Scripture
- When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. (Matthew 2:16)
- After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” (Matthew 2:19–20)
From the two passages above, we know that after the birth of the Lord Jesus, Herod the Great ordered the massacre of all male children in Bethlehem and its surrounding regions. Therefore, the birth of the Lord Jesus occurred before Herod’s decree to kill the infants, and even more so, before Herod’s death.
Historical records provide a relatively consistent conclusion regarding the time of Herod the Great’s death. Wikipedia data indicates that Herod was born around 74 BC and died in 4 BC. The Chinese Bible Federation also points out that shortly after ordering the massacre of the male infants in Bethlehem, Herod fell seriously ill and died in March of 4 BC at the royal palace in Jericho at the age of 69. Consequently, the birth of the Lord Jesus must have taken place prior to 4 BC.
Matthew 2:16 also records that Herod killed all the boys in the vicinity of Bethlehem “two years old and under,” and specifically notes that this was “in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.” In other words, Herod calculated the child’s age based on when the star appeared, and to ensure no one escaped, he expanded the range to include all children under two years old.
Based on these calculations, the birth of the Lord Jesus occurred approximately between 6 BC and 4 BC, with many scholars leaning toward around 5 BC. Some scholars, referencing the census mentioned in Luke 2:1–2 and Quirinius’s administration in Syria, speculate the birth time might be around 4 BC. Although there are different methods of calculation, the discrepancy is only about one or two years, which does not affect our overall biblical understanding of the approximate timing of the Lord’s return.
Herod’s expansion of the range to two years old was likely to ensure no one slipped through the net, preferring a wider margin. This also suggests that the time the star appeared could have been considerably earlier than the massacre itself; thus, the estimation of 6 BC to 5 BC is reasonable.
The year of the Lord Jesus’ birth is one of the factors we use to confirm the Jubilee. For detailed information, please refer to Jubilee.