Q: WHAT YEAR WAS THE BIRTH OF CHRIST?

A: IT DEPENDS WHAT CALENDAR YOU ARE USING!

On the Gregorian calendar (the one you might have on your wall) the year was 5 BC.*

On the Hebrew calendar, sometimes called the biblical calendar, the year was 4042 AM.*

*Note: Regarding the timeline of Christ’s death, the following breakdown will make clear the passage of time:

Christ was born in the fall of 5 BC. From the fall of 5 BC to the fall of 1 BC is 4 years. From the fall of 1 BC to the fall of 26 AD is 26 years, placing His age at 30 years when He began His ministry, as stated in Luke 3:23. The reason for confusion is that we think in terms of the Gregorian calendar rather than the Hebrew calculated calendar, which of course, was the calendar used by the writers of the New Testament.

The Hebrew calendar begins in the spring of the year, the time of the Passover, meaning that He was 33 & ½ years old at His death. He was crucified at the very beginning of 30 AD, which cannot be counted.

RELATED VERSES

Luke 2:7-8 – 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.