The Date of the Crucifixion.
By E. S.
HERR FALB, the German savant, in a work recently published, shows that there was a total eclipse of the moon concomitantly with the earthquake that occurred when Julius Cæsar was assassinated, on the 15th of March, B. C. 44. He has also calculated back the Jewish Calendar to A. D. 31, and the result of his researches fully confirms the facts recorded by the evangelists of the wonderful physical events that accompanied the crucifixion. Astronomical calculations prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that on the 14th day of the Jewish month, Nisan (April 6), there was a total eclipse of the sun, which was accompanied, in all probability, by the earthquake when “the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent” (Matt. 27: 51); while St. Luke describes the eclipse in these words: “And it was about the sixth hour (12 noon), and there was darkness over all the land till the ninth hour (3 o’clock P. M.), and the sun was darkened.” (Luke 23: 44, 45.) This mode of reckoning corresponds perfectly with the result of another calculation our author made by reckoning backward from the great total eclipse of April 20, 1818, allowing for the difference between the old and new styles, which also gives April 6 as the date of the new moon in the year A. D. 31. As the vernal equinox of that year fell on March 25, and the Jews ate their Easter Lamb, and celebrated their Erib Pasah, or Feast of the Passover, on the following new moon, it is clear April 6 was identical with Nisan 14 of the Jewish Calendar, which, moreover, was on a Friday, the Paraskevee, or day of preparation for the Sabbath, and this agrees with the Hebrew Talmud. Thus, by the united testimony of astronomy, archæology, tradition, and biblical history, there can be but little doubt that the date of the crucifixion was April 6, A. D. 31. Will the person who sent us the above please give the source from which it was taken. It is a valuable testimony, and will be rendered still more so, by a statement of the publication in which it is found. E. S.