44 
of March not only agrees with the testimony of St. John (xviii.) 
that “ it was cold ” during that period, but also with the fact 
that those Christians, who commemorated the crucifixion as an 
anniversary, observed it as late as the fourth century, on the 
17th of March* — and I shall endeavour to show presently, by 
the aid of an Egyptian monument, how exactly the further test 
of Tertullian “ within the time of the 70 hebdomads” is fully 
confirmed. 
14. One more testimony, much earlier than that of Tertullian, 
as to the true date of the crucifixion, is to be found in the 
records of a nation detailing contemporary events. Eusebius, 
the great ecclesiastical historian of the fourth century, states 
that he had discovered certain letters from the King of Edessa 
addressed to Jesus Christ, which, he says, “were taken by 
himself from the archives of that city and translated, word for 
word, from the Syriac language.” After quoting these letters 
in full, Eusebius goes on to say that “the following things are 
subjoined in the Syrian tongue,” viz., that after the ascension 
the Apostle Thaddeus was sent to Edessa, where he performed 
many miracles, & c. ; adding these words, “ this was done in the 
340th year,” i.e. of the era of the Seleucidse, which synchronizes 
with the year of our era A.D. 29. t 
15. The allusion of Tertullian to the crucifixion having 
occurred “ within the time of the 70 hebdomads ” refers to the 
famous prediction of the prophet Daniel, that “ the Messiah 
was to be cut off ” at a certain period in the history of Israel, 
and which caused pious Jews, like Simeon and Anna, to be 
“ waiting for the consolation of Israel ” at the time of our 
Saviour’s birth. Thus we read in Daniel ix. 26, how it was 
foretold that, counting from the time of the issue of a certain 
decree for rebuilding the broken-down walls of Jerusalem, there 
should be 74-62, i.e. sixty-nine weeks of years, or what Tertul- 
lian calls “ hebdomads,” which equal 483 years, at the expiration 
of which the Messiah would be cut off, i.e. put to death by 
crucifixion at Calvary. That such is the meaning of this famous 
prophecy, on which, as Sir Isaac Newton is reported to have 
* Epiphanius says that the Christians, nicknamed Quartadecimavs, who 
observed Easter as the Apostles and the primitive Christians did, “ kept 
their Pasch on the loth of the Kalends of April (i.e. March 17), grounding 
their reasons for so doing upon certain information contained in the Acta 
Pilati, respecting the day of our Lord’s crucifixion.” (Epiphanius, 
Peer. 50, Quart, n. 11.) 
f Eusebius, Eccles. Hist., i. cli, xiii, 
