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Created 5928± 11 01 2024 [2008-01-11]
Last edited on 5929± 01 01 2025 [2008-10-23]
Sabbatical years – When?
A Sabbatical Year Identified by Josephus and
Now Also Available In Terms of Modern Calendars
Abstract:
Praise
the Lord! A firm foundation for an exact dating of current Sabbatic years has
been identified. That is, provided only that the Jews living in 44 BCE reckoned
Sabbatic years correctly and that Josephus
and Phlegon
are correctly dating two events occurring within two certain Olympic years.
The
Holy Scriptures define
the beginning of the year as the Eighth Day. That is the 22nd day of
the seventh Moon, aka. Tishri 22. Josephus, by default and in most of his
historical records, is using Tishri 22 as the beginning of the year.
The 4th
year of the 202nd Olympiad is firmly defined based upon Origen’s quote
of Phlegon, which quote places a total solar eclipse (identifiable
as the solar eclipse of November 24, 29 CE) in the Olympic year beginning July
1, 29 CE. Olympic years are reckoned from July 1 through June 30. [The Olympic years
for that era are commonly
misplaced due to a misapplication of Phlegon’s solar eclipse to another
total solar eclipse which occurred March 19, 33 CE, but which could only be
observed from Antarctica . How likely is it
that Phlegon would make a record of an autumn event of Antarctica
without also taking notice of the place of observation?]
Josephus
is dating an important historical event within a certain Sabbatic year by these
words:
“on the hundred eighty and
fifth olympiad, on the third month, on the solemnity of the fast…” (Josephus,
Antiquities of the Jews XIV:16:2.)
Simple
calculations based upon the above two references of Josephus to the Olympic
calendar make it clear that said Sabbatic year was kept by the Jews generally
in the year beginning Tishri 22, 44 BCE:
November
24, 29 CE is found within the Olympic year being completed on June 30, 30 CE,
thus:
(202
x 4) – (184 x 4) = 808 – 736 = 72 (years from one quoted Olympic year to the
next.)
30 CE
– 72 years = 30 – 72 = -42 = 43 BCE.
Thus
the 1st of the four years of the 185th Olympiad began
July 1, 43 BCE.
The
Biblical year ends in the fall, thus an event occurring in the beginning of an
Olympic year, when reckoned in terms of a Biblical year, must then also be
datable in terms of a Biblical year beginning in the [Gregorian or Julian] year
prior to the [Gregorian or Julian] year within which said Olympic year begins.
Thus it may be clearly seen that said “solemnity of the fast” [Tishri 10; the
Day of At-One-Meant] occurred in the Sabbatic year beginning Tishri 22, 44 BCE
and ending Tishri 21, 43 BCE.
It
follows that Sabbatic years within our own era began or begin in the Gregorian
years 1980, 1987, 1994, 2001, 2008, and 2015.
What
great blessings of God might be in store for us when we know and apply this
knowledge each in our own life? What sad consequences, what curses, might be
avoided by not knowing or by not applying this insight re Sabbatic years?
Considerations:
While in the process of identifying (Please click
the links to get a clearer view!) the dates provided by Josephus for the events
during the reign of Herod the Great touching upon Luke 2:20 and the statement
of the Jews “Forty and six years was this temple in building…” I came across two statements (quoted below) identifying
as a Sabbatical year two separate points in time, one shortly before and the
other shortly after the point in time when Herod conquered Jerusalem
“XIV:16:2. Now the Jews that
were enclosed within the walls of the city fought against Herod with great
alacrity and zeal (for the whole nation was gathered together… Now the three
bulwarks were easily erected, because so many hands were continually at work
upon it; for it was summer time,
and there was nothing to hinder them in raising their works… they were
distressed by famine and the want of necessaries, for this happened to be a Sabbatic year. The first
that scaled the walls were twenty chosen men, the next were Sosius's
centurions; for the first wall was taken in forty
days, and the second in fifteen more… 3. And now Herod having
overcome his enemies… 4. This destruction befell the city of
“XV:1:2. At this time Herod, now he had got
[Additional Sabbatic years
are referenced in Antiquities of the Jews 3:12:3, 12:9:5, 13:8:1,
14:10:6, 15:1:2, 15:9:1 and “in Whiston's footnotes to Josephus, Whiston says
(but what authority is he standing on?) this famine was worse than the famine
of the days of Ahab, and even worse than the days of Jacob, and that this was a
Sabbatical or Jubilee year.” ]
Many are confused re what constitutes a biblical year and a
sabbatical year. Some hold that it is counted from the beginning of Aviv
through Adar. Others hold that it is to be reckoned from the first day of
Tishri, the seventh moon of the year through the subsequent sixth moon.
However, a
thorough bible study will demonstrate that neither of these are correct and
that the biblical year is defined from the Eight Day, i.e. Tishri 22, through the
end of the Feast of Ingathering, i.e. Tishri 21. Interestingly, a thorough
study of Josephus makes it clear that Josephus is following the biblical
principles of dating exactly and consistently.
Thus it will be noted within the above quotes from Josephus
that the first reference to a “Sabbatic year” points to the “summer time” and
to a point in time that is a minimum of 40+15=55 days prior to Tishri 10 (the
day known as “the solemnity of the fast”) while the second references a point
subsequent to Tishri 10. Josephus is using the words “the Sabbatic year, which
was still going on…” Obviously those quoted words of Josephus makes little or
no sense if Tishri 1 were to define the beginning of the year. Although those
who are proponents for counting the Sabbatical year from Aviv through Adar may
see no problem with the above, a closer scrutiny of Josephus writings shows
that Josephus is reckoning a year as Aviv through Adar (I call such a year a
“sacred year”) only when referencing time of civil war, i.e. the war defined in
Josephus,
Antiquties, XX:11:1 and in Josephus,
The Wars of the Jews, II:14:4; the year beginning in Nero’s
12th year and covering also the destruction of Jerusalem and the
time until Vespasian was finally crowned as the Emperor of Rome.
Another specific example clearly demonstrating to the
astute student that Josephus defines the beginning of the year not as Tishri 1,
but as Tishri 22 may be recognized from Josephus’ reckoning of the beginnings
of the reign of Herod the Great: If Josephus had been using Tishri 1 (and not
Tishri 22) for the beginning of the year, then Herod's capture of Jerusalem
would have to have occurred on Tishri 10, 44 CE, [i.e. within the year
beginning Tishri 1, 44 CE] and not as Josephus says, i.e. "on the hundred
eighty and fifth olympiad, on the third month, on the solemnity of the
fast," [i.e. within the Julian year 43 CE!]
In consequence of the above one may conclude, based
also upon Origen and NASA’s lists of solar eclipses, that Tishri 22, 44 BCE
through Tishri 21, 43 BCE was reckoned by Josephus as a Sabbatic year (cf. also
this simple four
step calculation of Augustus’ death in 10 CE [not 14 CE,] based on modern
astronomy plus three ancient manuscripts.) From that conclusion one may then
derive that Tishri 22, in the 2025th and 2032nd years
after the beginning defined in Luke 1:26-33 [and Tishri 22 in the Gregorian
years 1980, 1987, 1994, 2001, 2008, and 2015] also define the beginnings of
Sabbatical years. Interestingly the infamous events on “September 11, 2001” may
well have coincided with the biblical Tishri 22…
A more extensive excerpt of Josephus’ writings re the above
event is quoted below. I have highlighted all the references to time using bold
and/or black, blue, or red font in order to facilitate reading the text with a
focus upon timing and Sabbatical years:
Excerpts
from Josephus touching on Sabbatical years:
Antiquities of the Jews - Book XIV
CONTAINING THE INTERVAL OF THIRTY-TWO YEARS.
FROM THE DEATH OF QUEEN ALEXANDRA TO THE DEATH OF ANTIGONUS.
CHAPTER 1.
…
CHAPTER 14.
HOW HEROD GOT AWAY FROM THE KING OF ARABIA AND MADE HASTE TO GO INTO EGYPT AND THENCE WENT AWAY IN HASTE ALSO TO ROME; AND HOW, BY PROMISING A GREAT DEAL OF MONEY TO ANTONY HE OBTAINED OF THE SENATE AND OF CAESAR TO BE MADE KING OF THE JEWS.
1. AS for Herod, the great miseries he was in did not discourage him, but made him sharp in discovering surprising undertakings; for he went to Malchus, king of Arabia, whom he had formerly been very kind to, in order to receive somewhat by way of requital, now he was in more than ordinary want of it, and desired he would let him have some money, either by way of loan, or as his free gift, on account of the many benefits he had received from him; for not knowing what was become of his brother, he was in haste to redeem him out of the hand of his enemies, as willing to give three hundred talents for the price of his redemption. He also took with him the son of Phasaelus, who was a child of but seven years of age, for this very reason, that he might be a hostage for the repayment of the money. But there came messengers from Malchus to meet him, by whom he was desired to be gone, for that the Parthians had laid a charge upon him not to entertain Herod. This was only a pretense which he made use of, that he might not be obliged to repay him what he owed him; and this he was further induced to by the principal men among the Arabians, that they might cheat him of what sums they had received from [his father] Antipater, and which he had committed to their fidelity. He made answer, that he did not intend to be troublesome to them by his coning thither, but that he desired only to discourse with them about certain affairs that were to him of the greatest importance.
2. Hereupon he resolved to go away, and did go very prudently the road
to
3. So he set sail from thence to Pamphylia, and falling into a violent storm, he had much ado to escape to Rhodes, with the loss of the ship's burden; and there it was that two of his friends, Sappinas and Ptolemeus, met with him; and as he found that city very much damaged in the war against Cassius, though he were in necessity himself, he neglected not to do it a kindness, but did what he could to recover it to its former state. He also built there a three-decked ship, and set sail thence, with his friends, for Italy, and came to the port of Brundusium; and when he was come from thence to Rome, he first related to Antony what had befallen him in Judea, and how Phasaelus his brother was seized on by the Parthians, and put to death by them, and how Hyrcanus was detained captive by them, and how they had made Antigonus king, who had promised them a sum of money, no less than a thousand talents, with five hundred women, who were to be of the principal families, and of the Jewish stock; and that he had carried off the women by night; and that, by undergoing a great many hardships, he had escaped the hands of his enemies; as also, that his own relations were in danger of being besieged and taken, and that he had sailed through a storm, and contemned all these terrible dangers of it, in order to come, as soon as possible, to him, who was his hope and only succor at this time.
4. This account made Antony commiserate the change that had happened in
Herod's condition; (26)
and reasoning with himself that this was a common case among those that are
placed in such great dignities, and that they are liable to the mutations that
come from fortune, he was very ready to give him the assistance he desired, and
this because he called to mind the friendship he had had with Antipater because
Herod offered him money to make him king, as he had formerly given it him to
make him tetrarch, and chiefly because of his hatred to Antigonus; for
he took him to be a seditious person, and an enemy to the Romans. Caesar was
also the forwarder to raise Herod's dignity, and to give him his assistance in
what he desired, on account of the toils of war which he had himself undergone
with Antipater his father in Egypt, and of the hospitality he had treated him
withal, and the kindness he had always showed him, as also to gratify Antony,
who was very zealous for Herod. So a senate was convocated; and Messala first,
and then Atratinus, introduced Herod into it, and enlarged upon the benefits
they had received from his father, and put them in mind of the good-will he had
borne to the Romans. At the same time, they accused Antigonus, and declared him
an enemy, not only because of his former opposition to them, but that he had
now overlooked the Romans, and taken the government from the Parthians. Upon this
the senate was irritated; and
5. And this was the principal instance of Antony's affection for Herod,
that he not only procured him a kingdom which he did not expect, (for he did
not come with an intention to ask the kingdom for himself, which he did not
suppose the Romans would grant him, who used to bestow it on some of the royal
family, but intended to desire it for his wife's brother, who was grandson by
his father to Aristobulus, and to Hyrcanus by his mother,) but that he
procured it for him so suddenly, that he obtained what he did not expect, and
departed out of Italy in so few days as
seven in all. This young man
[the grandson] Herod afterward took care to have slain, as we shall show in its
proper place. But when the senate was dissolved,
6. All this while Antigonus besieged those that were in Masada, who had plenty of all other necessaries, but were only in want of water (27) insomuch that on this occasion Joseph, Herod's brother, was contriving to run away from it, with two hundred of his dependents, to the Arabians; for he had heard that Malchus repented of the offenses he had been guilty of with regard to Herod; but God, by sending rain in the night time, prevented his going away, for their cisterns were thereby filled, and he was under no necessity of running away on that account; but they were now of good courage, and the more so, because the sending that plenty of water which they had been in want of seemed a mark of Divine Providence; so they made a sally, and fought hand to hand with Antigonus's soldiers, (with some openly, with some privately,) and destroyed a great number of them. At the same time Ventidius, the general of the Romans, was sent out of Syria, to drive the Parthians out of it, and marched after them into Judea, in pretense indeed to succor Joseph; but in reality the whole affair was no more than a stratagem, in order to get money of Antigonus; so they pitched their camp very near to Jerusalem, and stripped Antigonus of a great deal of money, and then he retired himself with the greater part of the army; but, that the wickedness he had been guilty of might be found out, he left Silo there, with a certain part of his soldiers, with whom also Antigonus cultivated an acquaintance, that he might cause him no disturbance, and was still in hopes that the Parthians would come again and defend him.
CHAPTER 15.
HOW HEROD SAILED OUT OF
1. BY this time Herod had sailed out of
2. Herod had now a strong army; and as he marched on, Antigonus laid
snares and ambushes in the passes and places most proper for them; but in truth
he thereby did little or no damage to the enemy. So Herod received those of his
family out of Masada, and the fortress Ressa, and then went on for
3. And now it was that Silo discovered that he had taken bribes; for he
set a good number of his soldiers to complain aloud of the want of provisions
they were in, and to require money to buy them food; and that it was fit
to let them go into places proper for winter
quarters, since the places near the city were a desert, by reason that
Antigonus's soldiers had carried all away; so he set the army upon removing,
and endeavored to march away; but Herod pressed Silo not to depart, and
exhorted Silo's captains and soldiers not to desert him, when Caesar, and
Antony, and the senate had sent him thither, for that he would provide them
plenty of all the things they wanted, and easily procure them a great abundance
of what they required; after which entreaty, he immediately went out into the
country, and left not the least pretense to Silo for his departure; for he
brought an unexpected quantity of provisions, and sent to those friends of his
who inhabited about Samaria to bring down corn, and wine, and oil, and cattle,
and all other provisions, to Jericho, that those might be no want of a supply
for the soldiers for the time to come. Antigonus was sensible of this, and sent
presently over the country such as might restrain and lie in ambush for those
that went out for provisions. So these men obeyed the orders of Antigonus, and
got together a great number of armed men about
4. But Herod was not pleased with lying still, but sent out his brother
Joseph against Idumea with two thousand armed footmen, and four hundred
horsemen, while he himself came to Samaria, and left his mother and his other
relations there, for they were already gone out of Masada, and went into
Galilee, to take certain places which were held by the garrisons of Antigonus;
and he passed on to Sepphoris, as God sent a snow, while Antigonus's garrisons withdrew
themselves, and had great plenty of provisions. He also went thence, and
resolved to destroy those robbers that dwelt in the caves, and did much
mischief in the country; so he sent a troop of horsemen, and three companies of
armed footmen, against them. They were very near to a village called Arbela;
and on the fortieth day after, he
came himself with his whole army: and as the enemy sallied out boldly upon him,
the left wing of his army gave way; but he appearing with a body of men, put those
to flight who were already conquerors, and recalled his men that ran away. He
also pressed upon his enemies, and pursued them as far as the river
5. About this time it was that Antony continued some time at Athens, and that Ventidius, who was now in Syria, sent for Silo, and commanded him to assist Herod, in the first place, to finish the present war, and then to send for their confederates for the war they were themselves engaged in; but as for Herod, he went in haste against the robbers that were in the caves, and sent Silo away to Ventidius, while he marched against them. These caves were in mountains that were exceeding abrupt, and in their middle were no other than precipices, with certain entrances into the caves, and those caves were encompassed with sharp rocks, and in these did the robbers lie concealed, with all their families about them; but the king caused certain chests to be made, in order to destroy them, and to be hung down, bound about with iron chains, by an engine, from the top of the mountain, it being not possible to get up to them, by reason of the sharp ascent of the mountains, nor to creep down to them from above. Now these chests were filled with armed men, who had long hooks in their hands, by which they might pull out such as resisted them, and then tumble them down, and kill them by so doing; but the letting the chests down proved to be a matter of great danger, because of the vast depth they were to be let down, although they had their provisions in the chests themselves. But when the chests were let down, and not one of those in the mouths of the caves durst come near them, but lay still out of fear, some of the armed men girt on their armor, and by both their hands took hold of the chain by which the chests were let down, and went into the mouths of the caves, because they fretted that such delay was made by the robbers not daring to come out of the caves; and when they were at any of those mouths, they first killed many of those that were in the mouths with their darts, and afterwards pulled those to them that resisted them with their hooks, and tumbled them down the precipices, and afterwards went into the caves, and killed many more, and then went into their chests again, and lay still there; but, upon this, terror seized the rest, when they heard the lamentations that were made, and they despaired of escaping. However, when the night came on, that put an end to the whole work; and as the king proclaimed pardon by a herald to such as delivered themselves up to him, many accepted of the offer. The same method of assault was made use of the next day; and they went further, and got out in baskets to fight them, and fought them at their doors, and sent fire among them, and set their caves on fire, for there was a great deal of combustible matter within them. Now there was one old man who was caught within one of these caves, with seven children and a wife; these prayed him to give them leave to go out, and yield themselves up to the enemy; but he stood at the cave's mouth, and always slew that child of his who went out, till he had destroyed them every one, and after that he slew his wife, and cast their dead bodies down the precipice, and himself after them, and so underwent death rather than slavery: but before he did this, he greatly reproached Herod with the meanness of his family, although he was then king. Herod also saw what he was doing, and stretched out his hand, and offered him all manner of security for his life; by which means all these caves were at length subdued entirely.
6. And when the king had set Ptolemy over these parts of the country as
his general, he went to
7. In the mean time, Pacorus was fallen in a battle, and the Parthians
were defeated, when Ventidius sent Macheras to the assistance of Herod, with
two legions, and a thousand horsemen, while
8. But for his own part, he made haste to
9. And when he was near to Samosata, Antony sent out his army in all
their proper habiliments to meet him, in order to pay Herod this respect, and
because of the assistance he had given him; for he had heard what attacks the
barbarians had made upon him [in Judea]. He also was very glad to see him
there, as having been made acquainted with the great actions he had performed
upon the road. So he entertained him very kindly, and could not but admire his
courage. Antony also embraced him as soon as he saw him, and saluted him after
a most affectionate manner, and gave him the upper hand, as having himself
lately made him a king; and in a little time Antiochus delivered up the
fortress, and on that account this war was at an end; then Antony committed the
rest to Sosius, and gave him orders to assist Herod, and went himself to Egypt.
Accordingly, Sosius sent two legions before into
10. Now Joseph was already slain in Judea, in the manner following: He forgot what charge his brother Herod had given him when he went to Antony; and when he had pitched his camp among the mountains, for Macheras had lent him five regiments, with these he went hastily to Jericho, in :order to reap the corn thereto belonging; and as the Roman regiments were but newly raised, and were unskillful in war, for they were in great part collected out of Syria, he was attacked by the enemy, and caught in those places of difficulty, and was himself slain, as he was fighting bravely, and the whole army was lost, for there were six regiments slain. So when Antigonus had got possession of the dead bodies, he cut off Joseph's head, although Pheroras his brother would have redeemed it at the price of fifty talents. After which defeat, the Galileans revolted from their commanders, and took those of Herod's party, and drowned them in the lake, and a great part of Judea was become seditious; but Macheras fortified the place Gitta [in Samaria].
11. At this time messengers came to Herod, and informed him of what had
been done; and when he was come to Daphne by Antioch, they told him of the ill
fortune that had befallen his brother; which yet he expected, from certain
visions that appeared to him in his dreams, which clearly foreshowed his
brother's death. So he hastened his march; and when he came to
12. But the next day six thousand of the enemy came down from the tops
of the mountains to fight the Romans, which greatly terrified them; and the
soldiers that were in light armor came near, and pelted the king's guards that
were come out with darts and stones, and one of them hit him on the side with a
dart. Antigonus also sent a commander against
13. At this time the king gave order that the soldiers should go to supper, for it was late at night, while he went into a chamber to use the bath, for he was very weary; and here it was that he was in the greatest danger, which yet, by God's providence, he escaped; for as he was naked, and had but one servant that followed him, to be with him while he was bathing in an inner room, certain of the enemy, who were in their armor, and had fled thither, out of fear, were then in the place; and as he was bathing, the first of them came out with his naked sword drawn, and went out at the doors, and after him a second, and a third, armed in like manner, and were under such a consternation, that they did no hurt to the king, and thought themselves to have come off very well ill suffering no harm themselves in their getting out of the house. However, on the next day, he cut off the head of Pappus, for he was already slain, and sent it to Pheroras, as a punishment of what their brother had suffered by his means, for he was the man that slew him with his own hand.
14. When the rigor of winter
was over, Herod removed his army, and came near to
CHAPTER 16.
HOW HEROD, WHEN HE HAD MARRIED
MARIAMNE TOOK
1. AFTER the wedding was over, came Sosius through
2. Now the Jews that were enclosed within the walls of the city fought against Herod with great alacrity and zeal (for the whole nation was gathered together); they also gave out many prophecies about the temple, and many things agreeable to the people, as if God would deliver them out of the dangers they were in; they had also carried off what was out of the city, that they might not leave any thing to afford sustenance either for men or for beasts; and by private robberies they made the want of necessaries greater. When Herod understood this, he opposed ambushes in the fittest places against their private robberies, and he sent legions of armed men to bring its provisions, and that from remote places, so that in a little time they had great plenty of provisions. Now the three bulwarks were easily erected, because so many hands were continually at work upon it; for it was summer time, and there was nothing to hinder them in raising their works, neither from the air nor from the workmen; so they brought their engines to bear, and shook the walls of the city, and tried all manner of ways to get its; yet did not those within discover any fear, but they also contrived not a few engines to oppose their engines withal. They also sallied out, and burnt not only those engines that were not yet perfected, but those that were; and when they came hand to hand, their attempts were not less bold than those of the Romans, though they were behind them in skill. They also erected new works when the former were ruined, and making mines underground, they met each other, and fought there; and making use of brutish courage rather than of prudent valor, they persisted in this war to the very last; and this they did while a mighty army lay round about them, and while they were distressed by famine and the want of necessaries, for this happened to be a Sabbatic year. The first that scaled the walls were twenty chosen men, the next were Sosius's centurions; for the first wall was taken in forty days, and the second in fifteen more, when some of the cloisters that were about the temple were burnt, which Herod gave out to have been burnt by Antigonus, in order to expose him to the hatred of the Jews. And when the outer court of the temple and the lower city were taken, the Jews fled into the inner court of the temple, and into the upper city; but now fearing lest the Romans should hinder them from offering their daily sacrifices to God, they sent an embassage, and desired that they would only permit them to bring in beasts for sacrifices, which Herod granted, hoping they were going to yield; but when he saw that they did nothing of what he supposed, but bitterly opposed him, in order to preserve the kingdom to Antigonus, he made an assault upon the city, and took it by storm; and now all parts were full of those that were slain, by the rage of the Romans at the long duration of the siege, and by the zeal of the Jews that were on Herod's side, who were not willing to leave one of their adversaries alive; so they were murdered continually in the narrow streets and in the houses by crowds, and as they were flying to the temple for shelter, and there was no pity taken of either infants or the aged, nor did they spare so much as the weaker sex; nay, although the king sent about, and besought them to spare the people, yet nobody restrained their hand from slaughter, but, as if they were a company of madmen, they fell upon persons of all ages, without distinction; and then Antigonus, without regard to either his past or present circumstances, came down from the citadel, and fell down at the feet of Sosius, who took no pity of him, in the change of his fortune, but insulted him beyond measure, and called him Antigone [i.e. a woman, and not a man;] yet did he not treat him as if he were a woman, by letting him go at liberty, but put him into bonds, and kept him in close custody.
3. And now Herod having overcome his enemies, his care was to govern those foreigners who had been his assistants, for the crowd of strangers rushed to see the temple, and the sacred things in the temple; but the king, thinking a victory to be a more severe affliction than a defeat, if any of those things which it was not lawful to see should be seen by them, used entreaties and threatenings, and even sometimes force itself, to restrain them. He also prohibited the ravage that was made in the city, and many times asked Sosius whether the Romans would empty the city both of money and men, and leave him king of a desert; and told him that he esteemed the dominion over the whole habitable earth as by no means an equivalent satisfaction for such a murder of his citizens'; and when he said that this plunder was justly to be permitted the soldiers for the siege they had undergone, he replied, that he would give every one their reward out of his own money; and by this means be redeemed what remained of the city from destruction; and he performed what he had promised him, for he gave a noble present to every soldier, and a proportionable present to their commanders, but a most royal present to Sosius himself, till they all went away full of money.
4. This destruction befell the city of Jerusalem when Marcus Agrippa and Caninius Gallus were consuls of Rome (30) on the hundred eighty and fifth olympiad, on the third month, on the solemnity of the fast, as if a periodical revolution of calamities had returned since that which befell the Jews under Pompey; for the Jews were taken by him on the same day, and this was after twenty-seven years' time. So when Sosius had dedicated a crown of gold to God, he marched away from Jerusalem, and carried Antigonus with him in bonds to Antony; but Herod was afraid lest Antigonus should be kept in prison [only] by Antony, and that when he was carried to Rome by him, he might get his cause to be heard by the senate, and might demonstrate, as he was himself of the royal blood, and Herod but a private man, that therefore it belonged to his sons however to have the kingdom, on account of the family they were of, in case he had himself offended the Romans by what he had done. Out of Herod's fear of this it was that he, by giving Antony a great deal of money, endeavored to persuade him to have Antigonus slain, which if it were once done, he should be free from that fear. And thus did the government of the Asamoneans cease, a hundred twenty and six years after it was first set up. This family was a splendid and an illustrious one, both on account of the nobility of their stock, and of the dignity of the high priesthood, as also for the glorious actions their ancestors had performed for our nation; but these men lost the government by their dissensions one with another, and it came to Herod, the son of Antipater, who was of no more than a vulgar family, and of no eminent extraction, but one that was subject to other kings. And this is what history tells us was the end of the Asamonean family.
Antiquities of the Jews - Book XV
CONTAINING THE INTERVAL OF EIGHTEEN YEARS.
FROM THE DEATH OF ANTIGONUS TO THE
FINISHING OF THE TEMPLE
CHAPTER 1.
CONCERNING POLLIO AND SAMEAS.
HEROD SLAYS THE PRINCIPAL OF ANTIGONUS'S FRIENDS, AND SPOILS THE CITY OF ITS
WEALTH.
1. HOW Sosius and Herod took
2. At this time Herod, now he had got
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