Maybe you doubt that a comet recorded by the Han Dynasty in China for 5 BC was the sign of the Star of Bethlehem followed by the wise men from Persia to Bethlehem. Lets pursue another line of inquiry involving the Bible and Jewish history.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem during the reign of Herod the Great. The ‘three kings’ first went to Herod’s palace in Jerusalem, the obvious place, to seek the new king whose birth was announced by the appearance of a star. (At that time the appearance of comets signified the birth of a great king, a positive meaning. Later in history, after Halley’s Comet of 1066 the appearance of comets took on an ominous negative meaning, at least for the Saxon English).
The wise men found no new king in Jerusalem. The teachers of the Law said that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem six miles south of Jerusalem. Eventually King Herod sent the Magi on their way saying ‘Go find this new king and come back to let me know, that I may worship him too’. (Gospel of Matthew 2:8)
The wise men did find the new-born child in Bethlehem, they did rejoice and worship, but they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod’s palace in Jerusalem. They went back to Persia by a different route.
After the Magi left, Joseph had a dream in which an angel told him to take Mary the mother and Jesus the child and flee to Egypt. (Matt 2:13-20) Joseph and Mary get up and flee from Bethlehem in the night. Meanwhile Herod realized that the wise men had not returned. To ensure that no baby king would challenge him for the throne, Herod decided to have all the baby boys born in Bethlehem of two years or younger killed.
Herod the Great came to the throne in 37 BC and died in 4 BC. Joseph and Mary return to Israel sometime after his death. These known dates mean that Jesus must have been born while Herod was still alive, maybe a year before he died. This implies that Jesus could have been born in 5 BC. Then the family returned from two years sanctuary in Egypt to live in Nazareth in 3 BC after the death of Herod.
Merry and True 