The Reign of King Herod 

ending about 03:07 hours on Jan. 10. This eclipse lasted long enough to be noticed, but occurred rather late at 

night. An eclipse beginning as late as 11:33 p.m. would be observed by far fewer persons than one beginning 

about 7:13 p.m., and so would be less likely to have been associated with the historical events of the time. 

Even so, this eclipse must still be considered as one possibility for the eclipse mentioned by Josephus, since it 

occurred during the winter, after the month of Tishri, and at least 3 months before the Passover. 

    In chapter 17, every eclipse from 10 

B.C.

 to 

A.D.

 1 is examined to see if it meets the criteria for the eclipse 

preceding the death of Herod. In summary, the only lunar eclipses which fit the criteria established above are 

the eclipses of Nov. 28 of 9 

B.C.

 and Jan. 9 of 1 

B.C.

 All of the other eclipses either did not occur during the 

winter months, or were not visible from Jerusalem, or were only a month away from the Passover, or occurred 

during or before the month of Tishri, or were brief, partial penumbral eclipses (i.e. barely noticeable as eclipses 

to an observer) or occurred during daylight hours (not at night, as specified by Josephus). Also, these other 

eclipses are not the correct number of years from a possible year for Herod's capture of Jerusalem. 

    Of the two possible eclipses, the Nov. 28 of 9 

B.C.

 eclipse is the better fit, because it gives 4 months to fit all 

of the events described by Josephus between the eclipse and the Passover. The Jan. 9 of 1 

B.C.

 eclipse provides 

only 3 months, which is less likely to have been a sufficient length of time. Also, the Nov. 28 of 9 

B.C.

 eclipse 

began much earlier in the evening (7:13 p.m.) than the Jan. 9 of 1 

B.C.

 eclipse (11:33 p.m.). An earlier evening 

lunar eclipse is more likely to have been noticed, associated with the events of the previous day, and become a 

part of the history of the time. 

    The date of Nov. 28 of 9 

B.C.

 for the eclipse gives us a date for the death of Herod most likely in Jan. or Feb. 

of early 8 

B.C.

 Formerly, many scholars accepted early 4 

B.C.

 as the time of Herod's death. This new date is 

four years earlier than many have thought; however, the conclusions of chapter 13 of this book find that many 

events during this time period occurred four years earlier than the generally accepted dates. Based on the 

eclipse data alone, one might try to argue that the 1 

B.C.

 eclipse, though not the best fit, is still a possibility. 

But, considering the evidence given in chapter 13, that the time frame for Augustus Caesar's reign actually 

occurred 4 years earlier than generally believed, an early 8 

B.C.

 date for Herod's death is the only reasonable 

answer. If the true dates of these events occurred 4 years earlier than has been generally accepted, then the 

eclipse of 1 

B.C.

 would have to be reconciled to events generally believed to have occurred as late as 

A.D.

 4. 

No scholar places the death of Herod in the context of events occurring as late as 

A.D.

 4. On the other hand, if 

Herod died in early 8 

B.C.

, and if the events of that time period occurred 4 years earlier than the generally 

accepted dates, then the death of Herod coincided with the events generally believed to have occurred in 4 

B.C.

This is exactly the historical context for the death of Herod which has been well accepted. (Notice that the 

eclipse dates are not displaced by 4 years, because the astronomical data is not subject to the same historical 

errors which caused the misdating of certain historical events.) 

The Holy Innocents 

    Herod tried to kill the Christ Child by killing male children 2 years of age or younger (Mt 2:16). At the time 

of the Massacre of the Holy Innocents, Herod thought that as many as 2 years might have passed since the 

Birth of Christ. Therefore, Herod must have lived for at least 2 years after the Birth of Christ. If Herod died in 

early  8 

B.C

., then Christ must have been born before 9 

B.C.

 The conclusion that Herod died in 8 

B.C.

effectively rules out any year for the Birth of Christ later than 10 

B.C.

The Rebuilding of the Temple 

    Josephus makes several conflicting statements about  when the Temple of Jerusalem was rebuilt. In 

Antiquities of the Jews, he states that Herod undertook the rebuilding the temple in his 18th year.

777

 But in Wars 

of the Jews, he states that Herod rebuilt the temple in his 15th year.

778

 The generally accepted view is that the 

rebuilding of the temple began in Herod's 18th year. However, there is a third possibility. 

    Josephus counts the beginning of Herod's reign from the time that he captured Jerusalem and brought about 

Antigonus' death. Book 15 of Antiquities of the Jews begins with the capture of Jerusalem and Antigonus' death, 

179