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About This Project
Vol.I - Augustus Caesar
- 9 BC - Zechariah & Gabriel
- 8 BC - Elizabeth & Mary
- 7 BC - Census in Bethlehem
- 6 BC - Living in Egypt
- 5 BC - Herod and Governor Varus
- 4 BC - Herod dies; Joseph picks Nazareth to avoid Archelaus; Varus puts down four rebellions
- 3 BC - Israel Split Three Ways
- 2 BC - Arabian Peace
- 1 BC - Caesar's Grandson
- 1 AD - Gaius, Aretas, Antipas
- 2 AD - Quirinius and Gaius
- 3 AD - Gaius lays dying
- 4 AD - Tiberius Caesar!
- 5 AD - Caesar warns Archelaus
- 6 AD - Jesus turns 12; Archelaus exiled; Quirinius takes Judea
- 7 AD - Jesus still 12 at Passover
- 8 AD - Illyricum
- 9 AD - Pannonia & Dalmatia
- 10 AD - Hillel & Gamaliel
- 11 AD - Germanicus Caesar...
- 12 AD - Tiberius back to Rome
- 13 AD - Equal Power; Still #2!
- 14 AD - Augustus dies; Tiberius Rules
Vol.II - Tiberius Caesar
Vol.III - Caligula & Claudius
Vol.IV - Nero and Beyond
Extras: Before 9 BC
About Me
4 notes:
The major sources for 8 BC are the NT, Dio Cassius and Josephus.
To be more specific...
Dio Cassius, Book 55, Chapters 5 through 7 are ALL about 8 BC.
and...
Josephus' Antiquities, Book 16(Ch.9-11) & 17(Ch.1-4) tell events from 12 to 6 BC, but not all in order.
and...
The pregnancy stories came from Luke Chapter 1 and Matthew Chapter 1.
You may say: “Who is Saturninus? And wasn’t the census under Quirinius?”
Let me explain.
In the Empire, a regional census was repeated every 10 to 14 years, to update the information. Saturninus held the first census of Israel in 7 BC, and another Governor of Syria held the update 12 years later, in 6 AD. His name was Quirinius, and the census he held became famous.
In 6 AD, there’s going to be a rebellion in Galilee, and they’re going to use the second census (of Quirinius) as a rallying cry. People in Rome and all over Israel are going to hear that the Jews revolted because of a census update! (Of course, it wasn’t the only reason, but that became the story.)
Around 60 AD, Luke’s going to be writing about the Lord’s birth in Bethlehem. And he’s going to mention the census of Saturninus, but all he knows is that is was before the census of the rebellion. So here's what he writes.
The proper translation of Luke 2:2 is, “This was the first census, before Quirinius was Governor of Syria.”
The funny thing is, Luke was actually trying to AVOID confusion! But the translators made it say “when Quirinius was governor” and confusion began.
This is the simple truth.
The only kindof "fuzzy date" in all 79 yearbooks is Zechariah's time of service in the Temple. But I have put the most likely schedule for restarting the duty-roster, which was on Tishri 1st.
We do know for sure that Mary gives birth to Jesus in May of 7 BC, and gets pregnant in August of 8 BC. So we also know that Elizabeth gets pregnant in February of 8 BC. Zechariah sees Gabriel sometime before that, and most likely in November of 9, as I wrote.
Now, I only said all of that...
...to say this.
When I write scenes like Zechariah's hand-signals, I'm not trying to write fiction or be dramatic. I'm trying to show plausibility.
In other words: I have to show how we need three whole months before Elizabeth conceives.
In fact, the communication barrier, a disobedient period of doubting God, and the ovulation cycle together explain it very nicely! Three months is neither too loose nor too tight, to fit all that in.
And now I have a point:
The three things that get most overlooked, when people make a NT timeline, are:
sailing season
travel time
& prep-work!
Getting Elizabeth pregnant falls into that third category, prep-work, which is the single-most overlooked aspect, by far.
...
So I just wanted to say that!
:)
"It is established that a census was taken during Augustus' reign in Judaea at that time by Sentius Saturninus, in which census they might have been able to inquire about his [Jesus'] ancestry."
-- Tertullian, in "Against Marcion" (Book 4, 19.9-10), about 207 AD
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