92 thoughts on “When was Jesus Christ born? September 29, 2 B.C.”

1. I have read your very detailed and specific calculations (on other pages, like the 2300 evenings/mornings) but you diverge from that exacting math when you state here that Jesus 7 year ministry was done in 3 and 1/2 years. Why??? It seems you gloss over that clear math problem because you have interpreted the he who is to come that puts an end to sacrifice to be the Messiah. But I dont think that his an accurate or reasonable interpretation or understanding of that passage…the Messiah is cut off remember? Isnt it clear and logical that the last week (after the 69) refers to this one week of covenant…he will make a covenant for one week….Jesus didnt make a covenant for just one week…from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Day, did he? I cant see any viable way that part of Daniel 9 makes sense with the Messiah being the one who makes a covenant for one week…..that has to refer to the prince that is to come (after the Messiah), right?

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   • Thank you, this was very thoughtful feedback as well, Steven. To restate your first question to make sure I understand, ‘..why did I not convert the 3.5 years as part of the Jesus birth date calculation from 3.5 ‘prophetic days/years’ to tropical days/years like I did for the 2 Daniel prophecies (e.g. 2300 Day and 70-Week)?’ The answer is…because there was no explicit Biblical prophecy about the length of His ministry to death or His birth to death, therefore no calendar conversion was necessary in this calculation. In other words, no direct prophecy, no calendar conversion required.

     In reference to your second line of questions about the ‘covenant seven’ in the 70-Week prophecy passage, “27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering.”, I interpreted this verse the way you do now before I ever attempted my 70-Week calculation. I thought this ‘seven’ was His Ministry ‘week’ or seven years but after I did my calculation, I learned that both references to ‘seven’ in verse 27 are the same week, the 70th week. The reason being that you have to note what the end of the 69th week lands on to know the purpose of the 70th week. If the 69th week landed on a logical date for the Baptism of Jesus, then I would completely agree with you still that the final ‘covenant’ seven was purposed for His 7-year Ministry that was cut short mid-week. That would result in calculating the 70th week using my prophecy calendar conversion to land on the next important event 3.5 years later like the Crucifixion but it doesn’t work, I already tried it and it would also not land on any Jerusalem decree start date to rebuild the walls, I tried that also. However, it does land on Palm Sunday (perfectly from the Nehemiah Decree), which is one calendar week before the Resurrection, which is what fully executes the New Covenant. “He will confirm a covenant for many for one ‘seven’…” which means He took the duration of that calendar week to establish and confirm the New Covenant starting with the Anointing then the Crucifixion mid-week and finishing with the Resurrection, amazingly, all in a week, the Holy Week. What else can it be? If the dates worked out to be something else, I would write about that instead. Let me know if you calculate it a different way. I am fascinated by any new revelations to this or any other Bible prophecies.

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2. Hi Jesus was born on 29 September 5BC, if you examine the Death of Herod which a Historian Josephus Herod’s death in 4 BC. Josephus cites his 144 book Histories as one of his sources. In the bible it clearly states Jesus was born during Herods reign. Which case 2BC cannot be correct.

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   • Hi Sara, thank you so much for your comment and interest in my blog posting!

     In reading your response, I quickly see that you likely copy and pasted a few sentences directly from the top of an article called, Herod’s Death Rewritten by Eusebius. I am not sure how much research you have done on this subject based on your cited reference but I imagine that you are lightly read on the subject and eager to learn more beyond the tired, outdated old arguments that don’t get us any closer to the Truth. I do see that you are definitely on a good track with a healthy dose of curiosity to better understanding all that is really known on the subject of the true date of the birth of Christ. Please take your time to read through my personal response to your question/assertion as I carefully presented some key points that are not intended to offend you or insult your intelligence in any way but show you more clearly what I have uncovered for your benefit.

     One could argue that Jesus’ birth date is just as much in dispute as Herod’s death date. Thanks in part to a proposal by the 19th-century German scholar Emil Schurer, a funny notion emerged that Herod’s death should govern when Jesus was born but the logic actually works both ways. If we know when Jesus was born, we will also know when Herod died by consequence. There is significantly more information known today about the constraints of when Jesus was born and died vs. when Herod died. Even Josephus could not have benefitted from the advantages of historical perspective, the additional knowledge that followed him and the continued collective efforts of Civilization to think about and unravel this mystery fully. Think about it with me for a minute, Josephus simply wrote that Herod died between a lunar eclipse and the following Passover. Josephus didn’t present a specific date/year for whatever reason but also included other confluent events that equally could not be dated easily relative​ to the actual birthdate of Christ. There are lunar eclipses every year, however, only some of which were seen from Jerusalem. If Herod died in the spring of 4 BC, then the only lunar eclipse that would have applied according to NASA’s lunar eclipse charts is March 3, 4 BC, which means Jesus would have been born in the Fall of 5 BC as you mention in your comment. Add Jesus’ age of 33.5 years and He would have been crucified in 30 AD on Passover as you suggest. But wait!!! The Bible clearly says Passover, when Jesus was killed, occurred​ the day before the weekly Sabbath (Saturday) so Jesus had to have been Crucified on a Friday, Good Friday, as we celebrate it. The Bible also says a lunar eclipse occurred on Passover the year and the Friday Jesus died. NASA confirms a lunar eclipse on Friday, April 3, 33 AD which was also Passover on the Hebrew Calendar that year. Sir Isaac Newton also wrote that there were only 2 likely Crucifixion dates, Passovers in 33 AD and 34 AD, that the Crucifixion could have occurred, but only one of them meet all of the requirements mentioned before and in the Bible, which is April 3, 33 AD. There are no similarly clear cases for the years 34 AD, 32 AD or 30 AD. Back in the 1800s in Germany, Emil didn’t have the benefit of today’s knowledge from NASA’s lunar eclipse charts on the Internet or Stellarium’s free Planetary Motion simulation software showing any sky with its precise planets, our moon, the sun and constellations configurations anywhere on planet Earth, at any point in time, as we do now. To be fair, In 32 AD, there was also a lunar eclipse on Passover, but it was on a Monday, April 14th. It was not viewable whatsoever from Europe/Middle East/Africa and didn’t occur on a Friday. You can click on the actual lunar chart in my blog post to see for yourself. Again, the only date that meets all of the Biblical requirements is April 3, 33 AD, which was on a Friday and coincided with a lunar eclipse that was viewable during moonrise in Jerusalem on Passover that year, also clickable from my blog post for your viewing pleasure on NASA’s website. A 33 AD Crucifixion year, places the birth of Christ in the Fall of 2 BC, which agrees with several scholars’ constraints such as Josephus, Irenaeus, Eusebius, and Sir Isaac Newton among others including the writers of the New Testament and the Prophets of the Old Testament. As I mentioned in my blog post, of the candidates to be Herod’s eclipse, the December 29, 1 BC lunar eclipse (linked to NASA’s lunar eclipse charts in my blog post) was the most likely to have been widely observed. If December 29, 1 BC is correct, then Herod died in early 1 AD before Passover, which would have been April 25, 1 AD, rather than early 1 BC. With the September 29, 2 BC Birth date, Jesus would have been between 15 and 18 months old when Herod died. The lunar eclipses work and so do all the dates and ages.

     Sara, I am curious why you chose September 29th as Christ’s birthday even though you kept with the 5 BC birth year? September 29, 2 BC is also the Jewish Festival or Feast of Trumpets, a great symbol of Annunciation of the Birth of the Son of God when you think about it. September 29, 5 BC has no significance at all because the ancient Hebrew calendar was a lunar based calendar so festivals like Passover occurred on a different date every year.

     Herod’s 4 BC dogma doesn’t hold water anymore since so little could have been proven at the time when that declaration was made compared to now. Now we can see so much more into history than what previous scholars could have possibly seen or calculated effectively without today’s technology, knowledge, and search engines. I invite you to take another view of all the now known facts and not to invest too little time on too few old arguments that never resolved the truth clearly before anyway.

     Again, I truly appreciate your interest in this important topic and my blog, which covers research I have conducted over the past 25 plus years, investing hundreds, if not thousands of man hours of my free time to review and analyze a trove of information available online. The trick is sifting through literally everything to compare with and properly calculating Daniel’s prophetic time frames in the Bible to the day. Let me know if you have any further questions.

     Blessings to you Sara!

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3. Thanks chad99 for your compilation on this. Great stuff.
   I’ve had a pet theory that the date of Jesus’ birth had a certain amount of anonymity to it, in that it didn’t make the biggest of news splashes. Not enough for church historians to take accurate note of it anyway. But killing babies, now that’s different. When they started using the BC/AD nomenclature, I think they marked the time to an event so horrendous that the news went viral that the Christ child had been born, which was the time that Herod was killing babies. Since babies were being killed between December of 1BC and early 1 AD, this was the impetus for setting the starting date of the BC/AD calendar.
   You might also like the subject of Pyramidology, as it corroborates your dates of the birth, baptism, and crucifixion of Christ to a ‘T’. Right down to each day. A mathematician’s geometrical perspective. The book Study in Pyramidology (E.R. Capt) has an ‘appendix A’ dealing with the time of the birth of Christ, with similar historical references like you have.
   A bit off subject about Herod, is the research into where the city of Nazareth really was. Josephus was a military man under Herod the Great. One of Herod’s first goals was to dispose of the ‘evil’ Hasmonians who wanted a King Of Judah from their line of Jewish people, and were hiding in the caves of the cliffs of MT Arbel. Herod had his soldiers let down on scaffolding like window washers to route them out, including throwing fire brands into the caves. Ironical that Herod was actually ‘cleaning house’ for the future home of Joseph and Mary and Jesus to live there in a place which was sometime after called Nazareth. Nathanael commented ‘Is there anything good that can come out of Nazareth?’ The historical memories of the people who witnessed the atrocities at these caves made the mention of Nazareth a by-word. Maybe the byword left the place oblivious to historians who seem to make no mention of the place. But Constantine’s mother found a ‘new place’ for it.

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   • Hi Duane, as we discussed, I am very appreciative that you have taken the considerable time to dive into my blog posts, representing thousands of hours and decades of research that are anchored to the Scripture as tightly as I could muster. I will admit that I have not done any research to date on Pyramidology but after a quick read, if any resulting calculations match up to mine based on the Book of Daniel, it would be interesting, to say the least. I would exercise caution in embracing Pyramidology as it shows that it also incorporates association with reincarnation, New Age, Occult, Paganism, Polytheism, Numerology, and Divination. I think the primary basis of any calculations should be on the Scripture and supported by as much historical and astronomical facts as possible to not obscure the final results and Message of God’s Great Plan. Also, while Herod’s decree to kill all firstborn after the birth of Christ as the nexus of the Anno Domini calendar is an interesting theory, historians have said that targeting an all planetary alignment in the year 2000 A.D. was the basis for the A.D./B.C. demarcation of the new calendar. I will continue to research any more information on that topic and the placement of Nazareth as well to find any other historical support for that idea as well even though they are not material to the calculations themselves.

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4. Hi, Jesus was not crucified good friday as friday 3pm to sunday morning is one and a half days. He was crucified wednesday 3pm and rose saturday early morning

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   • Hi Leeanne,

     Merry Christmas, belated! Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and comment. There is a lot of confusing and misleading information on this topic that has been circulated by many people over several centuries without the reader understanding its basis fully. It is a complex topic that I have spent many years researching myself as I was similarly curious to know which chorus to listen to about the timing of the Crucifixion events. In my blog, I have meticulously studied every Biblical, Scholarly and Historical text, matching up every requirement for every calendar year in the years of Pontius Pilate, 26-36 A.D.

     The Bible tells us Jesus was crucified (also on the Passover) the day before the Sabbath – Saturday, which is Friday. Ordinal counting accounts for a position or rank in a series of numbers (where the starting number IS counted) compared to normal or cardinal counting which determines the quantity of a series of numbers (where the starting number IS NOT counted). The Bible counts days ordinally – first, second, third, etc. when it uses the word “third” day in that passage. In the passage regarding the “third day,” the Bible isn’t simply counting the hours that lapsed between the 2 events and subsequently converting to the number of days (i.e. 40 hours or almost 2 days) but instead expresses how many days of the week the events overlapped, i.e. Friday -1, Saturday -2, Sunday-3.

     However, you do bring to light a VERY interesting thing THAT I HAVE NOT THOUGHT OF BEFORE UNTIL YOUR COMMENT. I do find it very interesting that from the time of Christ’s death at about 2 pm Friday to his resurrection at about 6 am Sunday, “40” hours of time transpired. In numerology, 40, is symbolic of new life, new growth, transformation, a change from one great task to another great task, testing, and judgement. Your timeline is counted as 4 days ordinally and Scripture is clear that Jesus was resurrected on the “3rd” day. We celebrate Good Friday because Jesus died on a Friday. We celebrate weekly church services on a Sunday, not Saturday, because Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday. Friday to Sunday, counted ordinally, is 3 days as scripture says. Jesus was not resurrected on the Sabbath – Saturday according to Scripture.

     I invite you to read my blog again with a more practical understanding of the Scriptures and check out the Jewish/Gregorian Calendar at http://www.cgsf.org/dbeattie/calendar/?roman=33. Hit me back with any other questions.

     Have a Happy New Year! Very much looking forward to 2021!

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5. Hi,
   what do you think of Holly Snead’s book, Holy days of God, Holidays of Man where she asserts that Jesus was also born on Tishri 1- but on 3 BC, instead of 2 BC?
   Thanks,
   Costa

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   • Hi Costa, Thank you for the very interesting question. I certainly don’t want people to think that I have cornered the market on always being right so I am happy to put any dates to the test to see where it lands. I have not read Holly Snead’s book, Holy Days of God, Holidays of Man, but I will go check it out. In the interim, let’s at least run a simple test on Tishri 1, 3 B.C to see how it stacks up since I have not tried this date before in any of my calculations. Step 1 is to go to cgsf.org to the Hebrew to Roman (Gregorian) Year calendar. I plug in -2 (3 B.C.) and fetch the Roman year. I see on that year’s chart that Tishri 1, 3 B.C. is September 10, 3 B.C. Ok, if we still assume Jesus was 33 1/2 years old when he was crucified, let’s go to Step 2. Go to http://www.easysurf.cc/ndate4.htm which is the Add Number of Days, Months and/or Years to a Date Calculator. I set the from date to September 10, 3 B.C. and add 33 years and 6 months. It lands on March 10, 32 A.D. Step 3, go back to the Hebrew to Roman year calendar and replace -2 with 32 and fetch the Roman year again. Looking at the calendar, March 10, 32 A.D. doesn’t land on any Jewish festivals or holidays. That date is 5 weeks before that year’s Passover. According to Hebrew scholars, Passover had to occur after the Vernal Equinox, which is March 22, 32 A.D. March 10, 32 A.D. is still technically Winter, not Spring. Assuming we can explain in historical context that Jesus was 33 years and 7.5 months old when he was crucified in the year 32 A.D., Passover fell on a Monday in 32 A.D., which does not agree with the Gospels that Jesus was crucified the day before the weekly Sabbath, in particular a High Holy Day or double Sabbath that year when the Feast of Unleavened Bread fell on the weekly Sabbath, which was a Saturday. That confirms Passover had to occur on a Friday when Jesus died, not a Monday in 32 A.D. If you also agree with the Scriptures that there was a lunar eclipse on Passover the year that Jesus died, which there was in 33 A.D., in 32 A.D., there was also a lunar eclipse on Passover, Monday, April 14th; however, it was not viewable whatsoever from Europe/Middle East/Africa like it was in 33 A.D. If 33 A.D. is true as I think it is, then Jesus had to have been born in 2 B.C. on Tishri 1, September 29, 2 B.C., which is exactly 33 years and 6 months to the day from March 29, 33 A.D. or Palm Sunday, which was a Sunday in the Spring, the very week leading up to Passover and the Crucifixion, which was on a Friday, April 3, 33 A.D. the day before the double Sabbath on Saturday and a lunar eclipse that was viewable from Jerusalem that year. You be the judge but if it fits with precision between 2 B.C. and 33 A.D., it seems to be right. I will research Holly Snead further. Let me know if you have any other questions Costa.

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     • Hi Chad,
       Thanks for your response.

       I have come across various post and websites, notably from James Tabor who stars that Jesus was crucified on a Thursday, 30 A.D. He states that this had to be the correct year since the Passover fell on a Friday which meant that there were two sabbaths in succession. Therefore, Jesus was crucified the day before on a Thursday.
       How do you reconcile this with your own timeline interpretation?
       Thanks,
       Costa

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     • Hi Costa,

       I am thrilled you have revisited my blog and asked such a compelling, engaging, and complex follow-up question that quite frankly is one of the most thoughtful questions I have received to date as I researched it further! I will admit, I was not familiar with James Tabor or his assertion until your post about the Crucifixion timeline starting on a Thursday in 30 A.D. written in a Jewish Babylonia Talmud (compiled in the 4th century Galilee, around the year 500 A.D. early in the middle ages) reference in Sanhedrin 43a that says, “On Passover Eve they hung the corpse of Jesus the Nazarene after they killed him by way of stoning.” We know from Biblical accounts, Jesus was not stoned to death. So, I jumped in and researched it extensively as I was intrigued by how this notion came to be. So to answer your last question, “How do you reconcile this with your timeline interpretation?”

       One of my first stops was to read his article, “Jesus Dies on a Thursday not a Friday” at jamestabor.com. https://jamestabor.com/jesus-died-on-a-thursday-not-a-friday/ When I reached the bottom of the article I found screen shots of a computer screen with Tabor’s calculated New Moon dates for 30 A.D. along with his Nisan 30 A.D. month calendar. After comparing to multiple calendars online today for 30 A.D., his Hebrew calendar is off by 1 day and simultaneously, his Gregorian calendar is off by 2 days! I checked the current Jewish & Gregorian dates on the Internet with the Hebrew/Gregorian calendar I used online plus one other calendar. Both calendars are still accurate on all dates, today’s Gregorian and Hebrew dates as it is with my 33 A.D. Hebrew and Gregorian dates, including the days of the week.

       Example, in 30 A.D., I show 1 Nisan as a Thursday and Passover on 14 Nisan as a Wednesday. Tabor’s calendar shows 1 Nisan as a Friday and 14 Nisan as a Thursday. More strangely, Tabor’s calendar shows Gregorian March 20, 30 A.D. as a Wednesday and at least 2 other calendars that I use online show March 20 as a Monday. See all 3 links below for comparison. I would continue my analysis but unfortunately, Tabor’s Hebrew and Gregorian calendars are off by 1 and 2 days respectively. It is not possible that he could calculate anything accurately with either of his calendar’s shown. See for yourself and tell me what you think.

       https://jamestabor.com/jesus-died-on-a-thursday-not-a-friday/
       http://www.cgsf.org/dbeattie/calendar/?roman=30
       https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/index.html?year=30&country=34

       Sincerely,

       Chad

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6. Many comments but one very valuable question. God used His chosen people, Israel, to establish His law, His prophecies, and His promises, and He established the 360 day calendar among His people. Did you use this calendar, or the calendar of the pagans/gentiles?

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   • Yes, I used the 360-day calendar and our current calendar as the prophecy was coded with the 360-day calendar and decoded with our current calendar. For your information, Israel doesn’t use the 360-day calendar and since their Baylonian captivity they even incorporated a pagan name into one of their months, Tammuz. Paganism doesn’t factor into the methods used in this blog if you are suggesting that as a disqualifier.

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7. The full moon in September was on Sept 13, 2BC. That was the 15 th of Tishri the Feast of Tabernacles. You are a month off for The Feasts of Trumpets. All the Feasts of the Lord are Messianic prophecies. Jesus fulfills the feast of tabernacles in 2BC with his birth. As the light of the world was now physically present with the Jews just as God was present with the Israelites during the Exodus in the Pilar of cloud/fire. It also explains why Jesus was born in a stable (it qualified as a Sukkah) and why there was no room in the inn. The Rich folks could not stay inside the inn: all must live in tents with a thatched roof, a sukkah. Thus the court yard where the poor stayed was filled with rich men’s tents so there was physically no room left for even a poor man’s sukkah. Being born in the stable and inspected by shepherds qualified the Lamb of God to be a Paschal lamb. Date validated by walking back in time the rotation of priest from the 9th of Av to 4 BC to determine when the angel appeared to Zachariah and then forward to Elizabeth’s 6th month to discover that the 8th day of Chanukah, the little celebration of light, on Tevet 2 was exactly human gestation from the feast of Tabernacles. Chanukah celebrates the new relationship with God that occurred with the rededication of the Temple. A very time for the new relation with with God that occurred with the Incarnation!

   God Bless

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   • Hi Greg,

     Thank you for your comment and visit to my blog. First, I would like to understand your statement regarding, “You are a month off for the Feast of Trumpets.” as it fell on the astronomical start of the New Moon according to Astropixels.com Phases of the Moon -0099 to 0000 for 2 BC (i.e. -0001) on September 28th in the evening, which was the Jewish September 29th in our calendar. http://www.astropixels.com/ephemeris/phasescat/phases-0099.html It appears you are looking at the wrong year. 2 B.C. is year “-1” in many online tools and charts and not “-2.”

     Also, the Hebrew to Gregorian calendar at cgsf.com is also clear that in 2 B.C., the Feast of Trumpets was on September 29, 2 B.C. with the New Moon, also shown on that webpage. http://www.cgsf.org/dbeattie/calendar/?roman=-1

     While the Feast of Tabernacles is a compelling case for the Birth of Christ date, it fails many other tests that I elaborate on in my blog and go into greater detail in my new book to be released on September 29, 2021 called Appointed Times. A “tabernacle” is a tent that all of Israel constructed and celebrated in and around Jerusalem on that feast. The Tent of Meeting was the temporary House of God and also a tent. Jesus was born in a cave, in a manger and not a tent, but his life definitely represented tabernacling with His people. In 2 B.C. according to cgsf.com, the Feast of Tabernacles didn’t happen on September 13 as you say in 2 B.C. (without citing any source for that information that I can review) but it was actually on October 13-19, 2 B.C. And yes, according to AstroPixels.com, there was a Full Moon on October 13, 2 B.C. (Tishri 15-21). Please forward your source to me as I would love to review it further.

     Peace be with you always!

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8. Source for dating is the android app HebDate which is the only “Jewish” app that I am aware of that takes the calendar back before 1 AD. 2 BC is the Jewish year 3760. You are a month off because what ever mechanism you used did not take into account that 1BC was a leap year: there was the month of Adar II in that year which pushes back Tishri a month the preceding year, (walking back in time). The leap years on the Jewish calendar follow a 19 year cycle. A cycle began in 3AD thus 1BC was a leap year. I have a screen shot of the month of Tishri in the year 3760 which I would be happy to send you if you provide an email address. You are very close, just using the wrong calendar.

   God Bless

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   • Hi Greg,

     Looking at my same calendar app – direct link below for year 3761 A.M. (i.e. 1 B.C. – 1 A.D.), it does show a “leap year” intercalary month (Adar II) like yours and is accounted for as you say it is in your calendar view, but even if mine didn’t, it would only impact future dates, not past dates because that time has already passed. Nonetheless, I welcome the exercise of verifying further between calendars to see what is accurate either way. Please send me your graphic as I would like to see what you see to confirm.

     http://www.cgsf.org/dbeattie/calendar/?hebrew=3761

     Thank you!

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     • Greg,

       Thank you for sending the graphic of the Hebrew calendar you are using that shows the month of September 2 B.C. and Tishrei 3760 A.M. I completely agree with you now that our two calendars are off by 1 Jewish month from each other due to a difference in the application of an intercalary “leap” month added differently in the calendar that I use. After performing some research on both calendars, I have concluded that there are potential intercalary errors in both modern Hebrew calendars that calculate backwards over 2 millennium. The only way to verify which one is correct, at any point in time, is to cross reference any given date with other known dates or events with astronomical software – Stellarium.

       The “Hebrew” years shown on the cgsf.com calendar that I use match the Rabbinic calendar (a calculated calendar created by Rabbis) which has been in use by the majority of the Jews at least since the writing of Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah (1170‑1180 AD). (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_calendar and related articles). Both calendars (yours and mine) are calculated calendars into the past, with the beginnings of months and years established by Rabbinic rules for computation and “postponements” of new moons. The calculations result in months and years that approximate, but are not in complete harmony with the natural lunar and solar cycles. The natural lunar and solar cycles of their day is what we need to know to ultimately be accurate. Our two calendars use slightly different intercalary formulas to attempt to align with the natural lunar and solar cycles differently.

       In the calendar that I use, I have already found an intercalary, leap month discrepancy for the Roman year 444 B.C. and corrected it (as shown in another blog post) after cross examining it with astronomical sources like Stellarium plus calculations to known dates. Looking at the calendar discrepancy that you pointed out, simply add 33.5 years (the age of Jesus on Palm Sunday, at the very least, or His Death on Passover) to September 13, 2 B.C. and you land on March 13, 33 A.D. Passover occurred on April 3, 33 A.D. and the Vernal equinox (Spring) started on March 23, 33 A.D. March 13 would still be Winter and almost 3 weeks away from Passover that year. In 2 B.C., the Autumnal Equinox occurred on September 26th and virtually all scholars say that Jesus was born in the Fall, not Summer. September 13 was still Summer and would be too early by roughly 2 weeks. September 29th is 3 days after the start of Fall that year. When performing the same calculation using September 29, 2 B.C., 33 years, 6 months and 0 days lands on March 29, 33 A.D. with Passover only 5 days away. March 29th falls after the Vernal Equinox, the start of Spring. Also, 2 days after Passover, during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Jews would have taken harvested barley and waived it at God as per the Scriptures, which could not be done with the calendar dates you presented because it’s too early that year if we gauge to Jesus’s age exactly. Since none of these Hebrew calendars can be perfectly accurate by themselves before the second century A.D. as we are told, we have to perform calculations and use astronomical software to view the skies at that time for aligned astronomical events to confirm which date may be correct.

       What I have done and wrote a book on the topic is verify September 29, 2 B.C. with what I have explained so far and then applied it to Revelation 12:1, a perfect astronomical description of what was in the heavens when Jesus was born. The only way to truly confirm is to take the free Stellarium software and set it to Jerusalem, September 29, 2 B.C. and look just past the eastern horizon after midnight and you will see the perfect alignment of the Moon, Sun, and Jupiter with Virgo, EXACTLY as the scripture describes in Rev 12:1, written by John in the first century A.D. One of my blog posts contains the graphic of that amazing astronomical alignment from Stellarium regarding the birth of Christ.

       A perfect match on that date, not to mention that exactly 33 years, 6 months and 0 days after his Sept 29th birth is a Sunday in March 33 A.D., Palm Sunday, because it is exactly the Sunday before the Passover in 33 A.D. (also, 4/3/33 is a lunar eclipse seen from Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’s burial as confirmed by NASA eclipse charts), which also happens to be the day before a double sabbath that year, a high holy day, where the start of the Feast of Unleavened Bread falls on the Sabbath, Saturday, all described in Scripture. BTW, I also calculated that the original Feast of Unleavened Bread, also known as the Exodus from Egypt, also occurred on a Saturday. September 29th also is exactly 40 weeks and 0 days (the average human gestation period) from the previous Winter Solstice on December 23, 3 B.C. – the Immaculate Conception. But if you can make a case for September 13, 2 B.C. that is 33 years, 6 months and 20 days before the Crucifixion and 37 weeks and 5 days after His Immaculate Conception, I would like to hear that case side-by-side with September 29th that I just presented with remarkable timed intervals among several others that I have not shared here yet but are in my book. Symbolism by itself is not enough anymore to make an irrefutable case. We have the technology to finally figure this out with confidence.

       Sorry to throw a lot at this topic, but I have spent a lot of years working on this project and I have yet to be proven wrong thus far with this date given all the intersections I have found that are dead locks on that date.

       I very much appreciate you pointing out the issue with the calendars as it proves we have to look at much more than a single calendar or symbolism but they are a great starting point for sure. My conclusion is that your calendar is the one that has the misplaced intercalary month as compared with the natural lunar and solar cycles at that time and seasonal equinoxes, as show in software and against known Jewish traditions (i.e. waiving harvested barley at God 2 days after Passover) to confirm lunar year seasons related to events for precise confirmation of these dates relative to the age of Christ during those events.

       I hope that helps and have a blessed rest of your weekend Greg.

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9. Hi Chad,
   Thanks for sharing the results of your extensive research.
   I agree with you and think Jesus plans to come for us on His birthday this year.
   How about you?

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   • Hi David,

     I honestly don’t know when Jesus plans to return as “no one knows the day or hour” but as far as the year, I proposed a specific 12-month period based on my blog post, Daniel’s 2300 ‘Day’ Prophecy Fully Decoded: December 21, 2100 A.D. (https://meridianprophecy.com/2015/08/18/daniels-2300-day-prophecy/), that isn’t related to His Birthday this year. Check it out and let me know what you think!

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10. I agree completely with the date of Jesus’s birth and the date of His crucifixion in 33 AD. But I do believe that He was crucified on a Thursday in harmony with Passover rules (4-day inspection of the lamb etc.).
    The Crucifixion Week—-Schematic
    If We Truly Believe That God Is Perfect
    What would be the perfect crucifixion week by the scriptures? Using the Jewish Religious Calendar, the Jewish day that begins at sunset and ends at the following sunset, I come up with the following:
    Nissan
    Sun. 10 Passover lamb is selected – Exodus 12:1-3
    Jesus enters Jerusalem to many hosannas – John 12:1-13
    The scripture does not say but let us say it was the first day of the week (Palm Sunday)

    Mon. 11 Lamb inspected for any blemish 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th – Exodus 12:1-6
    Jesus taught and was questioned, they could find no fault in Him – Luke Ch. 19-22,
    Matthew Ch. 21-25 and Mark Ch. 11-13
    Tue. 12 see above.
    Wed. 13 see above.
    Thu. 14 Passover lamb is slain – Exodus 12:6
    Jesus crucified – John 19:14 (preparation for Passover Seder)
    Bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath – John 19:31

    Fri. 15 Passover Seder and First Day of Unleavened Bread – high Sabbath – Leviticus 23:6-7

    Sat. 16 Weekly Sabbath

    Sun. 17 Firstfruit Wave Offering – Leviticus 23:3-11
    Jesus is the first fruit of the resurrection – 1 Corinthians 15:20
    Note, parts of 3 days & 3 nights in tomb, if arose before dawn and He arose on 3rd day after entombment as per scripture. 10th -16th is 7 days, the number for complete. 17th is 8th day, the number for new beginnings.

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    • Hi Wayne,

      Thank you very much for taking the time to provide a truly comprehensive response to my blog posts. I am honored that you have provided some very thoughtful insight into your views and beliefs about the timing of Christ’s Birth, Crucifixion, and Resurrection from an excerpt of my work that I have spent decades researching. I will, in turn, do my best to provide an equally thoughtful and respectful response to your interesting commentary. As you might have seen all over the Internet, many scholars weigh scripture, history, and language in a mixture of interpretations that makes most people’s heads spin to gain a clearer picture of Christ. My unique blend of analysis adds to those colors – mathematics, astronomical software, Hebrew to Gregorian calendars, and date calculators. I am thrilled we agree on the date for the Birth of Christ, September 29, 2 B.C, since Revelation 12:1 and Stellarium’s astronomical software anchor the date to the Hebrew Calendar quite brilliantly. If you believe Christ was born in 2 BC and was 33 and a half years old when he died, he would have been resurrected in 33 AD. My unique prophetic to astronomical time calculation applied to Daniel’s 70-Weeks Prophecy lands beautifully on Palm Sunday after 69 weeks in 33 AD. I couldn’t agree more with you that the Passion Week or Holy Week is the most important week in history. And from Sunday to Sunday, eight days are counted ordinally.

      Regarding Matthew 12:40’s “three days and three nights,” a meaning that is also equal to several verses spoken by Jesus referencing “the third day” along with a strong Friday to Sunday Christian tradition, there is no question in my mind that Jesus was being quite literal, accurate, and true about his declarations that do not violate any of these statements. Matthew 12:40 says, “…so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” If the ‘3 days and 3 nights’ are all parts of any days where the Crucifixion happened in the afternoon and Resurrection happened just before sunrise, then the only literal explanation that makes the Friday Crucifixion to Sunday Resurrection work is 1) Thursday night, 1) Friday morning, 2) Friday night, 2) Saturday morning, 3) Saturday night, and 3) Sunday morning – 3 days and 3 nights. So what happened Thursday night? As you know, the Passover started after sunset Thursday night in 33 A.D. when Jesus observed the Passover Supper in a home with the disciples and was later arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane to be later put into Caiaphas’s cistern or pit (15 ft square, twenty feet deep), at least for the rest of the night. There was no door, window, or light. This pit that Jesus spent his last night in before his Crucifixion, as Psalm 88:6 describes, “You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.” I judge this as His first night in ‘the heart of the earth.’ The next 2 nights, after His Crucifixion, Jesus goes even deeper into ‘the heart of the earth’ after death. Don’t assume death is required for all 3 nights to be in the heart of the earth to be the only true statement. Being trapped in a pit inside the earth all night qualifies as a true statement with Matthew 12:40 in my experience.

      Regarding Jesus being Crucified on the Preparation Day, it is also absolutely true. We know that the Preparation Day and Passover were on the same day. The Preparation Day was for preparing for the Sabbath, not the Passover, but not just any weekly Sabbath, a high holy day, which is also a double Sabbath, meaning the Feast of Unleavened Bread, also known as a Sabbath, as you pointed out, landed on the same day of the week as the Weekly Sabbath, Saturday, in 33 A.D. The key here is the double Sabbath, where two Sabbath observances were on the same Saturday. There were always 2 Sabbaths celebrated during the week of Passover but not very often did the annual Sabbath fall on the same day as the weekly Sabbath as it did the year that Jesus died and was resurrected in 33 A.D. This is one of the definitive clues that not only pinpoints the year Jesus died but also the day of the week. Any other year where Saturday and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were not on the same day just isn’t special enough for the Son of God or accurate with several other facts. Not to mention, in the same year of the double Sabbath, there was an incredible, blood-red, lunar eclipse on Passover seen in Jerusalem just after the moonrise about the time that Jesus would have been buried in the tomb before the start of the Sabbath. If there was a world-famous star of David when Jesus was born and a new moon on the actual birth date, there would certainly be a similarly amazing astronomical event such as a lunar eclipse on the day He died. That didn’t happen during any other proposed Crucifixion date other than April 3, 33 AD. My book goes into far more detail on this point if you are interested in reading my fully developed and supported explanation with eclipse charts from NASA, Stellarium software, and the calculation of the Jewish Relative Hours for that date to fit so perfectly. In my book, I also talk about a Priest-adapted Passover tradition that came from Israel’s Babylonian captivity that was on display in Matthew, which also adds some confusion to when the last Supper had taken place to those that don’t understand the differences on display at the time of Jesus, original version in Exodus vs. the 2nd Temple version. I will admit that I am not fully “versed” in the “Seder” or order of Passover. Still, from my light reading, many post-2nd Temple Passover traditions emerged over centuries from many influences that came to be the celebration it is today. The reference to Seder tends to represent traditions that came much later after Jesus.

      One of your references, Lev 23:4-8, “These are the Appointed Times of the Lord…’’ is where I derive part of the title of my book, When was Jesus Christ Born, Appointed Times. For many of the other topics you wrestled with in your commentary, I have spent many years also studying the Scriptures and decided that if God’s perfect creation were also written in the stars and many biblical numbers, then His truth would pass all tests – scriptural, historical, mathematical, and astronomical.

      I love to see your passion for pursuing God in your writing, as I have also done in mine. Jesus went to Bethany to raise Lazarus from the dead the day before – Friday – the weekly Sabbath (Saturday), stayed at their home over the same Sabbath (Saturday) in Bethany, and then, on the next day, Sunday, Palm Sunday, entered Jerusalem as a newly crowned King of Israel. His entrance occurred by my calculations at Solar Noon (the beginning of the 7th Jewish Relative Hour), which I also explain in detail in my book as calculated from Daniel’s 70-Weeks Prophecy down to the day, hour, minute, and second. It is mind-blowing.

      Lastly, to determine what day of Nisan these events occurred, the Hebrew calendar is lunar, and the dates and days of the week are a different match each year, only repeating rarely; therefore, the right match is also a puzzle piece that only works in one specific year during the reign of Pontius Pilot, in 33 A.D. Once you know the year, the dates of Nisan and the days of the week with the Appointed Times or Feasts line up miraculously.

      Daniel’s 70-Weeks Prophecy is the key to nailing the right year, dates, and days of the week for Christ’s first advent on earth two thousand years ago. The math makes proving the rest of the points a lot easier.

      Shalom, my friend!

      Maranatha!

      Chad

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11. Thanks Chad, we may still slightly disagree, but it seems we both have a passion for biblical chronology. I believe if we get the biblical chronology correct, we see that God truly is perfect and is truth. If you email me your email address, I will send you more of what I believe and I would be honored if you find any of it worthy of further study.

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12. We have communicated before and I still feel that Jesus’ birth is the fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles in 2 BC. I have to abide by the Jewish Calendars which show that the Feast of Tabernacles in 2 BC was celebrated on September 13. at issue was the the leap year that I show in 1 BC. As fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles it explains the events related in Luke’s gospel: Why Jesus was born in a stable, why the angels came to the shepherds, why there was no room in the inn and enables Jesus to fulfill the requirements to be a Paschal Lamb, the Lamb of God. Even at His birth Jesus was pointing to His death!

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    • Hi Greg, it is very nice to hear from you again. To confirm the calendar, I was able to chart Revelation 12:1 in Stellarium astronomical software to September 29th, 2 B.C. which also explains why there was no room in the inn (Tishri 1 – Feast of Trumpets – Rosh Hashanah & the Jewish New Year). In my blog post, https://meridianprophecy.com/2015/07/07/when-was-jesus-christ-born/ , Jesus’s Birth Confirmed by Revelation 12:1, Revelation 12:1-2 says, “1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.” A short distance away from the shepherds (who celebrated the annunciation of the birth with the angels singing and blowing trumpets), Revelation 12:1 takes on a surreal meaning when looking at Stellarium’s computer representation of the stars and planets around Virgo (based on Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion) on September 29th, 2 B.C., just after midnight local time. In Figure of the blog post, the Moon moved to the same lateral plane at the feet of Virgo (i.e., with the moon under her feet), but not risen yet in Jerusalem. The Sun is directly next to, almost touching, the base of Virgo’s dress (i.e., a woman clothed with the sun) just below the knee. Jupiter (i.e., a crown of twelve stars on her head—the king planet of 12 significant objects now known to orbit the Sun, i.e., eight planets plus the four dwarf planets; Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris) is lateral to the crown of Virgo’s head. All three celestial bodies are located in their intended places on the right date, as described in the passage precisely! Truly remarkable! After checking many other dates and scanning chronologically in the Stellarium software—including September 13, 2 B.C., I have yet to find this precise configuration again in Stellarium. At approximately 7:45 a.m. the next morning, the assemblage of all Biblical referenced celestial bodies with Virgo would have been above the horizon in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, Jupiter and Virgo would not have been visible to the naked eye with the Sun shining so close to them during the daytime. Since this Bible passage was written by John well after Jesus was on earth and the celestial event was not visible because of the shining Sun in such proximity to Jupiter and Virgo, this phenomenon could not be known to those on earth at that time in Jerusalem. Therefore, Revelation 12:1 reveals the past Birth date with software for a future purpose near the end of the End Times. How else could this be known so clearly and verified without Revelation 12:1? It would otherwise be impossible for us to know. In the previous verse before Revelation 12:1, the Lord says to John in Revelation 1:19, “19 Now write down all you have seen [past]—all that is [present] and all that will be [future].” Revelation 12:1 is certainly highlighting a significant event in the past, unknown until written in this verse at John’s present, and confirmed now in the future with the Stellarium Astronomy software to pinpoint the Birth date of Jesus.

      I found so many more ways to confirmation September 29th, 2 B.C. as the Birth of Christ as it is exactly 40 weeks and 0 days (gestation period of a human) after the Winter Solstice on December 23, 3 B.C. another astronomical intersection without any problem with the leap month. It is also 33 years and 6 months exactly to Palm Sunday, March 29, 33 A.D. which falls before Passover that week in 33 A.D. to name a few.

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13. Wayne, I am confused Monday was Lamb Acquisition Day and the people kept the Lambs at home Monday, Tuesday. Wednesday, and Thursday. They were slaughtered on Friday. Lamb Selection Day was the Day the high priest selected his lamb as the sacrifice for all the people. That was on Sunday before the people picked their lambs. His pick was ratified by the people when he brought the lamb into the city by the waving of palm fronds and the shouting of “Hosanna,” which as you recall is what happened when Jesus came into the city fulfilling 3 messianic prophecies. The people waiting for Caiaphas heard the shouting at the Eastern, Golden, gate and rush over there thinking that Caiaphas and returned through that gate but when they were told that the Messiah just arrived they joined in the celebration. Thus Jesus, the Lamb of God was the Lamb selected by the people on Lamb selection day as the Lamb to be offered by the High Priest for all the people.

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14. Greg, the Passover Lamb was selected on Nissan 10, whatever that date fell on. Then the family kept it and were supposed to inspect it for four days to make sure it was without blemish. If that was Sunday (1st day of the week) then the four days would be completed on Wednesday and Thursday would be the 14th which is when the Passover Lamb is sacrificed.

    Why do I believe the Triumphal Entry was on Sunday?
    Jesus was born under the law (Galatians 4:4) therefore, to violate the law would be a sin and Jesus was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). It is generally accepted that Jesus entered Jerusalem before the crucifixion on the first day of the week or our Sunday, but the scripture does not state the day. In Acts 1:12 Luke states that from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives is a Sabbath’s day journey. So, how does this fit into the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem preceding His crucifixion and can we believe He entered Jerusalem on the first day of the week.
    In Luke 19:1-11 we learn that Jesus passed through Jericho and told Zaccheus that today I must stay at your house. Then in verse 11 of the same chapter we learn that the house of Zaccheus was near Jerusalem. In John 12:1-13, we learn that Jesus entered Jerusalem on the day after entering the home of Lazarus in Bethany. Bethany to Jerusalem is farther than a Sabbath day’s journey and Jericho to near Jerusalem at Zaccheus’ house is certainly farther than a Sabbath day’s Journey. Therefore, it seems logical that the Sabbath day’s journey was from the house of Zaccheus to the house of Lazarus in Bethany making the Triumphal Entry on the first day of the week, Palm Sunday.

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15. Passover is the 15th of Nisan and it began with the Seder meal which was eaten after sunset , the beginning of the 15th (Friday night) Jesus died on Nisan 14th, Friday at the same time the Paschal Lambs began to be sacrificed. If Friday is the 14th, then Thursday is the 13th, Wednesday is the 12th, Tuesday is the 11, and Monday is the 10th: Lamb Acquisition Day. Thus Sunday the 11th is Lamb Selection Day (Nisan 9). The only Lamb acquired on Lamb selection day was the one selected as the sacrifice for all people. By the way the full moon was actually on Friday but the Jews never!!! celebrated back to back Sabbaths so the Passover celebration was moved to the Sabbath making it both a Sabbath and Passover (a double Sabbath) thus. as John said an especially holy day.

    Jesus’ triumphal entry was on Sunday in order to allow the Lamb of God to be chosen as the lamb to be sacrificed for all people Thus fulfilling Lamb Selection Day a component of the Passover celebration. Jesus also fulfilled Cleaning Day and Preparation Day, and the Seder Meal (but on the Essene calendar) He fulfilled al aspects of the Passover celebration!

    Jesus fulfilled both the Law and the Psalms and the Prophets. Fulfilling the Law meant that all the Feasts of the Lord are Messianic prophecies. Prophecies which he has so far fulfilled on the day of the Feasts. Jesus’s birth was on the Feasts of Tabernacles as it celebrates the day that God would again Temple among the Jews. That happened when Jesus was born! He fulfilled Passover when he died as the Lamb of God, the sacrifice for all people. He rose from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits as Paul specifically points out in 1st Corinthians as the first fruits of the resurrection and Pentecost was the fulfillment of the Feast of Pentecost which celebrated the ratification of the old Covenant with the Holy spirit ratifying the New Covenant. That leaves two unfulfilled Feasts: Trumpets which celebrates God’s judgement when God opens the Book of Life and the Feast of Atonement which would fulfill the conversion of the Jews which must happen before Jesus returns.

    On and by the way on 9/23/2017 if you look at Stellarium you will see that Rev 12-1 was fulfilled.

    God Bless
    Greg

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    • “On and by the way on 9/23/2017 if you look at Stellarium you will see that Rev 12-1 was fulfilled” leaves a lot to the imagination. What are you referring to exactly in 2017? Jesus wasn’t born in 2017 as Revelation 12:1 primarily describes the birth of Christ on a given date as described by the astronomical clues. What are you trying to prove with what definitive evidence as I have provided? I am not following you.

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16. Greg, I agree that the Passover Seder is on the 15th of Nissan.
    In John 12:1, I believe that John is referring to the 15th of Nisan when the Passover Meal or Seder is eaten, and the death angel passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. Also, in John 19:14, I believe John is referring to the 15th of Nisan as being the Passover in which he says that Jesus was crucified on “the day of preparation for the Passover”, that would make the preparation for the Passover the 14th of Nisan.
    Then if six days before Passover Seder, Jesus entered Bethany where Lazarus was, and the Passover Seder is on the 15th of Nissan. Counting backward 6 days from the 15th makes it the 9th of Nissan. Then John 12:12 says, on the next day Jesus enters Jerusalem, Palm Sunday, right, also the 10th of Nissan.

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17. Hey Chad, great post! One thing I noticed was that you put the date of Jesus’ baptism on September 29, 29 AD. However, the Gospels show that immediately after Jesus was baptized that he went into the wilderness for forty days.

    According to the Mosaic Law, all men were required to appear at the Jerusalem Temple three times a year: Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. But the Feast of Tabernacles in 29 AD took place from the 15th to the 22nd of Tishri (October 12th – 19th). If Jesus got baptized on his birthday (September 29th) and went into the wilderness for 40 days, he would have returned on November 8th and missed the Feast of Tabernacles. Since we know that Jesus never sinned, he would have gone to all of these. So, this means he got baptized after attending the Feast of Tabernacles.

    We cannot imagine that Jesus would delay one moment longer than necessary in becoming baptized and starting his ministry. So, Jesus would attend the Feast of Tabernacles on the first day (Tishri 15th or October 12th) and present Himself before the Heavenly Father in the Temple. The next day would be used for traveling, and it would have become dark at about 6 o’clock in the evening. According to Google Maps, the walking distance from Jerusalem to the Jordan River is 113 km, or 70.2149 miles. This would have taken Jesus around 22-26 hours, depending on the route he traveled upon.

    CONCLUSION: Therefore, the earliest time that Jesus could have been publicly baptized would be the following day on Tishri 17th, or October 14th, 29 AD. Immediately afterwards, he went into the wilderness for forty days to be temped by Satan.

    I would love to talk with you more over email as I am writing a chronology book of Jesus’ life along with a book with a lot of evidence concerning Jesus. I went through your site and was very impressed and would love to collaborate and share ideas. Another interesting thing I have been reading about is how the Pyramid of Giza actually shows the exact dates for jesus birth and death that you calculated, along with the date I provided for his baptism, it also shows that Jesus was born in bethlehem. Its actually amazing, a great book on it is pyramidology by adam rutherford.

    Let me know what you think about the dating for the baptism

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    • Hi, I didn’t catch your first name but thank you for your insightful comments and you make a very good point! During my original research, I had encountered the same time frame intersection between Jesus’ 40-day fast after His Baptism and the Feast of Tabernacles that year. Considering my calculated Birth and Crucifixion dates are precisely calculated from Daniel’s 70 Weeks Prophecy, the Baptism date can’t be calculated with precision as it is back dated 3.5 years from the Passion Week per prophecy (i.e. 7-year Ministry that was cut in half). While I am happy to leave open the possibility that your assertion is absolutely correct, I will share a few summarized points from my research that gave me pause in moving the date of Jesus’ Baptism.

      If the Baptism was pushed out later by ~15-40+ days, Jesus’ 3.5 year ministry would have ended after the calculated Resurrection date but before His Ascension date. This would not perfectly align with all the precisely calculated dates.

      If the Feast of Tabernacles was to commemorate Israel living in the wilderness/desert for 40 years (because of their sin), eating only Manna since there was nothing else to eat there, finally entering the Promised Land at the end, why could Jesus not go into the same wilderness and fast for 40-days to be tempted by Satan to show He was sinless (unlike Israel) after being Baptized in the very same area (symbolically tying them both together) where Israel crossed the same Jordan River into the Promised Land? Are we missing the point of the 7 Feasts, which were intended to point to Christ, by asserting He is subject to the Temple like the Jews or as Matthew wrote, “…I tell you something greater than any Temple is here” (Matthew 12:6)? Jesus continually demonstrated the differences between the original Law and the pharisee adapted Law, such as healing on the Sabbath, or allowing his hungry disciples to pick grain or corn like the poor as they walked through a field on the Sabbath in front of the pharisees. I believe Jesus was fulfilling the Feast of Tabernacles when He went into the wilderness to fast for 40 days (representative of the 40 years) during this feast since He is God.

      The Bible says John the Baptist lived in the wilderness for years, including when he baptized Jesus along the Jordan River across from Jericho. Because of how rough John lived, it is understood he didn’t make the ritualistic trips to Jerusalem and stayed in the wilderness a long time in preparation for his ministry that kicked off 6 months (March 29, 29) before Jesus’ Ministry (September 29, 29) – John also followed the Jewish age 30 requirement to become a Rabbi to start his own ministry. If Jesus was required to go to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles like every other Jew, John the Baptist would have left the wilderness to go too and be back in time to baptize Jesus, but that is not mentioned anywhere, only that he stayed in the wilderness and baptized continually there when John’s ministry started right before Passover the same year. John would have likely missed Passover in Jerusalem and definitely the Feast of Weeks in Jerusalem too. Remember, the Passover meal was intended to be celebrated in the home, not at the Temple, which was a pharisee adaptation to the Law during the 2nd Temple period. Therefore, did John the Baptist sin by your same example?

      If Jesus was born on the Feast of Trumpets and Crucified on Passover, who are we to say he didn’t go into the actual wilderness during the Feast of Tabernacles to confirm his sinlessness (where Israel sinned) when he started His ministry? I don’t think Jesus only followed the feasts like everyone else, he will/has fulfill(ed) each feast in some amazing way during His Week long prophetic Ministry.

      Regarding pyramidology, I have had other readers reference it before, but I tend to steer clear of it primarily due to some occult significance that it can draw from in some respects. While it is likely the Israelites built the pyramids during their 400 years in Egypt, I don’t see any correlation with the pyramids and Christ to draw any important distinctions as the Bible doesn’t draw any from the pyramids either.

      Those are my quick thoughts.

      Peace be with you brother!

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18. Hey Chad, apologies for not stating my name, it is Carter! Thanks for your thoughts and you actually brought up a lot of points. Your point about Jesus makes a lot of sense actually, but I have a few concerns. I will try to sum up a few of my thoughts in my head that came up:
    1. Does Jesus have to have a 3.5-year ministry to the exact day? I agree that it makes sense and also is very satisfying, along with it ending in the middle of 7 years like Daniel’s 7 week prophecy. But is this totally necessary and could the tradition of Jesus having a 3.5 year ministry be just an estimate, and not an exact date?
    2. Your interpretation of how Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Tabernacles in the wilderness makes a lot of sense I will say. I had never thought of that actually. But with your point about how Jesus continually demonstrated the original law and the Pharisee’s adapted law, I believe that going to Jerusalem was the original law as seen in Deuteronomy 16:16. It was what God intended and not doing so would have resulted in sin. For example, Jesus kept the “Law” of waiting until 30 years old to start His ministry and we know he attended every Passover festival. You could say that He attended these festivals to get a chance to teach to the people and do other activities, but I think the other reason was because He had to as a human who never sinned. It doesn’t make sense that Jesus would keep a law like waiting until He was 30 but not go to Jerusalem three times a year. Even if He didn’t have to, I think we could both agree His enemies would have pointed Him out for not doing so and would have used it against Him. But one point that could be brought up that supports your point is John 7:8-10 11:55-57. The Gospels leave it out but Jesus’ brothers would likely have question Jesus about not going to the Festival when it was required. Likewise, the people would not have questioned that Jesus was not coming to Passover when He had to in order to not sin. So, I will say those last points go towards your point.
    3. You also make an interesting point about John the Baptist. However, something I just looked into was the spot where Jesus was baptized according to tradition. It holds that He was baptized on Al-Maghtas. According to Google Maps, this was only 60.2 km or 37 miles and would have taken around 12 hours to walk there from Jerusalem. If John the Baptist wanted to make sure he would never “miss” anyone who wanted to be baptized, he could leave at night after his one day of attendance of the festival at around 7:30 pm and get back to Al-Maghtas around 7:30 am and just not sleep and baptize people that next day. This would allow him to be back to baptize Jesus on October 14. Another small point is that this area was also where Israelites took their first step in Promised Land and Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind. Considering the length of the Jordan River, it could be a coincidence or God planned it, that this was to be close to Jerusalem so that John the Baptist could baptize here and walk to Jerusalem and so Jesus could get baptized as quickly as possible after attending the Festival.
    https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-05-13/ty-article-magazine/where-exactly-did-john-the-baptist-baptize-jesus/00000180-d62e-d572-aba5-debe57b00000
    https://www.gotquestions.org/where-was-Jesus-baptized.html
    4. If September 29, 29 AD was the date that Jesus was baptized, then this occurred on the Fast of Gedaliah. The possible problem with this is that Luke 3:1 says that Jesus was baptized on a day when the crowds were being baptized. I am not too familiar with this feast but from some research I found that it was observed from dawn until dusk, but work was allowed. So, my question would be: Would there be crowds being baptized on the day of that feast? It is possible, but I am not sure. If there were not, this could mean that Jesus was not baptized on His birthday.
    http://www.cgsf.org/dbeattie/calendar/?roman=29
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_of_Gedalia
    https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2316462/jewish/Tzom-Gedaliah-Fast-Day.htm

    I will try to think of other points to bring up and ask you about His baptism. Thanks !

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19. Hey Chad, I have also been doing research on the eclipse that Josephus referred to where Herod died after. The December 1 BC one you propose matches many of the characteristics to be the correct one. However, this eclipse is around the sunset, therefore, it could have been seen by many occasional observers; however, it lasted only few tens of minutes and had a very low percentage of lunar disc shadowed. The January 10, 1 BC one meets all of the same characteristics as the December one, but it was more visible and long lasting. The one downside is that it lasted later in night when people were asleep, but during that period people would be awake for an hour in the middle of the night and would have viewed it then. If you would like I can send you a sheet that compares them. Another key detail that I think shows the January 10 eclipse is correct is that if Jesus left for Egypt after the wise man came around December 25, 2 BC — January 1, 1 BC, then that means He waited for a whole year until early 1 Ad to leave. Since Jesus’ family were pious Jews and followed all the law for jesus by circumcising Him and presenting Him in the Temple and went to Jerusalem Temple for Passover, this means that they would have went a whole year without going to Jerusalem. This means that they would have sinned and “hurt” Jesus’ reputation by not going. It says in Matthew that they stayed in Egypt until Herod died. However, if Herod died on 2 Shebat (January 27) in 1 BC, this would have allowed them to celebrate the Passover on April 7, 1 BC. Therefore, the January 10, 1 BC eclipse is the correct one. let me know your thoughts, thanks!

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20. Hey Chad, sorry for posting so many comments, but I keep discovering things I want to ask you about haha. I haven’t done too much research into the January 6 epiphany of the Magi finding Jesus, I personally assume they saw Jesus on December 25 according to the Star. However, if my proposal in my last comment is correct about the January 10, 1 BC eclipse being the one and Herod died on January 27, then the January 6 date would not make much sense. The distance from Bethlehem to the edge of Egypt (about Cairo) would take around 146 hours according to Google maps. Since Jesus was a young child, Him and His parents would have probably gone a max of around 8 hours per day. However, this would mean it took them around 81.25 days and they would arrived on January 24, according to the January 6 date. If Herod died on January 27, this means they would only be there for 3 days. But the Gospels make it seem like they stayed there a little while, I would assume more than 3 days. Or it is just strange that they would walk that whole way just to have to turn right back. But, if they left on December 25, then they would have been there for 9 days which is more reasonable. But this is all assuming the January eclipse is the correct one.

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    • Hi Carter,

      I looked at the same two 1 B.C. Lunar Eclipses because either date would satisfy my precision calculations much better than the incorrect 4 B.C. Dogma Lunar Eclipse. From my blog and book, Jesus was born on Tishri 1, The Feast of Trumpets or Annunciation (September 29, 2 B.C.). The wise men were expert astronomers and saw a unique pending conjunction (between a supernova that appeared in the sky 2 years before Christ’s Birth and Jupiter – in my estimation by all facts) in the sky, coupled with prophecies that Daniel must have taught them about the Birth of the Messiah centuries before. This sign allowed them to leave the East (probably somewhere near Persia or Babylon – present-day Iran or Iraq) in advance to take the 2-3 month journey through the desert to Jerusalem to see the final conjunction (i.e., the Star of Bethlehem) in the early morning of December 25, 2 B.C. after 5 am IST, the following morning after they met with Herod. To ensure Herod’s spies did not follow them, the wisemen could have taken a half-day trip to Bethlehem but instead took 12 days until January 6, 1 B.C.—this unique period marked by the tradition celebrated as Epiphany, i.e., the 12 days of Christmas.

      That night, Matthew 2:13-14 says an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and said to flee to Egypt immediately! The earlier Lunar Eclipse date, January 10, 1 B.C., was only three days later, barely enough time to travel to the Egyptian border. Most experts believe the Holy Family spent over three years in Egypt and traveled almost 1300 miles round trip with dozens of stops along the Nile Delta. After several months of travel, they lived in the most southern stop in Egypt for over six months when an angel appeared to Joseph again in Matthew 2:19-21, telling them they could return to Israel. With over 600 miles back to Israel and many months later, they traced most of the same stops in reverse order. If the December 29, 1 B.C. date is used – almost a year after the January 10, 1. B.C. date, Herod would have likely died in 1 A.D sometime before Passover or roughly 13-15 months after the Holy Family left Israel. On the return trip, it took them several more months to travel back, probably at a leisure pace considering local Egyptian and Jewish people had heard of who they were by then due to many miracles along the way.

      Incidentally, I visited NASA’s Lunar Eclipse charts for 1 B.C. and used Stellarium’s Astronomy software to confirm the moonrise time on December 29, 1 B.C. with the Lunar Eclipse time. After adjusting Israel’s two timezone difference with the UTC times shown by NASA, the Eclipse was fully red at the 15:28 UTC moonrise. The Eclipse was finished 2 hours later at 17:38 UTC or 19:38 IST. Residents would have seen the Eclipse since they were watching for twilight when the next Jewish day would begin. It appears you need to account for the 2-hour timezone difference between the Eclipse time and the moonrise time in Jerusalem.

      Also, the December 29, 1 B.C. and April 3, 33 A.D. (Crucifixion) Lunar Eclipses mirror each other’s start time, moonrise, sky location, and Eclipse phase by mere minutes. That is why i definitely chose it. As you correctly point out, Stellarium confirmed that the January 10, 1 B.C. Lunar Eclipse occurred in the middle of the night when most people would be asleep and would have missed it as an ordinary observer.

      The next possible Lunar Eclipse on December 19, 1 A.D. with Herod dying in early 2 A.D. before that Passover as an example. Unfortunately, that moonset occurred at about 6 am IST with the Lunar Eclipse starting just before it set in Jerusalem. It was not really viewable from Jerusalem.

      So in my best estimation, the December 29, 1 B.C. Lunar Eclipse fits the time line best and mirrors the Crucifixion Lunar Eclipse for the final two hours after moonrise before twilight, easily observable and both Eclipses were blood red.

      BTW, Here is an interesting read on the Flight to Egypt. https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/f/flight-into-egypt.php

      I hope that addresses any of your questions.

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      • Hey Chad, thank you so much for replies and answering my questions in-depth. I am learning a great deal from your responses so I appreciate it so much. I will say I think you have me convinced now that that is the correct eclipse. Like you said, the fact that it matches the crucifixion eclipse closely is a good sign that it is the correct one. I would say now that my only point, ignoring the tradition about Jesus staying in Egypt for a long period of time, is again about Jesus’ parents attending Passover and the other festivals in Jerusalem. I hate to keep bringing this point up, but I can’t get over the fact that they were Jews and had Jesus circumcised. and presented in the Temple according to the Law, but then not bring Him to the Temple three times a year. Along with this, Luke 2:41 says explicitly that they went every year to Jerusalem for Passover. But this verse would be in error if the December eclipse was correct and they stayed in Egypt for a whole year.

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      • Ok so I originally missed your comment on how it would not be a sin to miss the Festivals each year. That makes sense from what you said, so ignore that please from my last reply. But my other question still remains of why Luke 2:41 stated that when Jesus’ family would have missed that year when they were in Egypt hiding.

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      • Carter,

        Yes, I definitely understand the distinction you draw between the focus on fleeing to Egypt in Matthew 2 vs. Joseph and Mary traveling to Jerusalem for every Passover in Luke 2. According to the biblical account in the Gospel of Luke, Joseph and Mary did travel to Jerusalem for Passover each year. However, when they fled to Egypt with the infant Jesus to escape King Herod’s persecution (Matthew 2:13-15), they would not have been able to attend the Passover in Jerusalem during that particular year(s).

        Each writer of the Gospel addresses a different audience, i.e. Matthew – Converted Jews and Luke – Converted Gentiles or Romans.

        Matthew’s account emphasizes the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and highlights Jesus as the fulfillment of Israel’s history. The inclusion of the flight to Egypt in Matthew’s Gospel serves to draw parallels between Jesus and Moses, who was also rescued from harm as an infant in Egypt. Luke’s primary focus was on presenting Jesus as the Savior and Messiah, emphasizing his teachings, ministry, and the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.

        Luke’s narrative begins with the announcement of Jesus’ birth and includes events such as the visitation of the shepherds, the presentation of Jesus in the temple, and his early childhood to draw similar parallels to Cesar’s youth. Luke demonstrates that Jesus carries the qualities that will make him an extraordinary leader, just as Augustus became an exceptional leader. Luke is interested in introducing Jesus as superior to Augustus. Jesus is the new promised Caesar appointed, not by the Roman Senate, but by God. Luke wants his Gentile audience to believe that Jesus is the true Son of God and successor to Augustus. Luke’s statement of Jospeh and Mary going to Passover in Jerusalem every year is considered a statement to a non-Jewish audience of high devotion to their Faith to lay a strong foundation of belief. I am sure they did travel to Jerusalem for Passover every year they were not running for their lives into Egypt, a distinction Luke chose not to qualify in his statement since he is really saying they went every year that they were able to physically go and were back in Galilee.

        If Luke’s purpose was to state it as an absolute fact that impacted how long they were in Egypt or if they went anywhere else (like back to Nazareth after the birth and Mary’s ritual purification) before meeting the Magi in Bethlehem in December then to Egypt as a hypothetical, my hope is that Luke would have explained it further in such a fashion in the text that indicated it as the primary focus of his statement, rather than a simple demonstration of their high devotion via pilgrimage when read in context.

        There is no way to easily use Luke’s statement to define the duration of the Egypt refuge as that wasn’t his purpose in making the statement by all commentary on the verse. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough hard evidence to know for sure, only a lot of circumstantial historical information in Egypt that shows a longer duration in refuge.

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21. Another indication that could indicate that Jesus left on December 25, 2 BC to go to Jerusalem is that tradition holds that the slaughter of the innocents in Bethlehem happened on December 29, such as the Greek Church, and Episcopal Churches as shown in the Church of England Prayer Book. What is interesting about this is that this is 3 months after Jesus’ birth. The Gospels put in parallel his life with that of Moses, with Moses being hidden for 3 months(Ac 7:19-20).

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22. Also too, Jews celebrate their birthday based on the Hebrew Calendar. So wouldn’t this mean if Jesus got baptized on His birthday it would be on September 27, 29 AD (Jewish New Year) instead of on September 29?

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    • Hi Carter, I wanted to delay my response to ensure I captured all your comments in one reply. I will also reply separately to the thread about dating Herod’s Eclipse to ensure everything is evident between the two topics you raised and to be more concise by topic.

      First, the Baptism date that I picked, September 29, 29 A.D., was a seamless intersection between the following three statements:

      1) Luke 3:23 “Now Jesus himself was ABOUT thirty years old when he began his ministry.” As you mentioned, His Baptism wasn’t on his Jewish birthday date, Tishri 1 – September 27, 29 A.D., that year. However, September 29, 29 A.D. was Tishri 3, 2 days after his birthday, satisfying the “about” statement. The calculated timeframes can be both Jewish or Gregorian, interchangeably, if exact from my experience.

      2) September 29, 29 was his Gregorian dated birth DATE – month and day, not year (September 29, 2 B.C.) and is exactly three years, six months, 0 days until Palm Sunday – March 29, 33 A.D. – my calculated ending to 69 of the 70 weeks of Daniel’s 70-Week Prophecy. This time interval has to be exact since so many of the other precision dates I calculated from specific prophetic timeframes, once converted, given in the Bible are also this precise. I see it as one of God’s signatures for verification.

      3) September 29, 29 A.D. – also the Fast of Gedaliah, was a minor fast day commemorating the assassination of the last righteous governor of the Kingdom of Judah. Sounds like some foreshadowing of Jesus. Every major milestone mentioned about Jesus in the Bible happened on some significant day in the Jewish calendar, whether mentioned directly in the Bible or found in the ancient Hebrew calendar. These pinnacle Christ events were too essential to avoid aligning with any underlying ancient events of significance or prophecies pointing to Christ.

      In the early part of Jesus’ ministry, after many miracles, He asked whoever received the miracle not to tell anyone to avoid triggering massive crowds or the Pharisees’ anger until it was time. John the Baptist was well known and generated consistently large crowds, many from the eastern pilgrimage route between Galilee and Jerusalem that stretched along the eastern side of the Jordan River, around Samaria near where John was baptizing by Jericho. No coincidence. It was intentional geographically. If John the Baptist traveled to Jerusalem three times a year during his baptism ministry, he wouldn’t be available to baptize when the crowds were at their largest to or from Jerusalem if he also traveled with them on those travel days. I doubt he traveled overnight in the dark to baptize all day without sleep. Would you? It is why I believe he had a ‘greater good’ he was serving that exempted him from going to Jerusalem without fault by God. Based on Jesus’ lower public profile approach at this time, when he traveled from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethany Beyond the Jordan to be Baptized by John the Baptist, which would take on average about a week (depending on travel preferences or restrictions, by most estimates for that time to cover the roughly 60 miles), He was likely one of the early travelers on the eastern pilgrimage trail to Jerusalem like those ultimately going to join the Feast of Tabernacles later that month. The crowds of travelers increased on the eastern pilgrimage route after each following holiday, i.e., the Feast of Trumpets, the Fast of Gedaliah, weekly Sabbaths, and Yom Kippur. The point here is the timing of his trip from Galilee to see John the Baptist was aligned with the early pilgrimage travelers heading to Jerusalem, NOT FROM Jerusalem AFTER the Feast of Tabernacles as the Bible passage suggests (He traveled from Galilee toward Jerusalem, not the other direction, to be baptized). He could have traveled closer to the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles and stopped to be Baptized then, but the crowds would be even larger, which wasn’t His public priority then. The first feast that the Bible mentions after His Ministry started and after the 40-days in the wilderness was Passover, which He attended in Jerusalem, not the Feast of Tabernacles, which is why I believe Jesus traveled from Galilee to John the Baptist during the pilgrimage time frame leading up to the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. Instead of continuing to Jerusalem after His Baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness around Jericho, as I mentioned (40 days fast in the wilderness fulfilling Israel’s 40 years wondering the same wilderness as commemorated by the Feast of Tabernacles).

      You mentioned that the Fast of Gedaliah had Sabbath-styled rules that included no work, including being Baptized, on this day. Correct. Still, Jesus said in Matthew 12:12, “Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Jesus included these as lawful on any Sabbath:

      ~ Healing
      ~ Saving an animal from a pit
      ~ Eating grain from a field to harvest only what you could quickly eat when hungry

      I am confident that baptism for the purpose of repentance of sins or to anoint Jesus with the Holy Spirit to start His ministry would also qualify as something ‘lawful to do good’ that could be performed on any Sabbath-like observance day. After the Fast of Gedaliah was broken (Jesus ate a large meal and rested) after nightfall, Jesus immediately went into the wilderness near Jericho the following morning without any ceremonial restrictions to travel farther once again and then begin His 40-day fast after the following nightfall.

      Lastly, from my research and similar to your points, the Torah commanded that Jews should celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 16:13-15). Still, Jewish scholars say it did not impose any legal consequences (sin) for those unable to make the pilgrimage.

      However, it was highly encouraged and seen as a religious obligation for Jews to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the three major festivals: Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot. Many (not all) Jews journeyed to the Holy City during these times to participate in the festivities and offer sacrifices at the Temple. It was considered a great honor and an opportunity for spiritual renewal and communal worship. Being in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles held great significance for Jews who could undertake the pilgrimage. It was seen as an essential act of devotion and an opportunity to connect with God and fellow worshippers. However, circumstances such as distance, illness, or other practical limitations could prevent some individuals from attending (i.e., John the Baptist in the wilderness baptizing the crowds passing by or Jesus fasting in the wilderness), and there was no legal penalty for their absence.

      While I know that there is no definitive way to be precise about this date and there is no way to satisfy all dating concerns perfectly for His Baptism, I hope that I at least provided more context as to how I arrived at this date, at a minimum, that meets a mathematical and Jewish contextual pattern of verifying intersections that I continually see in all of the mentioned dates in my blog and book.

      If you can provide more intersections for any particular proposed date leading up to or after the Feast of Tabernacles in 29 A.D. that meets or exceeds these intersections I have explained, I am all ears and happy to accept any well-aligned date intersecting seamlessly beyond mine.

      I will reply next to your Herod Eclipse question.

      Kindest regards!

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23. Chad, thanks so much again for the amazing reply. You made some great points and I believe you are right about the baptism. I will still continue doing some research and let you know if I find any points that could challenge yours. One thing I have seen (which I don’t agree with) is how Jesus had to be baptized during the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, and the date was on August 1, 29 AD. I believe that this was mentioned only to say that John the Baptist’s ministry occurred during this time period of September 17, 28 AD-September 16, 29 AD and not the ministry of Jesus. But if you count the official Roman regnal years of Tiberius, then January1-December 31, 29 AD would be the period and Jesus’ baptism in September would fit. What are your thoughts about this? And I found a great article that has many good in depth points about chronology and I would love to know your thoughts. I am in agreement with you on the Daniel prophecy but he provides a very strange explanation starting on page 76 about the prophecy. https://www.academia.edu/2518046/Herod_the_Great_and_Jesus_Chronological_Historical_and_Archaeological_Evidence

    Also something else interesting I found of the Daniel 9:24-27 prophecy is in that Pyramidology book by Adam Rutherford, I previously mentioned. He uses the decree though in 458 BC and not 444 BC like yourself. But, he provides some interesting points and it’s remarkable the dates that he arrives. It’s kind of a lot of explain so I will take pictures of the pages and post them below. A quick summary of his dates are the following:

    Spring 26 AD — Messiah is present on Earth and observes the Law Covenant for 7 years more, thus confirming it for “one week” (of years).
    + 3 1/2 years
    Autumn 29 AD — Christ offers Himself as sacrifice for sins on Day of Atonement , causes typical “sacrifice and obligation to cease” in God’s sight, Baptism in water follows
    + 3 1/2 years
    Spring 33 AD — Christ’s sacrifice consummated “It is finished” , Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost,

    Daniel’s 70 Week (7 Years) is from Spring AD 26 — Spring AD 33

    + 40 years from Spring 26 AD
    Spring 66 AD — Roman wars Begins
    + 40 years from Autumn, 29 AD
    Autumn 69 AD — Atonement Day sacrifices cease
    +40 years from AD 33
    Spring 73 AD — Roman War ends

    The Desolating Roman War on the Jews (7 Years)

    I do find it strange of the 40 years between these dates, along with the 7 years of time. Please let me know your thoughts, thanks!

    Pictures: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10XEvGe9OjHHb6q4E81pi3eglsDemuOi62zYBcTWtWWg/edit?usp=sharing

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    • Carter,

      Take a look at this publication as it best explains the breakdown of which decree is accurate and why 444 B.C. is the ideal one to use and why. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/eleu/vol5/iss2/18/

      Chad

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    • Carter,

      Regarding my reading and understanding of Luke 3 as it relates to what is referenced within the “15th year of Tiberius Caesar,” it is only referencing when John the Baptist’s ministry of Baptism begins, not when Jesus was Baptized. My source dates the 15th year as Aug 8, 28 – Aug 7, 29. A little different that your source but close enough. John started his ministry on or about his 30th birthday (March 29, 29) just like Jesus started His ministry when baptized by John about Jesus’ birthday (September 29, 29) 6 months later – technically in the 16th year of Tiberius. In my book, I also reference that Eusebius, a fourth century Early Church scholar, said that Jesus died in the 19th year of Tiberius Caesar’s reign, which lasted from Aug 8, 32 to Aug 7, 33. Therefore, April 3, 33 falls within this year, precisely.

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      • Thanks for the replies, Chad! That was a fantastic article on the Daniel prophecy and I agree with you on the 15th year only relating to John the Baptist’s ministry. The one thing left if you could answer would be how to reconcile Jesus being in Egypt for a year in 1 BC until Herod’s death in 1 AD and missing the Passover festival. You made a great case for how the Jews weren’t required to go every year. But Luke 2:41 clearly states that Jesus’ parents went to the Jerusalem festival every year. How could they have gone every year if they would have missed on in Jerusalem? Surely they didn’t sneak to Jerusalem to go to Passover in 1 BC while Herod was trying to find Jesus. That is the reason why I think Herod dying in 1 BC makes more sense. I get too the tradition of Jesus being in Egypt for a long period of time. However, even though tradition certainly matters to an extent, if tradition ever contradicts the Bible as I feel it does in this case then it should be discarded or looked at differently.

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      • Thanks Carter! OK, so let’s try to make a case for the January 10, 1 B.C. Lunar Eclipse date that would make Luke 2:41 a definitive statement to see how it measures up because it is also a possible outcome. Despite the January 10, 1 B.C. Lunar Eclipse being in the middle of the night, it still occurred as long as 2-3 witnesses from the Sanhedrin observed it and recorded it as Josephus documented. Passover in 1 B.C. was on April 7 so if Herod died in late January, that gave Joseph, Mary, and Jesus time to travel to Egypt in about a week’s time. Once an angel told Joseph that Herod and one of his son’s were dead, they had plenty of time to travel back to Israel once his other son was in power in Judea, diverting the Holy Family from coming back to Judea but instead to Galilee per scripture. Once in Galilee, they could have later made the pilgrimage (about a week travel time) back to Jerusalem for Passover to be consistent with Luke 2:41. The Bible states the first Passover Jesus attended with his parents was when he was 12 years old according to Luke. All the prior years after Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary would have been the only travelers to Jerusalem for Passover without Jesus. If the December 19, 1 A.D. Lunar Eclipse is used, we know for sure that they would have missed at least one Passover since they would not have traveled back to Judea with Herod still alive because the angel had not told Joseph yet that he was dead to return safely. The only other complication with January 10, 1 B.C. is the prophecy in Revelation 12. The beginning of chapter 12 speaks to the birth of Jesus. In Revelation 12:6, “The woman [Mary and/or Israel] fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1260 days.” Bible scholars consider this a dual prophecy that speaks to when Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus fled to Egypt for 1260 days or 3.5 years. The verse also predicts the nation of Israel fleeing the anti-Christ during the 2nd half of the Tribulation. It is possible that this verse doesn’t speak about the Holy Family fleeing to Egypt for 3.5 years, but it does match the context of this chapter. It is very common for the events of Israel to foreshadow Christ or in a few cases, visa versa.

        In conclusion, determining which Lunar Eclipse might be the right timeframe for how long Jesus lived in Egypt comes down to which verse we put more relevance on, Luke 2:41 or Revelation 12:6. To weigh each one, we have to put each into its context within each chapter. Luke 2:41 addresses a non-Jewish audience, primarily converted Romans, to establish that the parents of Jesus were devout followers of their Faith. Revelation 12:6 addresses a woman, either Mary or the nation of Israel, or both, fleeing an anti-Christ [Herod and/or the Tribulation anti-Christ] trying to kill them right after describing the Birth of Christ a few verses earlier. This causes me to go with Revelation 12:6 which is more consistent with a longer refuge in Egypt. You be the judge as there isn’t any more definitive evidence known at this time, however, a western mindset wants to know more facts compared to the eastern mindset of the authors that were mostly interested in expressing the purpose of the Good News to the right audience. There are many reasons to believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God without contradiction but if it is not, it isn’t worth anything. So, when we run into something that appears on the surface to be a contradiction or mystery, we must investigate deeper to find the most plausible outcome, which is exactly what drove me to figure out Daniel’s 70 Weeks prophecy.

        What has driven your interest in these prophecies?

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      • Thank you for the explanation between the two eclipses. I didn’t think of the dual fulfillment of the Revelation prophecy so that is a great point that you made. I think what has interested me the most in the prophecies is from all the different interpretations of verses and trying to find the objective truth behind it that provides good evidence for the truth of Christianity. As I am also writing a evidence book, I am trying to collect all the information I can surrounding Jesus! You have helped me so much too so thank you

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      • And another reason for me is that I am a new believer for Christianity and I have learned so many amazing things recently and want to share them with others. I hate how the great information, such as on your site, and others, is not more known to other people! Like this information can change lives and bring people to Christ and it should be more accessible to everyone!

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      • First and foremost, Carter, I wanted to extend my heartfelt congratulations on your decision to become a follower of Christ! I am truly happy for you and excited to see that you are already off to a great start in learning and growing on your faith journey! I pray your faith continues to grow along with abundant blessing and fulfillment that only Jesus can bring! If you do have any other questions while you are writing your evidence book, which sounds very interesting, don’t hesitate to ask! Thank you again for all of the great insight and feedback you have provided thus far. I can tell you have a great discerning spirit and insight with the scriptures.

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24. What is your take on the historical information regarding the reign of King Herod for him dying in 1 AD? Steinmann, in From Abraham to Paul, provides great evidence that I found that shows that Herod died in early 1 BC. However, you provided great information that Herod died in early 1 AD. I summarized a few of his arguments below and was wondering what your take was on it. Thanks!

    Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/182ZZmjuQdbLUbW8wPqctHXNikF2TvBd5RNycOf0vN4o/edit?usp=sharing

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25. Chad, I think I just discovered definite proof of Jesus’ resurrection!!!! I am so thrilled right now at how these numbers just connected!!!
    I read through your book and it was fantastic and I noticed you picked the time of 5:46 AM as when Jesus was resurrected due to the sunrise. As I mentioned to you before, the pyramid predicts Jesus’ birth on September 29, 2 BC in Bethlehem, Baptism on October 14, 29 AD, and death on April 3, 33 AD. One peculiar number that is used throughout the pyramid is 35.76277 pyramid inches and the number symbolizes the resurrection from the dead. I will state what Adam Rutherford said in the book:

    “The horizontal distance from the end of the First Ascending Passage marking the death of Christ is 35.76277 Pyramid inches representing 35.76277 hours, thus revealing that this was the interval of time from Christ’s death to His resurrection. Both the Bible and the Pyramid show Jesus’ death upon the Cross as taking place at 3 o’clock on Friday afternoon, April 3, 33 AD (Julian). The Pyramid accordingly reveals that His resurrection, 35.76277 hours later, took place at about a quarter to 3 o’clock (Jerusalem time) on the following morning, April 5, 33 AD, and therefore before sunrise…It has already been shown in Book II that this measurement of 35.76277 Pyramid inches is the Expansion Factor of the Great Pyramid and that it always symbolizes re-awakening from the dead. How appropriate this is, in view of the fact that Jesus rose from the dead 35.76277 hours after His death on the Cross at Calvary.”

    So 35.76277 hours equals 35 hours, 45 minutes, 45.972 seconds. But when you apply this to Jesus’ death at 3 o’clock, you get the time of 2:45 AM and this is not correct. However, what Rutherford did not do is apply that to when Jesus was buried at 6:00 P.M. right before the Sabbath. And when you do , you get the most amazing result! It comes to 5:45 AM and 45.972 seconds and when you round it you get 5:46 AM!!!!!!!! The fact that this matches along with the other dates it aligns, is absolutely amazing. I know that you said the Pyramid is occult but from the research I have done it is not and I hope you would look more into it because the “conicidences” are too far between. I recommend reading Pyramidoogy Books 1-3 from Adam Rutehrford. Please let me know what you think!!!

    https://www.calculator.net/time-calculator.html?tcday1=3&tchour1=18&tcminute1=0&tcsecond1=0&Op=%2B&tcday2=0&tchour2=35&tcminute2=45&tcsecond2=45.97&tcday3=5&tchour3=2&tcminute3=45&tcsecond3=45.97&ctype=1&x=38&y=16

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    • Ok, so I was excited and noticed that 5:46 AM was the time of sunset you chose and not Jesus’ resurrection. So maybe both dates are correct. What if Jesus was resurrected at 2:45 AM and this matches the women coming to Christ very early in the morning (Luke 24:1) and Mary arriving when it was dark (John 20:1) and discovered that Jesus was resurrected

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      • Sorry it would actually be 1:46 AM and 46 seconds based upon your 2:01 PM time of Jesus’ death

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    • Hi Carter, this is certainly a very interesting discovery and you would be the resident expert in this arena compared to me. I have read about many different amazing numerical phenomena associated with the pyramid inch and the perfect structural alignments with many astronomical and geographical measurements. I can certainly appreciate the extraordinary mathematical precisions used in building the pyramids, which captivates so many people to contemplate the true hidden purpose and meaning behind the pyramids along with the people that designed and built them thousands of years ago.

      Very similar to your calculation and numerology, 40 (testing, trials, judgement) is a very frequent recurring number in the Bible, particularly with the life and ministry of Christ. The bible says that Jesus was tempted, fasted, and walked the Earth after his resurrection, each for 40 days. But through my calculations, I have also discovered that Jesus spent exactly 40 weeks (0 days) in Mary’s womb before birth (3 B.C. Winter Solstice to Tishri 1 [2 B.C.]) and 40 hours in the tomb – resurrected during the 40th hour after his death. To be precise – 2:08 pm IST April 3, 33 to approximately 5:46 am IST April 5, 33 (40th hour)!

      Also, I used your calculator link to independently calculate from April 5, 33 @ 5:46:01 am IST and subtracted 35 hrs 45 mins and 45.97 secs (converted 35.76277 pyramid inch to time using remainders) to arrive at April 3, 33 @ 6:00:15 pm IST. Stellarium shows the moonrise in Jerusalem on April 3, 33 was at 6:18:18 pm IST. Sunset was at 6:18:34 pm IST. Nightfall is calculated to be at 7:30:34 pm IST and the Lunar Eclipse completed at 7:34;17 pm IST. There is no doubt in my mind that they were finishing the burial of Jesus in the tomb at 6 pm IST that evening.

      Very cool!

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26. Hey Chad, I thought of some more questions I have for you that came up. If you could answer them that would be a tremendous help, thanks!

    1. What is the correct calendar for 29 AD, specifically for the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles? I am using the cgsf.org calendar for 29 AD and was wondering if their Hebrew dates were correct because some other calendars (torahcalc.com, midrash.org) gave different dates. I know that this calendar was incorrect based upon the Nisan dating for 444 BC as you discussed in your book, so I was wondering if it was the same case for 29 AD. Because Adam Rutherford in the Pyramidology Book has Tishri 1st on September 28th, 10th Tishri on October 7th, and 15th to 22nd of Tishri on October 12th and 19th. However, cgsf.org calendar has those dates as September 27th, October 6th, and October 11th and October 18th. Could you check the dates for Nisan 1 and see if this calendar is correct and what the correct dates are? If you could that would be so appreciative thank you!
    2. I agree with you how Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Tabernacles by being in the wilderness for 40 days. But could my theory of how Jesus got baptized in the middle of the Feast of Tabernacles week and then went into the wilderness, still work? Because technically, Jesus was in the wilderness during this time, but not for the whole 8 days as He would if you were correct, and He got baptized on September 29th.
    3. How did Jesus fulfill the Day of Atonement? Could this be when His ministry started? Something interesting is that according to the cgsf.org calendar date, 10th Tishri is on October 6, 29 AD. Then if you do 3 years and 6 months from that date, then you end up on April 6, 33 AD. But if you included October 6 as the first day, then the date ends on April 5, 33 AD when Jesus was resurrected. I know that you said if Jesus got baptized on my date of October 14th then 3 years and 6 months did not equal a specific date. However, if this date is correct of Jesus “starting” His ministry on 10th Tishri and getting baptized on 17th Tishri then His ministry would equal 3 years and 6 months and fit my theory. Here is how Adam Rutherford describes Jesus fulfilling the Day of Atonement and from his interpretation, I could see how Jesus’ ministry “started” on 10th Tishri. What are your thoughts on this?

    “Just as the Passover lambs were in symbol associated with the death of Christ in the Spring of the year, so the Book of Hebrews (10:7) associates Christ offering Himself to die for the sins of the world with the Atonement Day sacrifices of bulls and goats in the Autumn of the year. In the very nature of things Jesus could not offer Himself in sacrifice for the sins of the world to make atonement on any other day than the great Day of Atonement, 10th Tishri, foreordained by the Heavenly Father and revealed by Him long centuries before, through the Mosaic Law. Jesus offered Himself as a living sacrifice for the sins of the world at His baptism—the water baptism being the outward symbol of what He had done. The Bible shows that His was a “baptism into death.” So He said to His disciples “are ye able to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” “buried with Him by baptism unto death.” So from Jordan to Calvary He “poured out His soul unto death,” hence He said, “I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how I am straightened until it be accomplished,” and eventually this baptism was accomplished in death when He cried on the Cross “It is finished.” So Jesus voluntarily placed Himself on the “altar of sacrifice” by His “baptism into death” at the age of 30 and thenceforth “poured out His soul unto death” until the sacrifice consumed at Calvary. That atonement sacrifice could not be placed on the altar on any other day than the Day of Atonement, the 10th of Tishri, prearranged by Jehovah long ages before and on which the typical atonement sacrifices of bulls and goats had been offered year by year through the centuries. Accordingly, Jesus presented Himself as the atonement sacrifice for our sins, by His “baptism into death” on the great Day of Atonement, 10th of Tishri, in the Autumn of AUC 782, which was the 7th October, 29 AD, and appropriately that day was a Friday. On that day Jesus was 30 years and 9 days old, for He had just had His birthday the week before (on Tishri 1st, September 28th of that year).” (Adam Rutherford, Pyramidology Book II)

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27. Hey Chad, I had another thought on point #3, when Jesus started His ministry. If Jesus was baptized on October 14, 29 AD and went into the wilderness for 40 days, then this would have ended on November 23, 29 AD. Then the next day would be the start of His ministry on November 24, 29 AD when John testifies about Jesus. Then 3.5 years from this date is May 24, 33 AD, when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Below, Andrew Steinmann, in From Abraham to Paul, writes the following:

    “The first part of Jesus’ ministry as recorded in the Gospel of John is a series of days that occurred sometime following the Temptation. Not that Jesus’ baptism was past (John 1:32-34). Since the Temptation immediately followed Jesus’ baptism, the first days of Jesus’ ministry in John must follow the Temptation. There are a series of days that John carefully records: First day: John’s testimony at Bethany in Perea (John 1:19-28). Second day: John identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God (John 1:29-34).Third day: Jesus calls Peter, Andrew and another disciple (probably John; John 1:35-42).Fourth day: Jesus decides to go to Galilee and calls Philip and Nathaniel (John 1:43-51). Sixth day: Jesus, back in Galilee, attends the wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11). This happens on “the third day,” that is, Jesus had a three-day journey to the wedding—the fourth, fifth and six days.”

    If Jesus started His ministry on this date, along with the significance of these dates, then my theory about Jesus being baptized on October 14th is true. Let me know your thoughts please, thanks!

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    • Hi Carter,

      See me comments by topic below.

      1) Yes, while I did find an error in the leap month for 444 B.C with cgsf.org, inserting the correct leap month in the appropriate year (I didn’t calculate it to confirm) would only shuffle the months down a month within that year or so between the corrected months. In the Prophecy of Prophecy article I previously shared with you written by Jarrett on page 298, it also explains, “In 1942, historians Richard Parker and Waldo Dubberstein attempted to reconstruct the Jewish calendar of the fifth century BC by extrapolating data from the materials they had available to them at the time. However, they mistakenly assigned Tishri and Kislev of 446 BC as occurring one month later than what the ancient papyri from Assuan indicate.18 If the calendar constructed by Parker and Dubberstein is adjusted to correlate with the Aramaic papyri by being shifted backward one month, Nisan of 444 BC would begin on March 4. This is consistent with astronomical calculations which show that a new moon would have been visible after 10 PM on March 4, so a Jewish month would have begun on or shortly after this date.19 Hence, both lunar and historical data support a start date for Nisan of 444 BC to be approximately March 4.” Based on this information, it also concludes that the intercalary month is inserted into the wrong year and would only impact the months between the proper and improper insertions or 1-2 years at that time. In other words, it would not affect the Jewish calendar months in 29 A.D.

      2) Yes, your theory can certainly work. I have also read commentary that the Feast of Tabernacles was largely attended over the first day and night. For the rest of the week a lesser number of people would stay the entire festival. It was ok to leave the festival on or after day 2 if needed.

      3) Interestingly enough, I calculated your numbers using Oct 14, 29 as the baptism date and then calculated 40 days from Oct 15, 29 which does land on Nov 24, 29. By adding 3 years 6 months and 0 days, as you suggest, it perfectly lands on May 24, 33 A.D. also known as Pentecost and the Feast of Weeks, when the Holy Spirit is given to the new Church when Peter and the apostles speak to the masses. I have to admit, you followed all the rules that I used and found something very interesting that in my best estimation, I cannot find anything wrong with these dates. It is certainly a possible baptism date as a perfectly acceptable alternative to my proposed baptism date. There are no direct timed prophecies or references in the Bible to prove one over the other but I do like your baptism date even more now. I will continue to review it but so far, I haven’t found or thought of anything that would negate it, considering how it lines up with all the dates mentioned. Nice work!

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      • Hey Chad, thanks for the response and I am glad you like my theory a little more now lol. I was doing more research and found some evidence that may show the calendar on cgsf.org is incorrect by one day. As I stated earlier, Adam Rutherford in his book said that Tishri 15 was on October 12 and therefore, Jesus went there and traveled the next day and got baptized on October 14 (which matches up with the Pyramid’s date). However, on cgsf.org it says that Tishri 15 was on October 11 and it would be a little bit of a stretch to say that Jesus spent two days traveling (still possible) and got baptized on October 14. But something interesting is that in the book, “A Chronological Synopsis of the Four Gospels” by Karl Wieseler, at the end of the book he gives the date of Tishri 15 as October 12. And torahcalendar.com gives the dates of September 28 as Tishri 1 and October 12 as Tishri 15. Along with this, it provides proof of the new moon at sunset on September 27, with the next day starting the calendar month of Tishri. Here is the link: https://torahcalendar.com/MOON.asp?JDN=1731920&TDAY=1
        Or if the link doesn’t work go to torahcalendar.com and click determining the hebrew month on the left side. The only problem with this is if Jesus’ ministry started on the Day of Atonement on October 7, then 3 ½ years come 2 days after His resurrection, so this is out now. But the good news is that if this is correct then His ministry still starting on November 24 still stands and even stronger. Because now Jesus would have only taken a day to travel to the near baptism site around 12 hours away and then get baptized the next day on October 14, instead of leaving on October 11 and taking two days for some reason as He would have had to preciously on the older dates of the calendar. Please let me know your thoughts or if I messed up anywhere. Thanks!

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      • Along with my previous comment, if the calendar on torahcalendar is correct, then that means the feast of gedaliah is on september 30, not the 29th. I know that you said this feast could point to Jesus, but this small point could show that Jesus was not baptized on his birthday. Here is the link: https://torahcalendar.com/Calendar.asp?PYM=Y29M7

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      • But when I looked on Nasa it said September 26 for the new moon, so it would be September 27. But could the moon have not been visible then and been visible on 28 as torahcalendar.com says? This is very confusing to me because this is not my area of expertise lol

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      • Heres the link for the astropixels new moon: http://astropixels.com/ephemeris/phasescat/phases0001.html

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      • Hi Carter,

        You make an excellent case for the 1-day misalignment regarding the cgsf.org calendar; however, there is one factor that torahcalendar.com or Rutherford aren’t considering that I can clearly demonstrate, confirming that the cgsf.org calendar correctly aligns Tishri 1 with September 27 instead of September 28 in 29 A.D. See my method below, referencing Astropixels and Stellarium at sunset on September 26 & 27, 29 A.D.

        1) Reference the New Moon Phase date and time using the Astropixels phase chart for September 29 A.D. as you mentioned.
        2) Adjust the Astropixels new moon start time from UTC to IST (+2 hrs). There was no daylight savings time at that time.
        2) Go to the Stellarium app (v23.1).
        3) Set the location to Jerusalem.
        4) Set the time of day to to the IST adjusted new moon astronomical start date and time.
        6) Find the moon in the Jerusalem sky.
        7) Advance minute-by-minute or hour-by-hour to see how long it take for enough of the moon to theoretically begin showing a small sliver of light on the edge of the moon by nightfall.

        As you mentioned, referencing the Astropixles’ link to the astronomical start of the new moon on September 26, 29 A.D. is Sep 26 12:04 UTC. Add 2 hours to this time to adjust for IST in Israel to be September 26 14:04 or 2 pm. Looking at Stellarium astronomy software, set the location to Jerusalem and the date and time to the astronomical start, 14:04 for September 26, 29. Image linked below.

        You will see the new moon almost touching the sun in the Jerusalem sky, slightly above and to the right in the early afternoon just after 2 pm. Advance the time of day forward by about 4 hours to 6pm at sunset. The moon is still above the horizon with 4 hours of sunlight on the edge of the moon by that time (Stellarium cannot show the light but shows the sky position). September 27 as Tishri 1 still fits all of the Talmud new month rules based on this sky view in Stellarium. Nightfall would have occurred over the next hour. Therefore, there was a reasonable window of time for the Sanhedrin to determine that Tishri 1 (September 27) was to begin at nightfall on September 26, 29, one day before declaring it at sunset on September 27, 29 (September 28) as proposed by Rutherford and torahcalendar.com.

        Now, using the agreed definition in your Torahcalendar.com link, “A Hebrew Month begins at the moment of sunset the evening the moon’s crescent first becomes potentially visible to the naked eye in Jerusalem,” we can view the new moon from Jerusalem at sunset on both September 26, 29 and September 27, 29, hours after the astronomical start of the new moon in the early afternoon on September 26. While TorahCalendar.com isn’t incorrect, the same required sliver of light can also be seen on September 26, 29 at sunset, to call Tishri 1 as September 27, not September 28, as correctly shown on the cgsf.org Hebrew calendar. See the images below that I captured from Stellarium.

        September 26, 29 New Moon Astronomical Start at 2:04 pm IST
        https://meridianprophecy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/September-26-29-New-Moon-Astro-Start.png

        September 27, 29 = Tishri 1 image
        https://meridianprophecy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/September-26-29-Sunset-New-Moon.png

        September 28, 29 = Tishri 1 image
        https://meridianprophecy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/September-27-29-Sunset-New-Moon.png

        You be the judge, but the earliest viewable date that meets the Talmud requirements should be correct by my best understanding, since whatever the Jews viewed that day, is now Gospel! Lol!!

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28. Hey Chad, thanks for the in depth analysis of this and explanation of how you did this. This helped a lot and I think I have to agree with you as well !

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29. Hey Chad,

    I have a new piece of potential evidence come up for the date of Jesus’ baptism and would love to get your thoughts on it.

    In The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Alfred Edersheim writes:

    “We have only to assume, that the marriage in Cana of Galilee was that of a maiden, not a widow. The great festivities which accompanied it were unlikely, according to Jewish ideas, in the case of a widow…Besides, if it had been the marriage of a widow, this would imply that Jesus had returned from the wilderness on a Saturday, which, as being the Jewish Sabbath, could not have been the case. For uniform custom fixed the marriage of a maiden on Wednesdays, that of a widow on Thursday. Counting backwards from the day of the marriage in Cana, we arrive at the following results. The interview between John and the Sanhedrin-deputation took place on a Thursday. The next day, Friday, Jesus returned from the wilderness of the Temptation, and John bore his first testimony to “the Lamb of God.” The following day, when Jesus appeared a second time in view, and when the first two disciples joined Him, was the Saturday, or Jewish Sabbath. It was, therefore, only the following day, or Sunday (John 1:43), that Jesus returned to Galilee, calling others by the way. And the third day after it (John 2:1)—that is, on Wednesday—was the marriage in Cana.”

    However, if Edersheim is correct and the wedding took place on a Wednesday, this causes both of our dates of Jesus’ baptism to be incorrect (with mine being slightly closer). With your view, Jesus was baptized on September 29, then 40 days later is November 8 (Tuesday). The events would then be: John’s testimony on Wednesday, two disciples joining Jesus on Thursday, two more disciples joining Jesus on Friday, and the wedding would have been on Monday (November 14)—two days short of Wednesday. With my view, Jesus was baptized on October 14, then 40 days later is November 23 (Wednesday). Therefore, all my dates would be one day later since November 8 is a Tuesday, and therefore, this means Jesus would have gone to the wedding on November 29, which is a Tuesday. But this again is one day short of Wednesday.

    But, the distinction I thought of is that since Jesus was 40 days and 40 nights fasting in the wilderness, what if His first day actually started the day after His baptism—this would be on October 15 for my view. If so, then this means His last day was on November 24 (3 ½ years before Pentecost). Could this be when His ministry technically started, instead of on the next day? It “started” immediately after Jesus finished His temptation with Satan on November 24. Along with this, John the Baptist also testified about Jesus to the priests and Levites about Jesus on this day as well and this is the “first day” that John reports in his gospel. And another interesting fact is that according to torahcalendar.com and nasa eclipse , there was a total solar eclipse on November 24. Could this be when Jesus was being tempted by Satan? If this is correct, then this would lean toward my view since this would “add” another day so that Jesus would attend the wedding on Wednesday in accordance with Edersheim while your view is two days away from Wednesday and not one like mine.
    https://torahcalendar.com/Calendar.asp?PYM=Y29M8
    https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcat5/SE0001-0100.html

    Let me know your thoughts, thanks!

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30. One more quick thing, if the solar eclipse could match up with Jesus’ temptation, what would be a good theological reason for it, like how there was a full moon when Jesus was born and eclipse when He died, etc.

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31. Another thought that I had is since November 24 29 AD is exactly 3 1/2 years from Pentecost 33 AD, what if the solar eclipse is to the exact second that the Holy Spirit came? The solar eclipse seems like it happened at 9 Am time which would match up when Peter mentioned the Spirit came at 9 am in the morning? Could you check the local time that the solar eclipse appeared for me, I am not the best at that lol. Along with this, Peter says the Joel prophecy about the sun darkening and this is referring to the darkenss when Jesus died. But could this also refer possibly to the solar eclipse that occured when Jesus was tempted?

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    • Hi Carter,

      Apologies again for the delayed response as I wanted to properly research different avenues before responding. Since there are not any specific prophetic timers or solar eclipse references in the Bible for these events noted by any OT prophets and NT apostles related to Jesus’ early ministry, it is difficult to anchor any Baptism date to one of our possible dates. Some scholars say that after Jesus’ 40-day temptation in the wilderness, Jesus took 3 days to travel back to Galilee making the same stops in reverse order to see John the Baptist again by the Jordan river, meet Peter and Andrew, and two other disciples, while ending up in Cana for the wedding about 4 days after that. Adding that week to the end of the 40-day temptation timeframe for any given Baptism date doesn’t land on any particularly interesting date such as the solar eclipse that you mentioned from my rough calculations. Like yourself, I also read Jewish articles on what days of the week a Jewish wedding was or was not ideal, but didn’t align with anything significant that I found.

      Now, I think there are at least three interesting dates for His Baptism, September 29, October 14, and November 24, 29 A.D. It is amazing that the last date mentioned is a total solar eclipse (November 24, 29 A.D.), which would have certainly occurred directly over Israel according to NASA’s Ancient Solar Eclipse charts. Amazing! The timing of the solar eclipse on the chart is in UT (Universal Time or GMT – Greenwich Mean Time) so after adding 2 hours for IST, the greatest magnitude of the eclipse would have occurred at 11:24 am IST. We don’t really know what happened on that date related to Christ, but there is no doubt in my mind, something truly remarkable had to have happened because it is exactly 3.5 years before the Day of Pentecost, also Shavuot – Feast of Weeks, in 33 A.D. It makes sense to assume the Holy Spirit may have been present at the beginning of this timeframe even though most solar eclipses are related to negative circumstances or a transformational event. We also know that only ~60 days of Jesus’ 1260+ day ministry were recorded across 4 synoptic Gospels in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). That is remarkable to think about how little was recorded but yet incredibly powerful. Whatever occurred on November 24, 29 A.D. didn’t make it into the Bible. Since the Bible is the inspired Word of God, the writers, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wanted to keep that day a mystery by all indications.

      When Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost and quoted the prophet Joel regarding the signs prophesied and seen during the Crucifixion of Christ, I have read multiple sources where the Romans recorded a severe dust storm in the distance or supernatural solar eclipse that blocked out the sun from just before noon to the time when Jesus died (just after 2 pm IST) along with earthquakes, and the like. The blood moon lunar eclipse at its peak red didn’t happen until moonrise in Jerusalem after 6:30 pm IST that evening. There is no record of any solar eclipse on April 3, 33 A.D. because of the lunar eclipse, where the earth would have to have been between the sun and moon, not the moon between the sun and earth. Clearly, both eclipses cannot physically happen on the same day.

      The November 24, 29 A.D. solar eclipse is certainly important because I found a very similar solar eclipse that covers southern Israel and Egypt on July 4, 2104 A.D. that aligns exactly 3.5 years to the day with the prophetic timer in Daniel’s 2300 Evenings and Mornings Prophecy, regarding the end times, the reconsecration of the 3rd Jewish Temple, and the Tribulation. Identifying the Biblical significance of the November 24, 29 A.D solar eclipse would require further research, but until it aligns with something I can historically or Biblically prove or calculate definitely, I don’t want to draw any speculative conclusions without confirming multiple ways first.

      More to come on this topic!

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      • Hey Chad, no worries, I appreciate you digging deep into the topic as you always do (much more than me lol). I think thats amazing aboutt he solar eclipse, especially how its similar to the 2104 AD one. Can’t wait to see more on this topic from you, and I will let you know if I find any more information as well. THanks!

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      • Hey Chad, could you provide your sources for the dust storm? I have also heard that theory but I can never seem to find the specific references that people always mention. Thanks!

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      • Carter,

        I finally found a block of time to respond to your last comment. As I was attempting to find the one anecdotal, intertextual reference I had found in an article to a possible roman account of a sand storm during the crucifixion (which I could not find again in my search history) that I mentioned in my previous comment, I instead found at least 5 more intertextually referenced articles to an unusually longer and darker solar eclipse (11 am – 2 pm IST), even though a natural solar eclipse was not physically possible during a lunar eclipse that started at the same time of Christ’s death (2 pm IST) beyond the eastern horizon from Jerusalem, as mentioned in one of my blog posts, The Crucifixion Lunar Eclipse is AMAZINGLY timed! The primary challenge to diving further into this area is that there are multiple ancient references to other ancient references to older ancient references to the original text, which was lost. Circumstantially, some of those referenced references record that during the 3 hours of night time darkness in the afternoon portion of the crucifixion, the stars were visible and lamps were lit. If that is true, it does seem to be hard for either to be possible during a sand storm, even a strict, high-altitude one (which would block seeing any stars). Since some of these ancient intertextual references suggest that years after the crucifixion, Rome and Egypt were still talking about the solar darkness that also fell on their cities on the day Jesus was crucified. To cover an area that wide would indicate some type of supernatural solar eclipse method far higher than our own atmosphere and even the moon that can only make a 115-mile wide totality path. In any case, whatever the method God used to create 3 hours of darkness during the death of Christ, it was supernatural. Not much more can be proven than drawing that conclusion.

        https://www.oxfordbiblechurch.co.uk/index.php/books/new-book-daniel-s-70-weeks/477-appendix-4-the-day-the-sun-stopped-shining

        Blessings,

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      • Chad,
        Thanks so much for the reference and link! Quick question, what do you think the feast is in John 5:1?

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      • Carter,

        Regarding the unnamed feast in John 5:1, it is an interesting question. While no one knows for sure, the Gospel of John gives more detailed accounts of Jesus in Jerusalem than any of the synoptic writers. He records three Passover Feasts (John 2:13, 6:4, and 11:55), one Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:2), the unnamed feast (John 5:1) and a Festival of Dedication or Hanukkah (John 10:22). I am not an expert in this question by any means but if I were to apply a basic chronology to the order they are recorded after He sees John the Baptist, which we both believe occurred roughly between September 29, 29 and November 24, 29 A.D., then the first visit to Passover in Jerusalem recorded after His ministry started should coincide with John 2:13 on April 5, 30 A.D. John records Jesus drove the money changers out of the Temple at the beginning of His ministry where the other 3 Gospels record a very similar event during Holy Week before He was crucified. Maybe Jesus did this twice but there is no way to know for sure.

        If John 6:4 is the next year’s Passover, that would fall on April 25, 31 A.D. Since the Feast of Tabernacles is recorded in John 7:2, I would assume it occurred October 20-26, 31 A.D. The unnamed feast in John 5:1 falls in between the first two recorded Passover visits of Jesus’ Ministry. The same passage in John 5 records that Jesus healed a lame man by the Bethesda Pool on the Sabbath, upsetting the Pharisees. Therefore, if we look for when a feast and sabbath (Saturday) intersect on the Hebrew calendar, taking the passage at face value, in 30 A.D., that gives us 3 choices; The Feast of Trumpets – September 16, 30 A.D. (Jesus’ 31st Birthday), Feast of Tabernacles – September 30, 30 A.D. (already named during the following year’s feast, most likely), and The Eighth Day – October 7, 30 A.D. (the day after the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles) which might be a logical reason John didn’t name it specifically in Scripture. In my humble opinion, if it was one of the significant feasts, it would have been named but if one of the lesser known named feasts, John may have just referred to it as a “Jewish Feast or Holiday” and was content with that reference as what Jesus did during this chronicled day was his primary focus.

        I will press pause before diving any deeper to get your thoughts.

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32. Hey Chad, I thought of another piece of evidence that would show that Herod died in 1 BC, along with Jesus returning to Nazareth in 1 BC and not 1 AD. Alfred Edersheim, in the Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, writes:

    “It must have been soon after the accession of Archelaus, but before tidings of it had actually reached Joseph in Egypt, that the Holy Family returned to Palestine. We gather this from the expression, “When he heard that Archelaus did reign.’ Evidently Joseph had not heard who was Herod’ successor, when he left Egypt.”

    Along with this, Andrew Steinmann, in From Abraham to Paul, says that Archelaus started to reign in 1 BC. If this is true, then that means that Jesus and His family had to leave for Egypt in early 1 BC or 2 BC, as He does on December 25th, 2 BC after the Magi come. But in Matthew like mentioned, it says that once Joseph left Egypt that he heard that Archelaus was reigning. But if your view is correct and they left in 1 AD, then it is improbable that Joseph didn’t hear about Archealus for the whole year that he was in Egypt. But it is more likely that right after Herod died in early 1 BC and they left Egypt, that he would find out that Archelaus was reigning.

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    • Hi Carter,

      After great deliberation on the timing of the flight to Egypt by the Holy Family with consideration to your added points, which are noteworthy, I still am unable to come to any definitive conclusion worth supporting with confidence. While there is strong evidence of a shorter time frame, no matter what lunar eclipse used given my start date for the flight itself – January 7, 1 B.C., I still do not know how to reconcile the statement in Luke 2:41, “Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover.” Considering the ascension of Archelaus to power after Herod the Great’s death was in dispute by his remaining brothers and a large contention of Jews, Archelaus had to travel to Rome (probably by boat) to settle the dispute and be confirmed by Augustus (as a tetrarch, not king), which could easily have taken 2 months minimum, round trip, after he received an invitation to come to Rome months after the annunciation of Herod’s death across the empire. This alone would have caused the Holy Family to miss at least 1 Passover in Jerusalem. Also, any official Roman notices were written in Rome’s Acta Diuma and posted regularly in the city’s public spaces. Provincial governors would regularly send scribes to make copies and cascade similarly across the empire to remain abreast of the latest happenings in the capital. This propagation once the other proceedings played out, would almost double the time taken to send the information across the empire, particularly where the Holy Family may have been located in southern Egypt while in hiding. A year could easily have slipped by at this point. Up to 30 Egyptian holy sites or churches stand all along the nile where the Holy Family traveled and would also require much time to travel each way. Regardless, even if the entire trip took about a year or less, it would likely not fit nicely between 2 Passovers. Since Luke likely interviewed the mother of Jesus, Mary, decades after Jesus was on Earth, she would have been the only remaining eye witness to young Jesus’ early life to detail in the Gospel of Luke. Whatever was talked about or notes written down in that interview and summarized in Luke 2, it isn’t enough information to answer this question with a reliable timeline using all mentioned information. I take Luke’s 2:41 statement to mean it was true while they lived in Nazareth upon their return to Israel from Egypt.

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      • Hey Chad,
        thanks for the response! That does make a lot of sense of what you said. It sucks how there is not a clear answer to it. And also I am working on the unnamed festival response, for right now I believe it is Purim but I will provide reasons to support it soon.

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33. By the way, I have confirmed with some math the April 3, 33 AD crucifixion date prior to reading your article. I am fascinated by the above convo b/w you and Logical Faith – please keep adding to your points. In a way, this can be the only crucifixion date if Jesus was 30 years old when he started his ministry using Tiberius 15th Year of Reign and the start of his reign in August 14 AD (I have August 19th 14 AD per Britannica but not a big difference in our dates), we can figure out Jesus was 29 when he was baptized, then his birthday in Sept he turns 30 which is the age he starts his ministry. Confirmed on my end.

    As far as start dates for the 69 Weeks prophecy, I’m 99% sure that the 20th Year of Artaxerxes is the date to use as the proper start date.

    This would mean the correct Nisan 1 (when the decree was issued) was April 3 444BC (not March 14th of 445BC that was inferred by Anderson as that is clearly too early for the harvest and historically Nisan 1 falls b/w late March and mid-April, never early March).

    If you convert the 483 Prophetic Years (7x69x360) into Julian Calendar Years by simply dividing by 365.25, you get 476 years.

    Interestingly enough, if you start from Nisan 1 (April 3, 444BC) and count forward exactly 173,859 days (476 Julian Years) on the Julian Calendar you will arrive on April 3, 33AD.

    If you think there needs to be some robustness improvements in this method please let me know – would be happy to hear what either of you have to say!

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    • Hi Dan,

      Thank you for your insightful thoughts and feedback, it is greatly appreciated! My exchanges with Carter@Logical Faith were really fun and interesting to delve into depth, so keep all the questions coming as it can only lead to more discovery that cannot be found alone. I hope Carter comes back again with more questions or information to continue that dialogue. Iron sharpens iron!

      In regards to the start date of the Nehemiah Decree you mention, there is a lot of good commentary online that continues to grow, enumerating the errors of Anderson and Hoehner on this topic. This is an excellent starting point to discard a lot of directions to take this topic. You are correct, the 20th year of Artaxerxes I (465 – 424 B.C.) is 445-444 B.C. and many historians agree that the decree occurred in 444 B.C. as do I for many reasons. We can further narrow the date down to the month of Nisan in 444 B.C. but here is where it becomes abstract for everyone. It has been recognized by a growing number of scholars that the Jewish intercalary month was misplaced near 444 B.C. by modern computerized calendars based on flawed scholarly calculations as detailed best In the Prophecy of Prophecy article I previously shared with Carter written by Jarrett (Liberty University) on page 298. See previous comment post with Carter for the direct quoted reference. I also demonstrate further the right date in my blog post using Stellarium astronomy software. Once carefully corrected, the date is indeed Jewish (i.e. twilight of March 4, 444 B.C.) and Gregorian March 5, 444 B.C.

      Regarding agricultural timing, there is close to a 60-day window the start of Nisan can occur within March and April each year, but I think Jews planted their crops according to their lunar calendar each year, not like western farmers that might plant at almost the exact same time every year. In Jewish culture, there are 3 important harvest times in the Land of Israel that follow the lunar calendar; the Passover Feast with the barley harvest, Shavuot (i.e. Feast of Weeks) with the wheat harvest, and the eighth day of Sukkot (i.e. end of the Feast of Tabernacles) that marks the conclusion of the fruit harvest. I know barley has winter varieties among others and can be harvested in March or April depending on when it was planted going into winter. Since barley would logically take the same amount of time to grow every year, but based on the lunar calendar, the Jewish farmer would likely plant it at different times (+/- 60 days) based on other Jewish dates beforehand in order for it to be harvested on time for the upcoming Passover each year. While they could not be precise since new moons were still observed at that time, they had likely figured out what Jewish date to plant in the fall/winter to harvest on time for the new year of Nisan when it was expected to occur +/- a few weeks, an acceptable window to harvest during the yearly shifting window of time.

      Lastly, I have shied away from using the Julian tropical year (i.e. 365.25 days) vs. the Gregorian tropical year (i.e. 365.2421904 days) when converting from prophetic time (360 days) because Julian time is less precise than Gregorian time (about 13+ days difference and counting – it will be closer to 15 days difference by 2100 A.D.). This exercise is about precision and the more accurate digits we can use after the “365.” decimal, the better. With my calculations, my method’s precision is to the minute between the new moon after sunset or twilight on March 4, 444 B.C. to solar noon – 12:05 p.m. IST on Sunday, March 29, 33 A.D. (Palm Sunday), verified by Stellarium on both ends, when I run my calculations. No one else on the Internet that I have found is more precise than that while landing on the right day of the week, not to mention the right year that aligns with dozens of other events I have found that also align with the Jewish calendar, Scripture, history, Archeology, Astronomy, etc. for the highest confidence.

      I dive much deeper in my book compared to my blog showing dozens of other aligned calculations to the precise minute or second plus several verified historical and astronomical aligned events in a growing linkage of precisely interlocked calculated events, not just a single calculation standing isolated in time. Check it out and let me know what you think!

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34. Thanks for your very thorough response Chad. Would you by any chance have an excel spreadsheet where you keep these calculations so I can better understand and absorb everything you wrote? If so I would dearly appreciate you email me at the provided email address.

    I agree with the Gregorian statement that the more accurate the better and also your calc would line up with Zech 9:9 prophecy, the day He rode in on a colt as King of Jerusalem.

    God Bless!

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    • Hi Dan, thanks for returning and checking on additional resources. I have not set my calculations up in Excel, while that is a great idea, I don’t have that completed. Let me take a look at it and I will let you know!

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      • That would be great Chad. Thank you!

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35. Once again you are almost right. You have the year and the month right but Jesus’s birth is the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles not the Feast of Trumpets. The feast of Tabernacles celebratessTrumpets celebrates God’s Judgement where as the Feast of Tabernacles celebrates the fact that God was physically present with the Jews during the Exodus. God was one again physically present with the Jews at his birth. It also explains why there was no room in the inn: for a poor family the “inn” was the courtyard with the pack animals but during the Feast of Tabernacles no one could stay anywhere but in a sukkot so the rich folks set up their very large sukkah in the courtyard and filled it so that joseph could not even put up a poor man’s sukkah (a leaan to). So Joseph went to tyhe birthing stable which with a thatched roof qualified as a sukkot. It also explains why in a culture known for hospitality for travelers, Mary couldn’t find a home to stay in Joseph’s home town. She wouldn’t have stayed anywhere but in a sukkah. Oh and to be qualified to be a paschal lamb the lamb had to be born on Saduceees’ property and inspected by Levitical shepherds. Oh what a surprise the angels appeared to shepherds and they went directly to see the babe! The lamb of God was qualified to be the paschal lamb.

    OH the Feast of Trumphets has not yet been fulfilled but will be when the “Warning” occurs. A supernatural event at which everyone will see themselves as God sees them. A celebration of God’s judgement.

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    • Hi Greg, welcome back. To cut to the chase, I didn’t draw any conclusions based on symbolism alone, I used math. We can draw anything from both feasts if based purely on symbolism. I chose math and the right answer dictates the right symbolism. Show me where my math is wrong because the precision is uncanny and then we can get to the point of what is or isn’t right.

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36. You have 3760 as a leap year (the presence of Adar2). There is a 19 year cycle that had been in use for a long time and is still used by all the Jewish calendars.: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19 where each bolded year is a leap year. A cycle began in the year 3 AD so 2 AD (year 19), 1 BC (year 17), and 4 BC (year 14) are leap years. Therefor while you are correct on the date of the new moon you are wrong on the Month. the 29 of September was the 1st of Cheshvan not the 1st of Tishrei. Thus not the feast of Trumphets.

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37. Sorry, trying to do the HTML for bolding got messed up so here it is copied from my site:
    There is a 19-year cycle for leap years: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19 where each bolded year is a leap year.

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    • Hi Greg, I believe you are correctly calling out the leap years in a lunar cycle but I don’t think you are aligning it to the calendar correctly for the birth years in question. The calendar that I used very clearly indicates the leap year is 3759, not 3760. The lunar cycle pushes the month in which Passover falls back toward winter, so an extra month is added. This pushes Passover forward again toward spring. If Adar II was not added in 3759 (early 2 B.C.) then Passover in 2 B.C. would have been in the winter, not Spring. The vernal equinox was on March 23, 2 B.C. and without Adar II in 3759, Passover would have fallen on or about March 18-20 which would have been officially winter. There was no lunar leap month in 3760 as it would have come after September 29, 2 B.C. in the winter/spring of 1 B.C. if there was as you asserted. I don’t see anything wrong with the calendar I chose in the Gregorian year of 2 B.C. so September 29, 2 B.C on the Feast of Trumpets falls exactly correct. As I mentioned previously, when Joseph and Mary came to Bethlehem for the birth and there was no room for them in the Inn, it was because there was definitely a Jewish Feast holiday but it wasn’t the Feast of Tabernacles because the whole point to the Feast of Tabernacles is everyone in Israel built a tent and camped out around the city walls like they did in the wilderness after the Exodus, which means there would never have been a shortage of places to stay in an Inn or a reason to stay in one in the first place. It just isn’t so.

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38. I would be happy to send you the screen shots from the Jewish calendar app that I used to both walk the rotation of priests serving in the temple back in time from the 9th of Av in 70ad to determine when Zachariah was serving when the angel appeared to him. It shows that the leap years are as I indicated and Passover is not in the winter and Sept 29 is the first of Cheshvon. What app did you use?

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    • Thanks Greg, but I think you have sent them before when we discussed the same topic and I saw that your app was not correct when compared with a number of other Jewish to Gregorian calendars so I am not inclined to review it again. If your calendar puts Passover before the vernal equinox in any year then it demonstrates a clear error in your calendar. Also, modern Torah and Bible scholars have never agreed to any 2nd Temple priest rotation timing mapped to our modern calendar so it is a fools errand to try here. I have already tried. I found no two scholars proposed the same theoretical priest rotation mapping to any useable calendar with validation. It is a ‘holy grail’ expedition by itself. Even if it is miraculously confirmed, how would it even confirm one month over the adjacent month to convince yourself? To try to convince anyone that using a priest rotation holds true merit is folly and a pure waste of time. I know because I wasted a lot of time on your proposed exercise myself and know first hand. My apologies if I sound dismissive, but I have spent countless hours on all of the avenues you are bringing up and they are all dead ends except what I have found with many calculations. I am not trying to say that I only looked at this one way and my way is the right way because I said so. I have spent more than 2 decades researching every single scenario you bring up, read hundreds of scholarly sources, tried calculations on thousands of options and have found only this one way to match every anecdotal, astronomical, historical, and biblical reference in context with ease, simultaneously. The math is the glue that makes it all fit, without all the emotional arguments or dogma. Anyone trying as hard as you to back into what you believe before you see what any calculations or proof concludes is a red flag, unfortunately. I took the opposite approach. I ran the numbers first to see where it landed then understood the context it fell into and, adjusted my own preconceived beliefs in certain places. I hope that helps in taking an intellectually honest approach into the evidence. God is a numbers God and the math definitely works with all the context around it as I have laid out in detail in my book. Dive a bit deeper because I think you are missing the gravity of what I discovered.

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39. Using your web site I realized that the vernal equinox in 2BC was actually a day after the new moon thus it makes sense that you used the calendar you did (with 2bc a leap year. I contacted the makers of the HEBDATE application which I used and they responded:

    “The Hebrew Calendar was only standardized well into the fourth century. Before that, the calendar was set month by month based on the visual moon and visual Spring (not the Equinox, but the season). When the calendar was standardized, they standardized it backward (for calculation purposes) to the year 1 of the Hebrew calendar. That is the date we show, as the real one is unknown.

    A big reason for discrepancies is that the Hebrew calendar is calculated, like the Julian calendar, with a solar year being exactly 365 days and 6 hours, though it is actually less than that. Therefore over the years, there will be a growing discrepancy.”

    Because the Jewish people had no notion of the vernal equinox but relied on the perceived season they would not have had a leap year. I take the point made by the developer is to indicate the importance of the cycle to viability of any attempt to create a solar/lunar calendar for ancient history.

    In response to your description of the events of Holy Week rather than attempt to format something readable, here is a link:
    https://www.answeringyourgospelquestions.com/p/a-deeper-understanding-of-gospels.html#CelebrationOfPassover
    Click on the Celebration of Passover to see how the Jews in Jesus’ time celebrated Passover.

    You will see a back arrow to return you to the Table of Contents. Look Down 6 lines and you will see “The Events of Holy Week” which takes the biblical account and maps it to the events of that week.

    God Bless
    Greg

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    • Hi Greg,

      Thank you for your continued due diligence and your generous offer to me to consult with your sources directly, as it helps to understand where we can find common intellectual ground quickly and, hopefully, a more precise, fulfilled understanding of God’s Word regarding the birth events of Jesus and John the Baptist.

      Continuing to approach every part of this with a fully open mind, one of the measuring sticks I have routinely used to calculate and tie starting and ending timeframes together properly is the medical definition of the human gestation period of 40 weeks or 280 days. That is still valid, totaling the average days between “the first day of a woman’s last menstruation (starting the body’s monthly preparation of pregnancy) to birth.” Ask any woman, and they will tell you the same. Ovulation starts approximately 9-10 days after the first day of a woman’s last menstruation, when conception is first possible in this timeframe. I make the point for timing purposes, not anatomy lessons. In Hebrew, the value in Gematria for the word “pregnancy,” meaning “conception to birth,” is 271. Jews count 271 days from conception through birth to estimate a birth date. I wish I had used the 271-day Hebrew Gematria vs. the 280-day medical definition sooner, as it offers a more precise and exciting measuring stick when combined and aligned with both timeframes at birth, in this case, as I read your sources. Suppose both 280 and 271 days are aligned at the birth event. In that case, the Hebrew pregnancy 271-day timeframe starts nine days after the 280-day medical pregnancy timeframe begins when conception would be biologically possible at the beginning of ovulation.

      With this dual measuring stick in mind, for the sake of argument, I would agree with you that different than what I have estimated previously regarding John the Baptist’s calculated birth date, I would select Passover of 2 B.C. or Nisan 14, 3759, also April 18, 2 B.C. per my Hebrew to Gregorian calendar. Counting backward from April 18, 2 B.C., 271 days using the Easysurf “Add Number of Days, Months and/or Years to a Date Calculator” at https://www.easysurf.cc/ndate4.htm, I calculate the conception date for John the Baptist to Sunday, July 21, 3 B.C. My Gregorian to Hebrew Calendar marks this date as Sunday, Av 9, 3758, also known as the Fast of the 9th Day of Av. You know that Av 9 is the saddest day on the Hebrew calendar because it was the date that both Temples were destroyed on the same Hebrew month and day, as well as the same Hebrew date when 10 of the 12 spies sinned against God because they reported back to Moses that Israel could not take the Promised Land because of the giants, prolonging their time in the Wilderness by 40 years. Counting backward nine days more, 280 days from the Passover in 2 B.C., is 29 Tammuz, the day before Av 1, 3758. The source you provided me under the Table of Contents article, Establishing the Date of Jesus’ Birth and Death, sets John’s conception date on Av 1, 3758. My calculation now sets John’s conception date as Av 9, 3758. If Av 1 is 279 days before John’s birth vs. the Jews’ view of 271 days from conception to birth, is it biologically likely that conception could have occurred on Av 1 vs. Av 9? Only God knows, but the Hebrew Gematria might point to a God-specified time in these significant births. By all accounts, when God’s messenger angel visits John’s father, Zachariah, in the Temple while he is serving one of his two yearly priestly order service weeks right before John’s conception, your source sets the division of Abjiah week of service on July in 3 B.C. from July 7-13 or Tummuz 24 – Av 1. Every priestly order weekly service started precisely at twilight (approximately 72 minutes after sundown) when the new day/date would begin after Sabbath ended through the next week’s Sabbath also ending at twilight – when the next weekly order service would begin again, week after week. If your source is correct and Zachariah’s weekly service ended at the very end of the Sabbath on Av 1, then technically, he would have returned home after dark at night on Av 2, after twilight, or the following morning on Av 2 during daytime, confirming an Av 2 conception date. However, if the Abjiah week of service were, in fact, the following week on Av 2-8, which puts your source’s calculated priestly order schedule off by one week, then Zachariah would have ended his duties as a mute at twilight on Av 8, running home in the dark after Sabbath had ended on Av 9 into the loving arms of his wife, Elizabeth. 271 days following Av 9 would be Passover of 2 B.C., precisely.

      Regardless of the conception date, Av 1-2 or Av 9, looking forward from Nisan 14, 2 B.C. to the birth of Jesus Christ, we know that Luke clearly indicates John is roughly six months older than his cousin Jesus because of the passage in Luke 1:26-35, “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent…to a virgin…” named Mary at the time of Mary’s conception of Jesus, in late December. To cut to the chase, count from Nisan 14, 3759 to Tishri 1, 3760 (5 Gregorian months, 11 days or 5 Hebrew months, 16 days) and Nisan 14, 3759 to Tishri 15, 3760 (5 Gregorian months, 25 days or 6 Hebrew months, 1 day). If you count your timeframe and mine using Gregorian months and days, both pass the ordinal counted sixth-month period. But when comparing both timeframes using the Hebrew calendar given the Biblical context of time referenced, my timeframe is still within the ordinal 6th month while your timeframe has crossed into the 7th Hebrew month timeframe by one day. Seemingly a minor infraction, it doesn’t work since these hermeneutical rules aren’t horseshoes and hand grenades. I would additionally argue that the Tishri 1 Feast of Trumpets date for the Birth of Christ, rather than the Tishri 15 Feast of Tabernacles, is correct because I used Stellarium astronomical software and proved that Revelation 12:1-2 that said the celestial bodies of Jupiter, the Sun, and Moon would appear in an unusual arrangement around the “woman” constellation known as Virgo during Christ’s birth did in fact happen on September 29, 2 B.C. also known as Tishri 1, 3760! This prophetic constellation didn’t happen on October 13, 2 B.C., or any other date checked. My blog post, When was Jesus Christ born? September 29, 2 B.C., that you might have read already contains the screenshot and explanation if you missed it. Please download the free Stellarium astronomical software or use the browser version to set the location to Jerusalem and date to September 29, 2 B.C., and look at the skies over Jerusalem that day around Virgo. It is remarkable that the specified celestial alignment, like no other day, precisely fulfilled the prophecy in Revelation 12:1-2.

      Lastly, this is off-topic from above but directed to your previous statement about the Jews not knowing about the Vernal Equinox or Autumn Equinox to determine the official start to spring and fall for properly assigning the yearly feasts to their harvests controlled by seasons and other stipulations in Torah. The short answer is the Jewish Relative Hour. I recommend you research it intensely, as the Jews were keenly aware of precisely what time of year the daylight equaled 12 hours vs. 12 hours of darkness per day. Using sundials, they knew precisely when the Solstices occurred (because the sun stopped moving and reversed direction on the sundials twice a year) and when the Equinoxes occurred because 12 hours of daylight equaled 12 hours of night only two days a year in between each solstice. They calculated day hours vs. night hours daily due to the Jewish Relative Hour governed by the Torah, which tracked time per hour of every day.

      In Conclusion, most people I have read and exchanged online discussions with believe the Feast of Tabernacles is the birth date of Jesus when they also believe He was crucified incorrectly in 30 A.D. You and your source are the first I have encountered where you believe the Feast of Tabernacles is the birth date of Jesus while believing in the correct crucifixion year of 33 A.D. While I also now like the idea that John the Baptist was born on Passover of 2 B.C., (thank you very much) I am frankly still puzzled why you still like the Feast of Tabernacles over the Feast of Trumpets in the same year when I bring better math and astronomical software as proof compared to your primarily symbolism references. While you make some excellent symbolistic arguments for the Feast of Tabernacles, I can make just as many against it and favor the Feast of Trumpets. Still, only one happened in reality, so which is it, and how do we prove it beyond esoteric rhetoric? I used math and, specifically, Biblically referenced a clear astronomical sign that points to the very birthday as the final “mic drop” proof for my compelling date.

      Give me your “mic drop” proof; otherwise, we will go around this merry-go-round more times than I would like.

      God Bless, and I wish all blessings to you, my brother in Christ.

      Chad

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