In the 19th century, critical scholars made a crucial decision to reject a total lunar eclipse in January 1 BC and to accept instead one in March 4 BC, as the chronological cornerstone for dating the death of Herod the Great, and thereby, the possible birth years for Jesus.
By so doing, the critics could argue Jesus had to born before 4 BC, contradicting Luke, who tied Jesus' 30th year to the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, 27-28 AD.
http://petragrail.tripod.com/page5.html
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Originally Posted by Shoonra
There is a small problem about dating the birth of Jesus to Sept. 11, 3 BC.
Scripture says he was born in the reign of Herod (Matt. 2:1), the Herod who ordered the slaughter of the innocent and died shortly thereafter (Matt. 2:19). This must be Herod the Great, since his son and successor Antipas outlived Jesus by several years.
Josephus gives a fairly exact date for the death of Herod the Great, within a very few weeks of the lunar exclipse of March 12, 4 BC; approximately a year and half earlier than the date you hypothesize.
Moreover, since the slaughter of the innocent extended to boys up to two years of age (Matt. 2:16), this hints that the birth of Jesus might have been at least two years before Herod's death.
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