province of Judfea. Jesus appears to have begun his pul)lic teaching soon after John's entrance upon liis mis- sion; for the message of the Sanhedrim to John, which is jilaced in immediate connection with the beginning of Christ's public ministry (John i, 19 ; comp. xxix, 35 ;
ii, 1), and comes in just before the Passover (John ii, 12 sq.), must have been within a year after John's public appearance. This being assumed, a further approxima- tion would depend upon the determination of the num- ber of Passovers which Jesus celebrated during his min- istry ; but this itself is quite a difficult question (see un- der No. 5, below). It is now generally conceded that he could not well have passed less than three Paschal festivals, and probably not more than four (i. e. one at the beginning of each of Christ's, three years, and a fourth at the close of the last) ; thus we ascertain as the terminus a quo of these festivals the year A.D. 28, and as the probable terminus ad quern the year A.D. 32 ; or, on the supposition (as above) that the joint reign of Ti- berius is meant, we have as the limits of the Passovers of Jesus A.D. 25-29. This result would be rendered more definite and certain if we could ascertain wheth- er in the last of these series of years (A.D. 29 or 32) the Jewish Passover fell on a Fiiday (Thursday evening and the ensuing day), as this was the week-day on which the death of Christ is generally held to have taken place. There have been various calculations by means of lunar tables (Linbrunn, in the Ahhandlum/ der bai/erschen Akademie der Wiss. vol. vi; Wunn, in Ben- gel's A rchiv. II, i, 292 sq. ; Anger, De temporiini in A ct. Apost. ratione diss. 1, Lips. 1830, p. SO sq. ; Browne, Oi'do Saclorum, Lond. 1844, p. 504), to determine during which of the years of this period the Paschal day must have oc- curred on Fridaj'' (see Strong's Harm, and Exposit. Ap- pend. 1, p. 8 sq.) ; but the inexactness of the Jewish cal- endar makes every such computation uncertain (Wurm, ut sup. p. 294 sq.). Yet it is worthy of notice that the two most recent investigations of Wurm and Anger both make the year A.D. 31, or 784 of Rome, to be such a cal- endar year as we require. Wleseler, Chronol. Synops. p. 479), on the other hand, protests against the forego- ing computations, and insists that In A.D. 30 alone the Paschal day fell on Friday. According to other calcu- lations, A.D. 29 and 33 are the only years of this period in which the Paschal eve fell on Thursday (see Browne, Ordo Sceclorum, p. 55), while so great discrepancy pre- vails bet^vccn other computations (see Townsend's Clao- nolotjical A'. T. p. *I59) that little or no reliance can be placed upon this argument (see Strong's Jhn-m. and lix- posit. Append. 1, p. 8 sq.). See Passovkr. The opin- ion of some of the ancient writers (Irenreus, ii, 22, 5), that Jesus died at 40 or 50 years of age (compare John viii, 57),is altogether improbable (see Plsanskl,Z>e ei- rore Irenai in detcrminaiida cetate Christi,l\egiom. 1777). The most of the Church fathers (Tertu]!. A dv. Jud. 8 ; Lactantius, Institut. iv, 10 ; Augustine, Civ. dei, xviil, 54 ; Clem. Alex. Strom, i, p. 147, etc.) assign but a sinf/le year as the duration of Christ's ministry, and place his death in the consulship of the two Gemini (YIII Cal. April. Coss. C. Rubellio Gemino ct C. Rufio Gcmino), 1, e. 782 of Rome, A.D. 29, the 15th year of Tlberius's reign, which Ideler {Chronolof/ij, ii,418 sq.) has lately (so also Browne, Oi-do Saclorum, p. 80 sq.) attempted to recon- 1 clle with Luke iii, 1 (hut see Seyffarth, Chronol. Sacra, \ p. 115 sq. ; Eusebius, in his Chron. Annen. ii, p. 264, I places the death of Jesus in the 19th year of Tiberius, I which Jerome, in his Latin translation, calls the 18th; i on the above reckoning of the fathers, see Petavlus,yl?ii' miidvers. p. 146 sq. ; Thilo, Cod. Apocr. i, 497 sq.). Oi> j tlie oteervation of the sun at the crucifixion (Matt, I xxvii, 45 ; Mark xv, 33 ; Luke xxiii, 44), see Eclipsb, j (On the chronological elements of the life of Jesus, see i generally llottinucr. Penfus disse7-tat.biliL-chronol.p.2l8 } sq. ; Yoss. J/c (iiii.is C/irisll disse7-tat. Amst.H'A'3; Lupi, : De notis c/in>iii'tii<-/. iniiii mortis et natir. J. C. disseriai. Horn. 1744 ; Horix, Obserrat. hist, chronol. de annis Chr, Mogunt. 1789; compare Yolbeding, p. 20; Hase, p. 52.) See (JiiKONOLOGV.