"Another consideration is the lunar eclipse. Josephus in 700 pages mentions only one lunar eclipse—which occurred shortly before Herod’s death. (Antiquities XVII 6/4) Partial lunar eclipses visible in Palestine occur almost every year—but total eclipses are rare.
Astronomers calculate that lunar eclipses occurred:
5 BC September 14 (Eclipse three hours after sunset)
4 BC March 13 (Partial eclipse near midnight)
1 BC January 10 (Total eclipse near midnight)
1 BC December 29 (Partial eclipse at sunset)
The problem with the 4 BC eclipse as the one before Herod’s death is that Josephus records too many events from the eclipse to the Passover festival. In 4 BC this was 29 days. There occurred:
Herod’s sickness got worse and worms bred in his body. (Wars I 33:1,5)
He was taken to warm baths 15km away for treatment and returned. (Wars I 33:5-6; Antiquities XVII 6:5)
Herod planned his funeral. (Wars I 33:6)
Herod summoned key men from every village—up to 130km away—and they arrived. (Antiquities XVII 6:5)
Herod’s son, Antipater, was executed and Herod died five days later. (Wars I 33:7-8; Antiquities XVII 7;8:1)
The body was ceremoniously carried 35km from Jericho to Herodium by soldiers walking one mile daily and buried. (Antiquities XVII 8:3)
Seven days of mourning followed and then a feast. (Wars II 1:1; Antiquities XVII 8:4)
A further public mourning was held for patriots executed before the eclipse. (Wars II 1:2)
Herod’s son, Archelaus, was crowned and issued some decrees prior to the Passover. (Wars I 33:8)
Passover occurred. (Wars II 1:3; Antiquities XVII 9:3)
(Pratt 1990; Chester 1993)
This impossible schedule suggests that Herod died not after the 4 BC eclipse but after another eclipse when there was more time between eclipse and Passover.
The January 10, 1 BC, eclipse was a total eclipse whereas the others were partial. This eclipse would allow about three months until the Passover for the above-listed events to occur. This also fits with a Jewish tradition that Herod died in the month of Shebat — January/February."
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Originally Posted by Shoonra
The Jewish Antiquities by Josephus, book 17 chapt 7-9, make clear that Herod the Great died between the date of the lunar eclipse and the date of Passover, which was presumably a fairly short span, and that the eclipse took place within a few days of a public fast.
No such fast day occurs in December or January, but there is a fast the precedes the minor festival of Purim (which usually occurs in March), namely the Fast of Esther, on the 13th of Adar. A lunar eclipse would necessarily have been on the 15th of Jewish month, the night of the full moon. As Purim comes one month prior to Passover, this supports the 4 BC eclipse against the 1 BC eclipse.
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