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lly to jesus birth edit see also chronology of jesus if the story of the star of bethlehem described an actual event it might identify the year jesus was born the gospel of matthew describes the birth of jesus as taking place when herod was king 98 99 according to josephus herod died after a lunar eclipse 100 and before a passover feast 101 102 some scholars suggested dates in 5 bc because it allows seven months for the events josephus documented between the lunar eclipse and the passover rather than the 29 days allowed by lunar eclipse in 4 bc 103 104 others suggest it was an eclipse in 1 bc 105 106 107 the narrative implies that jesus was born sometime between the first appearance of the star and the appearance of the magi at herod s court that the king is said to have ordered the execution of boys two years of age and younger implies that the star of bethlehem appeared within the preceding two years some scholars date the birth of jesus as 6 4 bc 108 while others suggest jesus birth was in 3 2 bc 105 106 the gospel of luke says the census from caesar augustus took place when quirinius was governor of syria 109 tipler suggests this took place in ad 6 nine years after the death of herod and that the family of jesus left bethlehem shortly after the birth 94 some scholars explain the apparent disparity as an error on the part of the author of the gospel of luke 110 111 concluding that he was more concerned with creating a symbolic narrative than a historical account 112 and was either unaware of or indifferent to the chronological difficulty 113 however there is some debate among bible translators about the correct reading of luke 2 2 αὕτη ἀπογραφὴ πρώτη ἐγένετο ἡγεμονεύοντος τῆς συρίας κυρηνίου 114 instead of translating the registration as taking place when quirinius was governor of syria some versions translate it as before 115 116 or use before as an alternative 117 118 119 which harold hoehner f f bruce ben witherington and others have suggested may be the correct translation 120 while not in agreement emil schürer also acknowledged that such a translation can be justified grammatically 121 according to josephus the tax census conducted by the roman senator quirinius particularly irritated the jews and was one of the causes of the zealot movement of armed resistance to rome 122 from this perspective luke may have been trying to differentiate the census at the time of jesus birth from the tax census mentioned in acts 5 37 123 that took place under quirinius at a later time 124 one ancient writer identified the census at jesus birth not with taxes but with a universal pledge of allegiance to the emperor 125 jack finegan noted some early writers reckoning of the regnal years of augustus are the equivalent to 3 2 bc or 2 bc or later for the birth of jesus including irenaeus 3 2 bc clement of alexandria 3 2 bc tertullian 3 2 bc julius africanus 3 2 bc hippolytus of rome 3 2 bc hippolytus of thebes 3 2 bc origen 3 2 bc eusebius of caesarea 3 2 bc epiphanius of salamis 3 2 bc cassiodorus senator 3 bc paulus orosius 2 bc dionysus exiguus 1 bc and chronographer of the year 354 ad 1 126 finegan places the death of herod in 1 bc and says if jesus was born two years or less before herod the great died the birth of jesus would have been in 3 or 2 bc 127 finegan also notes the alogi reckoned jesus s birth with the equivalent of 4 bc or ad 9 128 religious interpretations edit catholicism edit the catholic church has no say on the star of bethlehem except that it led the magi to jesus 129 various theologians have speculated on the star s nature star angel light person bird illusion hallucination natural phenomenon etc 130 eastern orthodoxy edit russian icon of the nativity the star of bethlehem is depicted at the center top as a dark semicircle with a single ray coming down in the eastern orthodox church the star of bethlehem is interpreted as a miraculous event of symbolic and pedagogical significance regardless of whether it coincides with a natural phenomenon a sign sent by god to lead the magi to the christ child citation needed this is illustrated in the troparion of the nativity your birth o christ our god dawned the light of knowledge upon the earth for by your birth those who adored stars were taught by a star to worship you the sun of justice and to know you orient from on high o lord glory to you 131 in orthodox christian iconography the star of bethlehem is often depicted not as golden but as a dark aureola a semicircle at the top of the icon indicating the uncreated light of divine grace with a ray pointing to the place where the young child lay matthew 2 9 132 sometimes the faint image of an angel is drawn inside the aureola simon the athonite founded the monastery of simonopetra on mount athos after seeing a star he identified with the star of bethlehem 133 seventh day adventist edit in her 1898 book the desire of ages ellen white states that star was a distant company of shining angels but of this the wise men were ignorant 134 the church of jesus christ of latter day saints edit lds members believe that the star of bethlehem was an actual astronomical event visible the world over 135 in the 1830 book of mormon which they believe contains writings of ancient prophets samuel the lamanite prophesies that a new star will appear as a sign that jesus has been born and nephi later writes about the fulfillment of this prophecy 136 jehovah s witnesses edit members of jehovah s witnesses believe that the star was a vision or sign created by satan rather than a sign from god this is because it led the pagan astrologers first to jerusalem where king herod consequently found out about the birth of the king of the jews with the result that he attempted to have jesus killed 137 depiction in art edit one of the oldest depictions of the star from the early 6th century ce as part of a larger mosaic in the basilica of sant apollinare nuovo ravenna italy paintings and other pictures of the adoration of the magi may include a depiction of the star in some form in the fresco by giotto di bondone it is depicted as a comet in the tapestry of the subject designed by edward burne jones and in the related watercolour the star is held by an angel the colourful star lantern known as a paról is a cherished and ubiquitous symbol of christmas for filipinos its design and light recalling the star in its basic form the paról has five points and two tails that evoke rays of light pointing the way to the baby jesus and candles inside the lanterns have been superseded by electric illumination in the church of the nativity in bethlehem a silver star with 14 undulating rays marks the location traditionally claimed to be that of jesus birth 138 annotations christmas sweater featuring multiple eight pointed star of bethlehem designs in textiles a common eight pointed star design is known as the holy star of bethlehem 139 the design has been used in stone metal wood work and embroidery in the middle east since antiquity and is one of the oldest patterns in palestinian tatreez embroidery 139 in 2019 us congresswoman rashida tlaib was sworn in wearing a thobe that featured the design 140 on vogue arabia s november 2023 cover the star took a central position in the celebration of palestinian embroidery 141 the design also features on christmas sweaters 142 143 see also edit christianity portal caesar s comet star of david the jewish symbol of king david which the star of bethlehem is often associated with having been a miraculous appearance of rcw 103 flag of nagaland where the star of bethlehem is a symbol of the christian identity of the naga people notes edit matthew 2 5 6 matthew s version is a conflation of micah 5 2 and 2 samuel 5 2 matthew 2 16 this is presented as a fulfillment of a prophecy and echoes the killing of firstborn by pharaoh in exodus 11 1 12 36 judges 13 5 7 is sometimes identified as the source for matthew 2 23 because the septuagint s ναζιραιον nazirite resembles matthew s ναζωραῖος nazorean however few scholars accept the view that jesus was a nazirite references edit a christmas star for soho nasa archived from the original on december 24 2004 retrieved 2008 07 04 matthew 2 1 2 matthew 2 11 12 1 2 freed edwin d 2001 the stories of jesus birth a critical introduction continuum international p 93 isbn 0 567 08046 3 telegraph 2008 12 09 jesus was born in june the daily telegraph london retrieved 2011 12 14 star of bethlehem cross f l ed the oxford dictionary of the christian church new york oxford university press 2005 for example paul l maier herod and the infants of bethlehem in chronos kairos christos ii mercer university press 1998 171 geza vermes the nativity history and legend london penguin 2006 p 22 e p sanders the historical figure of jesus 1993 p 85 aaron michael adair science scholarship and bethlehem s starry night sky and telescope dec 2007 pp 26 29 reviewing astronomical theories 1 2 3 john mosley common errors in star of bethlehem planetarium shows archived from the original on 2008 05 16 retrieved 2008 06 05 andrews samuel james 2020 when did the magi visit salem web network retrieved 3 february 2020 ratti john first sunday after the epiphany archived from the original on 2008 06 13 retrieved 2008 06 05 luke 2 17 27 1 2 brown 1988 p 11 matthew 2 1 11 long thomas 1997 matthew westminster john knox press p 18 matthew 2 4 matthew 2 8 matthew 2 12 matthew 2 13 14 matthew 2 15 the original is from hosea 11 1 an exodus motif prevails in the entire chapter kennedy joel 2008 recapitulation of israel mohr siebeck p 132 isbn 978 3 16 149825 1 retrieved 2009 07 04 matthew 2 10 21 matthew 2 23 judges 13 5 concordances on the meaning of the word netzer on bible hub retrieved december 29 2015 commentaries for matthew 2 23 on bible hub retrieved on december 29 2005 isaiah 11 1 isaiah chapter 11 verse 1 on bible hub with commentaries retrieved on december 29 2015 brown raymond e 1993 the birth of the messiah anchor bible reference library p 188 markus bockmuehl this jesus continuum international 2004 p 28 vermes géza 2006 11 02 the nativity history and legend penguin books ltd p 22 isbn 0 14 102446 1 sanders ed parish 1993 the historical figure of jesus london allen lane p 85 isbn 0 7139 9059 7 believable christianity a lecture in the annual october series on radical christian faith at carrs lane urc church birmingham october 5 2006 nikkos kokkinos the relative chronology of the nativity in tertullian in ray summers jerry vardaman and others eds chronos kairos christos ii mercer university press 1998 pp 125 26 funk robert w and the jesus seminar the acts of jesus the search for the authentic deeds of jesus harpersanfrancisco 1999 isbn 0 06 062979 7 pp 499 521 533 paul l maier herod and the infants of bethlehem in chronos kairos christos ii mercer university press 1998 171 for micah s prophecy see micah 5 2 bart d ehrman jesus apocalyptic prophet of the new millennium oxford university press 1999 p 38 vermes geza december 2006 the first christmas history today vol 56 no 12 pp 23 29 archived from the original on 2007 12 14 retrieved 2009 07 04 numbers 24 17 josephus flavius the wars of the jews retrieved 2008 06 07 lendering jona messianic claimants archived from the original on 2016 06 02 retrieved 2008 06 05 adamantius origen contra celsum retrieved 2008 06 05 book i chapter lix 1 2 adamantius origen contra celsum book i chapter lx france r t the gospel according to matthew an introduction and commentary p 84 see isaiah 60 1 7 and psalms 72 10 isaiah 60 6 isaiah 60 6 archived 2018 09 29 at the wayback machine septuagint matthew 2 11 schaff philip 1886 st chrysostom homilies on the gospel of saint matthew new york christian literature publishing co p 36 archived from the original on 2009 02 07 retrieved 2009 07 04 astrology and the church fathers early church history retrieved 8 june 2026 tester s j 1987 a history of western astrology boydell brewer pp 111 112 1 2 3 4 5 mark kidger chinese and babylonian observations retrieved 2008 06 05 minnesota astronomy review volume 18 fall 2003 2004 the star of bethlehem by karlis kaufmanis pdf 30 october 2023 audio version of star of bethlehem by karlis kaufmanis the star of bethlehem by karlis kaufmanis archived from the original on 2018 08 01 retrieved 2011 01 03 simo parpola the magi and the star bible review december 2001 pp 16 23 52 54 sinnott roger december 1968 thoughts on the star of bethlehem sky and telescope pp 384 86 garrison greg 7 march 2019 is this what the star of bethlehem looked like venus jupiter put on a show alabama media group retrieved 3 february 2020 eusebius book i chapter 5 the time of his appearance among men church history eusebius 2 it was in the forty second year of the reign of augustus and the twenty eighth after the subjugation of egypt and the death of antony and cleopatra with whom the dynasty of the ptolemies in egypt came to an end that our saviour and lord jesus christ was born in bethlehem of judea clement of alexandria book 1 chapter xxi the jewish institutions and laws of far higher antiquity than the philosophy of the greeks stromata and our lord was born in the twenty eighth year after the battle of actium when first the census was ordered to be taken in the reign of augustus kidger mark 2005 astronomical enigmas life on mars the star of bethlehem and other milky way mysteries baltimore johns hopkins university press p 63 isbn 0 8018 8026 2 humphreys colin october 1995 the star of bethlehem science and christian belief 5 83 101 jenkins r m june 2004 the star of bethlehem and the comet of ad 66 pdf journal of the british astronomy association no 114 pp 336 43 archived from the original pdf on 2018 10 05 retrieved 2016 12 23 mark kidger astronomical enigmas life on mars the star of bethlehem and other milky way mysteries johns hopkins university press 2005 page 61 mark matney 3 december 2025 the star that stopped the star of bethlehem the comet of 5 bce journal of the british astronomical association 135 6 387 406 doi 10 64150 193njt retrieved 20 december 2025 colin r nicholl 2015 the great christ comet revealing the true star of bethlehem crossway interview greg cootsona 23 november 2015 what kind of astronomical marvel was the star of christianity today christianitytoday com guillermo gonzalez 16 june 2017 the great christ comet revealing the true star of bethlehem tgc the gospel coalition 1 2 weintraub david a amazingly astronomy can explain the biblical star of bethlehem washington post december 26 2014 1 2 molnar michael r 1999 the star of bethlehem the legacy of the magi rutgers university press pp 86 89 106 07 isbn 0 8135 2701 5 archived from the original on 1999 10 12 retrieved 2009 07 04 eiland murray 2019 the star of bethlehem jupiter and imperial astrology antiqvvs christmas supplement interview with michael r molnar 3 6 pattern michael 2005 identifying the star of bethlehem the journal of the faculty of religious studies 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