“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.”
King James Version (KJV)
Bruce Borowski's comment on 2014-04-10 20:36:32:
Biblically speaking he had to be born sometime in may june ......... why would you believe the catholic church anyways??? They changed Holy days!
Deborah's comment on 2014-02-01 12:36:53:
The average low temperature in Bethlehem in December is 42 degrees F, certainly not too "cold" for woolly sheep to be out in the fields. Plus, historical Talmudic sources state that the sheep in Judaea "laid out in the summer and in the rainy season," ergo year round. And too, the summer is the dry season and there is no grass and many of the water holes dry up so shepherds move their flocks north into the cooler regions where rain and therefore grass and water is readily available. But in the fall the rain begin in Judaea and through the winter the fields are once more green with grass for the flocks to graze on. The only time flocks of sheep wouldn't be "in the fields" around Bethlehem would be in summer when there's no grass and little water. But then too we must consider that according to other historical documents the "temple flock" (those sheep destined for sacrifice in Jerusalem) were kept in the fields at Bethlehem, which means there would be sheep there year round to supply the sacrificial needs of the Temple in Jerusalem 5 miles away.
BSP's comment on 2013-12-13 05:45:23:
This verse shows that shepherds were in the field at night with their flocks when Jesus was born. Many people believe that December 25th was when Jesus was born, but during that time it would have been very cold. The shepherds would not have been outside, at night, with their sheep if it was wintery cold. This shows that Jesus was not born on December 25th and we are not sure exactly when he was born.