Probably October,. 748 A.U.C., or 6 B.C., to Spring 749 A.C.U., or 5 B.C. ^a

⁵There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the priestly division of Abijah. ^b He had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. ⁷But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they both were well advanced in years. ⁸Now it happened, while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his division, ⁹according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰The whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.

¹¹An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. ¹²Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. ¹³But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. ¹⁴You will have joy and gladness; and many will rejoice at his birth. ¹⁵For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. ¹⁶He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord, their God. ¹⁷He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

¹⁸Zacharias said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”

¹⁹The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news. ²⁰Behold, you will be silent and not able to speak, until the day that these things will happen, because you didn’t believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”

²¹The people were waiting for Zacharias, and they marveled that he delayed in the temple. ²²When he came out, he could not speak to them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple. He continued making signs to them, and remained mute. ²³It happened, when the days of his service were fulfilled, he departed to his house. ²⁴After these days Elizabeth, his wife, conceived, and she hid herself five months, saying, ²⁵“Thus has the Lord done to me in the days in which he looked at me, to take away my reproach among men.”

²⁶Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, ²⁷to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸Having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!”

²⁹But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered what kind of salutation this might be. ³⁰The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and will call his name ‘Jesus.’ ³²He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.”

³⁴Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, seeing I am a virgin?”

³⁵The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God. ³⁶Behold, Elizabeth, your relative, ^c also has conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. ³⁷For everything spoken by God is possible.”

³⁸Mary said, “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it to me according to your word.” The angel departed from her.

³⁹Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah, ⁴⁰and entered into the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹It happened, when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, that the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴²She called out with a loud voice, and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴For behold, when the voice of your greeting came into my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy! ⁴⁵Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord!”

⁵⁷Now the time that Elizabeth should give birth was fulfilled, and she brought forth a son. ⁵⁸Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy towards her, and they rejoiced with her. ⁵⁹It happened on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him Zacharias, after the name of the father. ⁶⁰His mother answered, “Not so; but he will be called John.”

⁶¹They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” ⁶²They made signs to his father, what he would have him called.

⁶³He asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, “His name is John.”

They all marveled. ⁶⁴His mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue freed, and he spoke, blessing God. ⁶⁵Fear came on all who lived around them, and all these sayings were talked about throughout all the hill country of Judea. ⁶⁶All who heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, “What then will this child be?” The hand of the Lord was with him. ⁶⁷His father, Zacharias, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,

¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this; for after his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly. ²⁰But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take to yourself Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ²¹She shall bring forth a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.”

²⁴Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself; ^{g 25}and didn’t know her sexually until she had brought forth her firstborn son. He named him Jesus.

[1]1:23 Isaiah 7:14

a) The method of counting our years from the birth of Christ was introduced by the Roman abbot Dionysius in 525. However, he made a mistake in supposing that the year 1 A.D. corresponded with the year 754 of the building of Rome, or A.U.C. It has been ascertained that Herod died shortly before the Passover of 750 A.U.C.. or 4 B.C. But Christ was born before Herod died. Therefore. In counting backwards, the annunciation of the birth of the forerunner must be placed, at least, back to 748 A.U.C., or 6 B.C.

b) There were twenty-four courses of priests, each course taking regular weekly turns in the Temple service. The course of Abia to which Zacharias belonged was the eighth In order. According to a Talmudic statement the Temple was destroyed on a Saturday evening. 8-9th of Ab, corresponding to our 4-5th of August, In 828 A.U.C., or 70 AD., just when the course of Jehoiarib. the first In order, had entered office. It Is almost absolutely certain that for many years previously the various priestly courses had been succeeding one another in unbroken regularity. In counting back, we arrive at October 1-7 in 748 A.U.C., or 6 B.C., for the week in which the course of Abia was on duty.

c) It is assumed that the mothers of Mary and Elisabeth were sisters. Priests were permitted to marry into other tribes, if a marriage could be contracted with a member of a family of higher rank. As such a member of the house of David would certainly be considered.

d) “She returned to her own house.” This expression may Imply that she had not yet been taken to the house of Joseph.

e) The traditional day for the nativity of John the Baptist is June 24.

f) This section is best placed after the return of Mary “to her own house” from her visit to Elisabeth. Some harmonists place It before the visit to Elisabeth.

g) The sole purpose of the marriage of Joseph with Mary was to legitimize the Child whose advent was now at hand,
 

Bible References taken from:
The World English Bible (WEB) is a Public Domain (no copyright) Modern English translation of the Holy Bible, based on the American Standard Version of the Holy Bible first published in 1901, the Biblia Hebraica Stutgartensa Old Testament, and the Greek Majority Text New Testament.