Jehovah Witnesses where does the Bible say not to celebrate a birthday?

Question

I am looking for verses that specifically say not to celebrate a birthday.

So far no one can list a specific verse

From the verses given it seems like the organization decided to speak where the bible does not speak.

Not a single verse given specifically prohibits birthday celebrations.

I think the birth of Jesus was celebrated, but I don'r recall if anything bad happened.

Answer 1

There is no direct verse for sure. They are making a command where none is specifically given.

In Gen 40 the baker was hanged, not for birthday celebration but for stealing.

The Baptist lost his head not because of birthday celebration. Read the context and you will see for yourself.

Answer 2

The only two birthday celebrations spoken of in the Bible were held by persons who did not worship Jehovah. (Genesis 40:20-22; Mark 6:21, 22, 24-27) The early Christians did not celebrate birthdays. The custom of celebrating birthdays comes from ancient false religions. True Christians give gifts and have good times together at other times during the year.

Answer 3

Ecclesiastes 7:1--"A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth."

Nowhere in the Bible are we told to celebrate the day we were born. Jesus attended a wedding feast, but never a birthday celebration. John the Baptist was beheaded at one of these birthday celebrations and he was Jesus' cousin. What a sad time that was for Jesus and John's family.
Everything in the Bible was put there for our benefit. If the only time birthdays are mentioned, something terrible happens, what does that tell us? Also the ones who were celebrating were not Christians, but pagans who did not love or worship God. Again, what does that tell us?
Sound reasoning is a gift from our Creator and it helps to guide us in determining what is and what is not acceptable to him.

LOBT

Answer 4

How long ago did they start celebrateing one's birthday?
Definition: The day of one’s birth or the anniversary of that day. In some places the anniversary of one’s birth, especially that of a child, is celebrated with a party and the giving of gifts. Not a Biblical practice.
Do Bible references to birthday celebrations put them in a favorable light? The Bible makes only two references to such celebrations:
Gen. 40:20-22: “Now on the third day it turned out to be Pharaoh’s birthday, and he proceeded to make a feast . . . Accordingly he returned the chief of the cupbearers to his post of cupbearer . . . But the chief of the bakers he hung up.”
Matt. 14:6-10: “When Herod’s birthday was being celebrated the daughter of Herodias danced at it and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Then she, under her mother’s coaching, said: ‘Give me here upon a platter the head of John the Baptist.’ . . . He sent and had John beheaded in the prison.”
Everything that is in the Bible is there for a reason.
So we can in all good conscience determine that pagans celebrated their birthdays while true christians did not.
There is no indication in the bible that Jesus celebrated his birthday or anyone else's. He felt a marriage ceremony was a good time to celebrate that was recorded.

Answer 5

Jesus was here on the earth 33 1/2 years and not once in the scriptures does it mention Jesus celebrating his birthday. The Apostles or any faithful worshiper of Jehovah never celebrated their birthday in the Bible. What does it mean to be a Christian? It means to be a follower of Christ. Jesus said follow my footsteps closely. Jesus was God's only begotten Son and since Jesus didn't observe his birthday we don't observe ours. Are we wrong for following in Jesus footsteps? No we are not.

Answer 6

There are only two Bible references that have to do with birthdays.

The first if Genesis 40:20-22, which says:"Now on the third day it turned out to be Pharoah's birthday, and he proceeded to make a feast...Accordingly he returned the chief of the cupbearers to his post of cupbearer...But the chief of the bakers he hung up."

The second Bible reference to a birthday is found in Matthew 14:6-10, which says: "When Herod's birthday was being celebrated the daughter of Herodias danced at it and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Then she, under her mother's coaching, said: 'Give me here upon a platter the head of John the Baptist.'...He sent and had John beheaded in the prison."

As I've already mentioned before, these are the only Bible references to a birthday celebration. As you can obviously tell, the Bible didn't respond in any favorable way to birthday celebrations, considering the fact that in both Bible references innocent people were killed.

Also, according to one source, "The notion of a BIRTHDAY FESTIVAL was far from the ideas of the Christians" of Bible times. The Imperial Bible-Dictionary also states that "The later Hebrews looked on the celebration of birthdays as a part of idolatrous worship, a view which would be abundantly confirmed by what they saw of the common observances associated with these days." Last but not least, another source states that the birthday's "origins lie in the realm of magic and religion. The customs of offering congratulations, presenting gifts and celebrating-complete with lighted candles-in ancient times were meant to protect the birthday celebrant from the demons and to ensure his security for the coming year...Down to the fourth century Christianity rejected the birthday celebration as a pagan custom."

Overall, the Bible itself does not respond in any favorable way to birthday celebrations and the early Christians of Bible times had nothing to do with birthday celebrations, which is why Jehovah's Witnesses have nothing to do with such celebrations.

Answer 7

See Mark 6:17-29
See Genesis 40:19-22


Reflect on the obvious message of those passages, and be informed that the bible contains far more proof against birthdays than it does against cannibalism. Yet few Christians argue that cannibalism pleases the Creator Jehovah.


True Christians (such as Jehovah's Witnesses) believe strongly in God Jehovah and in his Son Jesus Christ.

Regarding birthday celebrations, bible students are encouraged to consider:
: 0% of faithful biblical Jews celebrated birthdays
: 0% of first century Christians celebrated birthdays
: 100% of birthdays celebrated in the bible were by debauched enemies of God (See Mark 6:17-29; Gen 40:19-22)

Bible historians (M'Clintock, Strong, and others) have noted that faithful Jews of the bible did not celebrate birthdays, and that ancient pagan birthday celebrations were at least partially intended to honor the patron gods of the particular day.

By comparison with such paganisms, the bible does not even tell us the birthdates of Jesus or ANY of his apostles!

Since such celebrations are not required in true worship, and can easily become a distraction, so Jehovah's Witnesses focus their attention elsewhere. In particular, they are focussed on the preaching work which *IS* a requirement for Christians:

(Luke 10:1-17) [Jesus] the Lord designated seventy others and sent them forth by twos in advance of him into every city and place to which he himself was going to come. 2 Then he began to say to them: “The harvest, indeed, is great, but the workers are few. Therefore beg the Master of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/20050101a/article_01.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/rq/index.htm?article=article_11.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/20001215/article_01.htm

Answer 8

Matt. 10:1-5; 11:1; 14:1-12.
Mark 6:14-29.
Luke 9:7-9.
Also, check all corresponding Scriptures....search for it.
We are given examples of what happened @ 2 such parties,
and both had murderous results...NOT a good review, I'd say.
Then there is the fact that you would be honoring a person,
not worthy of such adulation.
Secular history will show that it was a pagan custom.
Along w/ the rituals and traditions of such parties.
And in ancient times it was only Pharaohs that were given
b-day parties.
Where in the Bible does it say "Do celebrate b-days?"

edit: Amen, MissHeather.

Answer 9

The celebrations of Births started when kings and rulers were to have their horoscopes made by astrologers and their birthdays were considered very important omens of the future.

Astrology, as the Word of God plainly shows, is a pagan, false religious deception -- a fraud and a mythological pseudo-science.

God Almighty says to the "daughter of Babylon" (Isa. 47:1), the great pagan religious deception which has engulfed the world, "Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the ASTROLOGERS, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be as STUBBLE; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame..." (Isaiah 47:13-14).

Modern birthday parties and celebrations by children take their form mainly from Germany, where the birthday child received gifts, chose a menu and received a candle-ringed butter or jam cake. The lighted candles for the cake may have originated from the birthday of the Greek moon goddess Artemis. Pagan worshippers honored her every month with moon-shaped honey cakes. Because the moon glows with light, the cakes were decorated with lighted candles.

Saying “happy birthday” to friends and loved ones was society’s superstitious way of protecting them from evil spirits. Birthday thumps, bumps, pinches, etc., were said to bring luck and send away evil spirits. Party snappers, horns and other noisemakers were also intended to scare off bad-luck spirits.

It should now be clear that birthdays are not only unbiblical, they are pagan.

Answer 10

I'm not JW. But from what I understand, there's primarily two reasons.

1) Birthdays are only mentioned twice in the Bible (Gen 40:20 & Matt 14:6) and both times it's in regard to evil acts.

2) Celebrating your birthday is, in effect, celebrating yourself and you should be celebrating God, not yourself.