10 jan 1 ano antes da era comum - Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)

Descrição:

Herod the Great and Jesus Chronological, Historical and Archaeological Evidence
Gérard GERTOUX

According to the texts of Flavius Josephus: Herod died after a day that the Jews observe as a fast which happened just before an eclipse of the moon (...); after he had reigned for 34 years from the time when he had put Antigonus to death, and for 37 years from the time when he had been appointed king by the Romans (...); before the Passover (Jewish Antiquities XVII:166-167, 191, 213).

The eclipse of January 10, 1 BCE, was total, well visible and longer lasting than the one of March 13, 4 BCE, which likely was not noticed. In the 1st century, lunar eclipses were often interpreted as omens of death for a sovereign, as recalled (near 50 CE) by the Roman historian Quintus Curtius: But, near the day before, the eclipsing moon began for hiding the brightness of its disk and then a kind of veil of blood came staining its light: already worried to such approaches of a terrible chance, the Macedonians were imbued with a deep religious feeling and at the same time with fear. It was against the will of the gods, they said, that they were lead to the ends of the earth (History of Alexander IV: 10).

_____

https://www.askelm.com/star/star011.htm. The Star of Bethlehem, Chapter 9, The Lunar Eclipse of Josephus.

It is not difficult to know which eclipse Josephus referred to if historians will do two things. First, they must eliminate unqualified lunar eclipses that could not be seen in Palestine from 7 B.C.E. to early 1 B.C.E. After that, the historical, archaeological and chronological evidence must be evaluated that supports the eclipse that can properly conform to the evidence provided in the records. Astronomy is the key to it all... In the case of Josephus’ eclipse, there is considerable historical and archaeological documentation to allow historians to pinpoint the precise lunar eclipse to which Josephus had reference even in that dark decade in Roman history.

Josephus reported that a few days prior to the eclipse two important rabbis had encouraged some of the youth at Jerusalem to destroy a golden eagle which Herod had placed over the eastern gate of the temple. These religious leaders had interpreted the existence of this eagle as being contrary to the Law of Moses. And in broad daylight a number of young boys began to cut down the eagle.

These Jewish youths were caught in the act and about forty of them were ordered to appear before Herod and the Sanhedrin (the Supreme Court of the nation) to answer for this outrage. The two rabbis who perpetrated the plan were especially singled out for judgment.

The rabbis and the young men who assisted them were finally convicted of high criminal actions (sacrilege and sedition). While most of the young men were given milder sentences, the two rabbis were ordered to be burnt alive.

What has this information to do with the significance of our eclipse, assuming it was the one of March 13, 4 B.C.E.? The truth is, it is devastating to it. It means that those rabbis would have been burnt alive on the Jewish day of Adar 14, the first day of the two high days of Purim. No court, unless completely illegal, would have had criminals executed and certainly not rabbis on the special day commanded in the Bible when the Jews “rested ... a day of feasting and gladness” (Esther 9:17–18). The whole nation would have been in an uproar over such a procedure.

And note this important point. Josephus shows that the decision to execute the rabbis was made by the Supreme Court of the Jews. And though it appears that some of the judges ― especially the high priest — were reluctant to sentence them, the court still made the decision to have it done. There can be no doubt of the legality of the whole affair. When some of the Jews just before the next Passover expressed their displeasure over the sentence and execution of the rabbis, Archelaus (Herod’s son) tried to calm their outrage by reminding them that their trial had been conducted and the sentence carried out “according to law.” The whole affair was certainly accomplished in a legal manner. Severe punishment such as burning was sometimes interpreted as allowed in the Bible for certain types of crimes (see Leviticus 20:14; 21:9; Joshua 7.25–26). Even the burning of criminals was judged acceptable in extreme cases, and the rabbis were charged with sedition and sacrilege.

The eclipse of Josephus had to have been that of January 10, 1 B.C.E. All the events mentioned by Josephus fit quite comfortably with this eclipse, and only with this eclipse as we will soon show. There were three months from this eclipse to the next Passover. The messengers sent by Herod to Rome at the end of Antipater’s trial in the previous autumn would have arrived back in Palestine (to Herod in Jericho) in 2 or 2 ½ months, which is very reasonable. At the death of Herod in late January, messengers immediately would have been sent to Rome to inform Caesar of Herod’s death, thus permitting Sabinus to arrive from Rome just after the Passover to secure to the imperial treasury the property of Herod. Matthias would also have been available for the Day of Atonement in the previous autumn.

In fact, everything fits beautifully in other ways. There is a Jewish document called the Megillath Taanith (Scroll of Fasting, though it records festival days too) which was composed, initially, not long after the destruction of Jerusalem in C.E. 70. This scroll mentions two semi-festival days during which no mourning was permitted. One is Kislev 7. The month of Kislev corresponds in most years with our December. The other commemorative day was Schebat 2. This month answers to our late January or early February. No one knows why these two days of feasting are commemorated yet they must have been days of joy ordained before the destruction of Jerusalem in C.E. 70. What did they honor?

...M. Moise Schwab, who studied the information about the scroll very extensively, felt that it was really the second of the days, Schebat 2 (January 28th) that was the actual day commemorating Herod’s death. And interestingly, this latter date fits remarkably well with the January 10th eclipse of Josephus. Herod’s death on this very day would have occurred 18 days after the eclipse.

Indeed, even the earlier date of Kislev 7 (December 5th), which the commentator associated with Herod’s death, may have relevance too. Look at what could have happened on that day. This could have been the time when the two rabbis (who were later executed) provoked the young men to tear down the golden eagle from the eastern portal of the temple. Such an occasion could well have inspired some commemorative date in which it was accomplished. In fact, this is the thing that Josephus reports.

Now, the Megillath Taanith records an unknown fast day for commemoration. It was Tebeth 9 (January 6th in 1 B.C.E.). This could very well have been the day the rabbis were tried and sentenced. And three days later on Friday, January 9th, the rabbis were burnt alive to correspond with the lunar eclipse that was predicted for that night. Delaying their execution to the eve of the eclipse (and especially since there were no biblical festival days involved as with the March 13, 4 B.C.E. eclipse) would have allowed Herod to tell the superstitious that even God himself was frowning on the sacrilegious deeds of the two rabbis and that God would express His displeasure that night with an eclipse.

Recognizing that the January 10, 1 B.C.E. eclipse is the one mentioned by Josephus has much historical value in another way. Scholars have wondered for years why Josephus referred only to this one eclipse out of the hundreds that occurred over the generations that he covered in his histories. Why single out this one?

Other than the historical importance of Herod’s death itself, it should be remembered that it was also the very day following the martyrdom of the two illustrious rabbis whom the whole nation admired and esteemed. This was an important event for commemoration to the Jewish people. But there was a national event even more disastrous than that. The occasion of the rabbi’s deaths led directly to 3000 Jewish worshippers at the next Passover being slaughtered in the temple precincts. This massacre, which was ordered by Archelaus (the successor to Herod) resulted in the unusual cancellation of the whole Passover services, a requirement mentioned in Numbers 9:6–14.

This was a most extraordinary event. Such a repeal of Passover services because of 3000 dead bodies being within the temple precincts was a most unique circumstance in the history of temple services. Nothing like it had ever happened before. The suspension of this most important Jewish festival in the calendar of the Jews (like our government today forbidding the celebration of Christmas this year) would long have been remembered by the generality of the Jewish people. Yet, there was another event associated with this cancellation of Passover that would equally have brought that year to special remembrance by the Jews.

This slaughter of the 3000 Jewish worshippers in the temple led directly to a major war between the Jews and the Romans that occupied the whole of the following summer and autumn. Josephus said that this war was no minor skirmish. It was the most significant conflict to occur in Palestine from the time of Pompey in 63 B.C.E. to the Roman/Jewish War of C.E. 66 to 73. In order to subdue this Jewish rebellion, the Romans had to muster their three legions in Syria, plus auxiliary forces (about 20,000 armed men in all), to put down the rebellion that erupted. At the end of the war, 2,000 Jews were crucified and 30,000 sold into slavery. This was a very serious war in Palestine. And what started it? It was the death of the rabbis associated with the eclipse of the Moon near Herod’s death. This is one of the major reasons that that eclipse was long remembered by the Jews.

_____

Joseph Lenard
Posted on January 7, 2017
Jesus’ Birth – The Death of Herod

According to Ernest Martin, there are a number of modern historians who agree with the selection of the January 10, 1 BC eclipse, including E. Filmer, Ormund Edwards, and, most notably, Dr. Paul Keresztes, who supported the date in his two-volume work Imperial Rome and the Christians (1989). In addition, several notable historians from that past supported the selection, including French scholar Joseph Justus Scaliger (in the 16th century) and German historian Sethus Calvisius (who recorded nearly 300 eclipses as benchmarks for reckoning historical events of the past). In the last century, English scholars William Galloway, H. Bosanquet, and C. R. Conder affirmed the date, as did German professors Caspari and Reiss.

Adicionado na linha do tempo:

Data: