Biblical chronology dispute
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A Biblical chronology dispute regarding the chronology of specific events in the Bible, and hence of the length of the history in the world, persists today. At least five different camps have made various assumptions concerning the interpretation of relevant Scripture and even the "best fit" of Scripture to the archaeological record. What follows below is a description of the five camps, and the assumption that each camp has made, followed by a synoptic comparative chronology illustrating the implications of the various positions.
Contents |
The Disputed Era
The dispute at hand concerns the full length of the Old Testament era from Creation to the death of Nebuchadnezzar II. Secular history pegs this date at 562 BC.[1][2][3] Most discussions of the dispute in the secular literature (including the Wikipedia) seem to center on the dates of:
- The groundbreaking of the Temple of Solomon
- The Exodus of Israel
Concerning the Exodus, secular archaeologists and Biblical scholars have often argued whether this event occurred in 1290 BC (the Late Date) or in either 1446 BC or earlier (the Early Date). But concerning the other dates, the disputes on them are merely the symptom of the actual sources of dispute, as the discussion will further show.
Five Schools of Thought
The five traditions, each of which gives its own dates for the events detailed above and, by extension, the date of Creation, are the Hillel Tradition, the Late Date Tradition, the Ussher Tradition, the Thiele Tradition, and the Long Chronology Tradition.
The Hillel Tradition
This camp includes the great Rabbi Hillel II, inventor of the nineteen-year-cyclic luni-solar Hebrew calendar used by Jews worldwide, and especially in present-day Israel.[4] This calendar calculates Creation, which presumably would fall on 1 Tishri Year 1, as October 7, 3761 BC according to the Julian calendar.[5]
The Hillel Tradition is at the greatest odds with the others discussed here primarily because it assumes that the Messiah was not Jesus Christ at all, but a rebel leader named Simon bar Hochva, who revolted against Rome in 135 AD, prompting Emperor Hadrian to scatter the Jews to the farthest reaches of the Roman Empire (the Diaspora) and rename the region from Judea to Palaestina, which is the nearest equivalent to "Philistia" in Latin.
The primary source for the Hillel Tradition is the Seder Olam, a second century Targum of Rabbinic Judaism.
The Late Date Tradition
This newest of the five positions holds that the Exodus occurred later in the history of Egypt than do the other three--anywhere from 155 to 200 years later.[6][7][8][9]
The Ussher Tradition
This camp takes its name from James Ussher and includes Biblical scholars who support Ussher's original chronology, including Floyd Nolen Jones and Larry Pierce. Followers of Ussher's tradition insist that the chronological data found in the Scriptures are impeccable and unimpeachable, and that conflicting data from non-Biblical sources must give way to it.[10][11] Several of the major creation ministries, such as Answers in Genesis, and The Creation Research Institute, follow the Ussher Tradition.
The major chronological works of the Ussher tradition are:
- James Ussher, The Annals of the World, 1654
- Floyd Nolen Jones, The Chronology of the Old Testament, Master Books, 2005
The Thiele Tradition
This camp takes its name from Edwin R. Thiele, an archaeologist and Biblical scholar who was one of a few key investigators (another was William A. Fulbright) to attempt to reconcile the king lists given in I and II Kings to the accepted secular translations of Assyrian stone tablets and other records—the Assyrian chronology.
Thiele's defining work on chronology was:
- Edwin R. Theile - The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI, 1965
Today, most evangelical scholars have joined the Thiele camp;[12] however many (though not all) of the same evangelical scholars have mostly embraced various forms of theistic evolution. Fulbright and other competitors of Thiele are regarded as less important.[13]
The most prominent Thiele scholar today is Leslie McFall, who has worked hard to create a self-consistent chronology based largely on Thiele's Mysterious Numbers. McFall has sought to disavow some of Thiele's earlier assertions that Scripture itself was in error on certain points. The Ussher camp still disputes some of McFall's assertions concerning synchronies between the Northern and Southern Kingdoms (especially synchronies of Kings Menahem, Pekahiah, and Pekah of the Northern Kingdom with Uzziah of the Southern Kingdom).
Long Chronology or Variant Manuscript Tradition
Several creationist scholars such as Lambert Dolphin base their chronologies on the Septuagint or the Samaritan Pentateuch. These variant manuscripts add about 1500 years to a chronology constructed from them using the same method as Ussher and others. In this system the date of creation (according to the Byzantine Creation Era) is given as September 1 5508 BC, giving the second dominant Biblical date for creation (i.e., circa 4000 BC and circa 5500 BC).
Points of Agreement
The various camps agree on a number of key facts:
- The genealogy in the Bible from Adam to Noah, the date of the Global Flood in relation to Creation, and the further genealogy from Shem son of Noah to Terah father of Abraham, make a continuous timeline that four of these camps accept virtually without question. The Long Chronology camp insists that the manuscripts other than the Septuagint skipped or omitted a number of generations.
- The genealogy from Abraham to Jacob's sons forms another unquestioned interval of time--though Terah's age at the birth of Abraham is in dispute (see below).
- The groundbreaking of the Temple of Jerusalem took place in the 480th year following the Exodus of Israel from Egypt.[14] The Late Date Camp, however, dates the Exodus in 1290 BC, 201 years later than Ussher and 156 years later than Thiele, compressing the period of the Judges greatly.
Key Points of Dispute
As has been noted elsewhere, attempts to establish a universally acceptable equivalency between Anno Mundi dates and Before Christ dates have faltered because of inability to resolve disputes on certain key dates, or epochs, in Biblical chronology and Biblical genealogy. None of the camps dispute the order of the events in the world time line. What they dispute is the intervals between and among them.
The Birth of Abraham
The first of these disputes concerns the birth of Abraham. The Bible says the following concerning the life of Terah, Abraham's father:And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. Genesis 11:26-27 (KJV)Further along, concerning the end of Terah's life, the Bible says:
And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran. Genesis 11:32 (KJV)Immediately thereafter, the Bible details this event in Abraham's life:
So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. Genesis 12:4 (KJV)
The Hillel camp assumes that Abraham was born when Terah was seventy years old. But the Ussher camp asserts that the Bible shows Abraham leaving the Haran country after Terah was dead at the age of 205--which would make Terah 130 years old when Abraham was born. They explain the 60-year discrepancy by holding that Nahor or Haran was born when Terah was 70 years old, and Abraham was born much later.
Ussher's chief warrant for assuming this later date for Abraham's birth was the placement of the description of Abraham's departure after the account of Terah's death. He assumed that the Bible listed events in the order in which they took place. Modern Ussherites, among them Larry Pierce, assume the same. But in addition, Stephen, testifying before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem at his blasphemy trial, said this of Abraham:Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. Acts 7:4 (KJV)
The key to supporting the late-birth assumption is further assuming that dead means only physically dead. Ample precedent exists for the listing of certain events out of their strict order of occurrence, and in a more logical grouping by the life of the person involved. Genesis 5 is a perfect example of this. One can see further examples in the King Lists in I and II Kings. But the key point that critics of the late-birth assumption make is that the phrase "when his father was dead" could refer to a spiritual death that God reckoned when Terah forgot his initial purpose in taking his family out of their home city of Ur of the Chaldees. By that reckoning, Terah might as well have been dead as far as Abraham's spiritual destiny was concerned, and even as far as God Himself was concerned. God told Abraham to go, and he went--because Abraham was faithful and Terah wasn't.
The Sojourn in Egypt
The Bible says this concerning the length of time that the Israelites stayed in Egypt:And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. Genesis 15:13-14 (KJV)And this:
Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. Exodus 12:40-41 (KJV)But Paul in his Letter to the Galatians observed:
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. Galatians 3:16-17 (KJV)
From that last, Ussher assumed that the 430-year sojourn must have begun when Abraham entered Canaan for the first time. His modern critics and opponents observe that Ussher had no definite warrant for assuming that the "making of the promises" necessarily took place at the dramatic covenant ceremony referenced in Genesis 15 . Furthermore, Stephen, the New Testament source cited earlier, reiterates that God told Abraham that his people would suffer for four hundred years.[15]
Please consider the discussion article, entitled Israel in Egypt for more information.
The Septuagint, for reasons lost in antiquity and probably known only to the original Seventy Interpreters, quotes Exodus 12:40 as saying, "who dwelt in Egypt and Canaan" (emphasis added). Yet most Ussherites are loath to cite this as a ground for their dating of the sojourn, because Ussher himself distrusted the Septuagint and used the Masoretic Text instead. If an Ussherite were, therefore, to try to stand on the Septuagint's rendition of this verse, they would have committed a logical fallacy closely akin to special pleading.
The Masoretic Text does indeed say that the sojourn--that is, a temporary stay--of the Israelites "who dwelt in Egypt" was 430 years. In addition to this consideration, one must consider the following:
- Seventy "souls" in direct line-of-descent from Jacob entered Egypt during the Famine.[16]
- On the day of the Exodus, the nation of Israel had six hundred thousand men of military age, in addition to children.[17] A nation having this many men of military age surely numbered at least two million altogether, and very likely five million.
If one assumes that each of those original "seventy souls" who entered Egypt had a fifty-member household (including family retainers), then the number of people who entered Egypt might have been 3500. To reach five million people requires the population to double at least ten times, and possibly eleven times.
Typically, a fast-growing population might double every twenty-five years. This means that at least two hundred fifty or two hundred seventy-five years must have passed between entry and Exodus. Thus a mere 215-year stay in Egypt falls short. A 430-year stay offers ample time and allows the population to double less frequently than once every twenty-five years.
In addition to which, many named characters in the Bible have as many as ten named generations--far too many to have occurred in 215 years.
To the objection that only four generations of Levites are named from Levi to Moses[18], most scholars would say that the expression "son of" or "daughter of" need not signify one actually born in the other's household, but merely a direct lineal descendant of any degree, including grandsons and great-grandsons and so forth.
Further support for a long Sojourn can be found here. Briefly, the longer the Sojourn, the further back in history was the Babel Incident. If the Sojourn was short, and Abraham was born early in Terah's life, then Peleg would have been born in 2187, or one year after the likely founding of the Egyptian nation-state. A long Sojourn obviates the problem.
The Date of the Exodus
The Late Date camp asserts that the Exodus occurred late in the history of Egypt mostly on archaeological grounds. Some Late Date theorists argue that the references to the cities of Pithom and Pi-Ramesses in Exodus 1:11 force a late date, because those cities, by those names, did not exist in the 15th century BC.[8][7][9][6] Dyer says that this argument can hardly be conclusive, because even the late date would have the city of Ramesses built before Ramesses II took the throne, even under the assumptions of conventional Egyptian chronology.[8]
The other four camps stand on I_Kings 6:1 . Late-date theorists cannot and do not attempt to square this simple statement--that the Temple was built exactly 480 years after the Exodus--with archaeological findings that, to some, suggest that the Exodus and the Temple groundbreaking occurred closer together in time. Instead, they simply assert that the literal reading cannot be trusted, on grounds that their opponents find highly tenuous at best.[8]
The Chronology of the United and Divided Kingdoms
This is the basis of the dispute between the Ussher camp and the Thiele camp, because it explains the two camps' divergent (by some forty-five years) dates for the Exodus of Israel and the Temple groundbreaking. The two camps arrive at the following BC dates for these two events, and for one other event in which they differ by two years:
| Event | Ussher | Thiele |
|---|---|---|
| Exodus of Israel | 1491 BC | 1446 BC |
| Temple groundbreaking | 1012 BC | 967 BC |
| Fall of Jerusalem | 588 BC | 586 BC |
The first two sets of dates is exactly 45 years apart. The obvious question arises: Where did those forty-five years go? Surprisingly, the two camps agree within two years on the date of the last event, the Fall of Jerusalem.
The differences result from the two differing assumptions that the two camps have made. Ussher assumed:
- That he knew for certain the date of the death of Nebuchadnezzar II--which was 562 BC.[1][2][3]
- That this was also the date that Nebuchadnezzar's son Evil-Merodach began to reign.
From this date, he worked backward, using the meticulous dates that appear throughout I and II Kings, each of which gives a date of a king's accession with references to a year of reign of another king--except that kings of the Southern Kingdom after the conquest of the Northern Kingdom are listed only with their ages and lengths of reign, and King Jehoiachin is referenced by how many years he had been a captive when Evil-Merodach acceded to his throne. That sequence definitely places the division of the kingdoms at 975 BC, and the beginning of Solomon's reign at 1015 BC. I_Kings 6:1 states that Solomon broke ground on the Temple in the fourth year of his reign--and that this event took place in the four hundred eightieth year since the Exodus of Israel. This places the Exodus at 1491 BC. (The sequence also places the Fall of Jerusalem at 588 BC, because it happened 11 years after Jehoiachin was taken captive.)
Thiele, on the other hand, made a number of assumptions from observations of Assyrian stone tablets that, he believed, warranted a revision of the king list in I and II Kings.[11] They were:
- That a king identified as Jehu paid tribute to King Shalmaneser III of Assyria in 841 BC, as (he further assumed) the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III attests.
- That a king identified as Ahab contributed a sizeable portion to a coalition force that fought against Shalmaneser III in a major battle at Qarqar in 853 BC.
- That Sennacherib invaded the Southern Kingdom, in the days of King Hezekiah, in 701 BC.
All these dates presented serious problems for a strict reading of I and II Kings--primarily because Ussher calculated King Jehu as having acceded to the throne of Israel (and also killed King Ahaziah of Judah) in 884 BC.[19] Thiele solved this problem by moving forward the date of Jehu's campaign from 884 BC to 841 BC.[20] That movement alone accounts for 43 of the 45 years by which the Ussher and Thiele dates of the Exodus and the Temple are discrepant.
Having done that, Thiele evidently saw no reason to change the stated chronology of the Divided Kingdoms between Solomon's death and Jehu's ascendancy. But he compressed greatly the history of the Northern Kingdom beyond Jehu, specifically by:
- Assuming that the viceroyalty of Jeroboam II ran concurrently with his total reign, which Ussher did not.
- Eliminating the two interregna immediately following the deaths of Jeroboam II and Pekah.
- Assuming that Pekah and Menahem began their reigns together and that Pekah simply wiped out the short-lived "House" of Menahem after building a rebel power base for twelve of the twenty years he is supposed to have reigned.
Thiele also greatly compressed and telescoped the reigns of Amaziah, Uzziah, and Jotham of the Southern Kingdom to force them to synchronize with this reworked chronology of the Northern Kingdom.[21]
Ussherites contend that while Ussher assumed the primacy of Scripture, Thiele assumed the primacy of secular historical records (what Ussher called "profane history"). Pierce in particular contends that Thiele had no grounds, according to the accepted canons of Biblical scholarship, to impart different meanings to verses that follow the same pattern without sufficient reason--an argument that William of Occam might have made. Even if Thiele did have such grounds, Pierce maintains that Thiele's clues, such as they are, are not even grounded in anything approaching certainty. Ussherites also question Thiele's math--for example, Thiele seems to have assumed that Uzziah, whom II Kings states was 16 years old when he began to reign, was granted a viceroyship fully eight years before he was born! A later disciple of Thiele then claimed that what Thiele actually meant was that Uzziah became viceroy at sixteen, not sole ruler at sixteen. But McFall, according to Pierce, then proceeded to alter the text of Scripture itself,[22] a proposition Pierce denounced as outrageous.
A Synoptic Table
The following synopsis (literally, a "view together") makes the following assumptions:
- The Global Flood occurred 1656 years following Creation, a point on which four of the five camps agree.[23]
- The Temple groundbreaking occurred exactly 479 years following the Exodus of Israel, another point of general agreement.
Each epochal event has listed with it the relevant Biblical authority and sixteen dates, alternating between AM and BC.
- Ussher and Thiele columns use Ussher's or Thiele's chronology, respectively, of the Divided Kingdoms.
- Columns labeled I and II assume a "short sojourn"; columns III and IV assume a "long sojourn."
- Columns labeled I and III assume a "late birth" for Abraham; columns II and IV assume an "early birth."
| Ussher I | Ussher II | Ussher III | Ussher IV | Thiele I | Thiele II | Thiele III | Thiele IV | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Epoch | Authority | AM | BC | AM | BC | AM | BC | AM | BC | AM | BC | AM | BC | AM | BC | AM | BC |
| Creation | Genesis 5:1-2 | 1 | 4004 | 1 | 3944 | 1 | 4219 | 1 | 4159 | 1 | 3959 | 1 | 3899 | 1 | 4174 | 1 | 4114 |
| Adam | Genesis 5:1-2 , I_Chronicles 1:1 | 1 | 4004 | 1 | 3944 | 1 | 4219 | 1 | 4159 | 1 | 3959 | 1 | 3899 | 1 | 4174 | 1 | 4114 |
| Seth | Genesis 5:3-5 , I_Chronicles 1:1 | 130 | 3874 | 130 | 3814 | 130 | 4089 | 130 | 4029 | 130 | 3829 | 130 | 3769 | 130 | 4044 | 130 | 3984 |
| Enos | Genesis 5:6-8 , I_Chronicles 1:1 | 235 | 3769 | 235 | 3709 | 235 | 3984 | 235 | 3924 | 235 | 3724 | 235 | 3664 | 235 | 3939 | 235 | 3879 |
| Cainan | Genesis 5:9-11 , I_Chronicles 1:2 | 325 | 3679 | 325 | 3619 | 325 | 3894 | 325 | 3834 | 325 | 3634 | 325 | 3574 | 325 | 3849 | 325 | 3789 |
| Mahalaleel | Genesis 5:12-14 , I_Chronicles 1:2 | 395 | 3609 | 395 | 3549 | 395 | 3824 | 395 | 3764 | 395 | 3564 | 395 | 3504 | 395 | 3779 | 395 | 3719 |
| Jared | Genesis 5:15-17 , I_Chronicles 1:2 | 460 | 3544 | 460 | 3484 | 460 | 3759 | 460 | 3699 | 460 | 3499 | 460 | 3439 | 460 | 3714 | 460 | 3654 |
| Enoch | Genesis 5:18-21 , I_Chronicles 1:3 | 622 | 3382 | 622 | 3322 | 622 | 3597 | 622 | 3537 | 622 | 3337 | 622 | 3277 | 622 | 3552 | 622 | 3492 |
| Methuselah | Genesis 5:22-24 , I_Chronicles 1:3 | 687 | 3317 | 687 | 3257 | 687 | 3532 | 687 | 3472 | 687 | 3272 | 687 | 3212 | 687 | 3487 | 687 | 3427 |
| Lamech | Genesis 5:25-27 , I_Chronicles 1:3 | 874 | 3130 | 874 | 3070 | 874 | 3345 | 874 | 3285 | 874 | 3085 | 874 | 3025 | 874 | 3300 | 874 | 3240 |
| Noah | Genesis 5:28-31 , I_Chronicles 1:4 | 1056 | 2948 | 1056 | 2888 | 1056 | 3163 | 1056 | 3103 | 1056 | 2903 | 1056 | 2843 | 1056 | 3118 | 1056 | 3058 |
| Shem | Genesis 5:32 , I_Chronicles 1:4,24 | 1558 | 2446 | 1558 | 2386 | 1558 | 2661 | 1558 | 2601 | 1558 | 2401 | 1558 | 2341 | 1558 | 2616 | 1558 | 2556 |
| Global Flood | Genesis 7:11 | 1656 | 2348 | 1656 | 2288 | 1656 | 2563 | 1656 | 2503 | 1656 | 2303 | 1656 | 2243 | 1656 | 2518 | 1656 | 2458 |
| Arpachshad | Genesis 11:10-11 , I_Chronicles 1:17,24 | 1658 | 2346 | 1658 | 2286 | 1658 | 2561 | 1658 | 2501 | 1658 | 2301 | 1658 | 2241 | 1658 | 2516 | 1658 | 2456 |
| Salah | Genesis 11:12-13 , I_Chronicles 1:18,24 | 1693 | 2311 | 1693 | 2251 | 1693 | 2526 | 1693 | 2466 | 1693 | 2266 | 1693 | 2206 | 1693 | 2481 | 1693 | 2421 |
| Eber | Genesis 11:14-15 , I_Chronicles 1:18,25 | 1723 | 2281 | 1723 | 2221 | 1723 | 2496 | 1723 | 2436 | 1723 | 2236 | 1723 | 2176 | 1723 | 2451 | 1723 | 2391 |
| Peleg | Genesis 11:16-17 , I_Chronicles 1:19,25 | 1757 | 2247 | 1757 | 2187 | 1757 | 2462 | 1757 | 2402 | 1757 | 2202 | 1757 | 2142 | 1757 | 2417 | 1757 | 2357 |
| Reu | Genesis 11:18-19 , I_Chronicles 1:25 | 1787 | 2217 | 1787 | 2157 | 1787 | 2432 | 1787 | 2372 | 1787 | 2172 | 1787 | 2112 | 1787 | 2387 | 1787 | 2327 |
| Serug | Genesis 11:20-21 , I_Chronicles 1:26 | 1819 | 2185 | 1819 | 2125 | 1819 | 2400 | 1819 | 2340 | 1819 | 2140 | 1819 | 2080 | 1819 | 2355 | 1819 | 2295 |
| Nahor the Elder | Genesis 11:22-23 , I_Chronicles 1:26 | 1849 | 2155 | 1849 | 2095 | 1849 | 2370 | 1849 | 2310 | 1849 | 2110 | 1849 | 2050 | 1849 | 2325 | 1849 | 2265 |
| Terah | Genesis 11:24-25 , I_Chronicles 1:26 | 1878 | 2126 | 1878 | 2066 | 1878 | 2341 | 1878 | 2281 | 1878 | 2081 | 1878 | 2021 | 1878 | 2296 | 1878 | 2236 |
| Abraham | Genesis 11:26-27,32 , I_Chronicles 1:27 | 2008 | 1996 | 1948 | 1996 | 2008 | 2211 | 1948 | 2211 | 2008 | 1951 | 1948 | 1951 | 2008 | 2166 | 1948 | 2166 |
| Isaac | Genesis 21:5 , I_Chronicles 1:28 | 2108 | 1896 | 2048 | 1896 | 2108 | 2111 | 2048 | 2111 | 2108 | 1851 | 2048 | 1851 | 2108 | 2066 | 2048 | 2066 |
| Jacob | Genesis 25:26 , I_Chronicles 1:34 | 2168 | 1836 | 2108 | 1836 | 2168 | 2051 | 2108 | 2051 | 2168 | 1791 | 2108 | 1791 | 2168 | 2006 | 2108 | 2006 |
| Entry into Egypt | Genesis 47:9 | 2298 | 1706 | 2238 | 1706 | 2298 | 1921 | 2238 | 1921 | 2298 | 1661 | 2238 | 1661 | 2298 | 1876 | 2238 | 1876 |
| Exodus of Israel | Exodus 12:40 | 2513 | 1491 | 2453 | 1491 | 2728 | 1491 | 2668 | 1491 | 2513 | 1446 | 2453 | 1446 | 2728 | 1446 | 2668 | 1446 |
| United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||
| David | I_Kings 2:11 | 2949 | 1055 | 2889 | 1055 | 3164 | 1055 | 3104 | 1055 | 2949 | 1010 | 2889 | 1010 | 3164 | 1010 | 3104 | 1010 |
| Solomon | I_Kings 11:42 | 2989 | 1015 | 2929 | 1015 | 3204 | 1015 | 3144 | 1015 | 2989 | 970 | 2929 | 970 | 3204 | 970 | 3144 | 970 |
| Temple | I_Kings 6:1 , II_Chronicles 3:4 | 2992 | 1012 | 2932 | 1012 | 3207 | 1012 | 3147 | 1012 | 2992 | 967 | 2932 | 967 | 3207 | 967 | 3147 | 967 |
| Division of the Kingdom: Rehoboam of Judah, Jeroboam I of Israel | I_Kings 12-13 , II_Chronicles 9:30 , II_Chronicles 10 | 3029 | 975 | 2969 | 975 | 3244 | 975 | 3184 | 975 | 3029 | 930 | 2969 | 930 | 3244 | 930 | 3184 | 930 |
| Abijam of Judah | I_Kings 15:1 , II_Chronicles 13:1-2 | 3046 | 958 | 2986 | 958 | 3261 | 958 | 3201 | 958 | 3046 | 913 | 2986 | 913 | 3261 | 913 | 3201 | 913 |
| Asa of Judah | I_Kings 15:9 , II_Chronicles 14:1 | 3048 | 956 | 2988 | 956 | 3263 | 956 | 3203 | 956 | 3049 | 910 | 2989 | 910 | 3264 | 910 | 3204 | 910 |
| Nadab of Israel | I_Kings 15:25 | 3050 | 954 | 2990 | 954 | 3265 | 954 | 3205 | 954 | 3050 | 909 | 2990 | 909 | 3265 | 909 | 3205 | 909 |
| Baasha of Israel | I_Kings 15:33 | 3051 | 953 | 2991 | 953 | 3266 | 953 | 3206 | 953 | 3051 | 908 | 2991 | 908 | 3266 | 908 | 3206 | 908 |
| Elah of Israel | I_Kings 16:8 | 3074 | 930 | 3014 | 930 | 3289 | 930 | 3229 | 930 | 3074 | 886 | 3014 | 886 | 3289 | 886 | 3229 | 886 |
| Zimri of Israel | I_Kings 16:15 | 3075 | 929 | 3015 | 929 | 3290 | 929 | 3230 | 929 | 3075 | 885 | 3015 | 885 | 3290 | 885 | 3230 | 885 |
| Omri of Israel | I_Kings 16:23 | 3075 | 929 | 3015 | 929 | 3290 | 929 | 3230 | 929 | 3075 | 885 | 3015 | 885 | 3290 | 885 | 3230 | 885 |
| Ahab of Israel | I_Kings 16:29 | 3086 | 918 | 3026 | 918 | 3301 | 918 | 3241 | 918 | 3085 | 874 | 3025 | 874 | 3300 | 874 | 3240 | 874 |
| Jehoshaphat of Judah | I_Kings 22:41 , II_Chronicles 16:13 , II_Chronicles 20:31 | 3090 | 914 | 3030 | 914 | 3305 | 914 | 3245 | 914 | 3087 | 872 | 3027 | 872 | 3302 | 872 | 3242 | 872 |
| Ahaziah of Israel | I_Kings 22:51 | 3106 | 898 | 3046 | 898 | 3321 | 898 | 3261 | 898 | 3106 | 853 | 3046 | 853 | 3321 | 853 | 3261 | 853 |
| Jehoram of Israel | II_Kings 3:1 | 3108 | 896 | 3048 | 896 | 3323 | 896 | 3263 | 896 | 3107 | 852 | 3047 | 852 | 3322 | 852 | 3262 | 852 |
| Jehoram of Judah | II_Kings 8:16 , II_Chronicles 21:5 | 3112 | 892 | 3052 | 892 | 3327 | 892 | 3267 | 892 | 3106 | 853 | 3046 | 853 | 3321 | 853 | 3261 | 853 |
| Ahaziah of Judah | II_Kings 8:25 , II_Chronicles 22:2 | 3119 | 885 | 3059 | 885 | 3334 | 885 | 3274 | 885 | 3118 | 841 | 3058 | 841 | 3333 | 841 | 3273 | 841 |
| Athaliah of Judah, Jehu of Israel | II_Kings 10 , II_Chronicles 22:10-12 | 3120 | 884 | 3060 | 884 | 3335 | 884 | 3275 | 884 | 3118 | 841 | 3058 | 841 | 3333 | 841 | 3273 | 841 |
| Joash of Judah | II_Kings 12:1 , II_Chronicles 23 , II_Chronicles 24:1 | 3126 | 878 | 3066 | 878 | 3341 | 878 | 3281 | 878 | 3124 | 835 | 3064 | 835 | 3339 | 835 | 3279 | 835 |
| Jehoahaz of Israel | II_Kings 13:1 | 3148 | 856 | 3088 | 856 | 3363 | 856 | 3303 | 856 | 3145 | 814 | 3085 | 814 | 3360 | 814 | 3300 | 814 |
| Joash of Israel | II_Kings 13:10 | 3163 | 841 | 3103 | 841 | 3378 | 841 | 3318 | 841 | 3161 | 798 | 3101 | 798 | 3376 | 798 | 3316 | 798 |
| Amaziah of Judah | II_Kings 14:1 , II_Chronicles 25:1 | 3165 | 839 | 3105 | 839 | 3380 | 839 | 3320 | 839 | 3163 | 796 | 3103 | 796 | 3378 | 796 | 3318 | 796 |
| Jeroboam II of Israel | II_Kings 14:23 | 3168 | 836 | 3108 | 836 | 3383 | 836 | 3323 | 836 | 3166 | 793 | 3106 | 793 | 3381 | 793 | 3321 | 793 |
| Uzziah of Judah | II_Kings 15:1 , II_Chronicles 26:3 | 3194 | 810 | 3134 | 810 | 3409 | 810 | 3349 | 810 | 3167 | 792 | 3107 | 792 | 3382 | 792 | 3322 | 792 |
| Zachariah of Israel | II_Kings 15:8 | 3232 | 772 | 3172 | 772 | 3447 | 772 | 3387 | 772 | 3206 | 753 | 3146 | 753 | 3421 | 753 | 3361 | 753 |
| Shallum of Israel | II_Kings 15:13 | 3232 | 772 | 3172 | 772 | 3447 | 772 | 3387 | 772 | 3207 | 752 | 3147 | 752 | 3422 | 752 | 3362 | 752 |
| Menahem of Israel | II_Kings 15:17 | 3233 | 771 | 3173 | 771 | 3448 | 771 | 3388 | 771 | 3207 | 752 | 3147 | 752 | 3422 | 752 | 3362 | 752 |
| Pekahiah of Israel | II_Kings 15:23 | 3243 | 761 | 3183 | 761 | 3458 | 761 | 3398 | 761 | 3217 | 742 | 3157 | 742 | 3432 | 742 | 3372 | 742 |
| Pekah of Israel | II_Kings 15:27 | 3245 | 759 | 3185 | 759 | 3460 | 759 | 3400 | 759 | 3207 | 752 | 3147 | 752 | 3422 | 752 | 3362 | 752 |
| Jotham of Judah | II_Kings 15:32 , II_Chronicles 27:1 | 3246 | 758 | 3186 | 758 | 3461 | 758 | 3401 | 758 | 3209 | 750 | 3149 | 750 | 3424 | 750 | 3364 | 750 |
| Ahaz of Judah | II_Kings 16:1 , II_Chronicles 28:1 | 3262 | 742 | 3202 | 742 | 3477 | 742 | 3417 | 742 | 3224 | 735 | 3164 | 735 | 3439 | 735 | 3379 | 735 |
| Hoshea of Israel | II_Kings 17:1 | 3274 | 730 | 3214 | 730 | 3489 | 730 | 3429 | 730 | 3227 | 732 | 3167 | 732 | 3442 | 732 | 3382 | 732 |
| Hezekiah of Judah | II_Kings 18:1 , II_Chronicles 29:1 | 3278 | 726 | 3218 | 726 | 3493 | 726 | 3433 | 726 | 3230 | 729 | 3170 | 729 | 3445 | 729 | 3385 | 729 |
| Fall of Samaria | II_Kings 17:6 | 3283 | 721 | 3223 | 721 | 3498 | 721 | 3438 | 721 | 3237 | 722 | 3177 | 722 | 3452 | 722 | 3392 | 722 |
| Manasseh of Judah | II_Kings 21:1 , II_Chronicles 33:1 | 3306 | 698 | 3246 | 698 | 3521 | 698 | 3461 | 698 | 3262 | 697 | 3202 | 697 | 3477 | 697 | 3417 | 697 |
| Amon of Judah | II_Kings 21:19 , II_Chronicles 33:21 | 3361 | 643 | 3301 | 643 | 3576 | 643 | 3516 | 643 | 3317 | 642 | 3257 | 642 | 3532 | 642 | 3472 | 642 |
| Josiah of Judah | II_Kings 22:1 , II_Chronicles 34:1 | 3363 | 641 | 3303 | 641 | 3578 | 641 | 3518 | 641 | 3319 | 640 | 3259 | 640 | 3534 | 640 | 3474 | 640 |
| Jehoahaz II of Judah | II_Kings 23:31 , II_Chronicles 36:2 | 3394 | 610 | 3334 | 610 | 3609 | 610 | 3549 | 610 | 3350 | 609 | 3290 | 609 | 3565 | 609 | 3505 | 609 |
| Jehoiakim of Judah | II_Kings 23:36 , II_Chronicles 36:5 | 3394 | 610 | 3334 | 610 | 3609 | 610 | 3549 | 610 | 3351 | 608 | 3291 | 608 | 3566 | 608 | 3506 | 608 |
| Jehoiachin of Judah | II_Kings 24:8 , II_Chronicles 36:9 | 3405 | 599 | 3345 | 599 | 3620 | 599 | 3560 | 599 | 3361 | 598 | 3301 | 598 | 3576 | 598 | 3516 | 598 |
| Zedekiah of Judah | II_Kings 24:18 , II_Chronicles 36:11 | 3405 | 599 | 3345 | 599 | 3620 | 599 | 3560 | 599 | 3362 | 597 | 3302 | 597 | 3577 | 597 | 3517 | 597 |
| Fall of Jerusalem | II_Kings 23:36 , II_Chronicles 36:12-21 | 3416 | 588 | 3356 | 588 | 3631 | 588 | 3571 | 588 | 3373 | 586 | 3313 | 586 | 3588 | 586 | 3528 | 586 |
| Death of Nebuchadnezzar II | II_Kings 25:27 | 3442 | 562 | 3382 | 562 | 3657 | 562 | 3597 | 562 | 3397 | 562 | 3337 | 562 | 3612 | 562 | 3552 | 562 |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Anonymous, "Nebuchadnezzar II, King of Babylon (605-562 BC)", The British Museum Compass, 2000. Retrieved April 12, 2007.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Anonymous, The Chaldeans, E-Museum at Minnesota State University, Mankato, Minnesota. Retrieved April 12, 2007.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Anonymous, Nebuchadnezzar, The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed., 2006. Retrieved April 12, 2007 from the HighBeam Encyclopedia.
- ↑ Tracy R. Rich, "Jewish calendar," Judaism 101, 2005. Retrieved April 30, 2007.
- ↑ Calendar Converter by Fourmilab (requires JavaScript to operate)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Dennis Bratcher, "The Date of the Exodus: The Historical Study of Scripture," at the CRI/Voice Institute, July 22, 2006. Retrieved April 30, 2007.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 D. Cameron Alexander Moore, "The Date of the Exodus: Introduction to the Competing Theories," Reformed Theological Study, 1998. Retrieved April 30, 2007.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Charles H. Dyer, The Date of the Exodus Reexamined," Bibliotheca Sacra 140 (1983) 225-43. Retrieved April 30, 2007. Requires PDF reader.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Jon Partin, "Dating of the Exodus," Genesis Commentary. Retrieved April 30, 2007.
- ↑ James Ussher, The Annals of the World, Larry Pierce, ed., Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2003 (ISBN 0890513600)
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Larry Pierce, "Evidentialism–the Bible and Assyrian chronology," TJ 15(1):62–68 April 2001. Retrieved April 30, 2007
- ↑ See, for example, Leon J. Wood, A Survey of Israel's History, rev. ed. David O'Brien, Grand Rapids, MI: Academie Books, 1986 (ISBN 031034770X)
- ↑ Fulbright himself was a member of the Late Date camp; Thiele accepted an early date for the Exodus of Israel.
- ↑ I_Kings 6:1
- ↑ Acts 7:6
- ↑ Exodus 1:1-8
- ↑ Exodus 12:39
- ↑ Exodus 6
- ↑ Ussher, op. cit., pgh. 535
- ↑ Edwin R. Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, Chicago, IL, 1943. Reprinted in 1983, 283 pages, unknown format. ISBN 0310360102
- ↑ "Chronology of the Biblical Period," in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Chad Brand, Charles Draper, Archie England, et al., eds., Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003, pp. 291-5 ISBN 0-80542-836-4
- ↑ II_Kings 14:21 and II_Chronicles 26:1
- ↑ The Late Date camp includes many theorists who reject either the historicity or the extent of the Global Flood.
External Links
- Bible Relationship Genealogy by SpiritRestoration
- Dating Creation by Wikipedia.
- Byzantine Creation Era at OrthodoxWiki.
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