Biblical literalist chronology
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Biblical literalist chronology is the attempt to correlate the theological dates used in the Bible with the real chronology of actual events.[1] The Bible measures time from the date of Creation (years are measured as anno mundi, or AM, meaning Year of the World), but there is no agreement on when this was. Some of the better-known calculations include Archbishop James Ussher, who placed it in 4004 BC, Isaac Newton in 4000 BC, Martin Luther in 3961 BC, the traditional Hebrew calendar date of 3760 BC, and the traditional Greek Orthodox date, based on the Septuagint, of 5509 BC.[2] To the foundation of the Temple of Solomon the passage of time is measured by simple addition of from the Creation; for later periods it measures time by the reigns of kings, but the data is conflicting and there is no agreement on how to resolve the problems.[1][3]
Background[]
The Jewish Bible (the Christian Old Testament) dates events either by simple arithmetic taking the creation of the world as the starting point, or, in the later books, by correlations between the reigns of kings in Israel and Judah.[1] The data it provides falls into three periods:[4]
- From the Creation to Abraham's migration to Canaan, during which events are dated by adding the ages of the patriarchs;
- From Abraham's migration to the foundation of Solomon's temple, in which the chronology in Genesis continues to be arrived at by adding ages, but from Exodus on is usually given in statements;
- From the foundation of the temple onward, which gives the reigns in years (sometimes shorter periods) of kings in Israel and Judah.
For the biblical authors the chronology was theological in intent, functioning as prophecy and not as history.[5][6] Biblical literalism, however, does not treat it this way, because literalists have a profound respect for the Bible as the word of God.[7] This way of thinking had its origins in Christian fundamentalism, an early-20th-century movement which opposed then-current non-supernatural interpretations of the life of Jesus by stressing, among other things, the verbal inspiration of scripture.[8] The underlying concept, or fear, was that if anything in the Bible were not true, everything would collapse.[8]
Literalist chronologies[]
The creation of a literalist chronology of the Bible faces several hurdles, of which the following are the most significant:
- There are different texts of the Jewish Bible, the major text-families being: the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the original Hebrew scriptures made in the last few centuries before Christ; the Masoretic text, a version of the Hebrew text curated by the Jewish rabbis but the earliest manuscripts of which date from the early years of the 2nd millennium CE; and the Samaritan text, restricted to the five books of the Torah plus the Book of Joshua. The three differ quite markedly from each other.[9]
- Literalists prefer the Masoretic text, on which Protestant Bibles are based, but the Masoretic text sometimes contains absurdities, as when it states that Saul came to the throne at the age of one and reigned for two years. Such obvious errors can be corrected by reference to other versions of the Bible (in this case the Septuagint, which gives more realistic numbers), but their existence calls into question the fundamentalist idea that the MT text is the inspired word of God.[10] Most fundamentalists, with the notable exception of the King James Only movement, avoid this by holding that only the authors of the original autographs (the very first copies written by Moses and others) were inspired by God.[11]
- Very few events in the Bible are mentioned in outside sources, making it difficult to move from a relative chronology (X happened before Y happened) to an absolute one (X happened in a known year).
- The Bible is not always consistent.[12] For example, Exodus 12:40 states that the Israelites spent 430 years in Egypt, while Paul in Galatians 3:17 says the 430 years covers the period from Abraham to Moses.[13]
- Literal interpretation of the earlier parts of Bible is in direct contradiction with modern science. [14]
Tables[]
The Bible measures events from the year of God's creation of the world, a type of calendar called Anno Mundi ("Year of the World"), shortened as AM. The task of a literal biblical chronology is to convert this to dates in the modern chronology expressed as years before or after Christ, BC and AD. There have been many attempts to do this, none of them universally accepted. The following tables (derived from Thomas L. Thompson, The Mythic Past; notes within the table as cited) divide the Bible's AM dates by the three periods into which they most naturally fall.[15]
Creation to Abraham's migration to Canaan[]
Masoretic Date (AM) |
Event |
Note |
---|---|---|
AM 1 AM 1656 AM 1946 AM 2021 |
Creation Flood Birth of Abraham Entry into Canaan |
From Creation to the birth of Abraham time is calculated by adding the ages of the Patriarchs when their first child is born.[16] It seems possible that the period of the Flood is not meant to be included in the count – Shem, born 100 years before the Flood, "begot" his first son two years after it, which should make him 102, but Genesis 11:10–11 specifies that he is only 100, suggesting that time has been suspended.[17]
Rashi explains that Japheth was born 100 years before the flood, and Shem was born two years later, solving the discrepancy.[18] A literal chronology would put the creation of the world about 4000 BCE and the Flood about 2300 BCE.[19] The best-known attempt to provide a date for Creation is probably that of Archbishop James Ussher, who placed it 4004 BCE, but there are many alternatives, including Isaac Newton in 4000 BCE, Martin Luther in 3961 BCE, the traditional Jewish date of 3760 BCE, and the traditional Greek Orthodox date, based on the Septuagint, of 5009 BCE.[2] The dates given to subsequent events such as the Flood will depend on this initial date. |
Abraham's entry into Canaan to the foundation of Solomon's temple[]
Masoretic Date (AM) |
Event |
Note |
---|---|---|
AM 2236 AM 2666 AM 3146 |
Entrance into Egypt Exodus Foundation of Solomon's Temple |
The 215 years between Abraham's call to enter Canaan (AM 2021) and Jacob's entry into Egypt (AM 2236) are calculated from the ages of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob provided in Genesis; the 430 year period in Egypt is stated in Exodus 12:40, although St. Paul in the New Testament says that the 430 years covers the entire period from Abraham to the exodus.[13] The Exodus (AM 2666) occurs exactly two-thirds of the way through the 4,000 years from the Creation to the rededication of the Temple in 164 BCE, marking it as the pivotal event of the chronology.[20] It is also two-thirds of the way through the 40 notional "generations" of 100 years each making up the 4,000 years, with Aaron, the first High Priest, being the 26th generation from Adam.[21] A literal reading of the Biblical chronology would place the Exodus about 1446 BCE, on the basis of the statement in 1 Kings 6:1 that the Temple was founded 480 years after the Exodus.[22] From this a literal chronology can deduce dates for the entry into Canaan 40 years later and the birth of Moses 80 years earlier. It seems impossible, however, to reconcile the 430 years in Egypt with the Bible's information (Exodus 12:40) that this involved only four generations.[23] |
After Solomon's temple[]
Masoretic Date (AM) |
Event |
Note |
---|---|---|
AM 3146 to AM 3576 AM 3626 AM 4000 |
Foundation of the Temple (The Hebrew kings) Destruction of the Temple Re-foundation of the Temple Re-dedication of the Temple |
The period from the foundation of the Temple to its destruction, 430 years, is found by adding the reigns of the kings of Judah from the fourth year of Solomon (the year of the Temple's foundation).[13] The fourth year of Solomon came exactly 1,200 years after the birth of Abraham (Abraham was born in AM 1946 if the two years of the Flood are excluded),[24] and there were exactly 20 kings in both Judah and Israel following Solomon, despite Judah lasting more than a century longer than Israel.[25] The complete chronology seems to point towards the re-dedication of the Temple by the Maccabees in 164 BCE bringing the chronology to AM 4000, from which the entire cycle is calculated backwards.[20][26]
The chronology of the monarchy, unlike that of earlier periods, can be checked against non-Biblical sources and seems to be correct in general terms.[27] This raises the prospect that the Books of Kings can be used to reconstruct a chronology for the monarchy, but the task has in fact proven intractably difficult.[28] The problem is that the books contain numerous contradictions: to take just one example, since Rehoboam of Judah and Jeroboam of Israel began to rule at the same time (1 Kings 12), and since Ahaziah of Judah and Joram of Israel were killed at the same time (1 Kings 9:24, 27), the same amount of time should have elapsed in both kingdoms, but the count shows 95 years passing in Judah and 98 in Israel.[29] In short, "[t]he data concerning the synchronisms appeared in hopeless contradiction with the data as to the lengths of reigns."[30] Possibly the most widely followed attempt to resolve the problems is Edwin R. Thiele's The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings (three editions between 1951 and 1983), but his work has been widely criticised for, among other things, introducing "innumerable" co-regencies, constructing a "complex system of calendars", and using "unique" patterns of calculation; as a result his following is largely among scholars "committed ... to a doctrine of scripture's absolute harmony" (the criticism is to be found in Brevard Childs' Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture).[31] Subsequent scholars continue to propose alternative chronologies, but, in the words of a recent commentary on Kings, there is "little consensus on acceptable methods of dealing with conflicting data."[3] |
Example of literalist chronology[]
The following tabulation of years and dates is according to the literal letter of the text of the Bible alone. Links to multiple translations and versions are provided for verification. For comparison, known historically dated events are associated with the resultant literal dates. Dates according to the famous Ussher chronology appear in small type italics "A.M." (Latin: "Year of the World"), "Ante C." (Latin: "Before Christ"). In ancient Israel a part year was designated as the previous king's last year and the new king's 1st year. The arithmetic can be checked by starting at the bottom of the table with the date of the destruction of the Temple in 587 and adding the number of years in the Scriptures (books of the Prophets and Chronicles through Genesis) back up to the beginning. Dates with events in italics appearing in small type for historical comparison are according to Bernard Grun's The Timetables of History. For the period after 587 BCE known historical dates are used as referents. Biblical source texts for stated numbers of years are referenced and linked. Reference sources are the RSVCE,[32] The New American Bible[33] The Timetables of History by Bernard Grun, and the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (2003).
This table is not definitive. It is a column of known numbers in the Bible sequentially added together. It is not a Biblical harmony. It is not the result of any kind of research and is not here presented as research. The details and dates of events in tables derived by the method of mechanical arithmetic tabulation from the text of the Bible alone are not relied upon by scholars and historians as representing established historical facts.[note 1] See Prooftext. Problems are briefly noted. This table is an illustrative demonstration only. It is not a recognized reliable resource for a Bible Quiz or a paper.
Adam to the Flood 4246–2590 BCE[]
Before the Common Era (BCE) |
Event | Bible texts |
---|---|---|
4246 Ante C. 4004 |
The year Adam was formed."4246 BCE." Reckoning the years (beginning with the Exodus from Egypt as 1577 BCE) in Egypt 430 years, Israel/Jacob (before 17 years in Egypt) 130 years, Isaac 60, Abraham 100, Terah 70, Nahor 29, Serug 30, Reu 32, Peleg 30, Eber 34, Shelah 30, Arpachshad 35, Shem 100 (2 years after the flood), Noah 503 (601 years old when the flood ended and Shem was 98 – he was 503 years old when Shem was born – 503 years), Lamech 182, Methuselah 187, Enoch 65, Jared 162, Mahalalel 65, Kenan 70, Enosh 90, Seth 105, Adam 130 = 2669 years back to 4246 BCE (1577–4246). He lived 930 years (4246–3316).
|
Genesis 2:7 Genesis 5:5 |
4116 Ante C. 3874 |
The year Seth was born.
|
Genesis 5:3 |
4011 Ante C. 3769 |
The year Enosh was born.
|
Genesis 5:6 |
3921 | The year Kenan was born.
|
Genesis 5:9 |
3851 | The year Mahalalel was born.
|
Genesis 5:12 |
3786 | The year Jared was born.
|
Genesis 5:15 |
3624 | The year Enoch was born.
|
Genesis 5:18 |
3559 | The year Methuselah was born.
|
Genesis 5:21 |
3372 | The year Lamech was born.
|
Genesis 5:25 |
3316 | The year Adam died. He was 930 years old (4246–3316).
|
Genesis 5:5 |
3259 Ante C. 3017 |
The year Enoch was taken by God. He was 365 years old (3624–3259).
|
Genesis 5:23–24 |
3204 | The year Seth died. He was 912 years old (4116–3204).
|
Genesis 5:8 |
3190 Ante C. 2948 |
The year Noah was born.
|
Genesis 5:28–29 |
3106 | The year Enosh died. He was 905 years old (4011–3106).
|
Genesis 5:11 |
3011 | The year Kenan died. He was 910 years old (3921–3011).
|
Genesis 5:14 |
2956 | The year Mahalalel died. He was 895 years old (3851–2956).
|
Genesis 5:17 |
2824 | The year Jared died. He was 962 years old (3786–2824).
|
Genesis 5:20 |
2690 | Noah was 500 years old.
|
Genesis 5:32 |
2687 | The year Shem was born. He was 100 years old 2 years after the Flood, when Noah was 603.
|
Genesis 7:11 Genesis 8:13 Genesis 11:10 |
2595 | The year Lamech died. He was 777 years old (3372–2595).
|
Genesis 5:31 |
2590 Ante C. 2348 |
The year Methuselah died. He was 969 years old (3559–2590).
|
Genesis 5:27 Genesis 7:11 |
The Flood to Abram 2589–2211 BCE[]
Before the Common Era (BCE) |
Event | Bible texts |
---|---|---|
2589 | The Flood waters dried up, and the ark came to rest on the Mountains of Ararat.
|
Genesis 8:4 Genesis 8:13 |
2587 Ante C. 2204 |
The year Arpachshad was born, 2 years after the Flood.
|
Genesis 11:10 |
2552 | The year Shelah was born.
|
Genesis 11:12 |
2522 | The year Eber was born.
|
Genesis 11:14 |
2488 | The year Peleg was born. "...in his days the earth was divided."
|
Genesis 10:25 Genesis 11:9 |
2458 | The year Reu was born.
|
Genesis 11:18 |
2426 | The year Serug was born.
|
Genesis 11:20 |
2396 | The year Nahor was born.
|
Genesis 11:22 |
2367 | The year Terah was born.
|
Genesis 11:24 |
2297 | The year Abram was born.
|
Genesis 11:26 Genesis 11:32 Acts 7:4 |
2287 | The year Sarai was born, half-sister of Abram.
|
Genesis 17:17 Genesis 20:12–13 |
2249 | The year Peleg died. He was 239 years old (30 + 209) (2488–2249).
|
Genesis 11:18–19 |
2248 | The year Nahor died. He was 148 years old (29 + 119) (2396–2248).
|
Genesis 11:24–25 |
2240 | The year Noah died. He was 950 years old (3190–2240 BCE).
|
Genesis 9:29 |
2222 Ante C. 1921 |
The year Abram departed from Haran. He was 75 years old (2297–2222).
|
Genesis 12:4 |
2219 | The year Reu died. He was 239 years old (32 + 207) (2458–2219).
|
Genesis 11:20–21 |
c. 2219–2211 Ante C. 1912 |
"And in the 14th year..." The Battle of the kings in the Valley of Siddim.
|
Genesis 14:1–20 |
2212–2211 Ante C. 1911 |
"After Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan..." (2221–2211) Sarai gave her handmaid Hagar to Abram as a wife.
|
Genesis 16:3–16 |
Abraham to Joseph 2198–1936 BCE[]
Before the Common Era (BCE) |
Event | Bible texts |
---|---|---|
2198 Ante C. 1897 |
The Covenant of circumcision.
|
Genesis 17:1–19:29 |
2197 Ante C. 1896 |
The year Isaac was born.
|
Genesis 21:5 |
2196 | The year Serug died. He was 230 years old (2426–2196).
|
Genesis 11:22–23 |
c. 2195–2192 Ante C. 1891 |
Isaac was weaned about 2–5 years old. Abraham made a great feast.
|
Genesis 16:16 Genesis 21:8–14 |
no date A.M. 2135, Ante C. 1869 |
The binding of Isaac.
|
Genesis 22:1–19 |
2162 | The year Terah died in Haran. He was 205 years old (2367–2162).
|
Genesis 11:32 |
2160 Ante C. 1859 |
The year Sarah died at Hebron. She was 127 years old (2287–2160). Abraham bought the field and the cave in Machpelah. The first possession of the promised land in Palestine.
|
Genesis 23:1 Genesis 23:10–20 |
2149 | The year Arpachshad died. He was 438 years old (35 + 403) (2587–2149).
|
Genesis 11:12–13 |
2137 Ante C. 1836 |
The year Esau and Jacob were born.
|
Genesis 25:24–26 |
2122 Ante C. 1821 |
The year Abraham died. He was 175 years old (2297–2122).
|
Genesis 25:7–8 |
2119 | The year Shelah died. He was 433 years old (30 + 403) (2552–2119).
|
Genesis 11:14–15 |
c. 2100 | Abraham leaves Ur in Chaldea (c. -2100) | Genesis 11:31 |
2087 | The year Shem died. He was 600 years old (2687–2087).
|
Genesis 11:10–11 |
2074 | The year Ishmael died. He was 137 years old (2211–2074).
|
Genesis 25:17 |
2060 Ante C. 1759 |
Jacob was sent away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from the daughters of Laban.
|
Genesis 28:2–5 Genesis 29:20 |
2058 | The year Eber died. He was 464 years old (34 + 430) (2522–2058).
|
Genesis 11:16–17 |
2053 Ante C. 1752 |
The year Jacob completed 7 years of service to Laban for Rachel (2060–2053). He was given Leah instead.
|
Genesis 29:21–30 |
c. 2051–2050 | The approximate time when Levi was born (about 30–33 months after Jacob married Leah).
|
Genesis 29:31–34 Wisdom 7:1–6 |
2046 Ante C. 1746 |
The year Joseph was born.
|
Genesis 30:22–34 Genesis 31:41 |
2040 Ante C. 1739 |
God commanded Jacob to return to the land of his fathers and to his kindred.
|
Genesis 31:3–55 Genesis 32–33 |
2029 Ante C. 1728 |
The year Joseph was 17 years old, a mere lad, a boy, he was sold, and taken into Egypt.
|
Genesis 37:2–28 |
2018 Ante C. 1717 |
11 years had passed. Joseph was 28 years old.
|
Genesis 40:1–41:1 |
2017 | The year Isaac died. He was 180 years old (2197–2017).
|
Genesis 35:28–29 |
2016 Ante C. 1715 |
Joseph was 30 years old when he was brought out of prison and interpreted Pharaoh's dreams. He entered Pharaoh's service, was placed over the whole land of Egypt, and was married to Asenath.
|
Genesis 41:25–32 Genesis 41:46–49 |
c. 2010 | Manasseh and Ephraim were born before the year of famine came.
|
Genesis 41:50–52 |
2009 Ante C. 1708 |
The 7 years of famine began.
|
Genesis 41:53–54 |
2007 Ante C. 1706 |
The year Israel entered Egypt.
|
Genesis 46:1–5 Genesis 46:29–31 Genesis 47:9–11 Genesis 47:28 Exodus 12:40 |
1990 Ante C. 1689 |
The year Israel died. He was 147 years old (2137–1990).
|
Genesis 47:28 |
1977 | 30 years after Israel entered Egypt, the Egyptians began to enslave the Israelites. Abraham's "posterity would be aliens in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and ill-treat them 400 years" (1977–1577 BCE).
|
Genesis 15:13–16 Acts 7:6–7 |
1936 Ante C. 1635 |
The year Joseph died. He was 110 years old (2046–1936).
|
Genesis 50:26 |
Egypt to the Exodus 1914–1577 BCE[]
Before the Common Era (BCE) |
Event | Bible texts |
---|---|---|
c. 1914 | The approximate year that Levi died. He was 137 years old (c. 2051–1914). | Exodus 6:16 |
18th century c. 1848–1686 |
Hammurabi, king of Babylonia, reunited the kingdom (18th century BCE). Hammurabi began reign in 1848, 1792, or 1736 BCE[37] – he reigned 1792 BCE to 1750 BCE according to the middle chronology, 1728 BCE to 1686 BCE according to the short chronology.
|
Genesis 14:1–16 Acts 7:22 |
1660 | The year Aaron was born. Miriam's age is not given. | Exodus 7:7 Numbers 20:1 Numbers 33:39 |
c. 1659 | The cities of Pithom and Ra-amses/Rameses were built (c. 1659–1638).[note 4] | Exodus 1:8–11 |
c. 1659–1657 Ante C. 1571 |
Pharaoh decreed that every son born to the Hebrews be thrown into the Nile.
|
Exodus 1:22 |
1657 Ante C. 1571 |
Moses was born, and hidden 3 months. —interval between death of Joseph 1936 BCE and birth of Moses 1657 BCE = 279 years literal count. (1936 – 1657 = 279 years.)
|
Exodus 2:1–9 Exodus 7:7 Numbers 20:1 Deuteronomy 34:7 |
1617 Ante C. 1531 |
Moses was 40 years old (1657–1617) when he killed the Egyptian. Pharaoh sought to kill him, and Moses fled.
|
Exodus 2:11–15 Acts 7:23–30 |
1615 | The year Joshua was born (if like Caleb he was 40 years old when he was sent forth as a leader with the spies from the wilderness of Paran to spy out the land 2 years after the Exodus).
|
Exodus 7:7 Numbers 13:2–16 Deuteronomy 2:14 Joshua 14:6–13 Joshua 24:29 |
1577 Ante C. 1491 |
Moses was 80 years old (1657–1577) when he was sent back to Egypt. Aaron was 83 years old.
|
Exodus 7:7–12:51 |
The Wilderness Period to the Conquest of Canaan 1576–1505 BCE[]
Before the Common Era (BCE) |
Event | Bible texts |
---|---|---|
1576 Ante C. 1490 |
The Tabernacle was erected 1 year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the first month, on the first day, at the beginning of the second year.
|
Exodus 33:11 Exodus 40:17 Numbers 9:1–5 |
1575 | Moses sent out Hoshea/Joshua the son of Nun and 11 other leaders in Israel from the wilderness of Paran to spy out the land of Canaan. Caleb was 40 years old. At their report the congregation cried out, and God decreed the people would wander in the wilderness 40 years.
|
Numbers 12:16–13:3 Numbers 13:25–14:37 Numbers 20:1 Deuteronomy 2:14–15 Joshua 14:6–7 |
c. 1538/7 | Miriam died (age not given) 1537 (?) – see the interval of time in Numbers between the death of Miriam and the death of her brother Aaron. Numbers 20:1–33:38. | Numbers 20:1 Numbers 33:38 |
1537 Ante C. 1452 |
The 40th year after the people of Israel had come out of Egypt (1577–1537). Aaron died. He was 123 years old (1660–1537). Moses also died. He was 120 years old (1657–1537).
|
Numbers 20:1 Numbers 33:38–39 Deuteronomy 34:7 Joshua 14:6–7 Psalms 90 |
1537–1505 —→Ante C. 1434 |
The conquest of Canaan, a period of 32 (?) years, beginning with Jericho (1536). The Bible does not state the number of the years of the conquest of Canaan during the lifetime of Joshua, only that Joshua was 110 years old when he died.
|
Deuteronomy 2:14 Joshua 6:2 Joshua 6:20–21 Joshua 6:26 Joshua 8:21–29 Joshua 11:10–22 Joshua 14:7–10 |
1505 Ante C. 1434 |
The year Joshua died. He was 110 years old (1615–1505). "...Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua..." (Joshua 24:30–31).
|
Deuteronomy 34:1–9 Joshua 14:7–10 Joshua 24:25–26 Joshua 24:29–30 |
The Judges to the United Monarchy 1505–1018 BCE[]
Before the Common Era (BCE) |
Event | Bible texts |
---|---|---|
1505 | "...the people served the LORD...all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua...and there arose a generation after them, who did not know the LORD...."
|
Judges 2:7 Judges 2:10 Judges 2:18–19 Judges 11:26 Acts 13:19–20 "about 450 years" to c. 1055 BCE (1505 – 450 = 1055) |
1505–1497 | Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia 8 years.
|
Judges 3:8 |
1497–1457 | Othniel, son of Kenaz the younger brother of Caleb, judged Israel.
|
Numbers 21:21–31 Deuteronomy 2:16–37 Judges 3:9–11 Judges 11:428 |
1457–1439 | Israel served Eglon king of Moab 18 years. | Judges 2:19 Judges 3:12–14 |
1439–1359 | Ehud delivered Israel and the land had rest for 80 years.
|
Judges 3:15–30 |
1359 | After Ehud died, Shamgar delivered Israel. | Judges 3:31–4:1 |
1359–1339 | Jabin king of Canaan cruelly oppressed the people of Israel for 20 years.
|
Judges 4:1–7 Judges 3:31 |
1339–1299 | The land of Israel had rest 40 years. | Judges 5:31 |
1299–1292 | Israel was in the hand of Midian 7 years. | Judges 6:1 |
1292–1252 Ante C. 1245→ |
Gideon/Jerubbaal delivered Israel (1292). The land of Israel had rest 40 years in the days of Gideon (1292–1252).
|
Judges 6:11–14 Judges 8:28 |
1252–1249 Ante C. 1235→ |
Abimelech ruled over Israel 3 years. | Judges 9:1–6 Judges 9:22 |
1249–1226 | Tola judged Israel 23 years. | Judges 10:1–2 |
1226–1204 | Jair judged Israel 22 years.[note 9] | Judges 10:3 |
1204–1186 | Israel was crushed and oppressed in the hand of the Philistines and in the hand of the Ammonites 18 years.
|
Judges 10:7–9 |
1186–1180 Ante C. 1187→ |
Jephthah judged Israel 6 years.
|
Judges 12:7 Ruth 1:1–4 |
1180–1173 | Ibzan judged Israel 7 years.
|
Judges 12:8–10 Ruth 1:3–6 |
1173–1163 | Elon judged Israel 10 years 1173–1163
|
Judges 12:11–12 Ruth 1:6–18 Ruth 4:13–17 1 Samuel 4:15–18 |
1163–1155 | Abdon judged Israel 8 years. | Judges 12:13–15 |
1155–1115 | Israel was in the hand of the Philistines 40 years. This can be divided into 2 periods:
|
Judges 13:1–5 Judges 15:20 Judges 16:31 |
no date | Unknown period of time (from Samson to Eli):
|
Judges 19:30 Judges 20:8–11 Judges 21:5–12 Judges 21:16–23 |
1115 | Eli was 59 years old (1174–1115), and he judged Israel 40 years (1115–1075).
|
1 Samuel 1:1–18 1 Samuel 3:19–4:1 1 Samuel 4:18 |
1115–1105 | Eli was 68 years old (1173–1105) and judge of Israel 40 years (1115–1075). Saul was anointed king over Israel by Samuel the prophet "when Samuel became old" and Samuel was judge over Israel. 1 Samuel 6–10. Saul reigned 42 years (1105–1063/2), according to 1 Samuel 13:1.[note 11]
|
1 Samuel 4:10–18 1 Samuel 6:1–3 1 Samuel 7:2 1 Samuel 8:1 1 Samuel 8:22 1 Samuel 9:25–10:1 1 Samuel 10:17–26 1 Samuel 13:1 1 Samuel 14:52 |
1103 | Eli was 70 years old and judge of Israel 40 years (1115–1075). 1 Samuel 4:15–18. Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, was anointed king over Israel by Samuel the prophet "when Samuel became old" and Samuel was judge over Israel. 1 Samuel 6–10. Saul reigned 40 years (1103–1063/2), according to Acts 13:21,[note 13][note 14] and according to some readings of 1 Samuel 13:1.[note 11]
|
1 Samuel 4:8–10 1 Samuel 6:1–3 1 Samuel 7:2 1 Samuel 8:1 1 Samuel 8:22 1 Samuel 9:25–10:1 1 Samuel 10:17–26 1 Samuel 13:1 Acts 13:21 |
1095 | Eli was 88 years old and judge of Israel (1115–1075). Saul was anointed by Samuel the prophet "when Samuel became old" and Samuel was judge over Israel. 1 Samuel 6–10. Saul reigned 32 years (1095–1063/2) according to 1 Samuel 13:1.[note 11]
|
1 Samuel 6–10 |
1092 | The year David son of Jesse was born. Eli was 82 years old and judge of Israel (1115–1075). Saul had been king over Israel 13 years (1105–1092), 11 years (1103–1092), 3 years (1095–1092). |
1 Samuel 13:1 2 Samuel 5:4–5 2 Samuel 6:1–2 |
1075 Ante C. 1116 |
The ark of the covenant was captured by the Philistines. Eli died. He was 98 years old (1173–1075); he had judged Israel 40 years (1115–1075). The ark remained in the land of the Philistines 7 months.
|
1 Samuel 4:10–6:1 1 Samuel 7 |
1075 | The ark of the covenant was sent back to Israel, and it remained in the house of Abinadab 20 years at Kiriath-Jearim (1075–1055). | 1 Samuel 6:2–16 1 Samuel 7:1–2 2 Samuel 5:4–6:11 |
1075–1064 Ante C. 1096–1057 |
Samuel judged Israel 11 years after Eli died (1075–1064).
|
1 Samuel 7:15–8:7 1 Samuel 9–12 1 Samuel 13:1 1 Samuel 15:1 1 Samuel 16:1–13 1 Samuel 18:3 1 Samuel 19:1 1 Samuel 20:8–17 1 Samuel 22:17–19 1 Samuel 25:1 1 Samuel 26:2 Psalm 151 |
1064–1063/2 | David fled and dwelt at Ziklag 1 year 4 months. | 1 Samuel 27:1–4 1 Samuel 27:7 |
1063/2 Ante C. 1055 |
The year Saul was slain on Mount Gilboa with his sons. He died 72 years old, 70 years old, 32 years old, 3 years old, age unknown.[note 15][note 11] Compare Acts 13:21, 1 Samuel 7:2; 13:1 and 2 Samuel 5:4–6:11[note 14]
|
1 Samuel 7:2 1 Samuel 13:1 1 Samuel 31 2 Samuel 1:1–2:3 2 Samuel 5:4–6:11 Acts 13:21 |
1062–1055 | David at Hebron was anointed king over the house of Judah (1062).
|
2 Samuel 2:4–7 2 Samuel 5:4–5 |
1055 Ante C. 1044 |
David was anointed king over Israel by all the elders of Israel.
|
2 Samuel 5:3–10 2 Samuel 5:17–6:11 |
1055–1022 | David reigned over all Israel and Judah 33 years.
|
2 Samuel 5:4–5 2 Samuel 15:7 1 Kings 2:10–11 1 Chronicles 16:4–37 |
1022 Ante C. 1014 |
The year David died. He was 70 years old (30 + 40) (1092–1022).
|
1 Kings 2:11–12 1 Kings 11:42–43 1 Chronicles 29:26–28 2 Chronicles 1:1 |
1018 Ante C. 1012 |
Solomon began to build the house of the LORD the 4th year of his reign (1022–1018).
|
1 Kings 6:1 Psalms 72 Psalms 127 |
1011 | Solomon finished building the house of the LORD the 11th year of his reign (1022–1011). He was 7 years building it (1018–1011).
|
1 Kings 6:37–38 |
1002 | Saul becomes first king of Israel (-1002 to -1000) and is defeated by Philistines. | 1 Samuel 8–31 |
1000 | Accession of David as king of united kingdom of Judah and Israel (-1000 to -960). | 2 Samuel 5:3–5 |
The Divided Monarchy to the Destruction of the Temple 982–587 BCE[]
Before the Common Era (BCE) |
Event | Bible texts |
---|---|---|
982 Ante C. 975 |
The year Solomon died (age not given). He had reigned 40 years (1022–982).
|
1 Kings 11:42–12:20 2 Chronicles 9:30–10:17 |
982–965/4 | Rehoboam reigned 17 years (982–965), and he died. He was 58 years old (41 + 17) (1022–964)
|
1 Kings 12:1–2 1 Kings 12:20 1 Kings 14:21 1 Kings 14:25–15:1 2 Chronicles 12:2–13 |
964–961 Ante C. 958→ |
Abijam reigned 3 years. | 1 Kings 15:1–2 2 Chronicles 13:1–2 |
961–920 Ante C. 955→ |
Asa reigned 41 years.
|
1 Kings 15:9–10 2 Chronicles 16:13–17:1 |
920–895 →Ante C. 889 |
Jehoshaphat reigned 25 years, and he died. He was 60 years old (35 + 25).
|
1 Kings 22:8–28 1 Kings 22:42 2 Chronicles 17:7–9 2 Chronicles 18:7–27 2 Chronicles 20:31 |
895–887 | Jehoram/Joram reigned 8 years, and he died. He was 40 years old (32 + 8). | 2 Kings 8:16–17 2 Chronicles 21:5 |
887–886 | Ahaziah reigned 1 year, and he died. According to 2 Kings, he was 23 years old when he died (22 + 1). According to 2 Chronicles, he was 43 years old when he died (42 + 1). |
2 Kings 8:25–26 2 Chronicles 22:2 |
886–879 | Athaliah reigned 6/7 years, and was slain. | 2 Kings 11:1–16 2 Chronicles 22:10–23:15 |
879–839 Ante C. 878→ |
Jehoash/Joash reigned 40 years, and he died. He was 47 years old (7 + 40). | 2 Kings 11:21–12:1 2 Chronicles 24:1 |
839–810 →Ante C. 810 |
Amaziah reigned 29 years, and he died. He was 54 years old (25 + 29).
|
2 Kings 14:1–2 2 Kings 14:23–25 2 Chronicles 25:1 Hosea 1:1 Jonah 1:1 |
810–758 Ante C. 810→ |
Azariah/Uzziah reigned 52 years, and he died. He was 68 years old (16 + 52).
|
2 Kings 15:1–2 2 Kings 15:17–20 1 Chronicles 5:6 1 Chronicles 5:26 2 Chronicles 26:3 Hosea 1:1 Amos 1:1 Jonah 1:1 Jonah 3 Zechariah 14:5 |
758–742 Ante C. 758→ |
Jotham reigned 16 years, and he died. He was 41 years old (25 + 16).
|
2 Kings 15:32–33 2 Chronicles 26:23–27:1 2 Chronicles 27:9 Isaiah 1:1 Isaiah 6:1–13 Micah 1:1 |
742–726 | Ahaz reigned 16 years, and he died. He was 36 years old (20 + 16).
|
2 Kings 16:2–9 2 Kings 17:1–6 2 Kings 17:24 1 Chronicles 5:6 1 Chronicles 5:25–26 2 Chronicles 27:9–28:1 2 Chronicles 28:20 |
726–697 Ante C. 727→ |
Hezekiah reigned 29 years, and he died. He was 54 years old (25 + 29).
|
2 Kings 18:1–2 2 Kings 18:13 2 Kings 19:20–36 2 Kings 20:12 2 Chronicles 28:27–29:1 2 Chronicles 29:12–19 Tobit 1:1–22 Judith 2:11 DR Judith 2:20 NRSV Isaiah 6:9–13 Isaiah 7:10–20 Isaiah 36:1 Isaiah 37:33–37 Isaiah 39:1 Jeremiah 14:1–6 Joel 1:6–20 Joel 2:2–11 Amos 7:1–6 Nahum 3:15–17 |
697–642 Ante C. 698→ |
Manasseh reigned 55 years, and he died. He was 67 years old (12 + 55).
|
2 Kings 19:36–37 2 Kings 21:1–2 2 Kings 21:16–18 2 Chronicles 32:21 2 Chronicles 33:1 2 Chronicles 33:10–16 2 Chronicles 33:20 Tobit 1:22–2:11 Tobit 14:3 Judith 2:20 Judith 4:3 Isaiah 7:18–20 Isaiah 37:36–38 Joel 1:6–12 Micah 1:1 Micah 5:1 Nahum 3:8–10 Nahum 3:15–17 Prayer of Manasseh |
642–640 Ante C. 643→ |
Amon reigned 2 years, and he died. He was 24 years old (22 + 2).
|
2 Kings 21:19 2 Chronicles 33:21–25 |
640–609 Ante C. 641→ |
Josiah reigned 31 years, and he died. He was 39 years old (8 + 31).
|
2 Kings 22:1 2 Kings 22:15–23:25 2 Kings 23:29–30 2 Chronicles 34:1–3 2 Chronicles 34:8–18 2 Chronicles 34:23–33 2 Chronicles 35:16–25 Tobit 14:2–11 DR Tobit 14:2–11 NRSV Judith 4:3 Ecclesiastes 1:12 Ecclesiastes 2:9 Sirach 49:1–5 Jeremiah 1:1–2 Ezekiel 1:1 Nahum 2 Habakkuk 1:6–11 Zephaniah 1:1 Zephaniah 2:13–15 |
609 Ante C. 610 |
Jehoahaz reigned 3 months, and Pharaoh Neco took him away.
|
2 Kings 23:31–34 2 Chronicles 36:1–3 |
609–598 Ante C. 610→ |
Eliakim/Jehoiakim reigned 11 years, and he died. He was 36 years old (25 + 11).
|
2 Kings 23:36 2 Kings 24:6 2 Chronicles 36:5–7 Isaiah 6:9–13 Jeremiah 25:1–12 Jeremiah 26 Jeremiah 46:2 Jeremiah 47:1 Daniel 1:1–7 Daniel 13:41–51 Daniel 13:60–62 |
598 Ante C. 590 |
Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah reigned 3 months and ten days. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zephaniah and Daniel were prophets.
|
2 Kings 24:6–17 2 Chronicles 36:9–10 Esther 11:2–4 Jeremiah 22:24–30 Jeremiah 24:1 Jeremiah 29:1–2 Jeremiah 37:1 |
598–588 Ante C. 590→588 |
Mattaniah/Zedekiah was 21 years old (598) when he was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. He reigned 11 years, until he was 32 years old (587).
|
Numbers 4:30 2 Kings 23:36 2 Kings 24:17–25:7 2 Chronicles 36:11–20 Judith 1:1–6 Judith 1:12–15 NRSV Judith 2:1–14 NRSV compare Judith 2 DR Jeremiah 21:1–7 Jeremiah 27:1–3 Jeremiah 28:1–29:3 Jeremiah 29:24–32 Jeremiah 32:1–15 Jeremiah 34:8–11 Jeremiah 37:3–21 Jeremiah 38:1–13 Jeremiah 39:1 Jeremiah 46:17 Jeremiah 52:28 Baruch 1:1–12 Ezekiel 1:1 Ezekiel 20:1 Ezekiel 24:1–2 Ezekiel 29:1–2 Daniel 5:18–22 |
587 | The 11th year of Zedekiah, the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar. Isaiah, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel were prophets.
|
2 Kings 25:2–9 2 Kings 25:22 2 Chronicles 34–35 2 Chronicles 36:17–19 Judith 2:1–14 Judith 4:1–3 Judith 13:4–10 Judith 14:8–15:2 Jeremiah 39:2–9 Jeremiah 52:24–29 Lamentations 4:21–22 Baruch 1:11–12 DR Ezekiel 31 Ezekiel 36 Obadiah 10–14 |
The Babylonian Captivity to the Decree of Cyrus 586–539 BCE[]
Before the Common Era (BCE) |
Event | Bible texts |
---|---|---|
586 Ante C. 588 |
The 19th year and 2nd year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. The 12th year of the exile of Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel were prophets.
|
2 Kings 25:8–9 2Kings 25:22 Isaiah 6:11–13 Jeremiah 37:8–10 Jeremiah 39:2–9 Jeremiah 40:1–12 Jeremiah 52:12–16 Ezekiel 32:1–16 Daniel 2–3 |
582 Ante C. 587 |
The 23rd year and 6th year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel were prophets.
|
2 Kings 25:23–25 Jeremiah 40:13–41:10 Jeremiah 52:30 |
582/1 | The 24th year and 7th year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel were prophets.
|
Isaiah 6:11–12 Jeremiah 41:11–44:30 |
581 | Tobit, 158 years old (RSVCE, KJV),[note 19] told his son to "leave Nineveh, because what the prophet Jonah said will surely happen", and then he died. (The destruction foretold by Jonah, described by Nahum and Zephaniah, occurred in 612 BCE.)[47]
|
Tobit 14:1–4 DR Tobit 14:1–4 NAB Tobit 14:1–4 NRSV Tobit 14:2–11 RSVCE, KJV Jonah 3 Nahum 2 Zephaniah 2:13–15 |
571 | The 27th year of the exile of Jehoiachin/Jeconiah (598–571). The word of the LORD to Ezekiel that Nebuchadnezzar will be given the land of Egypt and its wealth for his army as recompense for his labor for the LORD. |
Ezekiel 29:17–21 |
562 Ante C. 562 |
Nebuchadnezzar II died (reigned 605–562 BCE). He was succeeded by his son Evil-merodach/Awel-marduk. Daniel was prophet. |
2 Kings 25:27 |
561–560 | Evil-merodach/Awel-marduk began to reign in 561. Daniel was prophet. | 2 Kings 25:27–30 Jeremiah 52:31–34 |
560–539 | From the reign of Neriglissar (560) to the 1st year of Cyrus (539). Daniel was prophet.
|
Tobit 14:16 DR Baruch 1:11–12 Daniel 5:1–22 Daniel 7:1–14 Daniel 8:1–17 |
539 Ante C. 536 |
The 17th year of Nabonidus, and the 14th year of Belshazzar. Belshazzar's feast. Daniel interpreted the writing on the wall. Belshazzar proclaimed Daniel/Belteshazzar the 3rd ruler in the kingdom.
|
2 Chronicles 36:22–28 Ezra 1 Ezra 2:1–2 Ezra 3:1–2 Ezra 4:1–3 Daniel 1:21 Daniel 5:30–31 Daniel 6:28 Daniel 8:3–4 Daniel 9:1–2 Daniel 9:21–25 Daniel 14:1 DR Daniel 14:2 NAB |
The Second Temple to Alexander the Great 538–334 BCE[]
Before the Common Era (BCE) |
Event | Bible texts |
---|---|---|
538 Ante C. 535 |
The beginning of the 2nd year of the coming to the house of God at Jerusalem. Daniel was prophet.
|
Ezra 3:8���13 Ezra 4:1–5 Ezra 4:24 |
536 Ante C. 536 |
The 3rd year of Cyrus king of Persia. Daniel was prophet.
|
2 Chronicles 36:22–23 Ezra 1:1–4 Daniel 10:1–14 |
530–520 | Cyrus the Great died 4 December 530. He was succeeded by Cambyses II son of Cyrus (reigned 530–522).
|
Ezra 4:24 Tobit 14:14 Daniel 9:1–3 Daniel 9:23–27 |
520–519 Ante C. 519 |
520. The 2nd year of Darius the king (520). Haggai and Zechariah were prophets.
|
Daniel 9:23–27 Haggai 1:1–2:23 Zechariah 1:1–6:8 |
518–517 | The 4th year of Darius the king (reigned 522–486 BCE). Zechariah and Obadiah were prophets.
|
Ezra 3:12 Jeremiah 25:12–13 Obadiah 1 Obadiah 6–7 Zechariah 7:1 Zechariah 11:4–14 |
486 | "...and in the reign of Ahasuerus in the beginning of his reign they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Jerusalem." Ezra 4:6.
|
Ezra 4:4–6 Esther 1:1–2 Esther 11:2 Esther 13:1 Esther 16:1 |
484–483 Ante C. 519 |
The 2nd year of the reign of "Artaxerxes the Great"/Ahasuerus.
|
Esther 11:2–12:6 Esther 1:1–2:17 |
479–478 Ante C. 515 |
The 7th year of Ahasuerus (reigned 486–465/4 BCE).
|
Ezra 7:1–7 Ezra 10:10–12 |
474–473 Ante C. 510→508 |
The 12th year of Ahasuerus.
|
Esther 3:7–13 Esther 13:1–7 Esther 7:5–8:12 Esther 16:1–24 Esther 9:11–32 |
471 | The year that Tobiah, son of Tobit, died 127 years old, 110 years after the death of his father (581).[note 19] "But before he died he heard of the destruction of Nineveh" (612 BCE), and he rejoiced. | Tobit 14:14–15 RSVCE, KJV |
c. 460–445 | The Book of Malachi is not dated by a reference to a ruler or specific event.
|
Malachi 1:6–11 Malachi 2:1–3 Malachi 3:1 Malachi 3:10 |
c. 446/5 | "...and in the days of Artaxerxes..." (Artaxerxes I who reigned 465–424)
|
Ezra 4:7–23 |
445 Ante C. 454 |
The 20th year of Artaxerxes.
|
Nehemiah 1:1–2:15 Nehemiah 6:15 Nehemiah 7:2–5 Nehemiah 7:73–8:1 Nehemiah 7:66–67 Nehemiah 8:1–2 Nehemiah 9:1–2 Nehemiah 12:27–45 Nehemiah 13:1–3 |
445–433 →Ante C. 442 |
Nehemiah was governor of Judah 12 years, from the 20th year to the 32nd year of Artaxerxes (reigned 465–424, 41 years).
|
Nehemiah 5:14 Nehemiah 13:6–12 |
c. 445–333 | High priests recorded in Book of Nehemiah 12:10–11:
|
Nehemiah 12:1–26 |
c. 7th–5th century | See: Book of Job The author of the book of Job is not known; it was composed some time between the 7th and 5th centuries BCE.[79] "There was a man in the land of Uz..." |
Job 1:1–3 Obadiah 8 |
356–334 | Alexander was born in 356 BCE, son of Philip of Macedon. | Daniel 7:7 Daniel 7:23 Daniel 8:5–7 Daniel 11:3 1 Maccabees 1:1–4 |
Jaddua the high priest to John Hyrcanus 333–104 BCE[]
Before the Common Era (BCE) |
Event | Bible texts |
---|---|---|
c. 333 | Jaddua, son of Jonathan, was high priest probably at the end of the Persian period when Alexander the Great approached Jerusalem about 333 BCE.[82] | Nehemiah 12:1–11 Nehemiah 12:22 |
See: First Book of Maccabees (333–124 BCE) | ||
333–323 →Ante C. 323 |
Alexander, son of Philip of Macedon defeated Darius, and became king of the Persians and Medes (333 BCE). 1 Maccabees 1:1.
|
Daniel 7:7 Daniel 7:23 Daniel 8:6–7 1 Maccabees 1:1–7 |
323–217 | "Then his officers began to rule, each in his own place. They all put on crowns after his death, and so did their sons after them for many years; and they caused many evils on the earth" (323–175). 1 Maccabees 1:8–9. Compare Daniel 8:5–7; 11:3–44.[note 26][81] |
Daniel 8:8 Daniel 11:3–44 1 Maccabees 1:8–9 1 Maccabees 12:7 1 Maccabees 12:19–23 |
281–246 | Reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus
|
Daniel 11 NAB literalist footnotes Daniel 11:5–6 |
219 | Simon, son of Jochanan/Onias, became high priest (219–196 BCE).[85]
|
Sirach 50:1–4 1 Maccabees 12:7 |
See: Third Book of Maccabees (217 June–c. 216/215) | ||
217–c. 215 | Persecution under Ptolemy IV Philopator
|
Daniel 11:11 3 Maccabees 1:1–5 3 Maccabees 3:1–5 3 Maccabees 3:12–29 3 Maccabees 6:38–7:16 |
200 | Syria defeated Egypt at the Battle of Paneas. Daniel 11:13. The siege of Sidon after the Battle of Paneas. Daniel 11:15[note 26] |
Daniel 11:13–15 |
197 | Antiochus III betrothed his daughter to Ptolemy V Epiphanes. | Daniel 11:17 |
See: Second Book of Maccabees (c. 196–161 BCE) | ||
196–175 | Onias III became high priest (196–175 BCE). | Daniel 11:18 2 Maccabees 3:1–3 |
177[87] or 78–77[88] Ante C. 177 |
"The 4th year of the reign of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, Dositheus, who said that he was a priest and a Levite, and Ptolemy his son brought to Egypt the...Letter of Purim..."
|
Esther 11:1 |
no date | During the high priesthood of Onias III 196–175 BCE.
|
Daniel 11:20 2 Maccabees 3:1–35 |
175 | Seleucus IV Philopator king of Syria died. He was succeeded by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. |
Daniel 8:9 Daniel 11:21 Maccabees 3:1–35 2 Maccabees 4:7 |
175–170 Ante C. 175→ |
175. Antiochus Epiphanes began to reign in the 137th year of the kingdom of the Greeks (175 BCE). 1 Maccabees 1:10; Daniel 7:8.
|
Daniel 7:8 Daniel 7:24 Daniel 11:20–22 1 Maccabees 1:10 1 Maccabees 1:16–19 2 Maccabees 4:7 2 Maccabees 4:23–35 |
169–167 Ante C. 170→168 |
The persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes.
|
Daniel 7:25 Daniel 8:10–12 Daniel 11:28–31 Daniel 11:33–35 Daniel 12:11 1 Maccabees 1:20–24 1 Maccabees 1:29–54 1 Maccabees 2:15–44 2 Maccabees 5:1 |
166–164 | The Maccabean revolt
|
Daniel 8:13–14 Daniel 11:32–35 Daniel 12:1–3 Daniel 12:12 1 Maccabees 2:65–3:1 1 Maccabees 3:10–4:35 1 Maccabees 4:36–56 2 Maccabees 5:27 2 Maccabees 8:8–9:1 2 Maccabees 10:1–9 |
163–160 | The death of Antiochus IV to the death of Judas Maccabeus.
|
Daniel 11:44–45 Daniel 12:11–12 1 Maccabees 6:1–16 1 Maccabees 6:19–20 1 Maccabees 7:1 1 Maccabees 7:26–35 1 Maccabees 7:43–50 2 Maccabees 2:1–10 1 Maccabees 9:1–18 2 Maccabees 9:28 2 Maccabees 13:1–8 2 Maccabees 14:3–4 2 Maccabees 14:12–14 2 Maccabees 15:12–16 2 Maccabees 15:25–37 |
159–140 Ante C. 160→140 |
Jonathan Apphus accepted the leadership and took the place of his brother Judas (160/159 BCE). 1 Maccabees 9:28–31.
|
1 Maccabees 9:28–31 1 Maccabees 9:54–56 1 Maccabees 10:1–21 1 Maccabees 10:55–62 1 Maccabees 10:67–85 1 Maccabees 11:14–19 1 Maccabees 12:39–48 1 Maccabees 13:41–42 1 Maccabees 13:51–53 1 Maccabees 14:1–4 1 Maccabees 14:47 2 Maccabees 1:7–8 |
138–104 Ante C. 139→124 |
The 5th year of Simon the great high priest to the death of John Hyrcanus son of Simon.
|
Sirach 1:1 Daniel 7:27 1 Maccabees 15:10–14 1 Maccabees 15:37–41 1 Maccabees 16:1–10 1 Maccabees 16:14–24 2 Maccabees 1:1–9 |
Esther 11:1 – the 4th year of Ptolemy and Cleopatra as possibly 78–77 BCE[]
Before the Common Era (BCE) |
Event | Bible texts |
---|---|---|
177 or 78–77 | "The 4th year of the reign of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, Dositheus, who said that he was a priest and a Levite, and Ptolemy his son brought to Egypt the...Letter of Purim..."
|
Esther 11:1 |
2 Maccabees 1:10–12 – Aristobulus II 66–63 BCE[]
Before the Common Era (BCE) |
Event | Bible texts |
---|---|---|
66–63 | "...To Aristobulus,[note 29] who is of the family of the anointed priests, teacher of Ptolemy the king...Having been saved by God out of grave dangers we thank him greatly for taking our side against the king. For he drove out those who fought against the holy city."
|
2 Maccabees 1:10–16 |
See also[]
- Council of Jamnia
- Dating creation
- History of ancient Israel and Judah
- Intertestamental period
- Universal history
- Young earth creationism
Notes[]
- ^ As with the literalist reckoning of the Ussher Chronology, the dates associated with the literalist reckoning of the Seder 'Olam Rabbah (A.M.) should not be relied upon as fact. —Source: Jenkins, Everett, (The Creation: secular, Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, and Muslim perspectives: The Seder Olam Chronology, p. 330)
- ^ The King James Version of Genesis 21:14 translates ילד yeled as "child". According to Strong's Concordance of the Bible Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary of the Old Testament (Strong's number 3206) this word also means "young man".
- ^ "lad": According to Strong's Concordance of the Bible, Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary of the Old Testament, number 5288. נער na'ar, a boy (as active) from the age of infancy to adolescence; by implication, a servant: – babe, boy, child, lad, servant, young (man). The same term is also applied (by interchange of gender) to a girl, a damsel, of similar latitude in age.
Ishmael 17–20 years old by the reckoning in this table was also נער na'ar (Genesis 21:17–20), a "lad", a "boy", young (man), youth, when he and his mother Hagar were cast out after Isaac was weaned. - ^ Jump up to: a b Ra-amses/Rameses was the site of the new Hyksos capital (1638–1530 BCE) called Avaris before they were driven out by the Theban pharaoh Ahmose I, the first pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty, who then established a fortress and settlement on this site. Ahmose I's successors, down to Thutmose III, built and used a large royal compound just south of this site, which was in use until the reign of Amenhotep II. However, Pharaoh Raamses II/Ramesses II also built near this site. Source: "Pithom and Rameses", Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 1301.
- ^ According to carbon-dating, Jericho (Jericho City IV) was destroyed between 1617 and 1530 BCE. The site remained uninhabited (Joshua's curse ? 6:26) until the city was refounded in the 9th century BCE. John Garstang determined that Jericho was destroyed by fire around 1400 BCE, corresponding to the biblical dating of the Israelite conquest current at that time. Kathleen Kenyon's findings disagreed with Garstang and the accepted biblical dating, and she dated the destruction and the city wall to a much earlier time, in the 1600–1500s, c. 1550. But she believed that the Exodus and the conquest under Joshua took place in the 1200s and declared that, since the city had already been long uninhabited through the entire 13th century, it was impossible that Jericho had been destroyed by Joshua according to the biblical account. "While critical scholars underline the conflict between archaeological data and the biblical conquest narrative, in reality there is no conflict here."—Karen Joines and Eric Mitchell.
—Source: "Jericho", Karen Joines and Eric Mitchell, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 885–88.
Israeli-Canadian journalist Simcha Jacobovici (The Exodus Decoded, 2006) pointed out that if researchers of the future insisted that the American Civil War took place at the time of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States in the 1960s at the time of the Vietnam War, and then looked for evidence supporting occurrence of the Civil War at that time, they would find none, and the presidency of Abraham Lincoln would be regarded as only legendary. If chronological dating provided by a more literal reading of the Tanakh were taken seriously, then concrete archaeological evidence for the historical accuracy of the biblical text would become more evident: "It's staring them in the face, and they don't recognize it." - ^ The account of Moses' death in the Book of Deuteronomy, among other texts in the Torah, suggests that Moses did not write the whole of what is contained in the Five Books of Moses. —Source: "Deuteronomy, book of", Daniel I. Block, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 415–19 [417a].
- ^ "1498. The Exodus." See The Exodus Decoded: Simcha Jacobovici's arguments. Simcha Jacobovici coincidentally argues for a similar literalist date of c. 1500 BCE without directly adverting to the arithmetically derived textually based chronological date used in this table. His use of extra-biblical archæologically dated evidence in support of his arguments for a 16th/15th century date for the Exodus has been criticised and rejected by a majority of mainstream researchers (critical sources cited in article The Exodus Decoded#References).
- ^ Harmonizing the 300 years of Judges 11:4–28 back to the time of Israel in the wilderness, and the 450 years of Acts 11:19–20 as the period of time between Joshua and King Saul, is an apparent inconsistency which is resolved simply by proposing the speculative possibility that one or both of these numbers is/are figures of speech used by the speakers, and/or that many of the saving actions of the "governors" שופטים shoftim ("judges") in Israel could have occurred simultaneously or overlapped in time. This is not explicitly stated in the Book of Judges, which "plainly" relates their exploits solely as a sequential series of events, so that taking the texts literally, without recourse to the method of grammatico-historical exegesis, confronts uninstructed readers of the Bible with what appears to them to be an impossible inconsistency which can be unsettling. See Chronology of the Bible.
- ^ Pharaoh Merneptah (1224–1214 BCE) mounted a campaign against Canaan in the 5th year of his reign (about 1220). In his record of that campaign, he records that, among others, Israel was utterly destroyed, evidence that the people of Israel were already a recognized group in Canaan. —Source: "Chronology of the Biblical Period", Joel F. Drinkard, Jr. and E. Ray Clendenen, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 293b.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c 1183 BCE – from 1092 BCE back to 1183 BCE, 2 generations plus 10 years. Counting back literally 2 generations, mechanically allotting the traditional 40 years each (total 80), from the birth of David reckoned as 1092 BCE, literal count, plus 10 years according to Ruth 1:1 (total 90 years) = 1182 BCE (1092 + 90), a time of famine during the historically documented Bronze Age collapse 1206–1150 BCE. Such a literalist calculation is pure speculation and has no recognized historical value. The Ussher chronology places the famine in 1298 BCE. The Book of Ruth is not dated by reference to a ruler or specific event, other than a famine. The totalled numbers of the years of the 2 generations (80 years) cannot be drawn from the letter of the text of the Bible; the Bible does not give the ages and years of the 2 generations, only the genealogy of Boaz, father of Obed (1st generation), the father of Jesse (2nd generation), the father of David. Many dismiss the genealogy in 4:18–22 as irrelevant. —Source: "Ruth, book of", Daniel I. Block, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 1422–24.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f The text of the manuscript, translation or version of the Bible being consulted will affect the calculation and tabulation of the years in a literalist chronology based on the Old Testament texts/translations of 1 Samuel 13:1. Saul's age when he began to reign and the number of years he reigned according to published texts vary and remain uncertain (the variant Bible versions in English are here abbreviated):
Saul was 30 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 42 years (1105–1063/2). NIV, NLT, NASB, HCSB, ISV, NIRV
Saul was [30] years old when he began to reign, and he reigned [42] years (1105 ? – 1063/2). GOD'S WORD
Saul was [30] years old when he began to reign, and he reigned [40] years (1103 ? – 1063/2). NET
Saul was 30 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned (?) years (unknown). Hexaplar
Saul was 40 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 32 years (1095–1063/2). NLV
Saul was 40 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned (?) years (unknown). ASV, WEB, Amplified (est.)
Saul was 30 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 2 years (1065–1063/2). ERV
Saul was (?) years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 2 years (1065–1063/2). CEV, Darby, Complete Jewish Bible (chabad.org), with Rashi commentary (chabad.org), Latin Vulgate, Luther Bibel 1545, MT (Masoretic) and JPS (1917) Jewish Hebrew-English, NRSV (Oremus)
Saul was a son/child of one (1) year in his reigning/when he became king/began to reign, and he reigned 2 years over Israel.
DR, Jubilee Bible 2000, Wycliffe Bible, YLT - ^ Jump up to: a b c d Compare 1 Samuel 14:18 in multiple English translations together.
Bible versions based on the Masoretic Text state that "the ark" was with Saul and the people as they went into battle.
Bible versions based on the Septuagint state that "the ephod" was with Saul and the people as they went into battle – this reading is supported by the statement in the text (v. 19) that Saul told the high priest Ahijah "withdraw your hand" (from within the ephod).
The possibility that after the death of Eli the ark was brought out of the house of Abinadab by Saul to go before the people in battle is only a speculation when the text of 1 Samuel 7:2 plainly states that the ark remained in the house of Abinadab in Kiriath-jearim for 20 years, "a long time", after the death of Eli.
The possibility that Saul was king for 30, 28, 20 years (literal reckoning) as commander of 3,000 men of Israel (1 Samuel 13:2 and 14:52) before and during the battle with the Philistines when the ark was captured appears unlikely, when 1 Samuel 4–8 does not mention Saul and only long afterward in chapter 8 do the elders of the people say to Samuel, "Give us a king." - ^ See Acts 13:21 multiple text comparison and commentaries (biblehub.com).
- ^ Jump up to: a b Acts 13:21. "...God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years." Saul was anointed king of Israel by the prophet Samuel long after the high priest Eli died (1 Samuel 4:10–8:10) "when Samuel became old" and Samuel was judge over Israel (1 Samuel 7:15–16). The subsequent 7 months after Eli died, and the 20-year period during which the ark of the covenant remained in the house of Abinadab after the death of Eli, until David removed it to Jerusalem, does not allow a literal 40-year reign after Eli died, plus a literal 7 years 6 months for David's reign over the house of Judah before he was crowned king over all Israel and Judah, after which he brought the ark up to Jerusalem: a total of at least 48 years 1 month. Taking literally the numerical data of 40 years at face value as presented by the letter of the text of Acts 13:21, together with the 20 years of 1 Samuel 7:2, plus the 7 years 6 months of 2 Samuel 5:4–5 after Saul died and before David brought the ark up to Jerusalem, Saul would thus have been king 28 years before the death of Eli when the Philistines captured the ark, returned it to Israel after 7 months, and it was placed in the house of Abinadab for 20 years: therefore (strictly according to a reading of the letter of the text) long after the death of Eli, when Samuel was old, Saul was anointed king and reigned 28 years before Eli died.
This apparent paradox is resolved by literalist researchers using the literal letter of the text (letterism) as a beginning, and applying the historical-grammatical method of exegesis, following the rules of sound interpretation, to uncover what they believe to be the real sensus literalis historicus, the true "literal sense" of the text – the actual meaning intended by the biblical author.
See below Historical-grammatical method in Biblical literalist chronology
See above Apparent textual inconsistencies
See also Figure of speech and Hyperbole
—Sources:
Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) n. 116
Martin Anstey, Romance of Bible Chronology
Edwin Thiele, Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings - ^ Jump up to: a b Several literalist Bible translators present Saul as being one year old when he became king (1 Samuel 13:1):
"Saul was a child of one year when he began to reign..." Douay–Rheims Bible
"Saul was a son of one year when he became king..." Jubilee Bible 2000
"Saul was a son of one year..." Wycliffe Bible
"A son of a year [is] Saul in his reigning..." Young's Literal Translation
See 1 Samuel 13:1 – multiple translations.
Some versions state in footnotes that the "Hebrew text is defective", and "The number is lacking in Heb."
Some Bible footnotes and commentaries offer additional speculative interpretations of the meaning of "one year" according to what their authors as researchers see as the actual "literal sense" according to the rules of sound exegesis (for example, Douay–Rheims Bible, Young's Literal Translation). - ^ Micah is an abbreviated form of Micaiah. Micah was prophet during reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah (758–697).
The interval of years from last year of Jehoshaphat through 1st year of Hezekiah 895 through 726, 170 years inclusive, makes it unlikely that Micaiah and Micah are the same. Compare 1 Kings 22:28 "Hear, all you peoples!" and Micah 1:2 "Hear, you peoples, all of you!".
—Source: "Micah", Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 1117, "Micaiah", p. 1119. - ^ Jump up to: a b Many scholars divide the Book of Isaiah among 2 or more authors, but other scholars hold a single authorship. —Source: "Isaiah, book of", Harold Mosley and Steve Bond, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 837b–41b.
- ^ Jump up to: a b In the 1899 edition of the Douay–Rheims Bible, prefatory notes correlate the period of the Book of Judith with the reign of Manasseh and state that the writer of this book was "generally believed to be the high priest Eliachim (also called Joachim)".
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f The text of the manuscript, translation or version of the Bible being consulted will affect the calculation and tabulation of the resulting numbers of the years in a literalist chronology.
Tobit died 102 years old according to online Douay–Rheims Bible 1899 (American edition) – in 637 BCE, during the reign of Josiah.
And his son Tobiah died 82 years later 99 years old in 555 BCE.
Tobit died 112 years old according to online New Revised Standard Version (OREMUS)—in 627 BCE, during the reign of Josiah.
And his son Tobiah died 100 years later 117 years old in 527 BCE.
Tobit died 112 years old according to the 4 versions in The Complete Parallel Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version NRSV, Revised English Bible REB, New American Bible NAB, New Jerusalem Bible NJB, © 1993, Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford.
Tobit died 158 years old according to standard printed editions of RSVCE and KJV with Apocrypha Bibles – in 581 BCE, during the Exile, 31 years after Nineveh was destroyed. And his son Tobiah died 110 years later 127 years old in 471 BCE. - ^ Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary of the Old Testament, 6950. קהל qahal, to convoke, assemble, gather. Qahal is the root of the word Qoheleth (Greek Ecclesiastes), translated "preacher", one who assembles or gathers the people.
- ^ The Bible shows Josiah greater and wiser than Solomon, which is not the popular tradition. 2 Kings 23:25 and Sirach 49:1–5. Josiah's wisdom did not depart from him as it departed from Solomon in his old age. 1 Kings 11:4, 6, 11, 33; Ecclesiastes 2:9. Both Qoheleth (Hebrew) and Ecclesiastes (Greek) denote one who presides over an assembly, that is, a preacher or teacher (cf. 2 Kings 23:1–3 and 2 Chronicles 34:29–32). Traditionally, Solomon has been identified as the author of Ecclesiastes/Qoheleth, "but in modern times many, including a large number of conservative scholars" assign the book to an author and a period later than Solomon. The Bible does not state that Solomon ever read the Book of the Law, the Law of Moses, or the Torah, to the assembly of Israel. cf. 1 Kings 8 and 10:24, and 2 Chronicles 5:2–7:10 and 9:22–23 —Sources:
"Josiah", M. Stephen Davis, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 954–56.
"Ecclesiastes, book of", Stephen R. Miller, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 452b–55a. - ^ Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary of the Old Testament, 1892. הבל hebel, heh'-bel; or (rarely in the abstract) הבל hab-ale'; from 1891; emptiness or vanity; figuratively something transitory and unsatisfactory; often used as an adverb: – (in KJV from an idiom peculiar to the Hebrew) altogether, vain, vanity.
- ^ Judith 4:1–3 (DR) citation is placed here according to a literal reading of the text which uncritically takes "Nabuchodonosor" as one of the forms of the name of Nebuchadnezzar II (as noted in the Douay–Rheims preface to Judith, and as used in Baruch 1:11–12 Douay–Rheims), also called Nebuchadrezzar in the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel; just as Tiglath-pileser is also called Tiglath-pilneser and Pul, and Azariah king of Judah is also called Uzziah, and Jehozadak the high priest is called Jozedech and Jozadak in 1 Chronicles (6:14–15), Ezra and Nehemiah. —Source: articles "Jehozadak", "Tiglath-Pileser", "Uzziah", Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 879, 1595, 1644.
- ^ The prophetic author of Obadiah in verses 10–14 refers to the past. The book itself belongs to the early postexilic period. —Source: "Obadiah 10.", "Obadiah, book of", Leslie C. Allen, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 1204b–05.
- ^ There has been some debate as to when the second siege of Jerusalem took place. Though there is no dispute that Jerusalem fell the second time in the summer month of Tammuz (Jeremiah 52:6), William F. Albright dates the end of Zedekiah's reign (and the fall of Jerusalem) to 587 BCE, whereas Edwin R. Thiele offers 586 BCE, and Bernard Grun proposes 581 BCE (The Timetables of History).
• Thiele, Edwin, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, (1st ed.; New York: Macmillan, 1951; 2nd ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965; 3rd ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan/Kregel, 1983). ISBN 082543825X, 9780825438257.
• Hughes, Jeremy, Secrets of the Times (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1990) 229.
• McFall, Leslie, "A Translation Guide to the Chronological Data in Kings and Chronicles", Bibliotheca Sacra 148 (1991) 45.
• Strand, Kenneth, "Thiele's Biblical Chronology as a Corrective for Extrabiblical Dates", Andrews University Seminary Studies 34 (1996) 310, 317.
• Finegan, Jack, Handbook of Biblical Chronology (rev. ed.; Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1998) 257–259.
• Young, Rodger C., "When Did Jerusalem Fall?" Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 47 (2004) 21–38. - ^ Jump up to: a b Daniel 11:3–44. When read literally these verses plainly describe the dynastic histories of the Ptolemies in Egypt (the king of the south) and the Seleucids in Syria (the king of the north), the two divisions of the Hellenistic empire that were of interest to the author (verse 6). In verses 10–20 is described the struggle between the two kingdoms for control of Palestine, in which the Seleucids were eventually victorious. The reference in verse 20 is to Seleucus IV, who sent Heliodorus to plunder the temple treasure in Jerusalem (2 Maccabees 3). Finally, verses 21–45 describe the career of Antiochus IV and his persecution. —Source: New American Bible, Daniel 11:5–45 "The Hellenistic Age", footnotes. —Rulers and battles are listed individually by name with dates.
- ^ Daniel's prophesy of the death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes "among the mountains in a strange land" (2 Maccabees 9:28; Daniel 11:44–45) is controverted. Daniel 11:45 does not specify which "sea". Some students of the Bible [source: "Daniel", S. Miller, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary] identify Antiochus literally with Daniel 11:21–44, which accords with the description of his policies and actions in 1 and 2 Maccabees. 1 Maccabees 6:1–16 and 2 Maccabees 9:1–16, 28 shows that Antiochus died travelling on the great east-west highway running through Persia, northeast of Judea and Mount Zion and southwest of the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, in the mountainous Zagros region of Persia between Ecbatana and Babylon. It is evident that he did not die in Palestine between Mount Zion and the Mediterranean Sea. Traditionally, "the sea" and "the great sea" in the Bible is the Mediterranean (Joshua 1:4; 9:1; 15:12 and 15:47; 23:4;Isaiah 11:11; Jeremiah 25:19–22; Ezekiel 47:19;Daniel 7:2–3; compare Joel 2:20 "eastern sea" and "western sea", and Micah 7:12 "from sea to sea"). This is the understanding of a majority of Old Testament Biblical scholars such as C. L. Seow [Daniel, 2003, Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky, ISBN 9780664256753], and John J. Collins, Peter W. Flint, and others [The Book of Daniel: Volume 1 Composition and Reception, 2000, Brill, ISBN 9789004116757] who hold that Daniel 11:45 refers to the mountains of Judea between Mount Zion and the Mediterranean Sea, or more specifically to Mount Zion, and conclude that the prophesy that Antiochus would die in Palestine "is totally inaccurate" since he died in Persia. Bible translations of this passage differ: some have Antiochus pitching his pavilion "between the seas", others have it "on the glorious holy mountain", while others more literally have it "between the glorious holy mountain and the sea" (see variant translations at Daniel 11:44–45). The conclusion of most Old Testament scholars is that the account in Daniel 11 is completely accurate through verse 44, but wrong in verse 45, and therefore it must have been completed near the end of the reign of Antiochus but before his death in December 164, or at least before news of it reached Jerusalem. But this scholarly reading of "the sea" as the Mediterranean, and those translations having Antiochus' pavilion "on/in the glorious holy mountain (Zion)" in Palestine, are simply dismissed as wrong by a literalist plain reading of the Biblical text (context) as it relates to the death of Antiochus among the mountains of Persia "in a strange land" between the Caspian Sea and Mount Zion. —Sources:Zagros Folded Zone with Zagros Mountains between the Caspian Sea and Babylon where Antiochus IV Epiphanes died according to 1 Macc. 6 and 2 Macc. 9, and Daniel 11:45. "between the sea and the glorious holy mountain...he shall come to his end with none to help him."—"...among the mountains in a strange land." A majority of Biblical scholars maintain that Daniel wrongly prophesied that Antiochus would die in Palestine.
"Mediterranean Sea", Philip Lee, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 1097–98.
"Daniel, book of", Stephen R. Miller, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 386–88.
"Antiochus", Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 76–77.
New American Bible, Daniel 11:5–45 and footnote; 1 Maccabees 6:1 and footnote; 2 Maccabees 9:1–28 and footnote. - ^ The Book of Judith is an oblique parabolic tale of the Maccabean triumph over the hostile forces of the enemies of God: Judith beheaded Holofernes and Judas Maccabeus beheaded Nicanor.
See Judith 14:11:- "As soon as it was dawn they hung the head of Holofernes on the wall..." (RSVCE)
- "...he hung Nicanor's head from the citadel, a clear and conspicuous sign to every one of the help of the Lord.... And from that time the city has been in the possession of the Hebrews." (RSVCE)
- "And no one ever again spread terror among the people of Israel in the days of Judith, or for a long time after her death."
- ^ Aristobulus II (son of Alexander Jannaeus [ruled 103–76 BCE] son of John Hyrcanus). It is unlikely that the earlier Aristobulus I is indicated, who imprisoned his mother, killed his brother, and ruled less than one year 104–103 BCE as ethnarch and high priest. Ant. 13:11:1–3 (§§ 301–317).
- ^ states that Antiochus X Eusebes died fighting the Parthian Empire (which included Persian territory). See Antiochus X Eusebes: Mahlon H. Smith.
- ^ Some scholars (The New American Bible for example) believe that the Antiochus referred to in this text of 2 Macc. 1:14 was Antiochus IV Epiphanes: "1, 14–17: A different account of the death of Antiochus IV is given in 2 Mc 9, 1–29 and another variant account in 1 Mc 6, 1–16. The writer of this letter [2 Macc. 1:10–2:18 one copy to Aristobulus in Jerusalem, one copy to the Jews in Egypt] probably heard a distorted rumor of the king's death. This fact and other indications show that the letter was written very soon after Antiochus IV died, hence in 164 BCE. —New American Bible, 2 Maccabees 1:14–17, footnote.
As with the text of Daniel 11:45, a literalist interpretation of 2 Maccabees rejects the scholarly view of a "distorted rumor" in favor of an "inerrant" reading that takes the narrative as an accurate report, and therefore as not referring to the death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, but to the actual death of another Antiochus who was slain by Parthians in the (Syrian) region of Persia/the Parthian Empire in the temple of Nanaya. The extra-biblical evidence cited by Mahlon H. Smith and others regarding the circumstances of the death of Antiochus X tends to support this literalist view, but this is currently a minority opinion.
References[]
Citations[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Barr 2001, p. 96.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Day 2014, pp. 3–4.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Konkel 2010, p. 673.
- ^ Barr 2001, pp. 96–97.
- ^ Christensen 1990, p. 148.
- ^ Thompson 2007, pp. 73–74.
- ^ Olson 2011, p. 22.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Wood 2005, p. 28.
- ^ Northcote 2004, p. 1.
- ^ Vriezen & van der Woude 2005, p. 98.
- ^ Whelan 2012, p. unpaginated.
- ^ Greenspahn 2016, p. 380.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Barr 2001, p. 97.
- ^ Israel's Exodus in Transdisciplinary Perspective. Springer. 28 March 2015. p. 5. ISBN 978-3-319-04768-3.
- ^ Thompson 2007, p. 75.
- ^ Ruiten 2000, p. 124.
- ^ Guillaume 2007, pp. 6, 252–253.
- ^ "Genesis 10:21".
- ^ Matthews 1996, p. 302 fn18.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Thompson 2007, p. 74.
- ^ Johnson 2002, p. 32.
- ^ Reed 2011, p. 107.
- ^ Davies 2008, p. 28.
- ^ Davies 2008, p. 30.
- ^ Davies 2008, pp. 26–27.
- ^ Blenkinsopp 2006, p. 87.
- ^ Lemche 2010, pp. 95–96.
- ^ Tetley 2005, p. 2.
- ^ Galil 1996, p. 12.
- ^ Thiele 1983, p. 15.
- ^ Tetley 2005, p. 4 and fn.6.
- ^ Revised Standard Version, © 1966 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, published by Thomas Nelson Publishers for Ignatius Press, ISBN 0898704901.
- ^ Saint Joseph Edition of The New American Bible. , New York. 1987 [1980, 1970 by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C].
- ^ Clayton, Peter A., Chronicle of the Pharaohs, p. 42. Thames and Hudson, London, 2006. ISBN 9780500286289.
- ^ Malek, Jaromir, "The Old Kingdom" in The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, ed. Ian Shaw, Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN 9780192804587, p. 88.
- ^ Dates of Sargon according to Sumerian King List. Kramer, S. Noah, The Sumerians: Their History, Culture and Character, Chicago, 1963.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Hammurabi", Gary D. Baldwin and E. Ray Clendenen, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 708–10.
- ^ "Egypt", Daniel C. Browning, Jr. and Kirk Kilpatrick, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 463b–69.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Ryholt, Kim S. B., The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period c. 1800–1550 BCE, (Carsten Niebuhr Institute Publications) vol 20, Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 1997. p. 192.
- ^ Ryholt, K. "The Date of Kings Sheshi and Ya'qub-Har and the Rise of the Fourteenth Dynasty", The Second Intermediate Period: Current Research, Future Prospects, edited by M. Maree, Orientalis Lovaniensis Analecta 192, Leuven, Peeters, 2010, pp. 109–26.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Thomas Schneider: Ancient Egyptian Chronology – Edited by Erik Hornung, Rolf Krauss, and David A. Warburton. Brill 2006. available online, scroll down to pp. 195–96 and footnote 135 for Schneider date 1658 BCE. "Providing any exact figure for the total duration of the period of Dyn. 13–17 is impossible." (p. 195)
- ^ Shaw, Ian, ed. (2000) The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press. p. 148. ISBN 0198150342.
- ^ "one year old" – See The Pulpit Commentary: 1 Samuel 13.
- ^ Hebrew text: RSVCE 2 Samuel 15:7 "And at the end of four years... – footnote: "Gk Syr: Heb. forty".
- ^ "forty years": according to the New American Standard Bible (NASB), King James Version (KJV), King James Version 2000 (KJV 2000/Jubilee 2000), American King James Version (AKJV), Douay–Rheims Bible (DR), Darby's Translation (DARBY), English Revised Version (ERV), Webster's Translation (WT), World English Bible (WEB), Young's Literal Translation (YLT)
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Hosea", Billy K. Smith, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 784–85.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Nineve or Nineveh", Edwin Yamauchi, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 1192.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Amos", Ray L. Honeycutt, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 1192.
- ^ "Tiglath-Pileser", Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 1595.
- ^ 2 Kings 25:11–12, 25:21, 25:26; 2 Chronicles 36:20–21; Lamentations 1:3–5.
- ^ "Micah", Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 1117.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Joel, book of", Alvin O. Collins, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 929–30.
- ^ "Merodach-Baladan", Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 1108.
- ^ "Assyria", Daniel C. Browning, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 136.
- ^ "Esarhaddon", M. Stephen Davis, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 502.
- ^ "Nahum, book of", Scott Langston, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 1170.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Zephaniah 2.", "Zephaniah, book of", Paul L. Redditt and E. Ray Clendenen, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 1706–07.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Ezekiel", Daniel I. Block, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 536–37.
- ^ "Habakkuk", "Habakkuk, book of", John H. Tullock, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 696–594.[page needed]
- ^ "Nabopolassar", Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 1167.
- ^ "Necho", "Nechoh", "Neco", Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 1181.
- ^ "Hophra", Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 781.
- ^ "Lamentations, book of", David K. Stabnow, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 1008.
- ^ "Johanan 1.", Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 931.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Babylon", Daniel C. Browning, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 155–60.
- ^ "Evil-merodach, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 521.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Cyrus", Mike Mitchell, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 377b–78.
- ^ "Darius 1. Darius the Mede", T. J. Betts, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 389–90.
- ^ "Haggai, book of", E. Ray Clendenen, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 701.
- ^ "Sheshbazzar", Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 1485.
"Zerubbabel", Paul L. Redditt, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 1708–09. - ^ "Darius 2. Darius I", T. J. Betts, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 389–90.
"Persia", Albert F. Bean, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 1279–80. - ^ "Haggai", "Haggai, book of", E. Ray Clendenen, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 701–03.
- ^ "Zechariah 18." "Zechariah, book of", Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 1701–02.
- ^ "Obadiah", Leslie C. Allen, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 1205.
- ^ "Nabateans", Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 1166–67.
- ^ "Ahasuerus", Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 37.
See also "Persia" pp. 1279–80, and "Xerxes" p. 1694. - ^ "Malachi, book of", E. Ray Clendenen, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 1070–71.
- ^ "Jeshua 3.", Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 898–99
"Joiakim", p. 940, "Eliashib 3." p. 477, "Joiada 2." p. 940b, "Jonathan 11. 12." p. 944 - ^ New American Bible, Book of Job, prefatory notes.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Alexander the Great", Lynn Jones, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 45.
- ^ Jump up to: a b See Book of Daniel: Symbolic imagery and historical chronology.
See also "Daniel, book of," Stephen R. Miller, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 386–88, "Outline", p. 388b.
See also New American Bible, Daniel 7:1–27, footnote, 8:1–27, footnote, 11:2–4, footnote. - ^ "Jaddua", Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 864b.
- ^ New American Bible, 1 Maccabees 12:7, footnote.
- ^ New American Bible, Daniel 11:6, footnote.
- ^ New American Bible, Sirach 50:1, footnote; 1 Maccabees 12:7, footnote. "son of Jochanan", Onias I, high priest from 323 to 300 or 290 BCE.
- ^ New American Bible, 2 Maccabees 3:1–3, footnotes. Onias III high priest, 196–175 BCE; Seleucus IV Philopator, reigned 187–175 BCE.
- ^ Douay–Rheims Bible 1899 American edition, Esther 11:1, footnote
- ^ The Saint Joseph Edition of the New American Bible © 1986, 1970 by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C., Esther chapter F, 10
- ^ New American Bible, 2 Maccabees 4:23, footnote.
- ^ New American Bible, 2 Maccabees 3–4, footnotes. The gymnasium where the youth exercised naked lay in the Tyropoeon Valley to the east of the citadel, directly next to the temple on its eastern side.
- ^ New American Bible, 2 Maccabees 5:1, footnote. "168 BCE"
- ^ New American Bible, 1 Maccabees 1:54, footnote.
- ^ Psalms 48:1–2; 50:2
- ^ New American Bible, 1 Maccabees 10:21, footnote.
- ^ New American Bible, The Book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Foreword, according to footnote 2: "Thirty-eighth...Euergetes: 132 BCE. The reference is to Ptolemy VII," [sic] "Physkon II Euergetes II (170–163; 145, 117 BCE)"
- ^ New American Bible, 1 Maccabees 16:23–24, footnote.
- ^ Saint Joseph Edition of The New American Bible, copyright 1987, 1980, 1970 by Catholic Book Publishing Co., New York, The Book of Wisdom, prefatory notes, p. 750.
- ^ Saint Joseph Edition of The New American Bible, copyright 1987, 1980, 1970 by Catholic Book Publishing Co., New York, The Book of Judith, prefatory notes, p. 485.
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