Additionally, Zenos had prophesied about the death of Jesus, and Samuel knew the words of Zenos. “[A] sign given of his death,” “the thunderings, and the lightnings,” “the vapor of darkness,” the rending “of the rocks of the earth,” and “the three days of darkness”—these are all phrases of the prophet Zenos that had been recorded in 1 Nephi 19:10–12. This prophesy would have been available only on the brass plates. Samuel had done his homework and was very familiar with Zenos and his prophesies. It is important to note that Nephi then followed up on Samuel’s prophesies and meticulously tracked fulfillment of the prophecies concerning Christ’s death.
So, how does the precise dating of the fulfillment of Samuel’s prophecies help us date, in absolute terms, how long Jesus lived (something not known from the New Testament), as well as the dates of his death and birth? The Book of Mormon records the precise day on which the Nephites witnessed the prophesied sign of Christ’s death (3 Nephi 8:5). This exceptional diligence on the part of Nephite record-keepers may help resolve at least two questions that New Testament scholars continue to debate regarding the timing of Christ’s death.
The first question relates to the year when Christ was crucified. What year did Christ die? The New Testament accounts tie Christ’s crucifixion to a Passover festival during the governorship of Pontius Pilate (AD 26–36). Jeffrey R. Chadwick, church scholar and archaeologist, has summarized the findings of biblical scholars who have used astronomical data to calculate the timing of the Passover, and noted that scholars have determined that the three years AD 27, 30, and 33 “are the only years during the administration of Pontius Pilate when the eve of Passover, and the Passover itself, fell within a three-day window of time prior to Sunday,” the day of Christ’s Resurrection.
Of these three years, based on additional factors involved in correlating the Gospel accounts to confirmable historical details, Chadwick notes, “Most scholars … believe that Jesus was killed in [AD] 30.” The issue is not definitively settled, however, and some scholars still believe that Christ died in 33.
The detailed texts kept by the Nephite record-keepers give more data points beyond those found in the New Testament text. The Nephite record helps to finely narrow down the length of Christ’s life. Since Christ must have been born ca. 5–4 BC, the year when King Herod died, the Book of Mormon effectively rules out AD 27 as too short and AD 33 as too long to accommodate for Christ’s death, which happened in the first month of the 34th year in the Nephite calendar (3 Nephi 8:5). Thus, in the view of Chadwick, combining the Book of Mormon with the additional evidence from the New Testament, archaeology, astronomy, and history makes AD 30 the correct year, “beyond any reasonable doubt.”
The second question that is debated by biblical scholars relates to the day of the week Christ was crucified. Long-standing tradition holds that Christ died on a Friday, and most New Testament scholars support this tradition. However, a few scholars have suggested that Christ actually died on a Thursday. These scholars argue that a Thursday can better account for passages in the New Testament which speak of “three days and three nights” in the tomb (Matthew 12:40), and of the resurrection occurring after three days (Matthew 27:63; Mark 8:31), and Sunday being three days since the crucifixion (Luke 24:21).
Jeffrey Chadwick points to an important clue to this puzzle—John’s description of the upcoming Sabbath as “an high day” (John 19:31), meaning it was the first day of the Passover. Since certain festival days, such as Passover, were regarded as “Sabbaths,” no matter what day of the week they occurred (Leviticus 23:7-8, 11, 15, 21, 24, 39), this allows for the possibility that the Sabbath after the crucifixion was not Saturday (the regular weekly Sabbath), but the first day of Passover (a special “Sabbath,” or “high day”), which most likely fell on Friday AD 30.
While the New Testament data does not decisively favor Thursday, the Book of Mormon, a “second witness of Christ” adds some important information. Nephite prophets, including Samuel, predicted that there would be three days of darkness coinciding with the time of Christ’s death until his resurrection (1 Nephi 19:10, Helaman 14:20–27). Nephite historians, particularly Nephi, documented the fulfillment of this prophecy (3 Nephi 8:19–23; 10:9).
Due to the time difference between Jerusalem and the New World, Chadwick observes, “a Friday crucifixion leads to only two days of darkness in the New World” before Christ rose on Sunday morning. Chadwick concludes that a Thursday crucifixion “exactly fits the timing necessary for three days of darkness to have occurred in America prior to Jesus’s resurrection”.
Thanks to Samuel the Lamanite and the Nephite recordkeepers, the Book of Mormon gives crucial information that specifically pinpoints the dating of events that occurred in Jerusalem. Using both records—the New Testament and the Book of Mormon—we are able to state with reasonable certainty that Jesus died on Thursday, April 6, AD 30. His age was 33 years and 4 days at the time of his death. This dating gives profound significance to the timing of the Restoration of Christ’s church through the Prophet Joseph Smith, which occurred exactly 1800 years later.
Book of Mormon Central, “How Does the Book of Mormon Help Date Christ’s Death? (Helaman 14:20),” KnoWhy 300 (April 14, 2017).
Jeffrey R. Chadwick, “Dating the Death of Jesus Christ,” BTU Studies, 54, no. (2015): 136-139.