Editing Jesus (section)

=== Chronology ===
{{Main|Chronology of Jesus}}
{{See also|Anno Domini{{!}}''Anno Domini''|Saturnalia#Influence}}
{{Jewish Christianity}}
Jesus was a Galilean Jew,{{sfn|Vermes|1981|pp=20, 26, 27, 29}} born around the beginning of the 1st century, who died in AD&nbsp;30 or 33 in [[Judea (Roman province)|Judea]].{{sfn|Humphreys|Waddington|1992|p=340}} The general scholarly consensus is that Jesus was a contemporary of John the Baptist and was crucified as ordered by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate,{{sfn|Levine|2006|p=4}} who held office from AD&nbsp;26 to 36.{{sfn|Levine|2006|p=4}}

The Gospels offer several indications concerning the year of Jesus's birth. Matthew 2:1 associates the birth of Jesus with the reign of [[Herod the Great]], who died around 4&nbsp;BC, and Luke 1:5 mentions that Herod was on the throne shortly before the birth of Jesus,{{sfn|Maier|1989|pp=115–118}}{{sfn|Niswonger|1992|pp=121–122}} although this gospel also associates the birth with the [[Census of Quirinius]] which took place ten years later.{{sfn|Köstenberger|Kellum|Quarles|2009|pp=137–138}}{{sfn|Niswonger|1992|pp=122–124}} Luke 3:23 states that Jesus was "about thirty years old" at the start of his [[ministry of Jesus|ministry]], which according to Acts 10:37–38 was preceded by John the Baptist's ministry, which was recorded in Luke 3:1–2 to have begun in the 15th year of [[Tiberius]]'s reign (AD&nbsp;28 or 29).{{sfn|Niswonger|1992|pp=121–122}}<ref name="Vermes-2010">{{cite book |first=Géza |last=Vermes |title=The Nativity: History and Legend |publisher=Random House Digital |year=2010 |pages=81–82 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a9EiEU_Yz_kC&pg=PA81 |isbn=978-0-307-49918-9 |access-date=25 January 2016 |archive-date=3 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503100006/https://books.google.com/books?id=a9EiEU_Yz_kC&pg=PA81 |url-status=live}}</ref> By collating the gospel accounts with historical data and using various other methods, most scholars arrive at a date of birth for Jesus between 6 and 4&nbsp;BC,<ref name="Vermes-2010" />{{sfn|Dunn|2003|p=324}} but some propose estimates that include a wider range.{{efn|For example, John P. Meier states that Jesus's birth year is {{circa|7/6&nbsp;BC|lk=no}},{{sfn|Meier|1991|p=407}} while Finegan favours {{circa|3/2&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}.<ref name=Finegan>{{harvnb|Finegan|1998|page=[https://archive.org/details/handbookbiblical00fine/page/n350 319]}}</ref>}}

The date range for Jesus's ministry has been estimated using several different approaches.{{sfn|Köstenberger |Kellum|Quarles|2009|p=140}}{{sfn|Freedman|2000|p=249}} One of these applies the reference in Luke 3:1–2, Acts 10:37–38, and the dates of Tiberius's reign, which are well known, to give a date of around 28–29&nbsp;AD for the start of Jesus's ministry.{{sfn|Maier|1989|pp=120–121}} Another approach estimates a date around 27–29&nbsp;AD by using the statement about the temple in John 2:13–20, which asserts that the temple in Jerusalem was in its 46th year of construction at the start of Jesus's ministry, together with Josephus's statement<ref>{{Citation |last=Josephus |title=Book XV |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Antiquities_of_the_Jews/Book_XV |work=The Antiquities of the Jews |access-date=24 July 2023 |archive-date=24 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724214731/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Antiquities_of_the_Jews/Book_XV |url-status=live}}.</ref> that the temple's reconstruction was started by Herod the Great in the 18th year of his reign.{{sfn|Köstenberger|Kellum|Quarles|2009|p=140}}{{sfn|Maier|1989|p=123}} A further method uses the date of the [[death of John the Baptist]] and the marriage of [[Herod Antipas]] to [[Herodias]], based on the writings of Josephus, and correlates it with Matthew 14:4 and Mark 6:18.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |year=2006 |title=Josephus on John the Baptist |encyclopedia=The Historical Jesus in Context |publisher=Princeton University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wMbEyeDSQQgC&pg=PA55 |access-date=25 January 2016 |last=Evans |first=Craig |editor-last1=Levine |editor-first=Amy-Jill |pages=55–58 |isbn=978-0-691-00992-6 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503120729/https://books.google.com/books?id=wMbEyeDSQQgC&pg=PA55 |archive-date=3 May 2016 |editor-last2=Allison |editor-first3=John D. |editor-last3=Crossan |editor2-first=Dale C. |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Herodias: at home in that fox's den |first=Florence M. |last=Gillman |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8146-5108-7 |pages=25–30 |publisher=Liturgical Press}}</ref> Given that most scholars date the marriage of Herod and Herodias as AD&nbsp;28–35, this yields a date about AD&nbsp;28–29.{{sfn|Freedman|2000|p=249}}

Various approaches have been used to estimate the year of the crucifixion of Jesus. Most scholars agree that he died in AD&nbsp;30 or 33.{{sfn|Humphreys|Waddington |1992|p=340}}{{sfn|Köstenberger|Kellum|Quarles |2009|p=398}} The Gospels state that the event occurred during the prefecture of Pilate.{{sfn|Theissen|Merz|1998|pp=81–83}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Green |first=Joel B. |title=The gospel of Luke: New International Commentary on the New Testament Series |year=1997 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans |isbn=978-0-8028-2315-1 |page=168 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wzRVN2S8cVgC |access-date=8 October 2020 |archive-date=25 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425204312/https://books.google.com/books?id=wzRVN2S8cVgC |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Carter|2003|pp=44–45}} The date for the [[conversion of Paul]] (estimated to be AD&nbsp;33–36) acts as an upper bound for the date of Crucifixion. The dates for Paul's conversion and ministry can be determined by analysing the [[Pauline epistles]] and the Acts of the Apostles.{{sfn|Köstenberger|Kellum|Quarles|2009|pp=398–400}}<ref>{{cite book |first=Paul |last=Barnett |title=Jesus & the Rise of Early Christianity: A History of New Testament Times |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-8308-2699-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NlFYY_iVt9cC&pg=PA21 |publisher=InterVarsity |page=21 |access-date=25 January 2016 |archive-date=3 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503144441/https://books.google.com/books?id=NlFYY_iVt9cC&pg=PA21 |url-status=live}}</ref> Astronomers have tried to estimate the precise date of the Crucifixion by analysing lunar motion and calculating historic dates of [[Passover]], a festival based on the lunisolar [[Hebrew calendar]]. The most widely accepted dates derived from this method are 7 April AD&nbsp;30, and 3 April AD&nbsp;33 (both [[Julian calendar|Julian]]).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pratt |first=J. P. |year=1991 |title=Newton's Date for the Crucifixion |url=http://www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/newton.html |url-status=live |journal=Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society |volume=32 |pages=301–304 |bibcode=1991QJRAS..32..301P |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100116085454/http://johnpratt.com/items/docs/newton.html |archive-date=16 January 2010 |access-date=17 May 2013}}</ref>