Summary: Can we find the correct year of Jesus’ birth? The key year of Herod’s death has been debated now for decades. This matter involves the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, because they both say Jesus was born before Herod died. Is there new evidence? Does it matter?
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” – Matthew 2:1-2 (ESV)
A Profile of Herod the Great
Herod the Great was in many ways the architect of the Judea where Jesus was born. He is barely mentioned in the Bible, but not because he failed to accomplish many things. He is called Herod the Great for good reason. But Herod could do great evil as well. As Matthew tells the story, before his death, Herod the Great became Jesus’ first mortal enemy (Matthew 2:1-20).
As a young man Herod found himself fleeing from Galilee and Judea, because a Parthian-backed invasion led by Antigonus Mattathias drove him out in fear for his life. Antigonus harbored a special hatred for all of Herod’s family. Leaving his closest relatives at the Masada fortress, Herod went in search of military help to take back his homeland. All monarchs refused, including Cleopatra of Egypt. But when Herod came to Rome he at last found interest in his cause.
Parthia was a threat to the Roman Empire. Herod was made King of the Jews, and sent back with Roman backing to reclaim his land. Three years later Antigonus surrendered and was taken prisoner; he was executed at an unknown later date, probably at Herod’s urging, before he could plead for mercy from the Emperor.
Did Herod Really Die in 4 B.C.?
In his histories, Josephus says:
- Herod ruled 37 years from being proclaimed king in Rome, and 34 years from the death of Antigonus (Antiquities XVII. 191; War I.665).
- Josephus specifically says Herod captured the city of Jerusalem 27 years to the day after Rome’s General Pompey had done so in 63 B.C. (Antiquities, XIV. 487-488). That day was memorable: the Day of Atonement in the fall of 36 B.C. Herod carried Antigonus away in bonds from that conquest.
- These words from Josephus’ require Herod to have captured Jerusalem in the fall of 36 B.C., exactly 27 years after Pompey’s victory. If King Herod then ruled 34 years from the death of Antigonus, he cannot have died in 4 B.C., but only later.
Obviously, many historians have their reasons for insisting that 4 B.C. is the year of Herod’s death. The reasons are far too many and too involved to resolve in a short article. The debate has resulted in volumes of books and articles dealing with coin dates, the quality of ancient manuscripts, lunar eclipses, movements of planets and much more.
For a summary of all this see Finegan’s Handbook of Biblical Chronology, Revised Edition, or my When the Bible Meets the Sky: the Star of Bethlehem and Other Mysteries. It is noteworthy that Finegan wrote his revised edition primarily because he changed his mind on the death year of Herod. He had earlier accepted 4 B.C. More evidence led him to a new conclusion: 1 B.C.
More Evidence Pointing to King Herod’s Death in 1 B.C.
It’s here that I would introduce another item of evidence. It concerns Herod’s very last days. According to Josephus (Antiquities 17:7), Herod asked for an apple and a knife. He decided to use the knife to take his life because of his state of physical and mental misery. He was prevented from killing himself by a courtier. Wailing sounded through the palace, and Herod’s son Antipater heard it from his cell where he was being held for treason. He offered money to be released, thinking the king had died. The enraged king ordered Antipater to be killed immediately, and Herod died five days later.
Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” – Matthew 2: 7-8 (ESV)
Let’s couple this with one other time reference. Josephus says that in Herod’s final days he ordered the execution of two religious leaders for heading a raid to remove a Roman eagle from the gate of the Temple. On that night there was an eclipse of the moon. (Antiquities 17:6:4).
In 4 B.C. a partial eclipse of the moon happened on March 12/13. In 1 B.C. a total eclipse happened on January 10. The apple incident followed the eclipse, whichever eclipse it was. In a land without refrigeration, besides in cool caves, can apples last until March? The answer is given in the photos provided here. An apple was placed in my unheated shop in Illinois, simulating conditions of a cave. The results were that the apple survived in January, but not into March.
Barring the discovery of some sort of refrigeration in Judea in biblical times, the apple in Josephus’s story becomes evidence that Herod died in 1 B.C., not 4 B.C.
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”– Matthew 2:16-18 (ESV)
With a new death year established for Herod, events in the sky of a most remarkable nature demand to be considered as Matthew’s star, on the basis of the way they conform to the biblical narrative, even “stopping” over Bethlehem. Yes, determining that Herod died in 1 B.C. opens the door to some of the most convincing patterns of evidence for the entire Bible. But that is a subject for more than one Thinker Update.
In 2007 archeologists announced that they had probably located Herod’s tomb. Josephus was clear that the king had been buried at Herodium, but the actual location of the burial had never been found. Ehud Netzer had long believed this discovery awaited. But though a sarcophagus of stone was found within the burial place, it was shattered, and it was empty. The body of Herod the Great has never yet been found. That is consistent with the hatred for this man which continued through the years. Later occupiers of Herodium no doubt destroyed the despised monarch’s burial site and perhaps burned the body.
Herod is barely mentioned in the Talmud, probably due to how the nation felt about him. He was considered an evil man by Josephus. A document called the Megillath Ta’anith gives two dates when Israel should not fast. Though the reasons are not given, many believe one of those dates corresponds to the death of Herod. It would be wrong for Jews to mourn on that day.
Conclusion
Jesus was spared from the evil King Herod. His life would be laid down later. It was not yet that time. Herod’s death in 1 B.C. fits patterns of evidence supporting the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Keep thinking!
Dr. Fred Baltz is the author of Herod, and the just-released book: When the Bible Meets the Sky: the Star of Bethlehem and Other Mysteries.
TOP PHOTO: Herod sarcophagus, broken and found without remains. This is probably evidence of enduring hatred for the King. (credit: Oren Rozen / Wikimedia Commons/ public domain)
NOTE: Not every view expressed by scholars contributing Thinker articles necessarily reflects the views of Patterns of Evidence. We include perspectives from various sides of debates on biblical matters so that readers can become familiar with the different arguments involved. – Keep Thinking!
