[SonlitKnight]

Thank you for you wonderfully patronizing response. According to one of the foremost scholars on the subject, Herods death occured in the year 1, following an Eclipse.

[infominer]

The response was not, nor intended to be patronizing. The issue of Herod's death is key to understanding when Jesus was born and conveniently overlooked by “foremost scholars”. The primary (and indisputable) source for accounts of Jesus’ birth is the Bible. And without discussing His birth in context of what it has to say, the debate of “when” is irrelevant.

In Luke 2:1 we find “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king...” following through to Luke 2:13 “...Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt...for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.” then in Luke 2:19,20 “But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, [20] Saying, Arise, and take the young child an his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.” (KJV)

You are correct in that Herod died on the night when there was an eclipse of the moon. However, it was not in the year 1. Please read the source information on Herod's death from the Jewish historian, Josephus.