The word _eclipse_, ἔκλειψις, signifies _failure_, namely, of
light. An eclipse of the sun is caused by the intervention of the moon,
at new, or in conjunction with the sun, intercepting his light from the
earth, either totally or partially. An eclipse of the moon is caused by
the intervention of the earth, intercepting the sun’s light from the
moon, when full, or in opposition to the sun, either totally or
partially. The reason why the sun is not eclipsed every new moon, nor
the moon at every full, is owing to the inclination of the moon’s orbit
to the plane of the ecliptic, or earth’s orbit, in an angle of about
five degrees and a half; in consequence of which, the moon is generally
too much elevated above the plane of the ecliptic, or too much depressed
below it, for her disk to touch the earth’s shadow at full, or for her
shadow, or her penumbra, to touch the earth’s disk at new. An eclipse,
therefore, of either luminary can only take place when they are within
their proper limits, or distances, from the nodes or intersections of
both orbits. And because the limits of solar eclipses are wider than
those of lunar, in general there will be more eclipses of the sun than
of the moon. In any year, the number of eclipses of both luminaries
cannot be less than two, and these will both be of the sun, nor more
than seven: the usual number is four; and it is very rare to have more
than six. But though solar eclipses happen oftener, lunar are more
frequently observed in any particular place. For an eclipse of the moon
is visible to the inhabitants of half the globe at the same instant;
whereas, an eclipse of the sun is visible only within that part of the
earth’s surface, traversed by the moon’s total shadow, and by her
penumbra, or partial shadow. But her total shadow, when she is nearest
to the earth, cannot cover a space of more than a hundred and
fifty-eight geographical miles in diameter, nor at her mean distance
more than seventy-nine, and at her greatest distance may not touch the
earth at all. In the two former cases, the sun will be eclipsed in the
places covered by the shadow totally, or by the penumbra partially: in
the last it may be annular, but not total. Without the reach of the
shadow, and within the limits of the penumbra, which cannot cover more
than four thousand five hundred and fifty-two miles of the earth’s
surface, there will be a partial eclipse of the sun, and without these
limits no eclipse at all. Hence lunar eclipses are more frequently
noticed by historians than solar; and Diogenes Laertius may be credited
when he relates, that, during the period in which the Egyptians had
observed eight hundred and thirty-two eclipses of the moon, they had
only observed three hundred and seventy-three of the sun. In the midst
of a total lunar eclipse, the moon’s disk is frequently visible, and of
a deep red or copperish colour. This, in the poetic language of sacred
prophecy, is expressed by “the moon’s being turned into blood,” Joel ii,
31. This remarkable phenomenon is caused by the sun’s lateral rays in
their passage through the dense atmosphere of the earth, being inflected
into the shadow by refraction, and falling pretty copiously upon the
moon’s disk, are reflected from thence to the eye of the spectator. If
the earth had no atmosphere, the moon’s disk would then be as black as
in a solar eclipse. A total eclipse of the moon may occasion a privation
of her light for an hour and a half, during her total immersion in the
shadow; whereas, a total eclipse of the sun can never last in any
particular place above four minutes, when the moon is nearest to the
earth, and her shadow thickest. Hence it appears, that the darkness
which “overspread the whole land of Judea,” at the time of our Lord’s
crucifixion, was preternatural, “from the sixth until the ninth hour,”
or from noon till three in the afternoon, in its duration, and also in
its time, about full moon, when the moon could not possibly eclipse the
sun. It was accompanied by an earthquake, which altogether struck the
spectators, and among them the centurion and Roman guard, with great
fear, and a conviction, that Jesus was the Son of God, Matt, xxvii,
51–54.
Eclipses, says Dr. Hales, are justly reckoned among the surest and most
unerring characters of chronology; for they can be calculated with great
exactness backward as well as forward; and there is such a variety of
distinct circumstances of the time when, and the place where, they were
seen; of the duration, or beginning, middle, or end of every eclipse,
and of the quantity, or number of digits eclipsed; that there is no
danger of confounding any two eclipses together, when the circumstances
attending each are noticed with any tolerable degree of precision. Thus,
to an eclipse of the moon incidentally noticed by the great Jewish
chronologer, Josephus, shortly before the death of Herod the Great, we
owe the determination of the true year of our Saviour’s nativity. During
Herod’s last illness, and not many days before his death, there happened
an eclipse of the moon on the very night that he burned alive Matthias,
and the ringleaders of a sedition, in which the golden eagle, which he
had consecrated and set up over the gate of the temple, was pulled down
and broken to pieces by these zealots. This eclipse happened, by
calculation, March 13, U. C. 750, B. C. 4. But it is certain from
Scripture, that Christ was born during Herod’s reign; and from the visit
of the magi to Jerusalem “from the east,” ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν, from the
Parthian empire, to inquire for the true “born King of the Jews,” whose
star they had seen “at its rising,” ἐν τῇ ἀνατολῇ, and also from the age
of the infants massacred at Bethlehem, “from two years old and under,”
Matt, ii, 1–16. It is no less certain, that Jesus could not have been
born later than B. C. 5, which is the year assigned to the nativity by
Chrysostom, Petavius and Prideaux.
light. An eclipse of the sun is caused by the intervention of the moon,
at new, or in conjunction with the sun, intercepting his light from the
earth, either totally or partially. An eclipse of the moon is caused by
the intervention of the earth, intercepting the sun’s light from the
moon, when full, or in opposition to the sun, either totally or
partially. The reason why the sun is not eclipsed every new moon, nor
the moon at every full, is owing to the inclination of the moon’s orbit
to the plane of the ecliptic, or earth’s orbit, in an angle of about
five degrees and a half; in consequence of which, the moon is generally
too much elevated above the plane of the ecliptic, or too much depressed
below it, for her disk to touch the earth’s shadow at full, or for her
shadow, or her penumbra, to touch the earth’s disk at new. An eclipse,
therefore, of either luminary can only take place when they are within
their proper limits, or distances, from the nodes or intersections of
both orbits. And because the limits of solar eclipses are wider than
those of lunar, in general there will be more eclipses of the sun than
of the moon. In any year, the number of eclipses of both luminaries
cannot be less than two, and these will both be of the sun, nor more
than seven: the usual number is four; and it is very rare to have more
than six. But though solar eclipses happen oftener, lunar are more
frequently observed in any particular place. For an eclipse of the moon
is visible to the inhabitants of half the globe at the same instant;
whereas, an eclipse of the sun is visible only within that part of the
earth’s surface, traversed by the moon’s total shadow, and by her
penumbra, or partial shadow. But her total shadow, when she is nearest
to the earth, cannot cover a space of more than a hundred and
fifty-eight geographical miles in diameter, nor at her mean distance
more than seventy-nine, and at her greatest distance may not touch the
earth at all. In the two former cases, the sun will be eclipsed in the
places covered by the shadow totally, or by the penumbra partially: in
the last it may be annular, but not total. Without the reach of the
shadow, and within the limits of the penumbra, which cannot cover more
than four thousand five hundred and fifty-two miles of the earth’s
surface, there will be a partial eclipse of the sun, and without these
limits no eclipse at all. Hence lunar eclipses are more frequently
noticed by historians than solar; and Diogenes Laertius may be credited
when he relates, that, during the period in which the Egyptians had
observed eight hundred and thirty-two eclipses of the moon, they had
only observed three hundred and seventy-three of the sun. In the midst
of a total lunar eclipse, the moon’s disk is frequently visible, and of
a deep red or copperish colour. This, in the poetic language of sacred
prophecy, is expressed by “the moon’s being turned into blood,” Joel ii,
31. This remarkable phenomenon is caused by the sun’s lateral rays in
their passage through the dense atmosphere of the earth, being inflected
into the shadow by refraction, and falling pretty copiously upon the
moon’s disk, are reflected from thence to the eye of the spectator. If
the earth had no atmosphere, the moon’s disk would then be as black as
in a solar eclipse. A total eclipse of the moon may occasion a privation
of her light for an hour and a half, during her total immersion in the
shadow; whereas, a total eclipse of the sun can never last in any
particular place above four minutes, when the moon is nearest to the
earth, and her shadow thickest. Hence it appears, that the darkness
which “overspread the whole land of Judea,” at the time of our Lord’s
crucifixion, was preternatural, “from the sixth until the ninth hour,”
or from noon till three in the afternoon, in its duration, and also in
its time, about full moon, when the moon could not possibly eclipse the
sun. It was accompanied by an earthquake, which altogether struck the
spectators, and among them the centurion and Roman guard, with great
fear, and a conviction, that Jesus was the Son of God, Matt, xxvii,
51–54.
Eclipses, says Dr. Hales, are justly reckoned among the surest and most
unerring characters of chronology; for they can be calculated with great
exactness backward as well as forward; and there is such a variety of
distinct circumstances of the time when, and the place where, they were
seen; of the duration, or beginning, middle, or end of every eclipse,
and of the quantity, or number of digits eclipsed; that there is no
danger of confounding any two eclipses together, when the circumstances
attending each are noticed with any tolerable degree of precision. Thus,
to an eclipse of the moon incidentally noticed by the great Jewish
chronologer, Josephus, shortly before the death of Herod the Great, we
owe the determination of the true year of our Saviour’s nativity. During
Herod’s last illness, and not many days before his death, there happened
an eclipse of the moon on the very night that he burned alive Matthias,
and the ringleaders of a sedition, in which the golden eagle, which he
had consecrated and set up over the gate of the temple, was pulled down
and broken to pieces by these zealots. This eclipse happened, by
calculation, March 13, U. C. 750, B. C. 4. But it is certain from
Scripture, that Christ was born during Herod’s reign; and from the visit
of the magi to Jerusalem “from the east,” ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν, from the
Parthian empire, to inquire for the true “born King of the Jews,” whose
star they had seen “at its rising,” ἐν τῇ ἀνατολῇ, and also from the age
of the infants massacred at Bethlehem, “from two years old and under,”
Matt, ii, 1–16. It is no less certain, that Jesus could not have been
born later than B. C. 5, which is the year assigned to the nativity by
Chrysostom, Petavius and Prideaux.