Numismatics.Roman Provincial Coinage I (A. Burnett, M. Amandry & P. P. Ripollès): RPC I 4242 · 4245 · 4252 · 4255-4259 · 4262 · 4270 · 4330 · 4917 · 4934 · 4967-4969.
Epigraphy. ILS 918 (Tivoli, the titulus Tiburtinus) · ILS 2683 (Aemilius Secundus, Berytus) · AE 1925, 85. Dessau, Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae; L'Année épigraphique.
Documentary. P.Yadin 16 (provincial census declaration, AD 127) · Mur 18 (Les grottes de Murabbaʿât, acknowledgment of debt).
Rabbinic and Jewish sources. Mishnah, Rosh Hashanah i.1 and 10b-11a · Megillat Taʿanit (7 Kislev; scholion, post-Talmudic) · Seder Olam 28 · the sabbatical-year calendars of Zuckermann and Wacholder.
Roman sources.Res Gestae Divi Augusti 8 and 35 (ed. Cooley) · Cassius Dio 48.39, 48.41.4–5, 49.23.1, 54.29.8, 55.10 and 55.10a.4 (Loeb; Boissevain) · Appian, Bellum civile 5.65 · Plutarch, Antonius 33.1 · Livy, Periochae 127–128 · Tacitus, Annales 3.48 · Pliny, Naturalis Historia 6.141 and 12.55-56 · Macrobius, Saturnalia 2.4.11 · Ovid, Fasti 5.545-598.
Patristic and Eastern chronographers. Tertullian, Adversus Iudaeos 8; Adversus Marcionem 4.19.10 · Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses 2.22.5-6 · Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 1.21.144-146 · Origen, Contra Celsum 1.57; Commentarii in Matthaeum frag. 23 · Eusebius, Chronicon; Quaestiones ad Stephanum 16.2 · Epiphanius, Panarion 51 · Hippolytus, In Danielem IV.23 (ed. Bonwetsch, GCS) · De Pascha Computus (AD 243, Migne PL 4) · Julius Africanus · Orosius, Historiae · Cassiodorus · Bar Hebraeus (AG 309) · John Chrysostom, Homiliae in Matthaeum 6.3 (NPNF¹ 10) · Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos 2.3 (Loeb).
Astronomical. The comet and eclipse catalogs: Ho Peng Yoke no. 63 (after Han Shu 天文志, "Treatise on the heavens"; Han Shu 26, Jianping 2, and 11, Jianping 3) · Ramsey's catalogue of Greco-Roman comets (objects 30 and 31) · the Babylonian diaries and almanacs (ADART V no. 31; ADART VII, SE 305 and 328) · the umbral-eclipse scan after Espenak's canon (NASA). Both marked CALCULATED where they supply a date.
II.2 · Modern literature (APA 7)
The referencing rests on the citations in the main text and on the primary reading notes (the M series, unpublished working notes) and the reading list of the dossier.
Core works.
- Barnes, T. D. (1968). The date of Herod's death. Journal of Theological Studies, 19(1), 204–209. - Bernegger, P. M. (1983). Affirmation of Herod's death in 4 B.C. Journal of Theological Studies, 34(2), 526–531. - Cameron, D. (2018). Target fixation and the eclipse of Josephus: Towards a re-dating of the death of Herod the Great [unpublished manuscript]. Academia.edu. - Cameron, D. (2018). Herod the Great's regnal years: The ordinal-year references of Josephus [unpublished manuscript]. Academia.edu. - Dąbrowa, E. (1998). The governors of Roman Syria from Augustus to Septimius Severus (Antiquitas, Reihe 1, Bd. 45). Habelt. - Davies, W. D., & Allison, D. C. (1988). A critical and exegetical commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew (Vol. 1, International Critical Commentary). T&T Clark. - Finegan, J. (1998). Handbook of biblical chronology (rev. ed.). Hendrickson. - Hoehner, H. W. (1977). Chronological aspects of the life of Christ. Zondervan. - Kasher, A., & Witztum, E. (2007). King Herod: A persecuted persecutor. A case study in psychohistory and psychobiography (Studia Judaica 36). De Gruyter. - Keener, C. S. (2012). Acts: An exegetical commentary (Vol. 1). Baker Academic. - Kokkinos, N. (1998). The Herodian dynasty: Origins, role in society and eclipse (Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, Suppl. 30). Sheffield Academic Press. - Kushnir-Stein, A. (1995). Another look at Josephus' evidence for the date of Herod's death. Scripta Classica Israelica, 14, 73–86. - Lanser, R. D., Jr. (2021). The Parthian War paradigm and the reign of Herod the Great. Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin, 66, 21–36. - Maier, P. L. (1997). In the fullness of time: A historian looks at Christmas, Easter, and the early church. Kregel. (orig. 1991) - Meier, J. P. (1991). A marginal Jew: Rethinking the historical Jesus (Vol. 1, Anchor Bible Reference Library). Doubleday. - North, R. (1954). Sociology of the Biblical jubilee (Analecta Biblica 4). Pontifical Biblical Institute. (reprint of: North, R. (1953). Maccabean Sabbath years. Biblica, 34, 501–515.) - Schalit, A. (2001). König Herodes: Der Mann und sein Werk (2nd ed., Studia Judaica 4). De Gruyter. - Schürer, E., Vermes, G., Millar, F., & Black, M. (1973–1987). The history of the Jewish people in the age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C.–A.D. 135) (rev. ed., G. Vermes et al., Vols. 1–3). T&T Clark. [SVM] - Sherwin-White, A. N. (1963). Roman society and Roman law in the New Testament. Clarendon Press. - Smallwood, E. M. (1976). The Jews under Roman rule from Pompey to Diocletian (Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity 20). Brill. - Steinmann, A. E. (2009). When did Herod the Great reign? Novum Testamentum, 51(1), 1–29. - Steinmann, A. E. (2011). From Abraham to Paul: A biblical chronology. Concordia. - Steinmann, A. E., & Young, R. C. (2020a). Elapsed times for Herod the Great in Josephus. Bibliotheca Sacra, 177(707), 308–328. - Steinmann, A. E., & Young, R. C. (2020b). Consular and sabbatical years in Herod's life. Bibliotheca Sacra, 177(708), 442–461. - Steinmann, A. E., & Young, R. C. (2021). Dating the death of Herod and the reigns of his sons. Bibliotheca Sacra, 178(712), 436–454. - Visser, H. (2026a). Three Days and Three Nights: The case for the crucifixion on Wednesday 25 April in AD 31 (updated ed.). Academia.edu. https://www.academia.edu/170920113/Three_Days_and_three_nights_the_case_for_the_crucifixion_on_wednesday_25_April_in_31AD_Updated_20260906 - Visser, H. (2026b). Dating the Birth of Jesus — base register and logigram [Data set and software]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22944959
Also cited in the main text (with the identification the text gives; full bibliographic completion against the works consulted to follow):
Alföldy, G.; Africa, T. W. (1982, the illness as topos); Beckwith, R. T. (Calendar and chronology); Bonwetsch, G. N. (ed., Hippolytus, GCS); Braunert, H. (the provincial census, pp. 207-211); Brindle, W.; Cooley, A. E. (Res Gestae, 2009); Cullen, C.; Filmer, W. E. (1966); Fitzmyer, J. A. (Luke, AB); Fontanille, J.-P., & Kogon, D. (the coins of Herod's sons); France, R. T. (1979, "Herod and the Children of Bethlehem", Novum Testamentum 21, 98-120); Brown, R. E. (The Birth of the Messiah, the critical reading of Matthew 2); Groag, E. (RE; the word-order reading of iterum); Haacker, K.; Hannah, R. (1997); Heichelheim, F. M.; Ho Peng Yoke (1962, the comet catalog); Dubs, H. H. (1955, The history of the Former Han dynasty, Vol. 3); Hunger, H. (2001, ADART V; 2014, ADART VII); Humphreys, C. J. (the ministry chronology; 1992, Tyndale Bulletin 43.1, 31–56, the comet of 5 BC); Pankenier, D. W. (2013, Astrology and cosmology in early China); Ramsey, J. T. (2006, Syllecta Classica 17, the Greco-Roman comets); Jeremias, J. (the Nisan tables); Jachowski (2015, Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism 11, 9-18, contra Beyer); Johnson, D. (1989, in Chronos, Kairos, Christos, ed. Vardaman & Yamauchi, 93-99, "a tight fit"); Beyer, D. W. (1995/1998, the Latin "22nd year" reading of AJ 18.106); Ladouceur, D. J. (1981, The death of Herod the Great); Lanser, R. (2019, "Pinpointing the Date of Christ's Birth", Associates for Biblical Research; the Deut 16:16 pilgrimage bar and 1 Nisan); Levick, B. (1967, Roman colonies in southern Asia Minor); Llewelyn, S. R.; Mahieu, B. (2012, Between Rome and Jerusalem, OLA 208; death 9 March AD 1); Marshall, I. H.; Molnar, M. R. (1999, The star of Bethlehem); Nicolet, C. (the οἰκουμένη and the census); Nolland, J.; Parker, R. A., & Dubberstein, W. H. (1956, Babylonian chronology); Pollini, J. (1985); Pratt, J. P. (1990, The Planetarium 19, the eclipse of 29 December 1 BC); Plummer, A. (1896, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to S. Luke, ICC); Porter, S. E.; Préaux, C.; Ramsay, W. M.; Romer, F. E. (1978); Stern, M.; Strack, H. L., & Billerbeck, P. (the priestly courses); Stuart (the transmission variant); Syme, R. (1934, Klio 27; Roman papers); Taylor, L. R.; Thorley, J.; Turner, C. H.; Wacholder, B. Z. (1973, the sabbatical-year calendar); Witztum, E.; Yaron, R. (Mur 18 as prosbul); Zeichmann, C. B.; Zuckermann, B. (1866, Über Sabbatjahrcyclus und Jobelperiode).
*Espenak (the NASA eclipse canon) and the Chinese Han Shu stand as computational and primary source in §II.1.*
II.1 · Ancient, epigraphic, numismatic and documentary sources
Josephus (ed. B. Niese, Flavii Iosephi Opera, Berlin 1885-1895), cited in the main text: Antiquitates Judaicae — AJ 14.66 · 14.389 · 14.475 · 14.487 · 15.121 · 15.260 · 15.299 · 16.136 · 17.1-51 · 17.41-45 · 17.53 · 17.167 · 17.174-178 · 17.182 · 17.191 · 17.221 · 17.229 · 18.1-2 · 18.26 · 18.106 · 20.245-246 · 20.250. Bellum Judaicum — BJ 1.370 · 1.401 · 1.461 · 1.573 · 1.661 · 1.665 · 2.16 · 2.25 · 2.111-113.
Numismatics. Roman Provincial Coinage I (A. Burnett, M. Amandry & P. P. Ripollès): RPC I 4242 · 4245 · 4252 · 4255-4259 · 4262 · 4270 · 4330 · 4917 · 4934 · 4967-4969.
Epigraphy. ILS 918 (Tivoli, the titulus Tiburtinus) · ILS 2683 (Aemilius Secundus, Berytus) · AE 1925, 85. Dessau, Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae; L'Année épigraphique.
Documentary. P.Yadin 16 (provincial census declaration, AD 127) · Mur 18 (Les grottes de Murabbaʿât, acknowledgment of debt).
Rabbinic and Jewish sources. Mishnah, Rosh Hashanah i.1 and 10b-11a · Megillat Taʿanit (7 Kislev; scholion, post-Talmudic) · Seder Olam 28 · the sabbatical-year calendars of Zuckermann and Wacholder.
Roman sources. Res Gestae Divi Augusti 8 and 35 (ed. Cooley) · Cassius Dio 48.39, 48.41.4–5, 49.23.1, 54.29.8, 55.10 and 55.10a.4 (Loeb; Boissevain) · Appian, Bellum civile 5.65 · Plutarch, Antonius 33.1 · Livy, Periochae 127–128 · Tacitus, Annales 3.48 · Pliny, Naturalis Historia 6.141 and 12.55-56 · Macrobius, Saturnalia 2.4.11 · Ovid, Fasti 5.545-598.
Patristic and Eastern chronographers. Tertullian, Adversus Iudaeos 8; Adversus Marcionem 4.19.10 · Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses 2.22.5-6 · Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 1.21.144-146 · Origen, Contra Celsum 1.57; Commentarii in Matthaeum frag. 23 · Eusebius, Chronicon; Quaestiones ad Stephanum 16.2 · Epiphanius, Panarion 51 · Hippolytus, In Danielem IV.23 (ed. Bonwetsch, GCS) · De Pascha Computus (AD 243, Migne PL 4) · Julius Africanus · Orosius, Historiae · Cassiodorus · Bar Hebraeus (AG 309) · John Chrysostom, Homiliae in Matthaeum 6.3 (NPNF¹ 10) · Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos 2.3 (Loeb).
Biblical passages. Genesis 5:3 · Exodus 12-13; 13:21; 33:9; 40:2, 17 · Leviticus 23:36, 39 · Numbers 9:15; 22:23; 23:7; 24:17 · Deuteronomy 1:33; 16:16 · 2 Kings 6:17 · Ezra 7:9 · Daniel 9:24-27 · Matthew 2:1-23 · Acts 9:7; 22:9; 26:13 · Luke 1:5; 2:1-3; 3:23 · John 1:14 · Acts 5:37.
Astronomical. The comet and eclipse catalogs: Ho Peng Yoke no. 63 (after Han Shu 天文志, "Treatise on the heavens"; Han Shu 26, Jianping 2, and 11, Jianping 3) · Ramsey's catalogue of Greco-Roman comets (objects 30 and 31) · the Babylonian diaries and almanacs (ADART V no. 31; ADART VII, SE 305 and 328) · the umbral-eclipse scan after Espenak's canon (NASA). Both marked CALCULATED where they supply a date.
II.2 · Modern literature (APA 7)
The referencing rests on the citations in the main text and on the primary reading notes (the M series, unpublished working notes) and the reading list of the dossier.
Core works.
- Barnes, T. D. (1968). The date of Herod's death. Journal of Theological Studies, 19(1), 204–209. - Bernegger, P. M. (1983). Affirmation of Herod's death in 4 B.C. Journal of Theological Studies, 34(2), 526–531. - Cameron, D. (2018). Target fixation and the eclipse of Josephus: Towards a re-dating of the death of Herod the Great [unpublished manuscript]. Academia.edu. - Cameron, D. (2018). Herod the Great's regnal years: The ordinal-year references of Josephus [unpublished manuscript]. Academia.edu. - Dąbrowa, E. (1998). The governors of Roman Syria from Augustus to Septimius Severus (Antiquitas, Reihe 1, Bd. 45). Habelt. - Davies, W. D., & Allison, D. C. (1988). A critical and exegetical commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew (Vol. 1, International Critical Commentary). T&T Clark. - Finegan, J. (1998). Handbook of biblical chronology (rev. ed.). Hendrickson. - Hoehner, H. W. (1977). Chronological aspects of the life of Christ. Zondervan. - Kasher, A., & Witztum, E. (2007). King Herod: A persecuted persecutor. A case study in psychohistory and psychobiography (Studia Judaica 36). De Gruyter. - Keener, C. S. (2012). Acts: An exegetical commentary (Vol. 1). Baker Academic. - Kokkinos, N. (1998). The Herodian dynasty: Origins, role in society and eclipse (Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, Suppl. 30). Sheffield Academic Press. - Kushnir-Stein, A. (1995). Another look at Josephus' evidence for the date of Herod's death. Scripta Classica Israelica, 14, 73–86. - Lanser, R. D., Jr. (2021). The Parthian War paradigm and the reign of Herod the Great. Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin, 66, 21–36. - Maier, P. L. (1997). In the fullness of time: A historian looks at Christmas, Easter, and the early church. Kregel. (orig. 1991) - Meier, J. P. (1991). A marginal Jew: Rethinking the historical Jesus (Vol. 1, Anchor Bible Reference Library). Doubleday. - North, R. (1954). Sociology of the Biblical jubilee (Analecta Biblica 4). Pontifical Biblical Institute. (reprint of: North, R. (1953). Maccabean Sabbath years. Biblica, 34, 501–515.) - Schalit, A. (2001). König Herodes: Der Mann und sein Werk (2nd ed., Studia Judaica 4). De Gruyter. - Schürer, E., Vermes, G., Millar, F., & Black, M. (1973–1987). The history of the Jewish people in the age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C.–A.D. 135) (rev. ed., G. Vermes et al., Vols. 1–3). T&T Clark. [SVM] - Sherwin-White, A. N. (1963). Roman society and Roman law in the New Testament. Clarendon Press. - Smallwood, E. M. (1976). The Jews under Roman rule from Pompey to Diocletian (Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity 20). Brill. - Steinmann, A. E. (2009). When did Herod the Great reign? Novum Testamentum, 51(1), 1–29. - Steinmann, A. E. (2011). From Abraham to Paul: A biblical chronology. Concordia. - Steinmann, A. E., & Young, R. C. (2020a). Elapsed times for Herod the Great in Josephus. Bibliotheca Sacra, 177(707), 308–328. - Steinmann, A. E., & Young, R. C. (2020b). Consular and sabbatical years in Herod's life. Bibliotheca Sacra, 177(708), 442–461. - Steinmann, A. E., & Young, R. C. (2021). Dating the death of Herod and the reigns of his sons. Bibliotheca Sacra, 178(712), 436–454. - Visser, H. (2026a). Three Days and Three Nights: The case for the crucifixion on Wednesday 25 April in AD 31 (updated ed.). Academia.edu. https://www.academia.edu/170920113/Three_Days_and_three_nights_the_case_for_the_crucifixion_on_wednesday_25_April_in_31AD_Updated_20260906 - Visser, H. (2026b). Dating the Birth of Jesus — base register and logigram [Data set and software]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22944959
Also cited in the main text (with the identification the text gives; full bibliographic completion against the works consulted to follow):
Alföldy, G.; Africa, T. W. (1982, the illness as topos); Beckwith, R. T. (Calendar and chronology); Bonwetsch, G. N. (ed., Hippolytus, GCS); Braunert, H. (the provincial census, pp. 207-211); Brindle, W.; Cooley, A. E. (Res Gestae, 2009); Cullen, C.; Filmer, W. E. (1966); Fitzmyer, J. A. (Luke, AB); Fontanille, J.-P., & Kogon, D. (the coins of Herod's sons); France, R. T. (1979, "Herod and the Children of Bethlehem", Novum Testamentum 21, 98-120); Brown, R. E. (The Birth of the Messiah, the critical reading of Matthew 2); Groag, E. (RE; the word-order reading of iterum); Haacker, K.; Hannah, R. (1997); Heichelheim, F. M.; Ho Peng Yoke (1962, the comet catalog); Dubs, H. H. (1955, The history of the Former Han dynasty, Vol. 3); Hunger, H. (2001, ADART V; 2014, ADART VII); Humphreys, C. J. (the ministry chronology; 1992, Tyndale Bulletin 43.1, 31–56, the comet of 5 BC); Pankenier, D. W. (2013, Astrology and cosmology in early China); Ramsey, J. T. (2006, Syllecta Classica 17, the Greco-Roman comets); Jeremias, J. (the Nisan tables); Jachowski (2015, Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism 11, 9-18, contra Beyer); Johnson, D. (1989, in Chronos, Kairos, Christos, ed. Vardaman & Yamauchi, 93-99, "a tight fit"); Beyer, D. W. (1995/1998, the Latin "22nd year" reading of AJ 18.106); Ladouceur, D. J. (1981, The death of Herod the Great); Lanser, R. (2019, "Pinpointing the Date of Christ's Birth", Associates for Biblical Research; the Deut 16:16 pilgrimage bar and 1 Nisan); Levick, B. (1967, Roman colonies in southern Asia Minor); Llewelyn, S. R.; Mahieu, B. (2012, Between Rome and Jerusalem, OLA 208; death 9 March AD 1); Marshall, I. H.; Molnar, M. R. (1999, The star of Bethlehem); Nicolet, C. (the οἰκουμένη and the census); Nolland, J.; Parker, R. A., & Dubberstein, W. H. (1956, Babylonian chronology); Pollini, J. (1985); Pratt, J. P. (1990, The Planetarium 19, the eclipse of 29 December 1 BC); Plummer, A. (1896, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to S. Luke, ICC); Porter, S. E.; Préaux, C.; Ramsay, W. M.; Romer, F. E. (1978); Stern, M.; Strack, H. L., & Billerbeck, P. (the priestly courses); Stuart (the transmission variant); Syme, R. (1934, Klio 27; Roman papers); Taylor, L. R.; Thorley, J.; Turner, C. H.; Wacholder, B. Z. (1973, the sabbatical-year calendar); Witztum, E.; Yaron, R. (Mur 18 as prosbul); Zeichmann, C. B.; Zuckermann, B. (1866, Über Sabbatjahrcyclus und Jobelperiode).
*Espenak (the NASA eclipse canon) and the Chinese Han Shu stand as computational and primary source in §II.1.*