Topic
Birthday
13 passages cited, from 3 classic reference works.
These works date from 1884–1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Genesis 40:20Smith · ISBE · Nave Celebrated by feasts
¶ And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.
- Matthew 14:6Smith · ISBE · Nave Celebrated by feasts
But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.
- Esther 5:3ISBE
Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.
- Esther 5:6ISBE
¶ And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.
- Esther 7:2ISBE
And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.
- Job 1:4Smith
And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
- Job 3:1–26Nave Cursed
After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. And Job spake, and said, Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived. Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let…
- Jeremiah 20:14Nave Cursed
¶ Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
- Jeremiah 20:15Smith
Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad.
- Jeremiah 20:18Nave Cursed
Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
- Hosea 7:5Smith
In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.
- 2 Maccabees 6:7ISBE
And in the day of the king’s birth every month they were brought by bitter constraint to eat of the sacrifices; and when the fast of Bacchus was kept, the Jews were compelled to go in procession to Bacchus, carrying ivy.
Show 1 more
- Mark 6:21 ISBE
In the reference works
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884) · 5 references
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 10 references
burth'-da:
(1) The custom of observing birthdays of great men, especially of kings, was widespread in ancient times (see Ge 40:20 f, "the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday," etc.; compare 2 Macc 6:7; and Herod. ix.110; in the New Testament, Mt 14:6; Mr 6:21, "Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords," etc., i.e. Herod Antipas). Here we see the ancient custom reflected in two conspicuous instances centuries apart:
(a) Pharaoh, on his birthday "made a feast unto all his servants," etc., and
(b) Herod o n his birthday "made a supper to his lords, and the high captains," etc.
The King James Version (Mt 14:6) has it "when Herod's birthday was kept," etc. The correct text here (Tischendorf, Westcott-Hort) has a very peculiar construction, but without material difference of meaning. The locative case gives the time of the principal action, "danced on Herod's birthday, when it occurred." The construction is not unexampled (see Jelf, section 699). This need not be called "a case absolute," though it corresponds to the Latin ablative (locative) absolute; and the Greek genitive absolute is itself not really "absolute," i.e. it is not cut loose from the rest of the construction, but gives some event to which the principal action is referred, for the indication of its circumstances.
(2) The term "birthday" (ta genesia) was applied also to the anniversary of a king's accession to the throne (Edersheim); but Wieseler's argument that such is the case here is not conclusive. It is easy to suppose that when Herod's birthday approached he was sojourning at the castle of Macherus, accompanied by leading military and civil officials of his dominions (Mr 6:21). Petty ruler as he was, not properly "king" at all, he affected kingly ways (compare Es 5:3,6; 7:2).
(3) Genesia, which in Attic Greek means the commemoration of the dead, in later Greek is interchangeable with genethlia = "birthday celebrations"; and there is no good reason why the rendering of the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) here, "birthday," should not be right (See Swete on Mr 6:21, and HDB, under the word) For date of Christ's birth, etc., see JESUS CHRIST; CALENDAR, etc.
George B. Eager
In the topical indexes
Texts: Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884); International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915); Nave's Topical Bible (1896), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.