When was Jesus born?

Short answer

Jesus was born in Bethlehem during the reign of Herod the Great, most likely around 5 or 6 BC. The Bible gives the place and the political setting, but not the day or month.

The Gospels were written to tell us who Jesus is, not to satisfy our curiosity about a birthday. Even so, they give a good deal of historical detail: where He was born, which rulers were in power and what the world was like at that moment.

Born in Bethlehem, as promised

Long before, the prophet Micah named the place where the coming ruler would be born.

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
Mic 5:2 · King James Version (1769)

John MacArthur says Bethlehem was a small town south of Jerusalem, the birthplace of David and later of Jesus. John Wesley notes that though Bethlehem was small, it is honoured above all, and that the “goings forth” of this Ruler are eternal, as befits the Son of God. John Gill adds that Matthew shows that this was a prophecy of the Messiah.

Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth, so how did they come to Bethlehem? Luke explains.

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; because (he was of the house and lineage of David: ) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luke 2:1–7 · King James Version (1769)

William MacDonald says the emperor’s decree brought them to Bethlehem at exactly the right time for the Messiah to be born there, and that the pagan Augustus was a puppet in God’s plan. The New Geneva Study Bible explains that everyone had to register in the town of his family, and that Joseph, a descendant of David, went to David’s town.

In the days of Herod

Matthew places the birth in the reign of a well-known king.

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
Matt 2:1 · King James Version (1769)

MacArthur notes that this is Herod the Great, who ruled from 37 to 4 BC. The New Geneva Study Bible says Herod died in the spring of 4 BC and concludes that Jesus was most likely born in 5 or 6 BC.

MacDonald adds that the wise men probably arrived a year or two after the birth. Matthew speaks of a house, not a stable (Matthew 2:11), and Herod ordered boys up to two years old to be killed (Matthew 2:16).

The census and Quirinius

Luke ties the story to a census “when Quirinius was governor of Syria”. Commentators admit this is hard. Albert Barnes calls this verse as perplexing as any in the New Testament, because Quirinius is known to have governed Syria later, when a well-known census took place in AD 6. Different solutions are offered. Barnes prefers to read Luke as saying “this was the first census” under Quirinius. MacArthur and the Lopukhin commentary point to an inscription found near Rome that speaks of an official who was governor of Syria twice under Augustus, and who is most likely Quirinius. The New Geneva Study Bible offers another view: Quirinius took up his post as early as 10 BC, and censuses were held about every fourteen years, so the earlier census Luke mentions could have fallen in his time. So Luke’s account is not necessarily in conflict with history, though the exact year is debated.

The fullness of time

Paul gives the larger picture.

But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

Gal 4:4 · King James Version (1769)

MacArthur says that God sent His Son when religious, cultural and political conditions all came together exactly. MacDonald notes that the verse speaks of the eternal Son of God who was nonetheless born of a woman, which points to the uniqueness of His birth. Wesley says Jesus was miraculously born of a virgin.

What this means

The Bible never gives the day or month of Jesus’ birth, so December 25 is a church tradition for celebrating it, not a date from Scripture. What the Gospels do care about is that He came in a real place, in a real time, under real rulers, at the moment God had chosen. The important question is not the date, but who was born.