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Comments Upon
Dating The Crucifixion of Jesus
Introduction
In Herodian Messiah, I propose Jesus was crucified in 36 CE based largely upon information contained in Josephus and my interpretation of Luke 3:2. Below is a reader comment from Stephen taking issue with this dating and my follow up comment.
- From: Stephen
URL: www.waterbearingfish.com
State of residence: Not Given
Subject: Dating the ministry of Jesus
Date: 11-21-2011
Is it really necessary to push back the start of Jesus' ministry? No it’s not necessary. If high priests could have two wives, why couldn’t Herod Antipas? We don’t know when the divorce happened? We don’t know how long it took for King Aretas to have had enough of Antipas’ shit.
Herod Antipas was married to Phasaelis, a daughter of King Aretas of Nabataea. Herod Antipas marries Herodias, wife of his half-brother, Herod Philip. Joseph Raymond says Philip was also married to Salome whose mother was his wife Herodias. Phasaelis is sent home to King Aretas of Nabataea. King Aretas of Nabataea is insulted; and, as a result, sends an army against Herod Antipas in Judaea. Herod Antipas’ marriage to Herodias is an outrage to John the Baptist as long as Herod Philip is alive. John the Baptist criticizes Herod Antipas’ illegal marriage to Herodias. Herod Antipas imprisons and murders John the Baptist. Lucius Vitellius is appointed president of Syria in 35 C.E. Herod Antipas is defeated by King Aretas. Herod Antipas complains to Emperor Tiberius. Emperor Tiberius tells Vitellius no sooner than 35 C.E. to make war on Aretas.
See how this runs against the timeline of the Palm Sunday coup attempt by Jesus?
Keys: Herod Philip died in 34 Common Era. John the Baptist is likely murdered before Herod Philip dies unless an ironic element is left out of the story.
Questionable: The attack on Judaea by Nabataea occurred no later than 34 Common Era or whenever Phasaelis comes back home to live with her father not necessarily because of the new wife.
But this gives theologians [and Historical Jesus seekers] a problem, for Jesus’ entire ministry, arrest and crucifixion is said to have occurred after John’s death, and so it is unlikely in the extreme that Jesus could have been crucified in [or before] AD 33.
Get the biblical account to make sure Herod Antipas married Herodias and was not just making a mistress of her, which would be an insult to her--as if she can afford to be indignant.
- From: JJR
Subject: Reply
Date: 11-24-2011
Thanks for the comment Stephen. I've never said the theory on dating the crucifixion of Jesus to 36 CE was bullet proof. Rather, my contention is that, when considering all the evidence including Josephus, this date makes more sense than the traditional dates of 30 or 33 CE. Although I rely heavily on Josephus to reach this position, for me the smoking gun comes from Luke 3:2--"in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas". As argued in Herodian Messiah, there were no dual Jewish high priests. Only one high priest served at a time. Therefore, I interpret this line from Luke to mean the year in which Annas and Caiaphas (i.e., Joseph ben Caiaphas, 18-36 CE) each served as high priest for a portion of the year. That year is 36 CE. Luke used the family name to refer Caiaphas and, thus, I believe he used the same convention for "Annas". Annas ben Seth served as high priest from 6-15 CE. Five of his sons later served as high priest and I believe the "Annas" of Luke is one of his sons, specifically Jonathan ben Annas (36-37 CE). Josephus specifically mentions Roman governor Vitellius replacing Caiaphas with Annas. See Antiquties XVIII 4:3.
Getting back to the Josephus information, unless I misread your post there is one point of confusion (which I may have contributed to).1/ Per Josephus, the first husband of Herodias was Herod Boethus (Herod's son by Mariamne bat Boethus).2/ Tetrarch Philip ben Herod was the first husband of Salome bat Herod Boethus (i.e., the daughter of Herodias and Herod Boethus). Herod Boethus was still alive when Herod Antipas married Herodias, which is why John the Baptist railed against the marriage as a violation of Jewish law. I know Matthew 14:3 and Mark 6:17 say the first husband of Herodias was "Philip" but it is wrong IMHO to interpret this to mean Philip the Tetrarch, who died in 34 CE. In fact, many Christian scholars now concede the first husband of Herodias was not Philip the Tetrarch but instead Herod Boethus (as named by Josephus) who they claim was known as "Herod Philip". Here are my top reasons why Philip the Tetrarch was the first husband of Salome and not her mother Herodias.
- Herodias and Herod Antipas were contemporaries of the father of Josephus, who came from a family of high priests. Herod Antipas and Herodias traveled to Jerusalem for Passover during the years of his reign and were surely known personally by the father of Josephus (who I believe eventually became high priest). Salome, the daughter of Herodias, later became the queen of Chalcis upon marrying King Aristobulus ben Herod. Salome and Aristobulus were contemporaries of Josephus. All three were of royal Hasmonean blood. Josephus was undoubtedly acquainted with Salome and knew the identity of her first husband (who he gave as Philip the Tetrarch). This fact lends great weight to the writings of Josephus on this point.
- If Philip the Tetrarch was the first husband of Herodias, then he would have been the father of Salome. Yet Josephus records Philip as dying without children. Salome was thought to have been born in 14 CE and, thus, was only about 20 years of age in 34 CE, which factually fits with her having no children at the death of her first husband. It also fits with Salome as a young widow marrying her cousin King Aristobulus and bearing him three children.
- If Philip the Tetrarch was the first husband of Herodias, then Herodias must have divorced him at least a year or more prior to Philip's death in 34 CE in order to allow time for John the Baptist to condemn Herod Antipas for marriage to his brother's wife, get taken in to custody, and eventually executed by Antipas. To fit in the ministry of Jesus after the death of John the Baptist, we again must add in at least one year and perhaps more. The war between Herod Antipas and King Aretas of Nabatea occurred in 35 CE. If we move forward Herod Antipas divorcing the daughter of King Aretas (which precipitated the war) to 32 CE or earlier, then there is a long lapse between the triggering event and the war. Keep in mind that the kingdoms of Antipas and Aretas bordered one another. Could Aretas have delayed his attack for years until the time was right? Sure it is possible but there is a much greater probability that he attacked as soon as his military was assembled. A battle over a royal woman's honor is done out of passion. Note: It is not me insinuating that Aretas attacked Antipas because of the divorce of his daughter. Josephus specifically states this. See Antiquties XVIII 5:1.
One other clarification, quoting your post: "The attack on Judaea by Nabataea occurred no later than 34 Common Era or whenever Phasaelis comes back home to live with her father not necessarily because of the new wife." The attack by Nabatean king Aretas was on Herod Antipas who was Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea. Judea was not attacked by the Nabateans in this time frame to my knowledge. In my view, the fact that the Nabateans defeated the army of Herod Antipas in 35 CE strengthens the argument that Jesus attempted his revolution in Judea thereafter because a Roman axillary army (i.e., the army of Antipas) had been defeated in the field.
I grant your point that my date of 36 CE for the crucifixion wreaks havoc on the accepted Christian timeline. It causes particular problems for the timeline given to us by Paul of Tarsus for his activities as a Nazarene convert. This really doesn't concern me too much as I take a dim view of Paul of Tarsus, but I guess you already know that :) .
Footnotes
1/ I noticed that the timeline appended to end of Herodian Messiah contains the name "Herod Philip" for the first husband of Herodias. This complies with the assertion of Christian scholars that Herod Boethus was known by this name. I created the first draft of the timeline in 2006 and terminology survives from that time period. I now use Herod Boethus for this individual to avoid confusion with his half-brother Philip the Tetrarch who was known as Herod Philip. All of Herod's sons who received lands to govern under his last will (i.e., Archelaus, Antipas and Philip) were given the honorary title of "Herod" by Augustus. I should have been more precise with my language. As an aside, I have never found substantiation outside of the NT for the contention that Herod Boethus was known as Herod Philip.
2/ Antiquities, XVIII 5:4 (136). In this same paragraph, Josephus states that Herodias' daughter Salome was married to Philip the Tetrarch.
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