Important Dates in the Lives of Jesus and Mary 

    The  sixth month  is mentioned twice in Luke's account of the Annunciation. Is the Gospel of Luke telling 

us twice within the same passage that this was the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy? No, rather Luke's 

Gospel is giving us important additional information about the timing of the Annunciation. 

     In the sixth month  means the sixth month of the Jewish civil calendar, which is called Adar (or AdarI). 

Sacred Scripture contains many references to the months of the Jewish calendar which use the same phrasing, 

 in the n

th

 month.  For example,  in the sixth month  is found in Ezek 8:1 and Haggai 1:1, 15. And there are 

many other examples of the expression  in the n

th

 month  in the Old Testament. In this passage from the 

Gospel of Luke, the same expression is used. Sacred Scripture is telling us that the Annunciation and the 

Incarnation of Jesus Christ occurred in the sixth month of the Jewish calendar. 

    In the Old Testament, the expression  in the n

th

 month  refers to the sacred calendar, which begins in the 

spring with the month of Nisan. However, this passage from Luke's Gospel refers to the sixth month of the 

Jewish civil calendar, which begins with the month of Tishri. The Jewish civil calendar is used here, rather 

than the sacred calendar because the announcement by the angel to Zechariah of the conception of John the 

Baptist coincided with Tishri, the first month of the civil calendar. 

    Another reason the Gospel uses the civil calendar here is that this particular civil calendar year was a 

Sabbatical year (see chapter 16; see also Appendix I, Chart 7). The Sabbatical year at this time in Jewish 

history was counted from the month of Tishri. The Sabbatical year is a holy year, like the holy day of the 

Sabbath, a time of rest and worship of God. So Sacred Scripture begins the Gospel narrative with the 

annunciation to Zechariah in the first month of the Sabbatical year and continues with the Annunciation to 

Mary and Incarnation of Christ in the sixth month of the Sabbatical year. 

    Saint Luke places the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth at the beginning of his Gospel, and that event 

occurred at the beginning of the Jewish civil calendar. The story then continues, in the sixth month of that 

calendar, with the announcement by the angel to Mary of the Virgin Conception of Jesus Christ. The true 

story that  Luke is telling about God's plan began at the beginning of the Jewish civil calendar, a calendar 

which is based on Sacred Scripture and is a part of God's plan. Saint Luke points out the alignment of these 

events with the Jewish civil calendar by telling us that Jesus was conceived in the 6th month of the calendar, 

and also during Elizabeth's sixth month. In this way, Luke marks the passage of time from the announcement 

about John the Baptist, at the beginning of the civil calendar, to the Announcement of the Incarnation of 

Christ. Saint John Chrysostom was correct; Zechariah was serving in the Temple of Jerusalem during the 

month of Tishri. 

    The Incarnation of Jesus Christ occurred  in the sixth month  (Lk 1:26) of the Jewish civil calendar, and 

also in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, as is clear from the words of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin 

Mary,  and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren  (Lk 1:36). However, the angel does not 

tell the Virgin Mary that Elizabeth has completed six full months, but rather that it is now sometime within 

her sixth month. Thus there was some degree of overlap between the sixth month of the Jewish civil calendar 

and Elizabeth's sixth month. 

    Notice that Sacred Scripture says that after Elizabeth conceived,  for five months she hid herself,  not for 

six months (Lk 1:24). If Sacred Scripture had said that she hid her pregnancy for six months, and that in the 

sixth month the Annunciation had occurred, then the time given would be at the end of Elizabeth's sixth 

month. But Sacred Scripture says that she hid herself for five months, and then, during the sixth month, the 

Annunciation occurred. The Annunciation and the Incarnation of Christ occurred after the completion of 

Elizabeth's fifth month, but before the end of her sixth month. 

    Counting back 5+ months from the sixth month of the Jewish civil calendar (AdarI) brings us to the first 

month of the calendar (Tishri), or possibly the latter part of the previous month (Elul, the month before 

Tishri). If the Incarnation occurred near the end of AdarI (sixth month), then the conception of John the 

Baptist occurred, at the latest, near the end of Tishri, or, at the earliest, near the start of Tishri. If the 

Incarnation occurred near the start of AdarI, then John's conception occurred in late Elul or early Tishri. 

    The annunciation to Zechariah, about the soon to occur conception of John the Baptist, occurred at the 

time of a gathering of  the whole multitude of the people  (Lk 1:10). During the months of Elul and Tishri, 

only the time of the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles would bring such a large crowd 

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