WHEN was Jesus Crucified?
Previous Parts:
Part 1 - Link
Part 2 - Link
Part 3 - Link
Part 4 - Link
Part 5 - Link
Part 6a - Link
Part 6b - More of Eusebius' Confusion
In the
Part 6a last, I established that Eusebius had placed the crucifixion of Jesus –
even if inadvertently – in 30 CE, 19 CE and 34 to 36 CE. Now I will show that
he even throws in still more dates for said crucifixion; which, as I have shown
before, could have been a cruci-fiction!
The
next point I will bring up is Pilate’s storage and display of the imperial
emblems at the House of the Holy Place in Jerusalem at the beginning of his
term, which temple was rebuilt and dedicated as a ROMAN TEMPLE. So I give the page over to Eusebius so he will
show us how it relates the aforementioned execution of the historical Jesus.
In his Church History II:5:1
6. But I shall omit the most of them and record only those things which
will make clearly evident to the reader that the misfortunes of the Jews came
upon them not long after their daring deeds against Christ and on account of
the same.
7. And in the first place he relates that at Rome in the reign of Tiberius,
Sejanus, who at that time enjoyed great influence with the emperor, made every
effort to destroy the Jewish nation utterly; and that in Judea, Pilate, under whom the crimes against the Saviour were
committed, attempted something contrary to the Jewish law in respect to the
temple, which was at that time still standing in Jerusalem, and excited them to
the greatest tumults.
Continuing in Church History II.6:2
3. … With him [Philo3]
agrees also Josephus, who likewise indicates that the misfortunes of the whole
nation began with the time of Pilate, and with their daring crimes against the Saviour.
4. Hear what he says in the second book of his Jewish War, where he
writes as follows: Pilate being sent to Judea as
procurator4 by Tiberius, secretly carried veiled images of the
emperor, called ensigns, to Jerusalem by night. The following day this caused
the greatest disturbance among the Jews. For those who were near were
confounded at the sight, beholding their laws, as it were, trampled under foot.
For they allow no image to be set up in their city.
5. Comparing these things with the writings of the evangelists, you will
see that it was not long before there
came upon them the penalty for the exclamation which they had uttered under the
same Pilate, when they cried out that they had no other king than Cæsar.5
Josephus
in Antiquities 18.3.1 established the
placements of the images of the emporer at the beginning of his prefecture,
i.e., in 26 CE, or perhaps 19 CE going by the context in Antiquities 18.2.5 [54] which relates the death of Germanicus
Caesar.6 Of course, this simply confirms the confusion that we have
seen in Part 6a: the crucifixion occurred in 30 CE by Pontius
Pilate (Church History I.10.1), 19 CE
by Valerius Gratus (Church History
I.10.2-4), and 34, 35 or 36 CE by the selfsame Pilate (Church History I.11.1-8.
A
similar confusion is present in Eusebius’ Demonstratio
Evangelica (The Proof of the Gospel),
Book 8, chapter 2, sections 133 fin
through 139 (Tertullian.org webpage)
= pages 398 fin through 403 (Tr. W.J.
Ferrar (1920)): (emphasis and formatting mine) 7
|133 fin
= (398 [fin]) And the Evangelist St.
Luke seems to imply this, where he says, "In the fifteenth year of the reign
of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod, Philip
and Lysanias being tetrarchs, Annas and Caiaphas being high-priests."8 For how could they both be high-priest at
the same time unless the rules of the high-priesthood were disregarded?
"In witness whereof Josephus writes: (399)
"Valerius Gratus the Roman General, after closing the
high-priesthood of Ananus, appointed Ismael the son of Pheba, and removing him
shortly afterwards appointed Eleazar son of Ananus the high-priest. A year
later he removed him, and gave the office to |134 Simon son of Gathimus. He did not remain high priest more than
a year, when Josephus, son of Caiaphas, took his place." 9
I
was obliged to give this quotation because of the words "The Unction shall be cast out, and there is no judgment
in it,''10 which seem to
me proved by it beyond any doubt.
After
this the prophecy says, "And the city, and the
holy place, he will destroy, with the governor that cometh."11 Here again I understand the rulers of foreign stock who succeeded him to be meant.
For as above he named the High-Priests, Christs and Governors, saying, "Until Christ the Governor," in the same way
after their time and after their
abolition there was no other ruler to come but the (c) same Herod of foreign
stock,12 and the others ruled the nation in order after them, in whose company
and by whose aid, using them as his agents, that hateful bane of good men is
said to have destroyed the city and the Holy Place. And indeed he destroyed
of a truth the whole nation, now upsetting the established order of the
priesthood, now perverting the whole people, and encouraging the city (which
(d) stands metaphorically for its people) in impiety. And Aquila agrees with my
interpretation of the passage, translating thus, "And
the people of the governor that cometh will destroy the city and the holy place."13 Meaning that the city and the Holy Place
arc not only to be ruined by the leader to come, whom I have identified in my
interpretation, but also by his people. And you would not be far wrong in
saying, too, that the Roman general and his army arc [sic] meant by the words
before us, where I think the camps of the Roman rulers are meant, who governed
the nation from that time, and who destroyed the city of Jerusalem itself, and
its ancient venerable Temple. For they were cut off by them as by a flood, and
were at once involved in destruction until the war was concluded, so that the
prophecy was fulfilled and they suffered
utter desolation (400) after their
plot against our Saviour, which was followed by their extreme sufferings during
the siege.14 You will find an
accurate account of it in the history of Josephus.
But
after the prophecy of the events that happened to the Jewish nation in the
intermediate period between the |135
seven and sixty-two weeks, there follows the prophecy of the new Covenant
announced by our Saviour. So when all the intermediate matter between the seven
and the sixty-two weeks is finished, there is added, "And he will confirm (b) a
Covenant with many one week,"15
and in half the week the sacrifice and the libation shall be taken away, and on
the Holy Place shall come the abomination of desolation, and until the fullness
of time fullness shall be given to the desolation. Let us consider how this was
fulfilled.
Now the whole period of our
Saviour's Teaching and working of Miracles is said to have been
three-and-a-half years, which is half a week. John the Evangelist, in his
Gospel, makes this clear to the attentive.16 One week of years therefore
would be represented by the whole period of His association with the Apostles,
both the time before His Passion, and the time after His Resurrection. For it
is written that before His Passion He shewed Himself for the space of
three-and-a-half years to His disciples and also to those who were not His
disciples: while by teaching and miracles He revealed the powers of His Godhead
to all equally whether Greeks or Jews. But after His Resurrection He was most
likely with His disciples a period equal |136
to the years, being seen of them forty days, and eating with them, and speaking
of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God, as the Acts of the Apostles
tells us. So that this would be the prophet's week of years, during which He
"confirmed a covenant with many,"
confirming that is to say the new Covenant of the Gospel Preaching. And who
were the many to whom He confirmed it, but His own disciples and Apostles, and
such of the Hebrews who believed in Him? And moreover, half through this week,
during which He confirmed the said Covenant with many, the (401) sacrifice and
libation was taken away, and the abomination of desolation began, for in the
middle of this week after the three-and-a-half days of His Teaching, at the time when He suffered, the Veil of the
Temple was torn asunder from the top to the bottom, so that in effect from that
time sacrifice and libation were taken away, and the abomination of desolation
stood in the holy place, inasmuch as the Being had left them desolate,17 Who had been from time immemorial till
(b) that day the guardian and protector of the place. For it is fitting to
believe that up to the Saviour's Passion there was some Divine Power guarding
the Temple and the Holy of Holies. For He could not have attended with the
multitude at the Temple to keep the Feasts according to the laws, if He had not
known that it still remained a place worthy of God. Therefore there were in the
Temple also some that prophesied up to that time, as Anna the (c) Prophetess,
daughter of Phanuel, and Simeon, who took Him into his arms when He was an
infant, whose prophecies are handed down in Scripture. Nor could our Lord have
said to the leper, "Go, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift
which Moses commanded for a testimony unto thee," if He had not considered
it right for the legal observances to be carried out there as in a holy place
worthy of God. Nor would He have thrust out those who bought and sold, saying,
"Take these things hence, and make not |137 my
Father's House a house of merchandise," if He had not thought that the
Temple was still to be reckoned sacred. But it was when the hour of their
extreme wickedness drew near, that He explained all when He said, "Behold
your house is left unto you desolate," which also was fulfilled, when at his
Passion the Veil of the Temple was wholly rent in twain, and from that moment
the sacrifice and libation well pleasing to God according to the ordinance of
the Law was in effect taken away, and when it was removed, the abomination of
desolation, as the prophecy before us says, appeared in its place. And if it be
said that the worship of the Sanctuary appeared to continue for a time, yet it
was not pleasing to God, being offered without judgment and not according to
the Law. For as before of (402) old when the Unction was abolished, and the
lawful line of High Priests ceased after the death of Hyrcanus, they who held
the office afterwards seemed to perform disordered and illegal rites, since
they were breaking the fitting Laws, of whom the prophecy said, "The
Unction shall be cast out, and there is no judgment in it," referring to
its illegality and lack of judgment; so here you will rightly say it has
happened to the offering and libation, which were rightly and (b) lawfully
offered before our Saviour's Passion, while the Power still guarded the Holy
Places, but which were taken away directly after the perfect and supreme
Sacrifice which He offered, when He offered Himself for our sins, being the
Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world, which sacrifice having been
delivered to all men in the new Sacraments of the new Covenant, the Sacrifices
of the old are taken away. For concurrently with the fulfilment of the oracle
which says, "And he shall confirm a covenant (c) with many one week,"
all that is connected with the old Covenant is abolished. And when was the new
Covenant confirmed, but when our Lord and Saviour, about to consummate the
great Mystery of His delivery to death, on the night in which He was betrayed,
delivered to His disciples the symbols of the unspeakable words of the new
Covenant referring to Him? For concurrently with this celebration, (d) the old
Covenant of Moses was abolished, which was shewn by the veil of the Temple
being rent at the very time. Sacrifice and libation being from that time
abolished and ceasing in effect and truth, any sacrifices that were |138 afterwards thought to be offered there were
celebrated in a profane place by profane and unhallowed men. Hear the witness
of Josephus about this:
"On the day of Pentecost, the priests going by night into
the Temple, as was their custom, for the services, said that they were first
conscious of a quaking and a sound, and afterwards of a sudden voice which
said, Let us depart hence."18
And
he records this to have taken place after the Passion of our Saviour.19
And the same writer says elsewhere: (403)
"Pilate the Governor "(meaning the Pilate of
our Saviour's time) "brought the images of
Caesar into the Temple by night, which was unlawful, and caused a great
outburst of tumult and disorder among the Jews."20 Which
Philo confirms, saying:
"Pilate laid up in the Temple by night the imperial
emblems, and from that time the Jews were involved in rebellion and mutual
troubles." 21
And from that time a succession
of all kinds of troubles afflicted the whole nation and their city until the
last war against them, and the final siege, in which destruction (b) rushed on
them like a flood with all kinds of misery of famine, plague and sword, and all
who had conspired against the Saviour in their youth were cut off; then, too,
the abomination of desolation stood in the Temple, and it has remained there
even till to-day, while they have daily reached deeper depths of desolation. And perhaps this will be so
until the end of the world, according to the limit set by the prophet when he
said, "And unto the consummation of time a fulfilment shall be given to
the desolation." (c) These words our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ sealed,
when He said, "When ye shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of
by Daniel the Prophet, standing in the Holy Place, then ye shall know that her
desolation draws near."
And
if the Jews are hard to persuade of this, they must be convicted not only of a
shameless opposition to truth |139 and clear evidence, but also of
misrepresenting, so far as they can, the predictions as falsehoods, if it is to
be thought that in the seventy weeks of years some of them include all the
time, while they prophesy of what is to happen in the intermediate period,
while others, though we are now nearly a thousand years from the date of the
prophecy, admit no (d) sign of the fulfilment of what was written, although
their Unction has been abolished, as the divine prediction foretold, and their
sanctuary, and the former inhabitants destroyed and utterly brought to naught
in the flood of the completed war, and strangest thing of all even now to be
seen, I mean, the abomination of desolation still standing in the one holy
place, concerning which our Lord and Saviour said what I have quoted.
This is
a very long-winded and rambling
passage!
Now I
shall attempt to address each point to decipher the implied date for the Crucifixion
of the historical Jesus.
First, he
quotes Luke 3, which establishes the beginning of John the Baptist’s career in
the fifteenth year of Tiberias Caesar, which would be 28 or 29 CE or 28-29 CE,
depending on what dates are used. Since Luke was writing for an educated Greek
and Roman audience, the counting syatem likely used would have been de facto years starting from August 14
or September 18, 14 CE; non-accession years by the Julian calendar which would
count the partial year of 14 CE as a full year, i.e., the first year; or
accession years which would make 15 CE the first year.22 This would
make the year of the Crucifixion about 29 or 30 CE, given Luke’s presentation
of Jesus’ career within the span of about one year.
Next,
he mentions Luke’s assertion of Annas (Ananius) and Caiaphas being high-priests
at once, which he questions, and resolves the conundrum by quoting Josephus’
recounting of the Romans’ annual replacement of the high priest, in
contravention of Jewish Law, four times under Valerius Gratus during 14 to 18
CE, with Caiaphas becoming high priest starting in CE. 23
Then
Eusebius relates the end of the succession of high priests that was legally
valid according to Jewish Law when Herod took the throne in Jerusalem in 37 CE.
His recounting of Valerius Gratus’ removal and appointment of four high priests
within the space of four years compelled him to cite Aquila version of Daniel
9:26, which interpreted the Messiah being cut off as the Unction (religious or
ceremonial anointing in accordance with Jewish Law) being “cast out,” 24
followed by the “destruction” of Jerusalem under the train of kings, prefects,
procurators beginning in 37 BCE and ending with the Judean rebels being
defeated and the city and temple physically destroyed by the Roman military
commanders in 70 CE.
After
this Eusebius asserts without any justification from the gospel of John or the
Synoptics, that Jesus’ career lasted 3½ years. Now I have shown in Part
6a that in Church History
Eusebius arrived at this bit of information by harmonizing Luke’s chronology concerning
the high priests Annas (Ananias) and Caiaphas with that of Josephus, which are
also recounted above. There are only three Passovers noted in gJohn, and just
one in each of the synoptics, so the most amount of time Jesus’ ministry would
have covered by a realistic reckoning of the data is a little over two years.
Stranger
still is that Eusebius places the “Abomination of Desolation” at the
Crucifixion -- not that the Crucifixion itself was the Abomination; but the
curtain was ripped in twain as a result, and the Being that dwelt therein flew
the coop – thus revoking the sacrifice and the libation and turning the
continuation of the sacrifieces and so forth an abomination: because from
henceforth, the priests were offering them in a profane place; and what is
more, they did not recognize Jesus’ self-sacrifice as a final one-time
sacrifice for all sins. On the other hand, I think it would make more sense if
Golgotha, the locus of the Crucifixion, was the Temple Mount, where
Mark appears to place it, right in front of the Temple, rather than in that
place now occupied by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, thus making the
Crucifixion itself the Abomination. He
concludes this digression by quoting Josephus’ Jewish War anecdote of the Day
of Pentecost, 65 CE, when voices were heard from within the Temple, “Let us depart hence.” 18, 19 But it can
hardly be possible that the Crucifixion was in 65 CE! 19 Yet that is
exactly where Eusebius places it, apparently.
And
then Eusebius quotes Josephus’ recounting of the event where Pontius Pilate,
the freshly minted prefect (and procurator) of Judaea, brings the images and ensigns
of Caesar into the Second Temple, which was a Roman
temple, causing an uproar among the Judean people as a result. He even
has Philo say the same thing.21 And perhaps Philo did, in a work
that is now (conveniently) lost. Still, Eusebius states that this incident
happened after the Crucifixion, thus placing it at the very beginning of
Pilate’s rule: 26 CE, or 18 / 19 CE if the Josephan references to the lengths
of Valerus Gratus and Pontius Pilate’s hegemonies over Judea are interpolated
instead of authentic.
On the
other hand, Eusebius puts the special darkness of the Synoptic Gospels about 32
or 33 CE. On this point, Raymond E. Brown notes that: 25
“Eusebius in his Chrinocle for the 18th-19th
year of the reign of Tiberius (GCS [2d ed.] 47.147-75)26, the section for the “18th – 19th year of
the government of Tiberius Caesar, reports that Phlegon says that in the 4th
year of the 202d Olympiad there was a great eclipse of the Sun, outdoing all
that preceded it. It became like a night at midday. The specified year would
have run from July 1, AD 32 to June 30, AD 33.27
It is
not found in the Armenian, but it has been translated into Latin and repeated
in Jerome’s Chronicle which contains
the following on this point (emphasis and formatting mine): 28
d Jesus Christ, according to the
prophecies, which had been spoken about him beforehand, came to the Passion in the 18th year of Tiberius, at which time
also we find these things written verbatim in other commentaries of the
gentiles: an eclipse of the sun happened (1), Bithynia shaken by
earthquake, and in the city of Nicaea many buildings collapsed: all of which
agree with what occurred in the Passion of the Saviour. Indeed Phlegon, who is
an excellent calculator of Olympiads, also writes about this, in his 13th book
writing thus:
"However in the fourth year of the 202nd olympiad, an
eclipse of the sun happened, greater and more excellent than any that had
happened before it; at the sixth hour, day turned into dark night, so that the
stars were seen in the sky, and an earthquake in Bithynia toppled many
buildings of the city of Nicaea."
These things the aforementioned
man (says).
The proof however of this matter,
that in this year the Saviour suffered, the gospel of John presents, in which
it is written that after the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, the Lord preached
for three years. Also Josephus, a native writer of the Jews, attests that
around that time on the day of Pentecost, the priests first perceived an earth
tremor and certain (loud) sounds. Then, that an unexpected voice suddenly burst
out from the innermost part of the Temple saying: "Let us flee from this abode." However the aforementioned
man writes that in the same year Pilate the governor secretly in the night set
up images of Caesar in the temple, and from this arose the first cause of the
rebellion and turmoil of the Jews.
(1)
November 24, 29 AD.
Here Eusebius comes close to the modern traditional reckoning of the crucifixion in 33 CE, as opposed to 30 CE, accepted by most scholars. But even here he makes a few errors. Here Eusebius states Jesus’ suffering was in the 18th year of Tiberius Caesar’s Government, which would be 32 CE by de facto (Aug/Sept 31 to Aug/Sept 32) or accessional year (32). The accessional year is worse – it yields 31 CE.
But his
paragraph runs into the 19th year of Tiberius Caesar, which fits a three-year
ministry ending in 33 CE nicely; it is in total agreement with Phlegon’s
alleged dating of the eclipse. We are lucky in that eusebius explicitly stated
that Jesus started his ministry in the 16th year of Tiberius, because people
back then might have counted these years not as excluding said 15th year, but
including it, which means we would have been back to 32 CE again!30 Worse, Eusebius brings in an event which
occurred in 65 CE (“Let us remove hence”) 29
and an event which occurred most likely in 26 CE per Antiquities 18.2.2 (or perhaps 19 CE per Antiquities 18.2.5 & 18.3.1.). 31
Recap:
It
appears that Eusebius does not know when
Jesus was crucified. Quoting different sources, he seems to comes up with several
different dates: 19 CE (when Caiaphas became high priest), about 30 CE (=the
16th year of Tiberius Caesar), 34 to 36 CE (after the death of John the Baptist),
26 (or 19) CE (the attempt by Pilate to erect standards with Tiberius Caesar’s
effigies on them), 65 CE (the year of the Passover of the great throngs, when
voices came from the Temple, saying, “Let us depart hence”) which is
impossible, 32 CE (eighteenth year of Tiberius Caesar), 32/33 CE (three years
after the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, counted inclusively or exclusively),
and 33 CE (4th year of the 202nd Olympiad). Rather, it is apparent that he is
trying to shoehorn saecular history in order to fit the Gospel narrative, or
rather, the harmonized Gospel
“narrative,” as Dr. Brown himself observed. 32
So we finally come round to the baseline for Eusebius’ reasoning -- that Luke is correct in establishing John the
Baptist’s ministry in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar and assumed about one
full year before Jesus showed up to be baptized. To him, everything else is
secondary and the date of Jesus’ execution would have been in 33 CE. But to get
there he creates an awful lot of confusion!
Which
will lead us to Part 6c: what is the Gospel dating, or rather, what are the Gospels’
dates for the Crucifixion?
Notes:
1. Eusebius, Church History II.5.6,7. Link: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250102.htm
. For the Greek Text, see Historia
Ecclesiastica at the Documenta Catholica Omnia website, Eusebius
Caesariensis, Historia Ecclesiastica entry page here: http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/04z/z_0265-0339__Eusebius_Caesariensis__Historia_Ecclesiastica__GR.pdf.html.
2. Ibid; see also Josephus, Antiquities 18.3.1.
3. Philo Judaeus, Legate ad Caium 360 (ch. 38): “… and his
endless savage ferocity.”
4. Note Eusebius follows Josephus’
nomenclature of ἐπίτροπος (epitropos = procurator) in his Jewish
War instead of ἡγεμών (hegemon = prefect) that he used in Antiquities. See also Richard
Carrier, at Richard Carrier Blogs “Herod the Procurator”
where he explains that Tacitus actually wrote that one line about Christus, and
used the word procurator to belittle
Pilate and drag him down from the rank of praefectus,
which Pilate actually held, to the status of a lowly procurator, which office
was frequently filled by freedmen. (Posted by R. Carrier Jan. 6, 2012 and
accessed Feb. 20, 2014)
5.
gJohn 19:15. The
original Greek reads, οὐκ ἔχομεν βασιλέα εἰ μὴ Καίσαρα. (ouk basilea ei mê Kaisara) “We have no king, if not
Caesar.”
6. Josephus,
Antiquities 18.3.1 [55]: “But now Pilate, the procurator of
Judea, removed the army from Cesarea to Jerusalem, to take their winter
quarters there, in order to abolish the Jewish laws.” Establishing the time in
the context is “But now,” immediately following on the death of Germanicus
Caesar in Antiquities 18.2.5 [54]. Note
that in the Koine Greek, δέ (de) is a
conjunctive participle with adversative force, generally meaning “while,
whereas, on the other hand, then, yet, now.” The time established by this
context then is 19 CE for the first instance in Antiquities of the controversy that Pilate stirred up (also
recorded previously in Jewish War 2.x.x [169] – [174]).
7. Eusebius, Demonstratio Evangelica (The
Proof of the Gospel), Book 8, link: http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/eusebius_de_10_book8.htm
8. gLuke 3:2; see n. 5 in Part 6a.
9. Josephus, Antiquities 18.2.2 [34].
10. Daniel 9:26, Aquila version, as quoted and/or interpreted by Eusebius in Dem. Evan. Book 8, chapter 2, section
396. It appears that Eusebius’ quotes within the body of text of this chapter
vary widely from the actual Aquila
text, which is given in full at the heading of chapter 2. See n. 7 for link.
11. Ibid.
12. Herod the Great (r. de jure 40-4 BCE, de facto 37-4 BCE) as understood by Eusebius in section 396, and
the whole train of Roman-appointed leaders after him until the Roman general
Titus and his legions destroy the temple and the town utterly in 70 CE.
13. Same as n. 10 above.
14. By traditional understanding, 37
years (33-70 CE) elapsed between the alleged Jewish plots against Jesus and the
final siege of Jerusalem by the Roman general Titus. By most New Testament
scholars’ understanding, 40.
15. Daniel 9:27, Aquila version. Save caveats noted in n. 10 above also apply.
16. Actually gJohn has mention of
just three Passovers, which means the time period of Jesus’ ministry intended
by John may be as short as slightly more than two years.
17. This is a novel interpretation of
the prophecy of Daniel 9:27, 11:31, 12:11; referred to by Mark 13:14.
18. Josephus, Jewish War 6.5.3 [299].
19. See n. 18 above. According to
Josephus, this occurred on Pentecost in the year of the “Passover of the Great
Throngs,” or 65 CE. By most modern New Testament scholars’ reckoning of the
year of the Crucifixion (i.e., 30 CE), this was just shy of four decades after.
20. Josephus, Jewish War 2.9.2 [169],
Antiquities 18.3.1 [55].
21. Philo Judaeus, Legate ad Caium 360 (ch. 38) is the
location of Philo’s discussion about Pilate. The above quote appears to be made
up, derivative of what Josephus wrote. Following is a paraphrase of what Philo
wrote:
Philo
tells us (Legatio ad Caium, xxxviii) that on other occasion he dedicated some
gilt shields in the palace of Herod in honor of the emperor. On these shields
there was no representation of any forbidden thing, but simply an inscription
of the name of the donor and of him in whose honor they were set up. The Jews
petitioned him to have them removed; when he refused, they appealed to
Tiberius, who sent an order that they should be removed to Caesarea. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Online: “Pilate;
Pontius“ (accessed 4-17-2014).
22. John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew, Rethinking the Historical
Jesus, New York, The Anchor Bible Reference Library, Bantam Doubleday Dell
Publishing, 1991, Vol. I, p. 385. Dr. Meier notes herein that Luke was
“certainly aiming his ambitious literary creation at a cultured Greco-Roman
audience, embodied in the ‘excellent Theophilus’ of Luke 1:3 and Acts 1:1….” He
notes further that Luke most likely would have used the Julian calendar and
accounted the regnal years of Tiberius as (a) the de facto regnal years August 19th as the anniversary date, (b)
counted the portion of the year 14 CE after August 19th inclusive as a whole
year, a.k.a. the “(‘non-accession-year system’),” or (c) counted the years
beginning with January 1, 15 CE, a.k.a. the “(‘accession-year system’).”
23. Josephus, Antiquities 20.9.1
[197], 20.9.2 [205]. Josephus herein refers to the elder Ananias as the
high-priest; or rather for our understanding, high-priest emeritus, for Jewish Law, before the Romans nullified the relevant
ordinances by their removals and reappointments of said priests, had stipulated
that the high priest had a life-time tenure. In which case a 29 or 30 CE
crucifixion date would be perfectly fine with the chronology of Luke (save the
birth of Jesus linked with the first year of the rule of Quirinus as Legate of
Syria in 6 CE).
24. To be fair, the Septuagint does the same
thing: ἐξολεθρευθήσεται χρῖσμα καὶ κρίμα οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῷ (exolethreuthêsetai chrisma kai ouk estin en
autô) = “the anointing will be utterly destroyed and the decree is not by
itself.” (Tufts
Perseus Greek Word Study Tool 4-13-2014)
25. Raymond E Brown, The Death of the Messiah. New York,
Anchor Bible Reference Library, Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell
Publishing Group, Inc., 1994, p. 1042.
26. Ibid., n. 26: “Tiberius reigned
from 14 to 37; was Eusebius thinking of AD 31-32? Holzmeister (“Finsternis”)
raises the issue of a possible confusion between a moon eclipse on April 3, AD
33, and the sun eclipse of Nov. 24, AD 29.”
27. Ibid., n. 27: “Some like Maier
(“Sejanus”) use this evidence to argue for the death of Jesus in April 33, but
such reasoning does not remove the impossibility of a solar eclipse at
Passover.”
28. Roger Pearse, “Jerome’s Chronicle, Being Eusebius’ Chronicle, Part II (Chronological Tables
/ Canons),” (2005) pp. 188-332, http://rbedrosian.com/jerome_chronicle_03_part2.htm,
accessed 20 May 2014 p. 256/25[7],. This passage in para. b notes that Jesus started his ministry in the 16th year of
Tiberius, the 1st year of the 202nd Olympiad.
29. Same as notes 18 and 19 above.
30. See n. 28 above.
31. For 26 CE, from Josephus’ Antiquities 18.2.2: “He {Tiberius] was
now the third emperor; and he sent Valerius Gratus to be procurator of Judea,
and to succeed Annius Rufus…. When Gratus had done those things, he went back
to Rome, after he had tarried in Judea eleven years, when Pontius Pilate came
as his successor.” For 19 CE, see note 6 above.
32. Brown, p. 1042, “Eusebius goes on
to connect this with an earthquake in Bithynia that caused buildings to fall in
Nicaea and with signs in the Jerusalem Temple reported by Josephus; clearly he
is constructing a scenario to match the gospels.”
