How old was John the Baptist when Jesus was born?

Most of what we know about Jesus and John the baptist comes from what is written in the Gospels. However, the Gospels don't give us dates just a few reference points. Scholars point out that such uncertainty over the dates was of no concern to the... read more

If the Gospel of John is right and Jesus' ministry lasted three years, then Jesus was killed between 27-29 C.E. Based on the estimates of Jesus' death and resurrection, we can estimate that John the Baptist was killed between 24-29 C.E. read more

No matter how things should have been, the fact is that the names of John the Baptist’s parents really were Zacharias and Elisabeth. But there is another tradition that belongs to myth: John was born approximately six months before Jesus. read more

From the Biblical text, Jesus and John were born within two year of each other with an overlap of three months. Thus John the Baptist is most likely 6 to 8 months older than Jesus. read more