The Reign of King Herod 

    How many lunar months are needed to accommodate all of the events described by Josephus as occurring 

between the lunar eclipse and the Passover? The sequence of events, found in The Antiquities of the Jews, book 

17, chapters 6 9, is as follows. 

Jewish Martyrs 

    Some length of time before the lunar eclipse, Herod had an image of a golden eagle made and placed at the 

entrance to the Temple of Jerusalem. (The eagle was one of the symbols used by the Roman empire.) Two 

well known Jewish teachers, Judas and Matthias, considered this a sacrilege (cf. Ex 20:4; Lev 26:1; Deut 5:8) 

and encouraged the young men who were their students to remove it. And so, they took down the golden 

eagle and broke it into pieces with axes in the middle of the day, in full view of a crowd of people. About 40 of 

the young men were arrested, along with the two teachers.

757

    Herod considered the act of destroying the golden eagle a personal offense against himself. He removed the 

man who was high priest at that time from the high priesthood. Then Herod had the two Jewish teachers and 

the others responsible for destroying the eagle burned alive.  And that very night there was an eclipse of the 

moon. 

758

    Now, just before telling us about the removal of this high priest at the time of the death of the Jewish 

martyrs and the lunar eclipse, Josephus describes how this same high priest was unable to officiate for a single 

day, on the occasion of the fast day (Yom Kippur, Tishri 10, in the autumn). The very next statement by 

Josephus is that this same high priest was permanently removed from office by Herod, at the time of the death 

of these Jewish martyrs and the lunar eclipse.

759

 Therefore, the lunar eclipse occurred after Tishri 10. 

Herod's Illness 

    Several events then followed after the eclipse, leading up to Herod's death. Herod, who was already quite ill, 

became worse still and sent for physicians to treat him. He followed their advice and traveled  beyond the 

river Jordan  to receive treatments, including warm baths in water and even in oil. Since these treatments were 

ineffective, Herod gave up hope that he could recover and resigned himself to death.

760

    Next Herod returned to his palace at Jericho, grew even sicker, and devised an evil plan. He decided to have 

all of the most important Jewish leaders throughout the nation brought to him. When they arrived, he had 

them confined to the hippodrome (a type of sports stadium which the Romans used for horse and chariot 

races). He gave orders to his sister and brother in law that upon his death, before they revealed that he had 

died, they were to order the soldiers to kill every Jewish leader being held by him at the hippodrome. Herod 

knew that the Jews hated him. In this way, he had hoped to cause a great mourning throughout the land to 

coincide with his death, a mourning fit for a king.

761

    Thereafter, Herod received permission from Caesar to either banish or execute Herod's son, Antipater. 

Herod chose to have his son, Antipater, put to death. Five days later, Herod died.

762

 But Herod's sister and 

brother in law did not carry out his evil plan to kill all the Jewish leaders being held at the hippodrome. They 

did not make Herod's death known until they had released the Jews from the Hippodrome and sent them to 

their homes.

763

    After the Jewish leaders were safely away, Herod's death was made public. His son, Archelaus, then 

mourned for him until the seventh day. Next, Archelaus took his father's throne and held a feast with his 

friends.

764

 Then there was a dispute between the Jews and Archelaus about whether or not the men who 

carried out Herod's orders to burn to death those who had destroyed the golden eagle should be punished. 

This dispute occurred at the time when many Jews had come to Jerusalem for the Passover feast.

765

The Number of Lunar Months 

    What number of lunar months, then, would be sufficient to accommodate all of the above described events, 

from the burning of the Jewish martyrs to the Passover? Herod spent some time after the eclipse trying to find 

some treatment which would save his life. A man does not give up easily when his own life is at stake. Herod 

was the king and could have access to any physician in the land. He must have spent more than a brief amount 

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