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From II Samuel 24:8
From the Gospels

From Luke Chapter 1

The first chapter of Luke creates an urge to calculate the dates of the month and day of John the Baptist’s birth and consequently Jesus’ birth; which is impossible due to the number of unknowns at that time, therefore; the best anyone can do is to either postulate on the most logical outcome or to defer to no logical outcomes.

This topic approaches the topic by narrowing down the outcomes based on a typical time of a woman’s pregnancy.

Facts and speculative conclusions are noted:

FACT ONE:

Zacharias, of the division of Abijah:
The timing of “Zacharias, of the division of Abijah” of Luke 1:5.

Abijah was a descendant of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, a chief of one of the twenty-four orders into which the priesthood was divided by David (1 Chronicles 24:10 ).
There were 24 divisions, which allowed each division, or order, to serve for two weeks each year (1 Chr. 24:4-6).

The eighth division fell to Abijah…

LOGICAL SPECULATION: Nissan was the first month of the year during King David’s rule when the divisions were prescribed. Therefore; the prescribed lots began with the Jewish month Nissan 1st.

If the first division begins on the first month of Nisan for two weeks, and the second division finishes out the month of Nisan, then the third and forth divisions covered the month of Iyar, the fifth and sixth divisions cover the month of Sivan, the seventh and eighth divisions cover the fourth month of Tammuz where the eighth division covers the last half of the month. Zacharias finished his service and then returned home, which would be sometime in the fifth month of Av.

Of course, it is speculative to assume the first division began with the first of Nissan – but every word of scripture occupies the most valuable real estate in the world and therefore it is worth taking into account why Zechariah’s division of Abijah was included as well as the logistics of David’s time.

1 AD is a Jewish leap year with an extra month added (Adar2 and Adar). 1 BC is not a leap year but a normal Jewish year of 12 months. However; the New Year does not affect the outcome for either AD or BC.

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Below is what I would propose is a logical prescription for the timing of Jesus’ birth beginning with Zechariah completing his duties in the temple at the end of his 8th division in the month of Tammuz (July 20, 1 BC Roman Calendar: Not the Gregorian Calendar we use today.)

LOGICAL SPECULATION: If Jesus was baptized in 29 AD when He was about 30 years of age then he would be born 1 AD (Click here to see Luke chapter Three) to see how the numbers add up.

• Luke 3:1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar (29 AD)

A woman’s time for carrying a child is 280 days, or 40 weeks. On a Jewish calendar it is 9.33 months.

See proposal below:

• Both Jesus and John the Baptizer would be born in 1 AD, only months apart.

• If Mary had a normal pregnancy, she would give birth in the month of Tishri.

• However:
  If Jesus was conceived on Kislev 24 1 BC (a few days earlier) when the Foundation Stone was laid Jesus might have been born on Sukkot in the month of Tishri AD (a little later), but this would take a late pregnancy.