1846.] Data in the Gospels. 669 ance with this Josephus relates, Bell. Jud. 6, 4. 1 and 2, that on the eighth of Lous (Ab), the temple was first set on fire; and though he mentions, farther on, the tenth of Lous, it is only to designate the end of the destruction of the temple, in order to make the parallel with Jer. 52: 12 as exact as possible. The credibility of the Talmud in this respect is still farther confirmed by the calendar of the Jewish festivals, in which the ninth of Ab is designated as a day of general fasting, in commemoration of the event; comp. Ideler I 528, 567. There is still another proof. The first of Ab, A. D. 70, occurred on the twenty-eighth of July, at which time the new moon became visible. This was the Sabbath. Consequently, the eighth of Ab or the fourth of August would give us another Sabbath; and if the course of Joiarib began to minister on the ninth of Ab (Aug. 5) at evening, they began, according to our mode of reckoning time, on the fourth of August, (Josephus's eighth of Lous;) immediately upon the close of the Sabbath. This exactly accords with the fixed order of the orbis hieraticus, according to which each course of priests must actually enter upon its weekly service at the close of the seventh day or the Sabbath. 162 Assuming now, as we are justified in doing, that the course of Joiarib commenced its ministration on the fifth of August 823 U. C. or rather on the evening of the day preceeding, it follows that the ministration of the course of Abia, 74 years, 10 months and 2 days, or (reckoning 19 intercalary years) 27335 days hieratic circles; and 119 days earlier, fell between the third and ninth of October 748 U. C. Reckoning from the tenth of October, at which Zacharias could reach his house and allowing nine months for the pregnancy of Elizabeth, to which six months are to be added (Luke 1: 26), we have in the whole one year and three months, which gives us the tenth of January as the date of Christ's birth. It is certainly remarkable that the Basilidians, according to Clement, fixed upon this tenth of January, although some of them preferred the sixth. The latter date appears to be only a modi. fication of the former and perhaps arose from reckoning the nine months as lunar months which would give us just this result. In this ancient date of the Epiphany, therefore, we seem to possess a calculation of the day of Christ's birth based upon Luke's statement in regard to the course of Abia. Whether this be so or not, however, it is evident that that statement does not furnish us with the necessary grounds for this degree of definiteness; since it is by no means certain that the conception of Elizabeth is to be reckoned from the day on which Zacharias returned home, and since the expression "in the sixth month" may not be intended to be pressed as far as possible. All that we can certainly infer, therefore, from this investigation, is that Jesus could hardly have been born before the early part of January 750 U. C. and that this event probably occurred somewhat later. Secondly: We obtain a new basis for calculating the month of the nativity, by consulting the succession of events in the narrative relating to the infancy of Jesus. The time at which he was presented in the temple (Luke 2: 22 sq.), must have preceded, as I hope to show hereafter, the visit of the Magi. Now since Herod was living at the time, and also at the time of the flight into Egypt which immediately followed, and the almost simultaneous murder of the infants in Bethlehem; and since children must be presented according to the Mosaic law (Lev. 12: 2 sq.), forty days after birth, Jesus must have been born at least forty days and upwards before the death of Herod (April 750). This brings us to the month of February as the latest limit of the birth of Christ. Thirdly: Inasmuch as our choice, upon these grounds, appears to be only between the months of January and February, we may perhaps arrive at a final decision by means of the statement of Luke, that shepherds with their herds were then spending the night in the open air (in huts). From this it has been inferred that the birth of Jesus could not have taken place in the winter months; and in support of this, the tradition in the Talmud has been cited (see Lightfoot on Luke 2: 8), that the herds were driven out to pasture in March and brought under shelter again in the beginning of November. But by this, it surely cannot be meant that herds might not have been driven out to pasture, in none of the many years in which the winter was especially favorble, and at no single place, and under no peculiar circumstances, before the month of March. We are to consider also the great variations in temperature and the difference in this respect between the mountains and valleys in the same vicinity. The re On the temperature of modern Palestine, especially Jerusalem, have lately treated: Schubert, Reise in das Morgenland in den Jahren 1836 und 1837. III. 103 sq.; and Robinson, Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petrea; a journal of travels in the year 1833, II. 96 sq. Comp. Winer Art. Witterung. 2 Schubert says: "In the present state of science, we may well ask, where upon earth can we find equal height and depth so near to each other, as here 1846.] No Objection from the Climate of Palestine. 671 lation of the Talmud must therefore be received as only very general and vague, and in fact as stating little beyond the time. of the early and latter rains, in connection with the pasturage of the herds. It is to be observed also that the evangelist does not affirm that the herds remained at pasture over night, every year at this season, or that at this time they were every where at pasture. In the great concourse of people with which Bethlehem was crowded while the census was taking, and the consequent want of room, which rendered it necessary to use the stalls of the cattle for lodging, as was done by the parents of Jesus, it is very conceivable that the shepherds of Bethlehem, the weather permitting just then, should have driven their herds into one of the warm valleys in the neighborhood. On these grounds therefore, we are relieved from the necessity of placing the birth of Christ, according to this statement of the Talmud, in the month of March, which would not agree with the results already obtained. On account of the climate of Palestine, however, it appears decidedly probable that the herds could not have been driven out to pasture before the month of February. For, first, even at present in Palestine, there are signs of spring as early as February, while January is the depth of winter, and during the preceding months, November and December, long and violent rain-storms prevail. Schubert, after observing that the heat is for the most part, very great in the autumnal months, goes on to say: And even after the early rain, which falls between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice, about seven weeks before Christmas, has revived the thirsty land, such mild days are brought back by the southwest winds, that Christmas is often the most lovely season of (in Jerusalem), where in a course of seven hours, are found a depression below the level of the sea, of at least six hundred feet, and an elevation more than four times as high." Robinson remarks: "The barley harvest precedes the wheat harvest by a week or fortnight. On the fourth and fifth of June, the people of Hebron were just beginning to gather their wheat: on the eleventh and twelfth, the threshing-floors on the Mount of Olives were in full operation. We had already seen the harvest in the same stage of progress on the plains of Gaza on the nineteenth of May; while at Jericho, on the twelfth of May, the threshingfloors had nearly completed their work." Josephus observes of Jericho and the vicinity, de bell. Jud. 4, 8. 3, "the atmosphere is so mild that the inhabitants are clad in linen, while the rest of Judea is covered with snow." 1 Schubert restricts this observation with reference to Christmas, by adding in a note "but not always." With this compare Robinson II, 97: "The autumnal rains, the early rains of Scripture, usually commence in the latter half of October or beginning of November, not suddenly but by degrees; which gives opportunity for the husbandman to sow his fields of wheat and barley. the whole year. In general, the cold weather begins to be more settled about the middle of January, and it sometimes freezes as late as February. The first tree which buds, is the almond-tree. It blossoms in the deep valleys even before the entrance of the cold days of February. The vicinity of Bethlehem and Hebron we found adorned in March with blooming fruit trees, among which were the apricot, apple, and pear." Still, as both of the authors just cited confess, our knowledge of the climate and temperature is not entirely perfect. Schubert has promised to treat more at large upon the natural history of Palestine, but has not as yet done so, so far as is known. Secondly the climate of Palestine must have somewhat changed in the course of centuries, so that cold weather must now extend farther into spring, than it did in the age of Christ. This phenomenon appears nearly universal in lands which gradually sink into barbarism, and where the mind and hand of man cease to struggle with nature. This has been often maintained in respect to Palestine; to me it appears to be placed beyond doubt, by the following considerations. According to the law, the beginning of the harvest fell upon the 16th of Nisan, which not unfrequently was one of the last days of our March. According to Robinson, II. 97, the settled limits of the early and latter rains are now lost. Several kinds of trees, e. g. the palm, which need a milder clmate, have, as Schubert expressly mentions, almost wholly disappeared. Comparing too the time of harvest in sev eral parts of Palestine, already given on p. 671, it is evident that the grain at the present day becomes ripe later than formerly; for in the age of Christ, the harvest must all be gathered in, according to the law, at the commencement of Pentecost or fifty days after the 16th of Nisan. Finally, several passages in Josephus confirm this view; for instance, that in which he relates, Antt. 14. 15, 14. de bell Jud. 1, 17: 8, that Herod, in order to besiege The rains come mostly from the west or south-west, continuing for two or three days at a time, and falling especially during the nights. Then the wind chops round to the north or east, and several days of fine weather succeed. During the months of November and December the rains continue to fall heavily; afterwards they return only at longer intervals and are less heavy; but at no period during the winter do they entirely cease to occur. Snow often falls in Jerusalem in January and February to the depth of a foot or more, but does not usually lie long. The ground never freezes; but Mr. Whiting had seen the pool back of his honse (Hezekiah's) covered with thin ice for one or two days. Rain continues to fall more or less through the month of March, but is rare after that period. During the present season, there had been little or none in March, and indeed the whole quantity of rain had been less than usual." 1846.] A Phenomenon in Church History. 673 Jerusalem, broke up his winter quarters before the end of winter. For since he took that city in Sivan, the third Jewish month (our June) after he had besieged it five months, the end of winter at that time must have occurred at about the beginning of our February. In respect therefore to the month and day of Christ's birth, we are brought to the conclusion that the day must be left undecided; and that of the months, the close of December together with January and February should be taken into consideration, of which, however, December has the least, January a greater, and February decidedly the greatest probability in its favor. ARTICLE III. A PHENOMENON IN CHURCH HISTORY. By Rev. Leonard Withington, Newbury, Mass. Sapientia praecedit; religio sequitur.-Lactantius, Lib. IV. c. 4. In order to understand the spirit of antiquity, it seems necessary for us, not only to receive single customs and insulated impressions, but to trace their associated ideas as they are connected in the whole mental chain. This is very difficult; and here is the source of our inevitable ignorance. We are told by Niebuhr, in his prelections on Roman history, that "as there is nothing the Asiatics find it harder to conceive than the idea of a republican constitution, as the Hindoos are utterly unable to look upon the India-Company as an association of proprietors, as in any other light than princes, so it fares with the acutest of the moderns in the history of antiquity, unless by critical and philological studies they have stripped themselves of their habitual associations.-P. 20, Introd., ed. 1835, Philadelphia. This is true in insulated cases. But this is not all. Though our moral ideas are far more permanent than the impression of material objects, and an ancient description of the one more easily comprehended than that of the other, yet our moral conceptions are linked in a chain; they reflect each other's hue and color, and we must almost comprehend the whole spirit of a given age to understand fully any single term presented to our contemplation. Take the words for example: virtue, patriotism, slavery, for |