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Statement of belief: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word
is truth.” (John 17:17 KJV)
Updated 5928± 04 12 2024
[2008-07-16]
Dated New Testament Events
contributing
towards a better understanding of
beyond the end of
the four Gospels:
Acts of the Apostles;
the Letters of
Paul, Peter, John, James, & Jude; Revelation
Notice: Because the subject matter of this page and its
associated links are still being worked on, I ask you to please be a bit
forgiving with me if all things are not working quite correctly or if there are
other apparent problems. Nonetheless, any constructive criticism or comments
are welcome and appreciated feedback that is more than likely to contribute to
improving this site! Thanks in advance for your feedback!
I.
Re the timing of Acts 1-5: Pentecost; the imprisonment of Peter and of
the apostles; Joses Barnabas; Ananias & Sapphira; Gamaliel’s speech:
Theudas; Judas of Galilee; etc.
It is important to distinguish similar but different
people and events. One excellent example of this is found when comparing
Josephus’ references to a certain Theudas and a certain Judas under
circumstances very similar to those referenced in the speech by Gamaliel
recorded in Acts 5:34-39. Cf. these passages!:
:
"36 For before these days rose up Theudas,
boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred,
joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were
scattered, and brought to nought. 37 After this man rose up Judas
of
“1. NOW it came
to pass, while Fadus was procurator of Judea, that a certain magician, whose name
was Theudas, (9) persuaded a great part
of the people to take their effects with them, and follow him to the river
Jordan; for he told them he was a prophet, and that he would, by his own
command, divide the river, and afford them an easy passage over it; and many were
deluded by his words. However, Fadus did not permit them to make any advantage
of his wild attempt, but sent a troop of horsemen out against them; who,
falling upon them unexpectedly, slew many of them, and took many of them alive.
They also took Theudas alive, and cut off
his head, and carried it to
“2. Then came Tiberius Alexander as successor to
Fadus; he was the son of Alexander the alabarch of
The event re the Theudas referenced by Josephus are
recorded as occurring while Fadus was procurator of
If the Theudas referenced by Josephus would have been
the same Theudas that is referenced by Gamaliel (Acts 5:36,) then, considering
Luke’s (the author of Acts) emphasis upon an orderly record in reference to time
and events (Luke 1:1-4,) and considering especially that the events re Peter as
recorded in Acts 5 should most likely precede the events re Peter as recorded
in Acts 10, 11, and 12, which latter events occurred at or before Aviv 15
through Aviv 21, 30 CE [April (7 or) 8-April (13 or) 14, 30 CE] one would be
forced to conclude that the events re the Theudas referenced by Gamaliel
occurred between Tishri 1, 28 CE and Aviv 21, 30 CE [i.e. between September 9,
28 CE and April 14, 30 CE.]
However, if the above conclusion was valid, which it
obviously is not (all things being considered,) then the events recorded re
Stephanus and Saul in Acts, chapters 6 through 9, must necessarily precede the
events recorded in Acts chapter 5 (above dated to the civil year beginning
Tishri 1, 28,) especially from verse 12 and forwards, i.e. since Acts chapters
6-9 records events prior to Paul’s conversion, whereas Paul apparently places
his conversion to the civil year that began Tishri 1, 25 CE. Cf. also Josephus,
Antiquities, XVII:10:5 and its footnote (#16)!
As best I can tell, the “Judas
who caused the people to revolt, when Cyrenius came to take an account of the
estates of the Jews” is one and the same as the “Judas
of Galilee in the days of the taxing”
referenced by Gamaliel. Upon a close reading of these passages it becomes
obvious that the events re the Theudas referenced by Gamaliel occurred prior to
the events re the Judas of Galilee who is being referenced by both Gamaliel and
Josephus in connection with events out of their past. One can safely conclude
that the Theudas referenced by Gamaliel is not the same Theudas that is being
referenced by Josephus.
Thus, the potential discontinuity in Luke’s record,
i.e. Acts, is ob
On the other hand, the fact that Theudas in Acts 5:36
is not the same as Theudas
in Josephus, Antiquities, XX:5:1,
makes it clear that the events recorded in Acts 1-5 are all closer in time to
the crucifixion and ascension of Yeshua, the first several chapters possibly
all being a record of events closely tied to “the day of Pentecost”
referenced in Acts 2:1
which followed within a week of the ascension of Yeshua, i.e. considering 1.
the presence of Pontius
Pilate at
the time (Acts
Conclusion:
The timing of the events referenced in Acts 1-5
clearly relates events prior to the removal of Pontius Pilate by Vitellius (cf.
Josephus, Antiquities
XVIII:4:2) prior
to the Feast of Unleavened Bread in 23 CE. Indeed, very possibly
most or all of these events may well have occurred in the very same year as the
crucifixion of Yeshua, i.e. in 18 CE. This is certainly true for Acts,
Chapters 1 & 2 (cf. the bottom part of the table at this link!)
II.
Acts 10-11:18: Peter’s visit at
Cornelius, the centurion.
I have found what seems to me strong evidence that
Cornelius Sabinus, referenced by Josephus in his Antiquities XIX:1:7-8, 14-15 &
XIX:4:4-6, is
the same as Cornelius,
the centurion, who is referenced in Acts 10. Provided this finding
is correct the events of Acts may thus be dated to a time prior to the death of Caesar
Caius, i.e. prior to January 24, 27 CE
[Tevet (or Shevat) [10th (or 11th) Moon] 21, 27 CE.]
III.
Acts 11:19-12:25: Paul’s relief mission and 1st visit to
Jerusalem following his conversion. The Apostle James killed, and Peter
imprisoned, by
Herod Agrippa I.
“1
Now about that time Herod the
king stretched forth his hands to vex
certain of the church. 2 And he killed James
the brother of John with the sword. 3 And
because he saw it pleased the
Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the
days of unleavened bread.) 4 And
when he had apprehended him, he put
him in prison, and delivered him
to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring
him forth to the people.” Acts 12:1-4 (KJV.)
”1. NOW when Claudius had taken out of the way all those soldiers whom he
suspected, which he did immediately, he published an edict, and therein confirmed that kingdom to Agrippa which
Caius had given him, and therein
commended the king highly. He
also made all addition to it of all that country over which Herod, who was his
grandfather, had reigned, that is, Judea and Samaria; and this he restored to him as due to his
family. But for Abila (17) of Lysanias,
and all that lay at
“2. Now about this time
there was a sedition between the Jews and the Greeks, at the city of
Alexandria; for when Caius was dead, the nation of the Jews, which had been very much mortified under the
reign of Caius, and reduced to very great
distress by the people of Alexandria, recovered itself, and immediately took up
their arms to fight for themselves. So Claudius sent an order to the president
of Egypt to quiet that tumult; he
also sent an edict, at the requests of king Agrippa and king Herod, both to
Alexandria and to Syria, whose contents were as follows: "Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus,
high priest, and tribune of the people, ordains thus: Since I am assured that
the Jews of Alexandria, called Alexandrians, have been joint inhabitants in the
earliest times with the Alexandrians, and have obtained from their kings equal
privileges with them, as is evident by the public records that are in their
possession, and the edicts themselves; and that after Alexandria had been
subjected to our empire by Augustus, their rights and privileges have been
preserved by those presidents who have at divers times been sent thither; and
that no dispute had been raised about those rights and privileges, even when
Aquila was governor of Alexandria; and that when the Jewish ethnarch was dead,
Augustus did not prohibit the making such ethnarchs, as willing that all men
should be so subject [to the Romans] as to continue in the observation of their
own customs, and not be forced to transgress the ancient rules of their own
country religion; but that, in the time of Caius, the Alexandrians became
insolent towards the Jews that were among them, which Caius, out of his great
madness and want of understanding, reduced the nation of the Jews very low,
because they would not transgress the religious worship of their country, and
call him a god: I
will therefore that the nation of the Jews be not deprived of their rights and
privileges, on account
of the madness of Caius; but that those rights and privileges which they
formerly enjoyed be preserved to them, and that they may continue in their own
customs. And I charge both parties to take very great care that no troubles may
arise after the promulgation of this edict."
“3. And such were the
contents of this edict on behalf of the Jews that was sent to
CHAPTER 6.
WHAT THINGS WERE DONE BY AGRIPPA AT
“1. NOW Claudius Caesar, by these decrees of his which were sent to
Notice,
below, Josephus’ reference to “that
great famine… in
“2.
Then
came Tiberius Alexander as successor to Fadus; he was the son of
Alexander the alabarch of
Agrippa(I)’s
(i.e. the Herod of Acts, chapter 12) rule began not long after Tishri 22,
23 CE, and ended some time subsequent to the Feast of Unleavened Bread in 31 CE
[between April 3 and October 28, 31 CE.]
It is clear, however, from the above quote out of Josephus that Judea
and Jerusalem, were not within Agrippa’s jurisdiction until Claudius became
Caesar, but that once Claudius became Caesar Agrippa returned “in haste… to
Jerusalem” along with the edict issued by Claudius in favor of the Jews.
Claudius reigned from
shortly after the death
of Caius, who died January
24, 27 CE [Tevet (or Shevat) [10th
(or 11th) Moon] 21, 27 CE.]
Thus, the first five
Feasts of Unleavened Bread following upon the
death of Caius are datable from Aviv
15 through Aviv 21, 27-31 CE:
1.
April
12 – April 18, 27 CE;
2.
March
31-April 6, 28 CE (or less likely April 29 or 30-May 5 or 6, 28 CE;)
3.
April
18 or 19-April 24 or 25, 29 CE (or very unlikely March 20-26, 29 CE;)
4.
March
(24 or) 25-March (30 or) 31, 30 CE; and
5.
March
29-April 4, 31 CE.
Considering the fact
that the events described in Acts 12:1-24 all apparently occurred while:
i.
Paul
and Barnabas were on their relief mission “unto the brethren which dwelt in
ii.
the
fact that the record given in Acts 12:1-24 gives no indication that the events
there described covers more than a brief period of time,
iii.
the
fact that Paul’s and Barnabas’ mission is likely to have lasted considerably
less than a year (cf. the “fifteen days” referenced in Gal. 1:18,) and
iv.
the
fact that Herod Agrippa (I) died in the civil year starting Tishri 1, 29 CE,
I conclude that each of
the
following events occurred just prior to, at, and/or surrounding, the Feast of
Unleavened Bread of Aviv 15 through
Aviv 21, 31 CE [March 29-April 4, 31 CE.)]
(Cf. also Josephus,
Antiquities, XIX:8:2,)
- Paul’s and Barnabas’ relief mission “unto the brethren which
dwelt in
- The “days of unleavened bread,” referenced in Acts 12:3;
- The murder of James, the brother of John (Acts 12:2) shortly
prior to said Feast; and
- The imprisonment of Peter (Acts 12:3-19) at the beginning of
said Feast.
IV.
The many datable events in the life of Paul:
(Cf. also the items
above!)
Luke, the author of
Acts, has been very careful to include a large number of exactly datable time
references in Acts generally, particularly so in re to the life and travels of
Paul. My study into
these items goes into considerable detail, but the interested student is
invited to participate with me along much the same analytical path as I myself have
traveled before finally arriving at the results now available to all:
1. Saul’s conversion experience on the road
to
2. Paul visited Jerusalem at least five times
subsequent to his conversion experience on the road to
(I have numbered those
five visits from zero through four for the sake of making it easier to
correlate them with the visits referenced in Paul’s epistle to the Galatians.)
3. Table of Dated Events
recorded in Acts and in the Epistles; Sequentially Ordered in Accordance
with the Greek Text.
4. The day to day itinerary
of Paul’s journey to Jerusalem at
Pentecost 44 CE.
5. The detailed itinerary of Paul’s journey to Rome.
6. Dating
each of the epistles; not only the epistles of Paul, but also those of
James, Peter, John, and Jude.
V.
The stoning of James the brother of Yeshua
Messiah:
“1. AND now Caesar, upon
hearing the death of Festus, sent Albinus into Judea, as procurator.
But the king deprived Joseph of the high priesthood, and bestowed the
succession to that dignity on the son of Ananus, who was also himself called
Ananus. Now the report goes that this eldest Ananus proved a most fortunate
man; for he had five sons who had all performed the office of a high priest to
God, and who had himself enjoyed that dignity a long time formerly, which had
never happened to any other of our high priests. But this younger Ananus, who, as we have told you already, took the high
priesthood, was a bold man in
his temper, and very insolent; he was
also of the sect of the Sadducees, (23) who are very
rigid in judging offenders, above all the rest of the Jews, as we have already
observed; when, therefore, Ananus was of this disposition, he thought he had
now a proper opportunity [to exercise his authority]. Festus
was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the sanhedrim
of judges, and brought before them the
brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some
others, [or, some of his companions]; and when he had formed an accusation
against them as breakers of the law, he delivered
them to be stoned: but as for
those who seemed the most equitable of the citizens, and such as were the most
uneasy at the breach of the laws, they disliked what was done; they also sent
to the king [Agrippa], desiring him to send to Ananus that he should act so no
more, for that what he had already done was not to be justified; nay, some of
them went also to meet Albinus, as he was upon his journey from Alexandria, and
informed him that it was not lawful for Ananus to assemble a sanhedrim without
his consent. (24) Whereupon Albinus complied with what they said, and
wrote in anger to Ananus, and threatened that he would bring him to punishment
for what he had done; on which king
Agrippa took the high priesthood from him, when he had ruled but three months, and made Jesus, the son of Damneus, high priest.”
Josephus, Antiquities, XX:9:1
By a comparison of the reign of
Albinus and the above quote it follows that James the brother of Yeshua
Messiah was stoned to death some time after Tishri 22, 44 CE, but before the
year starting Tishri 22, 46 CE.
VI.
The War and the Destruction of Jerusalem:
Click
this link for my complete study "The War and the Destruction of
Jerusalem"!
VII.
John’s captivity on Patmos:
Quoting
Jerome:
Re John: “In the fourteenth year then after Nero, Domitian, having raised a
second persecution, he was banished to the
“Jerome wrote that
Quoting Irenaeus (c. 130-202 [conventional]):
“We will not, however, incur the risk of pronouncing positively as to the name of Antichrist; for if it were necessary that his name should be distinctly revealed in this present time, it would have been announced by him who beheld the apocalyptic vision. For that was seen no very long time since, but almost in our day, towards the end of Domitian's reign.” (Irenaeus (c. 130-202, bishop of Lyons in Gaul,) Against Heresies (A.D. 180-199), Book V, Chapter 30.)
“It was seen no long time ago, but almost in our
age, at the end of the reign of Domitian.” (Lardner’s translation, ii. 181.)
“The Apocalypse was seen not long ago, but almost
in our generation, near the end of Domitian’s reign.” (Prof. Stuart’ translation.)
John’s captivity on
Based upon the death of Nero and using the same reckoning of civil
years as does Josephus for Vespasian I find that “the fourteenth year after
Nero” began Tishri 22, 67 CE [(September 19 or 20 or) October 20, 67 CE,] or, if Jerome was using Jewish reckoning, then “the
fourteenth year after Nero” began Tishri 1, 67 CE [(August 30 or 31 or) September
29, 67 CE.]
Not
unlikely Jerome was using Jewish dating methods similar to Josephus,
however, it is certainly by no means
improbable that he used instead a Julian calendar while, if so, reckoning
the years in accord with Roman methods. If so, then counting inclusively and
starting with the calendar year during which Nero died, [Nero died some
time within a very few days prior to the time when Galba, sometime between June
1 and June 6, 53 CE [between Sivan 24 and 30, 53 CE,] received the “advice…
from Rome that Nero was slain…”] I
find that “the fourteenth year after Nero” began January 1, 66 CE.
Alternatively, if Jerome was using actual years then the 14th year
began between June 1 and June 6, 66 CE, or possibly between June 1 and June 6,
67 CE.
Obsolete considerations based upon Domitian dying in 82 CE – which is
not consistent with the moon being in Aquarius on Sept 18: Considering that Domitian began his reign following the
death of Titus on September 13, 67 CE [Elul 14 or 15, 67 CE,] I find 1) that
Jerome was not using a Julian calendar, 2) that Jerome was not numbering the
Jewish months as did Suetonius re the death of Titus, 3) that Jerome was not
beginning the year with Tishri 22, but 4) that Jerome was using a Jewish
calendar and beginning the year with Tishri 1, 67 CE [(August 30 or 31,)] and
5) that John was sent to Patmos sometime between September 13, 67 CE
[Elul 14 or 15, 67 CE] and the beginning of Tishri 1, 67 CE [sunset September
28, 67 CE.]
Domitian died
on Tishri 6 [September 18, 82 CE.]
John’s death:
According to Jerome as above quoted, John “died in the sixty-eighth year after our
Lord's passion and was buried
near the same city.” As seen within this study, “our Lord’s passion,” assuming this
means the crucifixion, took place in 18 CE. The 68th year after 18
CE, using the same Jewish calendar used by Jerome in the above considerations,
brings us to the year beginning Tishri 1, 85 CE. Accordingly, John died
in the Jewish year beginning Tishri 1, 85 CE [i.e. between September 9, 85 CE
and September 29, 86 CE.] If Jerome was using a Julian calendar and inclusive
reckoning, then the 68th year began January 1, 85 CE, if
non-inclusive reckoning, then the 68th year began January 1, 86 CE.
Further considerations:
I have carried out a comprehensive review using the presumption that
Domitian died September 18, 85 CE. If indeed Jerome’s quoted words above are reliable
and true, then the apparently extensive actions of John following his release
from Patmos after Domitian’s death do not very well fit with John himself dying
no later than September 29, 86 CE, especially when considering also the words “until the tithe of the emperor Trajan.” In consequence I
shall have to test also the next earlier Moon/Aquarius/Sept 18 conjunction
which occurred in 77 CE and which would clearly fit a little bit better with
Jerome’s data re John and Domitian and much better than the 85 CE scenario: The
10th year of Trajan would then likely be the Julian calendar year
beginning January 1, 87 CE or else the year beginning in the Julian calendar on
January 27, 87 CE, i.e. if Trajan succeeded Nerva on January 27, 78 CE (cf. Wikipedia.) I can not think of
any way of extending the death of John, i.e. said 68th year, beyond
the 9th year of Trajan using any calendar or reckoning, but perhaps “the
tithe of the emperor Trajan” means something other than the 10th
year of Trajan? Or else, was Jerome using the term 68th year in
reference to the year beginning a 68 full years after 18 CE, i.e. the calendar
year 87 CE?
Conclusions:
§
John was sent to
§
John was released from bondage on
§
Revelation was authored towards
the end of John’s captivity on
§
John died in the Jewish year beginning Tishri 1, 85 CE
[i.e. between September 9, 85 CE and September 29, 86 CE.]
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