Technical Notes 

the umbral shadow began to move across the moon. Sunrise that day occurred about 06:32 hours.

1237

 But the 

sky begins to brighten an hour or more before the visible disk of the sun is seen above the horizon at sunrise. 

And much of this eclipse occurred after sunrise. Thus the visibility of this eclipse was reduced by the brightness 

of the sky. More importantly, Josephus describes the eclipse before Herod's death in this way:  And that very 

night there was an eclipse of the moon. 

1238

 The eclipse of Dec. 10 in 10 

B.C.

 did not even begin to be visible 

until morning had arrived with the brightening of the sky which precedes sunrise. This was not a nighttime 

lunar eclipse and so this was not the eclipse before Herod's death. 

    The eclipse of  0007 Nov 18 (8 

B.C.

) has much the same problem. It began while the sky was still dark, but 

much of the eclipse took place after the sky began to brighten, and the eclipse ended after sunrise. The time of 

greatest eclipse was 03:15 hours U.T. (05:15 hours, JST). The eclipse began to be visible about 75 minutes 

earlier, at about 04:00 hours, JST (Jerusalem Standard Time). Sunrise occurred about 06:13 hours.

1239

 But the 

sky began to brighten an hour or more before sunrise. And the eclipse ended about 06:30 hours JST, that is, 

about 75 minutes after the time of greatest eclipse. This eclipse was also a morning eclipse, partially obscured 

by the brightening of the sky prior to sunrise. This was not the eclipse described by Josephus. 

    The eclipse of 0000 Dec 29 (1 

B.C.

) has a similar problem, but at the other end of the daylight hours. Most of 

this eclipse occurred before moonrise, while the moon was still below the horizon. As the moon rose, the 

eclipse was ending and the sun was setting, but the sky was still bright and by the time the sky was dark, the 

umbral shadow was no longer on the moon. The time of greatest eclipse was 14:43 hours U.T., which is 16:43 

hours JST. Sunset that day was approx. 16:48 hours, but the sky remains bright for sometime after sunset.

1240

Josephus describes the eclipse before Herod's death as occurring at nighttime, but this eclipse was over by the 

time darkness set in.  

    The eclipse of  0001 Jan 20 (2 

B.C.

) can be ruled out simply because it was not visible from Jerusalem. The 

time of greatest eclipse is 12:04 hours U.T., which is 14:04 hours Jerusalem time. By the time the eclipse 

ended, 82 minutes or so later, the moon was still below the horizon, from the point of view of Jerusalem. 

    The two remaining eclipses are, in and of themselves, eclipses which fit the description given by Josephus. 

These eclipses occurred on  0008 Nov 28 (9 

B.C.

) and 0000 Jan 09 (1 

B.C.

). Each occurred between the Feast of 

Tabernacles and the Feast of Passover, 3 or more months before the Passover, at nighttime. Each was an 

impressive total lunar eclipse, lasting over 3.5 hours. 

    The Nov 28 of 9 

B.C.

 eclipse has the advantage of having occurred somewhat earlier in the night. The time 

of greatest eclipse was 19:02 hours U.T., which is 21:02 hours JST. The eclipse began 109 minutes before the 

time of greatest eclipse, at about 19:13 hours JST. Sunset that day occurred at approx. 17:21 hours. This 

eclipse began less than 2 hours after sunset. Thus the eclipse began after the sky had become dark, but soon 

enough in the evening to be seen by many persons (about 7:13 p.m.). 

    The Jan 09 of 1 

B.C.

 eclipse occurred somewhat later in the night. The time of greatest eclipse was 23:20 

hours U.T., which is 01:20 hours Jerusalem time. The eclipse began 107 minutes before the time of greatest 

eclipse, at about 23:33 hours J.S.T. Sunset that day occurred at approx. 16:55 hours. This eclipse began more 

than 6 hours after sunset (about 11:33 p.m.), when fewer persons were likely to have seen it. 

    An earlier eclipse is more likely to have been noticed, remembered, and recorded by Josephus. However, 

both of the above eclipses are a plausible fit for Josephus' description. In chapter 12 of this book, I conclude 

that the Nov 28 of 9 

B.C.

 eclipse was the eclipse before Herod's death and that Herod died in early 8 

B.C.

 The 

basis for this conclusion is discussed in chapters 12  and 13 in great detail. In summary, numerous pieces of 

evidence point to an earlier date for the reigns of various Roman emperors and rulers (see chapter 13).  The 

earlier eclipse of 9 

B.C.

 fits that earlier chronology, whereas the later eclipse of 1 

B.C.

  does not. Also, the 

information we have from Josephus about the length of Herod's reign and the start of his reign at the capture 

of Jerusalem fit the earlier date for Herod's death, but not the later date (see chapter 12). 

The Start of Passover:  

A.D.

 15 to 

A.D.

 36 

    Christ was crucified at the start of Passover, on a Friday and Nisan 14 (Jn 19:14, 31). Passover does not 

always begin on a Friday, so we must determine which years could have had a Nisan 14 Friday. See Appendix 

I, Chart 1 for a summary of this information. 

265