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Consequently, the Nativity could actually have taken place during the period of the year handed down through the centuries by the Tradition of the Churches of the West and the East. If we add the nine months of the duration of a pregnancy we arrive at the end of December, the beginning of January.
#When was jesus actually born full#
The Jewish Passover began the liturgical year and fell in the first full moon of spring - normally at the end of March, beginning of April. Since the intervals between Passover and Pentecost, and between the latter and the Feast of the Tabernacles are less than five months, it follows that the period in which to place the Annunciation is the period between the Feast of the Tabernacles and Passover, and that the angel’s visit to Mary must necessarily fall very close and just before Passover. At least this is what seems to emerge from the Lucanian story, following the news of the angel, and because Elizabeth’s pregnancy seems to be completely unexpected for Mary.Īll this implies that the Annunciation should have happened at least five months after a pilgrimage feast. At the time of the Annunciation, however, Mary knew nothing. If, for example, three months before the Annunciation there had been a pilgrimage, Zechariah and Joseph would have already met in Jerusalem and, on their return to Nazareth, Mary would have already been informed of the pregnancy of her elderly relative. Since Mary, at the time of the Annunciation, did not know of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, it is necessarily inferred that no pilgrimages had taken place at least five months before that moment, since Elizabeth was already in the sixth month of pregnancy. Such important news could not be kept silent. It is therefore entirely plausible to assume that if there had been a pilgrimage feast between the annunciation of the angel to Zechariah and the Annunciation, Joseph would have gone to Jerusalem and would already have known from the priest Zechariah about the unexpected pregnancy of his wife Elizabeth, a relative of Mary, since she was old to have children. What is the significance of the pilgrimages? Luke notes how Joseph and Mary were pilgrims in accordance with the Mosaic Law (Luke 2:41), which required a pilgrimage to Jerusalem on the three feasts previously mentioned.
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Therefore, the maximum period that could elapse between two successive pilgrimages was six months - from the Feast of the Tabernacles to the following Passover - or seven months according to embolismic years. In fact, three pilgrimages took place: one at Passover, another at Pentecost (50 days after Passover) and the third at the Feast of the Tabernacles (six months after Passover). How can this information be deduced directly from the canonical Gospels? When you think about it, if the chronological record in the Lucanian Gospel that Elizabeth was pregnant in the sixth month, at the time of the Annunciation, is related to the temporal frequency of the pilgrimage feasts in Jerusalem, this becomes very important regarding the possible period of the year when Jesus would have been born. Think, for example, of the birth of Jesus at the beginning of winter. Nevertheless, they contain very compelling chronological information. The year with 13 months is called “embolismic.”Īs well as this premise, it is also important to remember that a historical reconstruction of the events that happened in the life of Jesus is not the main reason why the Gospels were written. Therefore, to realign the Hebrew calendar with the seasons, it is needed to add a 13th month about every three years, at the end of the year, that falls in early spring. Twelve lunar months last 11 days less than a solar year, so 11 days times three equals about a month. Fernando La Greca, of the Department of Humanistic Studies at the University of Salerno.įirst of all, it is useful to recall that the Hebrew calendar is lunisolar.
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My studies on the chronology of Jesus’ life are the result of a fruitful collaboration with Prof. Can you explain how you came to this empirical conclusion? De Caro, your research has shown that there are valid historical, calendar and astronomical reasons to place the Nativity during the winter of 1 BC.