What year was St. John the Baptist born?

Answer 1

John the Baptist was born , according to the record in Luke chapters 1 -2, up to 6 months before Jesus. This is deduced from the visit of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, John's mother, when Elizabeth was 6 months pregnant. The suggestion is that Mary was already with child by this time (see Luke 1:41-43). Knowing the date of Jesus birth as being around 4-5 BCE (a while before the death of Herod the Great) we would suggest a birth date for John in 5 or 6 BCE.

On the other hand, Uta Ranke-Heinemann (Putting Away Childish Things) believes that Elisabeth was not a real person and that the author of Luke created the story of John's birth.

We can look at the evidence to see which of those views is most likely to be correct. Luke's Gospel is known as a 'synoptic' gospel because when laid alongside Mark's Gospel (and Matthew's) and read synoptically ('with the same eye') in the original Greek language, it can be established that Luke was based on Mark. The 'Missing Block' demonstrates that where Luke's source was incomplete, he was unable to fill the gap with information from any other source or inspiration. Other evidence shows that Lukewas written no earlier than the 90s of the first century.

What this means is that the author of Luke could not have known anything about the life of Jesus other than what he read in Mark, yet he confidently reported private family events that occurred at least a hundred years before the time of writing, providing the only gospel account of the birth of John the Baptist. Ranke-Heinemann would seem to have good grounds for assuming that Luke's story of the birth of John the Baptist was not really true, in which case we do not really know when or where he was born.

Another Answer:

John was born in the year 1 AD, give or take a few years based on calendar adjustments. The date is not known but it is celebrated on June 24.

Another Answer:

Although The Bible does not state his birth date directly as it was not the custom of the time, it tells us he was related to Jesus and was born six months before His birth. As some scholars place the birth of Christ to mid-September to mid-October in 5-4 BC, this then would make John the Baptist's birth circa mid-March to mid-April 5 BC.

As many calendar adjustments occurred after 1 BC, they have no bearing upon the above timeframes. The dates given in 'another answer' are according to the Hebrew calendar year.

Another AnswerJohn the Baptist was born in 2BC at Passover, which corresponds to April 19-20 .

Answer 2

According to Luke's Gospel, the father of John the Baptist was Zachariah, a priest in the Temple in Jerusalem. On this account, John must have been born in Jerusalem during a period when Zachariah was performing daily duties in the Temple. On the other hand, Uta Ranke-Heinemann (Putting Away Childish Things) suggests that the author of Luke created the story of John's birth.

We can look at the evidence to see which of those views is most likely to be correct. All four New Testament gospels were originally anonymous, so we do not really know who wrote Luke's Gospel. It is known as a 'synoptic' gospel because when laid alongside Mark's Gospel (and Matthew's) and read synoptically ('with the same eye') in the original Greek language, it can be established that Luke was based on Mark. The 'Missing Block' demonstrates that where Luke's source was incomplete, he was unable to fill the gap with information from any other source or inspiration. Other evidence shows that Luke was written no earlier than the 90s of the first century.

What this means is that the author of Luke could not have known anything about the life of Jesus other than what he read in Mark, yet he confidently reported private family events that occurred at least a hundred years before the time of writing, providing the only gospel account of the birth of John the Baptist. Ranke-Heinemann would seem to have good grounds for assuming that Luke's story of the birth of John the Baptist was not really true, in which case we know nothing about where he was born. All we can say is that since John the Baptist was a Jew and preached in Palestine, he was no doubt born somewhere either in Judea or Galilee.

Answer 3

Another answer from our community:

He grew up in a small town near Jerusalem so it would be easy for his father to get to work.

Answer 4

John was born about the year 1 AD, depending on calendar adjustments.

Answer 5

She was born in Judea of Palestine (Israel).

Answer 6

All that is known for certain is that John the Baptist/Baptizer was born somewhere in the mountainous area ["hill country": see Luke 1:39-40, 65] of Galilee in Judea about 5BC.

Answer 7

Palestine (Israel)

Answer 8

He was named John at birth.