Isaac Newton, Observations Upon The Prophecies Of Daniel and The Apocalypse Of St. John

18. c. 6, 7. Now Tiberius reigned 22 years and 7 months, and died March 16, in the beginning of the year of Christ 37; and the feast of the Passover fell on April 20 following, that is, 35 days after the death of Tiberius: so that there were about 36 or 38 days, for the news of his death to come from Rome to Vitellius at Jerusalem; which being a convenient time for that message, confirms that the feast which Vitellius and Herod now went up to was the Passover. For had it been the Pentecost, as is usually supposed, Vitellius would have continued three months ignorant of the Emperor’s death: which is not to be supposed. However, the things done between this feast and the Passover which Vitellius was at before, namely, the stirring up a sedition in Parthia, the quieting that sedition, the making a league after that with the Parthians, the sending news of that league to Rome, the receiving new orders from thence to go against the Arabians, and the putting those orders in execution; required much more time than the fifty days between the Passover and Pentecost of the same year: and therefore the Passover which Vitellius first went up to, was in the year before. Therefore Pilate was deposed before the Passover A.C. 36, and by consequence the passion of Christ was before that Passover: for he suffered not under Vitellius, nor under Vitellius and Pilate together, but under Pilate alone.

Now it is observable that the high Priesthood was at this time become an annual office, and the Passover was the time of making a new high Priest.

For Gratus the predecessor of Pilate, saith Josephus, made Ismael high Priest after Ananus; and a while after, suppose a year, deposed him, and substituted Eleazar, and a year after Simon, and after another year Caiaphas; and then gave way to Pilate. So Vitellius at one Passover made Jonathas successor to Caiaphas, and at the next Theophilus to Jonathas.

Hence Luke tells us, that in the 15th year of Tiberius, Annas and Caiaphas were high Priests, that is, Annas till the Passover, and Caiaphas afterwards.

Accordingly John speaks of the high Priesthood as an annual office: for he tells us again and again, in the last year of Christ’s preaching, that Caiaphas was high Priest for that year, John 11:49, 51; 17:13. And the next year Luke tells you, that Annas was high Priest, Acts 4:6. Theophilus was therefore made high Priest in the first year of Caius, Jonathas in the 22d year of Tiberius, and Caiaphas in the 21st year of the same Emperor: and therefore, allotting a year to each, the Passion, when Annas succeeded Caiaphas, could not be later than the 20th year of Tiberius, A.C. 34.

Thus there remain only the years 33 and 34 to be considered; and the year 33 I exclude by this argument. In the Passover two years before the Passion, when Christ went through the corn, and his disciples plucked the ears, and rubbed them with their hands to eat; this ripeness of the corn shows that the Passover then fell late: and so did the Passover A.C. 32, April 14. but the Passover A.C. 31, March 28th, fell very early. It was not therefore two years after the year 31, but two years after 32 that Christ suffered.

Thus all the characters of the Passion agree to the year 34; and that is the only year to which they all agree.

CHAPTER 12.

OF THE PROPHECY OF THE SCRIPTURE OF TRUTH.

THE kingdoms represented by the second and third Beasts, or the Bear and Leopard, are again described by Daniel in his last Prophecy written in the third year of Cyrus over Babylon, the year in which he conquered Persia.