“Herod’s Age when Appointed Strategos of Galilee: Scribal Error or Literary Motif?” (original) (raw)
Related papers
Elapsed Times for Herod the Great in Josephus
Bibliotheca Sacra, 2020
Determining the chronology of Herod the Great, as given in Josephus, involves many questions: consular years, Sabbatical years, Nisan or Tishri years regarding Herod’s reign, inclusive or non-inclusive counting for elapsed time, and the year from which Herod’s sons considered their reigns to have begun. The present paper focuses on just two of these issues—elapsed time and Nisan versus Tishri years—as dealt with in the two most frequently cited positions formulated for the death of Herod, those of Schürer and Filmer. Tables at the end demonstrate which of the two views best agrees with the many designations of elapsed time in Josephus.
NT Chronology and the Death of Herod the Great
Annual meeting of Near Eastern Archaeological Society, 2019
Establishing the year in which Herod the Great died is necessary in order to determine the date of birth of the Lord Jesus, which in turn bears on the chronology of the entire New Testament. In the section that deals with Herod in his first historical work, Wars of the Jews, Josephus used the Judean method of determining elapsed time, namely the reign lengths of the high priests, tetrarchs, and Judean kings. In his later work, Antiquities, he assigned Roman consular years to two events in Herod's life, his investiture as king by the Romans and, three years later according to his regnal data, Herod's siege of Jerusalem. This presentation shows from the Roman historians Cassius Dio, Appian, Plutrarch, and from Josephus himself, that Josephus assigned the two consular years one year too early. Evidence from archaeology showing the error in consular dates is also presented. Zuckermann used the second of these consular dates to establish his Sabbatical year calendar, and then Schürer used both of them to establish what became the "consensus" chronology for Herod, putting Herod's death in 4 BC. The presentation cites the several lines of evidence that converge on the fact that Herod died, not in 4 BC, but in early 1 BC. It was given at the annual meeting of the Near East Archaeological Society in San Diego on November 22, 2019.
Consular Years and Sabbatical Years in the Life of Herod the Great
Bibliotheca Sacra, 2020
Much of New Testament chronology, especially the dating of Jesus’s life, is dependent upon the dates for the reign of Herod the Great. In the late nineteenth century Schürer proposed dates for the reign of Herod: 40 (37) BC to 4 BC. These are suspect and are based on Josephus’s erroneous use of Roman consular years. Schürer also cites the sabbatical tables developed by Zuckermann, but this is not an independent source, since they are based on the same citation of consular years in Josephus. When Josephus’s error is recognized, the correct dates for Herod’s reign are demonstrated to be 39 (36) BC to 1 BC, placing the birth of Christ in late 3 BC or early 2 BC.
Herod the Great and Jesus: Chronological, Historical and Archaeological Evidence
2015
The traditional date of 4 BCE for the death of Herod the Great, as set forth by E. Schürer (1896), was accepted by historians for many years without notable controversy. However, according to the texts of Luke and Matthew, Herod died shortly after the birth of Jesus (Luke 1:5, 30-31; Matthew 2:1- 23), which can be fixed in 2 BCE (Luke 2:1-2; 3:1). There is therefore a contradiction chronologically but in fact Josephus gives a dozen of synchronisms that enable dating the 37 years of Herod's reign from 39 to 2 BCE and his death on 26 January 1 BCE just after a total lunar eclipse (9 January 1 BCE) prior the Passover (Jewish Antiquities XVII:166-167, 191, 213). Two important events confirm the dating of Herod's death: the ‘census of Quirinius’ in Syria (Titulus Venetus) which was a part of the ‘Inventory of the world’ ordered by Augustus when he became ‘Father of the Country’ in 2 BCE and the ‘war of Varus’ (Against Apion I:34) after Herod's death conducted under the auspices of Caius Caesar (Jewish War II:68-70), the imperial legate of the East, and dated during the year of his consulship in 1 CE (Cassius Dio LV:10:17-18; LV:10a:4). Consequently, three other topics linked to Herod's death are examined: Dating the census of P. Sulpicius Quirinius. According to Luke 2:1: Now at this time Caesar Augustus issued a decree for a census of the whole world to be taken. This census — the first — took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria. The historian Paul Orosius precisely date the census of Augustus in the year 752 of Rome (Histories against the pagans VI:22:1; VII:3:4) or in 2 BCE. According to Josephus: Quirinius had now liquidated the estate of Archelaus; and by this time the registrations of property that took place in the 37th year after Caesar's defeat of Antony [in 6 CE] at Actium were complete (Jewish Antiquities XVIII:1-4, 26). The first registration under Herod the Great, as the census of Apamea, was made to know the number of citizens and it is not to be confused with the one implemented in Judea by Quirinius when he came to ensure the liquidation of property of Herod Archelaus after his disgrace, and of which Josephus says it was followed by an evaluation of property. This two-step operation did not have the same nature, nor the same goal, or the same geographical scope as the previous one. It was conducted according to the principles of the Roman capitation and not according to Hebrew customs, and only covered the sole Judea, not Galilee. General censuses were performed every 5 years (= 1 lustre) as can be deduced from those reported by Cassius Dio. The census prior to the one of 4 CE, confined to Italy (Cassius Dio LV:13), was performed in 2 BCE. Dating the war of P. Quinctilius Varus. The intervention of Varus, after Herod's death, is described as a war by Flavius Josephus and also by the Seder Olam, yet the only war mentioned in the Roman archives in this region and at that time is the one conducted by Caius Caesar in 1 CE. The career of Caius Caesar, the grand-son of Augustus, was very brief, an inscription in a cenotaph of Pisa provides his cursus honorum and mentions as the only honorary remarkable action: after the consulship which he held with good fortune, waging a war beyond the farthest borders ofthe Roman people. Dating the birth of Jesus. Clement of Alexandria (The Stromata I:21:145) place the birth of Jesus 194 years before the death of Commodus (31 December 192 CE) and Tertullian (Against the Jews VIII:11:75) place it in the 41st year of the reign of Augustus [which began from the second triumvirate of October 43 BCE] and 28 years after the death of Cleopatra (29 August 30 BCE). By combining these data, the birth of Jesus must be fixed in 2 BCE in a period between 1 September and 30 October." https://www.lulu.com/shop/gerard-gertoux/herod-the-great-and-jesus-chronological-historical-and-archaeological-evidence/paperback/product-1v4ywy7n.html
Herod's Death: Josephus rewritten by Eusebius (2013)
2013
The narration of Herod’s final days is particularly developed and dramatized in Josephus’ War I and Antiquities XVII. Among the numerous overlappings of Josephus’ narration and the beginnings of Christian historiography, the episode of Herod’s death plays an essential role. Through the theme of the slaughter of the Innocents, the event of Herod’s death is supposed to guarantee the historicity of the date and place of a fundamental event: Jesus Christ’s birth. After a presentation of the historical facts according to the primary source (Josephus’ account) and questions related to its origins, this paper examines Eusebius' reception of Josephus. First we consider the hypothesis of the preservation of Josephus’ version, looking at Eusebius’ Church History as a palimpseste of Josephus’ account. Next we discuss the destruction of Josephus’ version, looking at Eusebius’ Church History as a narratological creation, accomplished by deletions, amalgamations and additions. By the way, we evaluate the presence of both types of elements in Eusebius’ Church History and are able to analyze and interpret the selective appropriations, transformations and constructions that contributed to Eusebius’ use of Josephus’ story.
Bibliotheca Sacra, 2021
In previous papers we have argued that the consensus view of the date for Herod's death (i.e., early 4 BC) is contradicted by a variety of evidence and that Herod died in early 1 BC. In this paper we examine the only remaining pillar upon which the consensus rests, the dating of the reigns of his sons who succeeded him. We note that ancient historians, notably Josephus, contain indications that Herod's sons received royal prerogatives before Herod's death. It is proposed that this happened sometime in the year that began in Tishri 6 BC, and it was to this date that Herod's sons backdated their reigns which actually began sometime in 1 BC. We also examine the numismatic evidence of the coins issued by Herod and his sons and demonstrate that it confirms this view, thereby removing the final pillar that supports the consensus chronology for Herod's reign.
The Death of Herod the Great in early 1 BCE -updated 05/06/2023 Primary Sources
History of Armenia, abridged Trans. Johannes Avdal, Calcutta (1827) Primary Online Sources Specific translations of each work must be noted. penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/Lacus Curtius perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/collections/greek and roman materials Early Church Fathers-bible.ca/history/fathers/ Early Christian Writings.com Early Jewish Writings.com Recent studies have shown that there is much evidence for accepting a date for Herod the Great's death early in 1 BCE, rather than the older estimation in 4 BCE. Below is given a list of recent scholarly papers and books speaking to this conclusion. Many of these are available online.