Christmas and Paganism Part 3: Sukkot, Hannakuh and the Winter Birth

Part 1: December 25th was not an Ancient Pagan Holiday
Part 2: Jesus’ Death, Christmas and the Early Church
Part 3: The Winter Birth
Part 4: Should Christians Celebrate Christmas?

Originally published on our former site in 2014

According to Scholarship and historical evidence, Jesus’ birth date is not related to paganism. In the last two post we showed that December 25th was historically thought to have been the date of Jesus’ birth, based on historical evidence and the ancient Hebrew theory of Integral Age. We debunked the myth that Christians appropriated the pagan observances for Sol, Mithras, or Saturnalia.

In this post, we will look into the remaining myths against a December birth for Jesus. Some believe that shepherds would not have been in the fields during the winter and that Christ would have been born during Sukkot.

Objections to a winter birth for Christ are based in part on the theory that shepherds would not have their flocks outside during the winter. This myth, although popular, was debunked at least forty years ago by Bible Scholars. It is in fact not uncommon for modern Israelis to keep livestock out in the fields during the winter.  Winter is rather mild in Israel with the average temperature around 50 degrees. Furthermore, we have proof from the bible that shepherds did watch their flocks during the winter.

Genesis 31:38-40:

38 These twenty years have I been with you; your sheep, and your female goats have not failed in bearing; and I have not eaten the rams of your cattle. 39 That which was torn of beasts I did not bring to you; I made good of myself the thefts of the day, and the thefts of the night. 40 I was parched with heat by day, and chilled with frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes

Thus, Jacob kept watch over livestock during the winter.

Further proof that this was a common practice in Israel during Jesus’ time can be found in the writings of Canon H.B Tristram (author and traveler) who visited Palestine frequently and is well known for his writings of Palestine and other Middle Eastern areas:

A little knoll of olive trees surrounding a group of ruins marks the traditional site of the angels’ appearance to the shepherds, Migdol Eder, ‘the tower of the flock’. But the place where the first ‘Gloria in excelsis’ was sung was probably further east, where the bare hills of the wilderness begin, and a large tract is claimed by the Bethlehemites as a common pasturage. Here the sheep would be too far off to be led into the town at night; and exposed to the attacks of wild beasts from the eastern ravines, where the wolf and the jackal still prowl, and where of old the yet more formidable lion and bear had their covert, they needed the shepherds’ watchful care during the winter and spring months, when alone pasturage is to be found on these bleak uplands. (Emphasis Added). Picturesque Palestine Vol 1 page 124

Migdol Eder is by local tradition the historical sight of the angels appearance to the shepherds. This site is where passover flocks were kept outside during the winter, because the winter rains allowed for the growth of grass, something that the flocks did not get to have during the Summer months. It makes sense that shepherds would allow passover lambs out in the fields during the winter to fatten them on the green grass. Additionally, the lambs would be kept out at night, since the distance back to town would have been to far to bring them back and forth daily.

Note this excerpt from Messianic Jewish Scholar Alfred Edersheim:

That the Messiah was born in Bethlehem was a settled conviction. Equally so, was the belief that He was to be revealed from Migdal Eder, the tower of the flock.

This Migdal Eder, was not the watch tower for ordinary flocks which pastured on the barren sheep ground beyond Bethlehem, but lay close to town, on the road to Jerusalem. A passage in the Mishnah leads to the conclusion that the flocks which pastured there were destined for Temple Sacrifices, and accordingly that the Shepherds who watched over them were, no ordinary Shepherds. The latter were under the ban of Rabbinism on the account of their necessary isolation from religious ordinances, and their manner of life, which rendered strict legal observances unlikely, if not absolutely impossible.

The same Mishnic also leads us to infer, that these flocks lay out all year round , since they are spoken of as in the fields thirty days before Passover- that is, in the month of February, when in Palestine the average rainfall is nearly greatest. Thus Jewish traditions in some dim manner apprehended the first revelation of the Messiah from Migdal Eder, where Shepherds watched the Temple flocks all year round. Of the deep symbolic significance of such a coincidence, it is needless to speak –The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah By Alfred Edersheim

Sukkot, Hanakuh, December 25th and Tebeth:

Some believe that Jesus was born during the feast of Sukkot. However, Jesus could not have been born during Sukkot,  since the Bible states that Joseph and Mary were going to Bethlehem, not Jerusalem, for a census, not a feast.  Most feasts required a journey to the Temple, including Sukkot. The bible never mentions any such journey. If this had been the case, it would seem that this information would have been mentioned in the New Testament.

Additionally, the bible states that Joseph and Mary were seeking shelter at an inn. If, however, they had been traveling to the feast of Sukkot, they would have made shelter in a booth, rather than sheltering in an inn or manger. Furthermore, the inns would not have been full since others would have been taking shelter in booths as well. Therefore, the idea that Jesus was born during the feast of Sukkot is based on speculation, not on biblical evidence.

In part 2, we posted quotes from the Constitutions of the Apostles which listed Tebeth as the ninth Hebrew month. Some today may see this as an error citing Tebeth as the tenth month however, Josephus stated that the ninth month was Tebeth during his time:

according to the sentence of the elders, those that were of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin came together in three days…on the twentieth day of the ninth month, which, according to the Hebrews, is called Tebeth, and according to the Macedonians, Apelleius. –The Antiquities of the Jews, Flavius Josephus

We discussed in the last post that Jesus’ birth date was calculated based on the integral age theory of ancient Judaism. Since we established that He was born in December, or the Hebrew month of Tebeth, we can conclude that His birth likely took place during Hanukkah:

The Christmas festival of December 25th rested on a very ancient tradition…Which was meant by the ninth month we have no difficulty in deciding. Reckoning after the Jewish and Roman Calendars…We have now verified this additional historical fact, that Christmas was henceforth celebrated on the twenty fifth day in the ninth month in the Jewish calendar, which corresponded to our December…if the body with which the divinity of Christ was like the Dedication of the Temple and Christmas day the feast of the true Dedication of the Temple. – The Leisure Hour, Volume 22

In the Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah by Messianic Scholar Alfred Edersheim, we read that there was once a Hebrew fast day on Tebeth ninth that was later concealed. Edersheim believed that this was Jesus’ birth date, December 25th:

FOOTNOTE for this section: There is no adequate reason for questioning the historical accuracy of this date. The objections generally made rest on grounds which seem to me historically untenable. …but a curious piece of evidence comes to us from a Jewish source. In the addition to the Megilloth Taanith, the 9th Tebbeth is marked as a fast day, and it is added that the reason for this is not stated. Now, Jewish chronologist have fixed on that day as that of Christ’s birth and it is remarkable that, between the years 500 and 816 A.D. the 25th of December fell no less than twelve times on the 9th of Tebbeth. If the 9th Tebbeth, or 25th December, was regarded as the birthday of Christ, we can understand the concealment about it. — The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah by Alfred Edersheim

Thus, we can conclude that Christian history has preserved the actual date of Jesus’ birth. Furthermore, Christ was likely born during the festival of Hanukkah in the month of Tebeth which would correspond to our December 25th and the Julian Calendar date of January 6th. The celebration of His birth on December 25th is not pagan in origin.

Part 1: December 25th was not an Ancient Pagan Holiday
Part 2: Jesus’ Death, Christmas and the Early Church
Part 3: The Winter Birth
Part 4: Should Christians Celebrate Christmas?

For more information on the historicity of Christmas as a Christian celebration and Scholarship proving it to have no pagan connections please see:
Biblical Archaeology – How December 25th became Christmas
Answering Islam – Christmas: Pagan Festival or Christian Celebration? Dr. Anthony McRoy
Mere Christian – How the Pagans Stole Christmas!
Lutheran Satire – Horus Ruins Christmas
Dr. Taylor Marshall – Yes, Christ Was Really Born on December 25: Here’s a Defense of the Traditional Date for Christmas
LogosApologia – Christmas on December 25th is not from Paganism!
Steadfast Lutherans – Redeeming Holy Days from Pagan Lies-Christmas

Image by ?Merry Christmas ? from Pixabay