Subject: 40 Days |
Bible Note: What source is there for AD 33? Most sources say AD 29, but that might be based on the assumption that Christ was 33 at his death, and born in 4 BC. ...apparently, according to "The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels", if 14 Nisan is taken as the date of His crucifixion (assuming that it was the day of Preparation for the Passover, which is what John records) then the possible dates are April 7 AD 30, or April 3 AD 33. Apparently, the AD 33 date is corroborated by "Pilate's changing policies toward the Jews after AD 32". Also, according to the same work, the start of John's ministry in Luke 3:1-3, in the fifteenth year of Tiberius, must have been in AD 29. Since Christ's own ministry began afterwards, AD 30 is not a likely year (at least two Passovers are recorded, the other two in John 2:13 and 6:4, the latter at the feeding of the five thousand. There are also chronological statements in John 4:35, and in 5:1 that seem to necessitate a third passover between these two.) Also, as to His birth, note that He is in both calendars (East and West) held to have been born in winter. He must have been born before 4 BC, when the death of Herod the Great occurred, but as for the specific date of a census, I can find no reference. There were, however, two confluences of planets in the years 7/6 BC, and 5/4 BC, though whether these are related at all to the Star is unknown (and, as the Dictionary pointed out, for the Star to stand over the stable would require something more than natural). Now that I have totally exhausted that work... nothing else I have looked at even tries to describe the reasoning behind the dates, but (usually) gives it as AD 29, which, as pointed out concerning John the Baptist, is impossible. Most of this came from the work quoted. Sorry, I hadn't planned to give so much info, but ye got me curious, and once I found it I had to share. |