Another weblog

25 December 2009

I hope that everyone enjoys Christmas today. It’s a time when many people are able to take off from work or school and spend time with their families.

It has been traditional for a long time now to celebrate the birth of Christ on 25 December, so that Christmas is celebrated as a legal holiday in many countries on that day. In the Catholic church the day is celebrated as the second greatest day in the year—second only to Easter.

However, much tradition has crept up around the biblical account, as it has with Easter.

God rest you merry, gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay,
For Jesus Christ our Saviour
Was born upon this day.
—Traditional carol

First of all, though the biblical accounts do not give the exact time of year when Christ was born, it was almost certainly not in December. Therefore, though Christ’s birth has been traditionally celebrated on 25 December, there is no evidence at all that that was the time of year of his birth.

We three kings of Orient are;
Bearing gifts we traverse afar,
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.
—Nineteenth-century carol

The biblical account mentions the magi, or astrologers, who travelled from the east to see Jesus. The number of them is nowhere mentioned. Possibly because of the three gifts mentioned (Matthew 2:11), the tradition developed that there were three ‘wise men’. In fact, tradition has given them names: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. Furthermore, they are nowhere called ‘kings’ in the Bible.

Jesus was born in a manger.
—Google search results

The Bible never says that Jesus was born in a manger. In fact, the Bible does not directly state that he was born in a stable at all, though that seems logical from the fact that he was placed—after birth—in a feeding trough (Luke 2:7).

The magi presented gifts to the infant Jesus in Bethlehem.
—No tangible evidence

The magi came to Jesus in Jerusalem, some time after his birth (Matthew 2:1). It was the shepherds who worshipped Jesus when he was lying in the feeding trough (Luke 2:8–12).

There are also three translational issues with the biblical account of Christ’s birth. The first one is textual:

Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!
—Luke 2:14 NKJV

It is quite likely that the second line should read as ‘and on earth peace among people with whom he is pleased’ (NET). In Greek, the difference between this reading and the other is one letter in Greek. The NET Bible has an in-depth note on this verse.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
—Luke 2:7 ESV

The Greek word traditionally translated ‘inn’ has a range of meanings. Luke uses the same word (Luke 22:11) to refer a guest room. Some scholars have suggested that Mary and Joseph were staying with relatives in Bethlehem, in which case the word could certainly mean ‘guest room’.

Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
―Matthew 2:2 KJV

The Greek word translated ‘in the East’ should probably be translated ‘when it rose’. The NET Bible’s note says:

Or ‘in its rising’, referring to the astrological significance of a star in a particular portion of the sky. The term used for the ‘East’ in v. 1 is ανατολαι (anatolai, a plural form that is used typically of the rising of the sun), while in vv. 2 and 9 the singular ανατολη anatole is used. The singular is typically used of the rising of a star and as such should not normally be translated ‘in the east’.

It does stand to reason, also, that since the magi were coming from the east, they saw the star in what would have been the west from their perspective.

So that’s about all I can say about the various traditions around Christ’s birth. Even though Christmas is not ‘Christ’s birthday’ in any strict sense, there is a tradition of celebrating his birth on the day. I suppose it does make us think about it more at least once per year.

Posted in Bible, Religion |