I. Who Was the King Who Ordered the Massacre?
The king who ordered the massacre of infant boys in Bethlehem at the time of Jesus’s birth was Herod the Great.
“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)
This gives us a crucial time boundary: Jesus must have been born before the death of Herod the Great.
II. When Did Herod the Great Die?
Historical records are fairly consistent on this point:
- According to Wikipedia: Herod (74 BC – 4 BC).
- The Chinese Bible Society notes that Herod fell gravely ill shortly after ordering the massacre of the Bethlehem infants and died in 4 BC in the palace at Jericho at the age of 69.
Therefore, Jesus must have been born before 4 BC.
III. “Two Years Old and Under” — An Important Clue
Matthew 2:16 records that Herod killed all boys in Bethlehem “two years old and under.”
And it specifically states: this was “in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.”
This means:
- Herod calculated the child’s age based on when the star appeared.
- To be safe, he extended the range to two years and under.
The star may have appeared some time before Jesus’s birth, meaning the birth could have been one or even two years before the massacre.
IV. Reasonable Time Calculation
Given:
- Herod the Great died in 4 BC.
- The massacre occurred in his later years.
- The targets were boys “two years old and under.”
Working backwards, the most reasonable estimate places the birth of Jesus between 6 BC and 5 BC.
Conclusion
Based on the biblical account and historical background, Jesus most likely was born around 5 BC (±1 year).
Additional Note: Differences Between Estimates
It should be noted that there is not just one historical calculation for the birth year of Jesus.
In addition to the estimate of 6–5 BC based on Herod’s death and the Bethlehem massacre, some scholars, based on the census mentioned in Luke 2:1–2 and Quirinius’s administration in Syria, suggest Jesus may have been born around 4 BC.
In other words, even using different historical approaches, the difference in the estimated birth year is only 1 to 2 years.
Therefore, even if one holds that Jesus was born in 4 BC rather than 5 or 6 BC, this difference of at most one to two years does not materially affect the broader understanding of God’s timeline regarding the approximate timing of the Lord’s return.