1. Flavius Josephus, Josephus: The Complete Works, William Whiston, A.M.,
translator. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998), The Antiquities of the Jews, 13.15.5.398 (hereafter cited as Josephus,
Antiquities).
2. Ibid., 13.430.
3. Ibid., 13.430.
4. Grant, Michael, Herod the Great (New York: American Heritage Press, 1971), 26
(hereafter cited as Grant, Herod the Great).
5. Josephus, Antiquities, 20.10.4.
6. Ibid., 14.9.4.
7. Grant, Herod the Great, 39.
8. "Chronological Tables of Rulers: The House of the Maccabees (Hasmoneans)," New
Revised Standard Version. The New Oxford Annotated Bible: with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanical Books., Bruce M. Metzger & Roland E.
Murphy, editors. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991, 1994), xiv-xv AP (hereafter cited as Chronological Tables, New Oxford Bible).
9. Josephus, Antiquities, 15.2.5.
10. Ibid., 15.2.5.
11. Chronological Tables, New Oxford Bible.
12. Josephus, Antiquities, 15.1.2.8-10.
13. Ibid., 14.4.5.79.
14. Chronological Tables, New Oxford Bible.
15. Josephus, Antiquities, 15.2.5.
16. Ibid., 15.2.5.
17. Ibid., 15.2.5.
18. Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews or The History of the Destruction of
Jerusalem, Josephus: The Complete Works (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998), 1.12.3 (hereafter cited as Josephus,
War); and Josephus, Antiquities, 15.2.5.
19. Josephus, Antiquities, 17.8.1; William Smith, L.L.D., A Dictionary of the
Bible, F. N. and M. A. Peloubet. (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1962), 244 (hereafter cited as Smith, Dictionary);
and Eusebius Pamphilus, The Ecclesical History, Christian Frederick Cruse, translator (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1955),
Book 1, Chapter VIII (hereafter cited as Eusebius, Eccles. Hist.). According to modern doctors, Herod probably died of
aeteriouslerosis; a minority opinion holds that he died of cirrhosis of liver, hypertension and diabetes. THE DATE OF HEROD'S DEATH
The dates for the events in this genealogy depend on the dates in the life of Herod; the dates on his life depend upon the date of his
death. The dates of his life always seem to be calculated from when it is presumed he died, and it is calculated from his death, as Josephus
refers to the year of his reign in dating events, and the one certainty always seemed to be the knowledge as to when he died.
To begin with, Rome was presumed to have been founded on 21 April 753 B.C.E., and from date the Roman calendar is calculated. Oxford
Companion to the Bible, p. 119. The year 1 C.E. was calculated to be 754 A.U.C. "Ab urbe condita"
Many reference books and chronologies incorrectly give the date of Herod's death as 4 B.C.E., based on statements that he died before
Passover and after a lunar eclipse (the only one mentioned by Josephus in his works). In Ant.:17.6.4 it records that there was an
eclipse of the moon Ant.17.167 on the night that Joazar was high priest. Joazar, the brother of Matthias' wife, was high priest for
one day, after Herod deprived Matthias of the high priesthood. There was a partial eclipse of the moon on March 12/13th, 4 B.C.E., Julian
period 4710, on the Jewish calender Ader 14-15. This, however, is not the eclipse mentioned in The Antiquities, and Herod did not die
in 4 B.C.E. He died in 1 B.C.E.
Passover, in 4 B.C.E., took place 29 after the eclipse. The given date for Herod's death, if it took place then, would be April 1st. Even if
you allow the full 29 days, to April 11th, it is hard to see how you can fit everything that Josephus records as happening after the eclipse
into this time span. There were no eclipses in 2 or 3 B.C.E., and two in 5 B.C.E. Of those two, the time span between the eclipse and
Passover was 12� weeks (too long) and the other was also too short.
There was also an eclipse on Jan. 9th/10th, 1 B.C.E. It was a total eclipse that occured on JD 1721066.5 and in the Jewish calender Tebeth
14-15. F. Reiss, in Das Geburtsjahr Christi (1880) and especially William Filmer in "The Chronology of the Reign of Herod the
Great" in Oxford's Journal of Theological Studies, October 1966, supports this date. A first Century C.E. Jewish work titled
Megillat Ta'anit gave the date of Herod's death as 2 Shebat. Shebat occurs in January/February. In 1 B.C.E. it occured on Jan. 26th,
according to calculations done by Murrell Seldon.
The one argument opposed to this date is found at Ant. 18.4.106, where it records the death of Philip the techrarch, son of Herod, as
occuring in the 20th year of Tiberius, which was 34 C.E. It notes that he had reigned for 37 years. It lends itself to a date of 4 B.C.E.
for his accession. The answer to this is that David Beyer reported in 1995 that he visited the British Museum and examined all surviving
copies of Josephus' works. Of the two dozen oldest copies, dated 1544 or earlier, none read '20th year'. Nor do the copies in the Library of
Congress. Most of them read '22nd year.' The 22nd year of Tiberius was 36 B.C.E., and lends itself to a date of 1 B.C.E. for Philip's
accession.
Because Herod's death is often given as 4 B.C.E., the Nativity of Christ is often given as 6 B.C.E. There are two possible dates for the
Crucifixion, both of which fit the known facts of the life of Jesus and the accounts of the Gospels. These dates were 30 C.E. or 33 C.E. The
date 30 C.E. is often preferred due to the fact that John the Baptizer began his ministry in the 15th year of Tiberius (Luke 3:1), which was
27 C.E. and the statement in Luke 3:23 that Jesus was about 30 years of age when he began his ministry. With a birthdate in 6 B.C.E. Jesus
would have been 39 in 33 C.E.
If Herod died in 1 B.C.E., Jesus might very well have been born in 3 B.C.E., which is a date which agrees with nine early Christian
historians, who wrote between 180 C.E. and 325 C.E., and who dated the Nativity to either 2 or 3 B.C.E. Bo Reicke of the Universität Basel
in Switzerland argued the case for 33 C.E. in an article that appeared in The Oxford Companion to the Bible c) 1993, pages 119-120.
With a birth in 2 or 3 B.C.E., the date 33 C.E. becomes more likely than it would with the earlier birth year.
See also the web-sites authored by Paul Hill titled 'Josephus on Herod's Death and other matters' at
<http://serendipity.magnet.ch/hermetic/cal_stud/ph0 1.htm.> and Murrell Seldon's 'The Date of Herod's Death' at
<http://home.talkcity.com/WallSt/pmc-jesusman/herod.htm.>
20. Josephus, Antiquities, 17.6.5.173.
21. Smith, Dictionary, 244, 785.
22. Eusebius, Eccles. Hist., Book 1, Chapter VIII.
23. Josephus, Antiquities, 17.8.3.
24. Ibid., 17.8.3.197-199.
25. Grant, Herod the Great, 19.
26. Josephus, Antiquities, 14.2.158.
27. Ibid., 14.159.
28. Ibid., 14.160.
29. Ibid., 14.9.4.
30. Grant, Herod the Great, 39.
31. Josephus, War, 1.12.3. 240-241.
32. Ibid., 1.12.3.
33. Josephus, Antiquities, 15.8.5.
34. King Herod died painfully, a sleuth says, Philadelphia Inquirer,
(Philadelphia, Pa.) 26 January 2002, A7, column 6 (hereafter cited as King Herod died painfully, Philadelphia Inquirer). Evaluation:
This is from the Associated Press wire
35. Josephus, War, 1.12.3. 240-241.
36. Ibid., 1.12.3.
37. Josephus, Antiquities, 15.3.3; and Josephus, War, 1.22.1.
38. Josephus, Antiquities, 15.2.6.
39. Grant, Herod the Great, 21-22.
40. Ibid., 240, cite 10.
41. Eusebius, Eccles. Hist., 30; and Grant, Herod the Great, 22.
42. Josephus, Antiquities, 14.491.
43. Ibid., 14.281-282.
44. Ibid., 14.8.3.
45. Ibid., 14.281-282.
46. Ibid., 14.8.3.
47. Ibid., 14.2.158.
48. Ibid., 9,2,158.
49. Ibid., 14.161-162.
50. Ibid., 14.283.
51. Ibid., 16.1.11b.
52. Ibid., 18.5.130.
53. Ibid., 18.134.
54. Ibid., 18.134.
55. Josephus, War, 1.562; and Josephus, Antiquities, 18.134.
56. Josephus, Antiquities, 14.13.10, 15.2.1; and Josephus, War, 1.13.10.
57. Grant, Herod the Great, 46.
58. Josephus, Antiquities, 14.367.
59. Josephus, War, 1.272.
60. Josephus, War, 1.272; and Josephus, Antiquities, 14.368.
61. Josephus, Antiquities, 9,2,158.
62. Ibid., 14.161-162.
63. Josephus, Antiquities, 17.8.1; Smith, Dictionary, 244; and Eusebius,
Eccles. Hist., Book 1, Chapter VIII. According to modern doctors, Herod probably died of aeteriouslerosis; a minority opinion holds
that he died of cirrhosis of liver, hypertension and diabetes. THE DATE OF HEROD'S DEATH
The dates for the events in this genealogy depend on the dates in the life of Herod; the dates on his life depend upon the date of his
death. The dates of his life always seem to be calculated from when it is presumed he died, and it is calculated from his death, as Josephus
refers to the year of his reign in dating events, and the one certainty always seemed to be the knowledge as to when he died.
To begin with, Rome was presumed to have been founded on 21 April 753 B.C.E., and from date the Roman calendar is calculated. Oxford
Companion to the Bible, p. 119. The year 1 C.E. was calculated to be 754 A.U.C. "Ab urbe condita"
Many reference books and chronologies incorrectly give the date of Herod's death as 4 B.C.E., based on statements that he died before
Passover and after a lunar eclipse (the only one mentioned by Josephus in his works). In Ant.:17.6.4 it records that there was an
eclipse of the moon Ant.17.167 on the night that Joazar was high priest. Joazar, the brother of Matthias' wife, was high priest for
one day, after Herod deprived Matthias of the high priesthood. There was a partial eclipse of the moon on March 12/13th, 4 B.C.E., Julian
period 4710, on the Jewish calender Ader 14-15. This, however, is not the eclipse mentioned in The Antiquities, and Herod did not die
in 4 B.C.E. He died in 1 B.C.E.
Passover, in 4 B.C.E., took place 29 after the eclipse. The given date for Herod's death, if it took place then, would be April 1st. Even if
you allow the full 29 days, to April 11th, it is hard to see how you can fit everything that Josephus records as happening after the eclipse
into this time span. There were no eclipses in 2 or 3 B.C.E., and two in 5 B.C.E. Of those two, the time span between the eclipse and
Passover was 12� weeks (too long) and the other was also too short.
There was also an eclipse on Jan. 9th/10th, 1 B.C.E. It was a total eclipse that occured on JD 1721066.5 and in the Jewish calender Tebeth
14-15. F. Reiss, in Das Geburtsjahr Christi (1880) and especially William Filmer in "The Chronology of the Reign of Herod the
Great" in Oxford's Journal of Theological Studies, October 1966, supports this date. A first Century C.E. Jewish work titled
Megillat Ta'anit gave the date of Herod's death as 2 Shebat. Shebat occurs in January/February. In 1 B.C.E. it occured on Jan. 26th,
according to calculations done by Murrell Seldon.
The one argument opposed to this date is found at Ant. 18.4.106, where it records the death of Philip the techrarch, son of Herod, as
occuring in the 20th year of Tiberius, which was 34 C.E. It notes that he had reigned for 37 years. It lends itself to a date of 4 B.C.E.
for his accession. The answer to this is that David Beyer reported in 1995 that he visited the British Museum and examined all surviving
copies of Josephus' works. Of the two dozen oldest copies, dated 1544 or earlier, none read '20th year'. Nor do the copies in the Library of
Congress. Most of them read '22nd year.' The 22nd year of Tiberius was 36 B.C.E., and lends itself to a date of 1 B.C.E. for Philip's
accession.
Because Herod's death is often given as 4 B.C.E., the Nativity of Christ is often given as 6 B.C.E. There are two possible dates for the
Crucifixion, both of which fit the known facts of the life of Jesus and the accounts of the Gospels. These dates were 30 C.E. or 33 C.E. The
date 30 C.E. is often preferred due to the fact that John the Baptizer began his ministry in the 15th year of Tiberius (Luke 3:1), which was
27 C.E. and the statement in Luke 3:23 that Jesus was about 30 years of age when he began his ministry. With a birthdate in 6 B.C.E. Jesus
would have been 39 in 33 C.E.
If Herod died in 1 B.C.E., Jesus might very well have been born in 3 B.C.E., which is a date which agrees with nine early Christian
historians, who wrote between 180 C.E. and 325 C.E., and who dated the Nativity to either 2 or 3 B.C.E. Bo Reicke of the Universität Basel
in Switzerland argued the case for 33 C.E. in an article that appeared in The Oxford Companion to the Bible c) 1993, pages 119-120.
With a birth in 2 or 3 B.C.E., the date 33 C.E. becomes more likely than it would with the earlier birth year.
See also the web-sites authored by Paul Hill titled 'Josephus on Herod's Death and other matters' at
<http://serendipity.magnet.ch/hermetic/cal_stud/ph0 1.htm> and Murrell Seldon's 'The Date of Herod's Death' at
<http://home.talkcity.com/WallSt/pmc-jesusman/herod.htm.>
64. Josephus, Antiquities, 17.6.5.173.
65. Smith, Dictionary, 244, 785.
66. Eusebius, Eccles. Hist., Book 1, Chapter VIII.
67. Josephus, Antiquities, 17.8.3.
68. Ibid., 17.8.3.197-199.
69. Ibid., 14.12.1, 17.1.3.
70. Josephus, War, 1.12.3; and Josephus, Antiquities, 15.2.5.
71. Josephus, Antiquities, 15.2.5.
72. Josephus, War, 1.12.3. 240-241. Evaluation:
73. Ibid., 1.12.3.
74. Josephus, Antiquities, 15.9.3.319-322.
75. Grant, Herod the Great, 124.
76. Josephus, Antiquities, 15.320-321.
77. Grant, Herod the Great, 109, 260.
78. Josephus, Antiquities, 17.250.
79. Grant, Herod the Great, 19.
80. Josephus, Antiquities, 14.2.158.
81. Ibid., 14.159.
82. Ibid., 14.160.
83. Ibid., 14.9.4.
84. Grant, Herod the Great, 39.
85. Josephus, War, 1.12.3. 240-241. Evaluation:
86. Ibid., 1.12.3.
87. Josephus, Antiquities, 15.8.5.
88. King Herod died painfully, Philadelphia Inquirer, A7, column 6. Evaluation:
This is from the Associated Press wire
89. Josephus, Antiquities, 17.7.1.
90. Josephus, Antiquities, 17.8.1.191; and Josephus, War, 1.33.8.665.
91. Josephus, Antiquities, 17.7.1.187; and Josephus, War, 1.33.7.664.
92. Josephus, War, 1.562; and Josephus, Antiquities, 18.134.
93. Josephus, Antiquities, 18.134.
94. Ibid., 18.5.130.
95. Ibid., 18.5.130.
96. Ibid., 18.5.130.
97. Ibid., 18.5.131.
98. Ibid., 18.5.131.
99. Ibid., 18.5.131.
100. Ibid., 18.5.131.
101. Ibid., 16.1.11b.
102. Ibid., 18.5.131.
103. Ibid., 18.5.139.
104. Josephus, War, 1.24.476-477.
105. Josephus, Antiquities, 1.7.193.
106. Ibid., 15.320.
107. Ibid., 15.320.
108. Ibid., 15.9.3.319-322.
109. Grant, Herod the Great, 124.
110. Josephus, Antiquities, 17.8.1; Smith, Dictionary, 244; and Eusebius,
Eccles. Hist., Book 1, Chapter VIII. According to modern doctors, Herod probably died of aeteriouslerosis; a minority opinion holds
that he died of cirrhosis of liver, hypertension and diabetes. THE DATE OF HEROD'S DEATH
The dates for the events in this genealogy depend on the dates in the life of Herod; the dates on his life depend upon the date of his
death. The dates of his life always seem to be calculated from when it is presumed he died, and it is calculated from his death, as Josephus
refers to the year of his reign in dating events, and the one certainty always seemed to be the knowledge as to when he died.
To begin with, Rome was presumed to have been founded on 21 April 753 B.C.E., and from date the Roman calendar is calculated. Oxford
Companion to the Bible, p. 119. The year 1 C.E. was calculated to be 754 A.U.C. "Ab urbe condita"
Many reference books and chronologies incorrectly give the date of Herod's death as 4 B.C.E., based on statements that he died before
Passover and after a lunar eclipse (the only one mentioned by Josephus in his works). In Ant.:17.6.4 it records that there was an
eclipse of the moon Ant.17.167 on the night that Joazar was high priest. Joazar, the brother of Matthias' wife, was high priest for
one day, after Herod deprived Matthias of the high priesthood. There was a partial eclipse of the moon on March 12/13th, 4 B.C.E., Julian
period 4710, on the Jewish calender Ader 14-15. This, however, is not the eclipse mentioned in The Antiquities, and Herod did not die
in 4 B.C.E. He died in 1 B.C.E.
Passover, in 4 B.C.E., took place 29 after the eclipse. The given date for Herod's death, if it took place then, would be April 1st. Even if
you allow the full 29 days, to April 11th, it is hard to see how you can fit everything that Josephus records as happening after the eclipse
into this time span. There were no eclipses in 2 or 3 B.C.E., and two in 5 B.C.E. Of those two, the time span between the eclipse and
Passover was 12� weeks (too long) and the other was also too short.
There was also an eclipse on Jan. 9th/10th, 1 B.C.E. It was a total eclipse that occured on JD 1721066.5 and in the Jewish calender Tebeth
14-15. F. Reiss, in Das Geburtsjahr Christi (1880) and especially William Filmer in "The Chronology of the Reign of Herod the
Great" in Oxford's Journal of Theological Studies, October 1966, supports this date. A first Century C.E. Jewish work titled
Megillat Ta'anit gave the date of Herod's death as 2 Shebat. Shebat occurs in January/February. In 1 B.C.E. it occured on Jan. 26th,
according to calculations done by Murrell Seldon.
The one argument opposed to this date is found at Ant. 18.4.106, where it records the death of Philip the techrarch, son of Herod, as
occuring in the 20th year of Tiberius, which was 34 C.E. It notes that he had reigned for 37 years. It lends itself to a date of 4 B.C.E.
for his accession. The answer to this is that David Beyer reported in 1995 that he visited the British Museum and examined all surviving
copies of Josephus' works. Of the two dozen oldest copies, dated 1544 or earlier, none read '20th year'. Nor do the copies in the Library of
Congress. Most of them read '22nd year.' The 22nd year of Tiberius was 36 B.C.E., and lends itself to a date of 1 B.C.E. for Philip's
accession.
Because Herod's death is often given as 4 B.C.E., the Nativity of Christ is often given as 6 B.C.E. There are two possible dates for the
Crucifixion, both of which fit the known facts of the life of Jesus and the accounts of the Gospels. These dates were 30 C.E. or 33 C.E. The
date 30 C.E. is often preferred due to the fact that John the Baptizer began his ministry in the 15th year of Tiberius (Luke 3:1), which was
27 C.E. and the statement in Luke 3:23 that Jesus was about 30 years of age when he began his ministry. With a birthdate in 6 B.C.E. Jesus
would have been 39 in 33 C.E.
If Herod died in 1 B.C.E., Jesus might very well have been born in 3 B.C.E., which is a date which agrees with nine early Christian
historians, who wrote between 180 C.E. and 325 C.E., and who dated the Nativity to either 2 or 3 B.C.E. Bo Reicke of the Universität Basel
in Switzerland argued the case for 33 C.E. in an article that appeared in The Oxford Companion to the Bible c) 1993, pages 119-120.
With a birth in 2 or 3 B.C.E., the date 33 C.E. becomes more likely than it would with the earlier birth year.
See also the web-sites authored by Paul Hill titled 'Josephus on Herod's Death and other matters' at
<http://serendipity.magnet.ch/hermetic/cal_stud/ph0 1.htm> and Murrell Seldon's 'The Date of Herod's Death' at
<http://home.talkcity.com/WallSt/pmc-jesusman/herod.htm.>
111. Josephus, Antiquities, 17.6.5.173.
112. Smith, Dictionary, 244, 785.
113. Eusebius, Eccles. Hist., Book 1, Chapter VIII.
114. Josephus, Antiquities, 17.8.3.
115. Ibid., 17.8.3.197-199.
116. Grant, Herod the Great, 19.
117. Josephus, Antiquities, 14.2.158.
118. Ibid., 14.159.
119. Ibid., 14.160.
120. Ibid., 14.9.4.
121. Grant, Herod the Great, 39.
122. Josephus, War, 1.12.3. 240-241. Evaluation:
123. Ibid., 1.12.3.
124. Josephus, Antiquities, 15.8.5.
125. King Herod died painfully, Philadelphia Inquirer, A7, column 6.
Evaluation: This is from the Associated Press wire
126. Josephus, Antiquities, 15.320-321.
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