Chronology of the Bible
Encyclopedia
The chronology of the Bible is the elaborate system of genealogies, generations, reign-periods, and other means by which Hebrew Bible
measures the passage of time and thus give a chronological framework to biblical history from the Creation until the historical kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
The passage of time in the earlier passages of Genesis is indicated by counts of generations: an individual lives so many years, fathers a son, and dies at such and such an age: when the ages at each birth of a new generation are added together, the result is the total number of years elapsed. In later books the passage of years is calibrated to events in the overall narrative (e.g., states that the building of the Temple of Solomon began in the 480th year from the Exodus), or through inter-relationships of the reigns of kings (e.g., king A of Israel comes to the throne in the Xth year of king B of Judah and rules Z number of years, for example in ).
While the events during the monarchic period (10th to 7th centuries BCE) are historical and can be related to extra-biblical historiography, attempts to date Moses
and the Exodus
, or yet earlier events such as the birth of Abraham
, Noah's Flood
, or even the date of Creation
itself have met with little success.
The biblical chronology takes as its main events the creation of Adam in Year 0 AM, the birth and call of Abraham
, the Exodus
, the construction of the Temple of Solomon, the Edict allowing the return of the Jews to Jerusalem which, according to Ezra
, was issued by Cyrus the Great
in the first year of his conquest of Babylon, and the rededication of the Temple under the Maccabees. The following table is from Seder Olam Rabbah
:
BCE denotes "Before our Common Era" - CE denotes "Common Era". In the calculation of these dates, bear in mind that there is no year zero in the transition between BCE year 1 and CE year 1.
Some scholars have posited that the underlying chronology is built on a special calendar called the Jubilees
calendar, which has exactly 52 (not 54) weeks, and 364 (not 365) days, so that each day falls on on the same date each month (the first day of each month, for example, is always a Wednesday, which was a major festival-day).
or the creation of Adam, depending on the source. In the Seder Olam Rabbah
, written in ca. 160 CE and meant to be a history of the world, Adam's creation is considered year 0, and his death 930 years later is considered year 930.
The Jewish calendar currently in use calls the 5 days prior to Adam's creation year 1, and has Adam created on the first day of year 2.
The period to the Flood
is derived using the genealogical table of the ten patriarchs listed in , and , called the generations of Adam
. According to the Masoretic Text
, this period consists of 1656 years, and this dating is also followed by Western Christian Bibles derived from the Latin Vulgate
.
According to the Samaritan texts
the period is 1307 years, and according to the Septuagint (Codex Alexandrinus
, Elizabeth Bible
) it is 2262 years.
J. Ussher
agrees with the dating until the birth of Abraham
, which he argues took place when Terah was 130, and not 70 as is direct reading of , thus adding 60 years to his chronology for events postdating Abraham.
is measured by the genealogies at Genesis 5 and 11, elapsed time being calculated by the addition of the ages of the patriarchs at the birth of their offspring. The genealogies exist in three main manuscript traditions, the Masoretic (in Hebrew), the Septuagint (in Greek), and the Samaritan Torah (Hebrew). The three do not agree with each other, here or elsewhere. (The Septuagint is represented in this table by two manuscripts, Alexandrinus and Vaticanus; dates are Anno Mundi, or AM, meaning from the Creation):
The following is a list of Biblical patriarchs from Shem to Abraham, given with their Masoretic date.
) in the Anno Mundi
era and converted to the Dionysian era (1 AM = 3925 BCE).
The 40-year reigns of David and Solomon of the United Monarchy
are probably schematic rather than historical, even though those two kings may be historical.
.
The sum of the reigns of the kings of Judah comes to 430 years, the same as the Septuagint's version of the period between the promise of the Land of Canaan given to Abraham and the covenant at Sinai.
For this period, most historians follow either of the older chronologies established by William F. Albright
or Edwin R. Thiele
, or the newer chronologies of Gershon Galil
and Kenneth Kitchen
.
See Kings of Israel and Kings of Judah
for the differences between these chronologies.
These scholarly chronologies may differ for up to about forty years from the traditional Masoretic dates in the early period, while all authorities agree that the last king of Judah, Zedekiah
, ruled from 597 to 587 or 586 BCE.
The following table only gives the Anno Mundi dates of the Masoretic tradition and its conversion in the Dionysian era (AM 1 = 3925 BC).
year numbering system, which counts years from the Creation
, has been in use for over 1000 years. The year numbering system was adopted sometime before 3925 AM (165 CE), and based on the calculation of Rabbi Yose ben Halafta in about 160 CE in the Seder Olam Rabbah
.
The year numbers are based on the computations of dates and periods found in the Hebrew Bible
. In Jewish tradition, "Year 1" is considered to have begun on the 25 of Elul
, 6 days before the beginning of "Year 2" on the first of Tishrei
, when Adam
was created. The new moon of its first month (Tishrei) is called molad tohu (the mean new moon of chaos or nothing). By Halafta's calculation first humans were created in the year 3761 BCE. However, Seder Olam Rabbah treats the creation of Adam as the beginning of "Year Zero". This results in a two year discrepancy between the years given in Seder Olam Rabbah and the Jewish year used today. For example, Seder Olam Rabbah gives the year of the Exodus
from Egypt as 2448 AM; but, according to the current system, the year would be 2450 AM.
Despite the computations by Yose ben Halafta, confusion persisted for a long time as to how the calculations should be applied. In 1000, for example, the Muslim chronologist al-Biruni
noted that three different epochs were used by various Jewish communities being one, two, or three years later than the modern epoch. The epoch seems to have been settled by 1178, when Maimonides
, in his work Mishneh Torah
, described all of the modern rules of the Hebrew calendar, including the modern epochal year. His work has been accepted by Jews as definitive, though it does not correspond to the scientific calculations. For example, the Jewish year for the destruction of the First Temple
has traditionally been given as 3338 AM or 421 BCE. This differs from the modern scientific year, which is usually expressed using the Gregorian calendar as 587 BCE. The scientific date takes into account evidence from the ancient Babylonian calendar and its astronomical observations. In this and related cases, a difference between the traditional Jewish year and a scientific date in a Gregorian year results from a disagreement about when the event happened — and not simply a difference between the Jewish and Gregorian calendars. (See the "Missing Years" in the Jewish Calendar
.)
Although in popular Jewish thought the counting is to the creation of the world, it had been emphasized in many ancient texts dealing with creation chronology that the six days of creation till man are metaphoric days - especially the days before the creation of the sun and earth.
The modern epoch year is set at 3761 BCE, taking into account that there is no year zero in the Julian year count.
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
measures the passage of time and thus give a chronological framework to biblical history from the Creation until the historical kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
The passage of time in the earlier passages of Genesis is indicated by counts of generations: an individual lives so many years, fathers a son, and dies at such and such an age: when the ages at each birth of a new generation are added together, the result is the total number of years elapsed. In later books the passage of years is calibrated to events in the overall narrative (e.g., states that the building of the Temple of Solomon began in the 480th year from the Exodus), or through inter-relationships of the reigns of kings (e.g., king A of Israel comes to the throne in the Xth year of king B of Judah and rules Z number of years, for example in ).
While the events during the monarchic period (10th to 7th centuries BCE) are historical and can be related to extra-biblical historiography, attempts to date Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
and the Exodus
The Exodus
The Exodus is the story of the departure of the Israelites from ancient Egypt described in the Hebrew Bible.Narrowly defined, the term refers only to the departure from Egypt described in the Book of Exodus; more widely, it takes in the subsequent law-givings and wanderings in the wilderness...
, or yet earlier events such as the birth of Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
, Noah's Flood
Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark is a vessel appearing in the Book of Genesis and the Quran . These narratives describe the construction of the ark by Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.In the narrative of the ark, God sees the...
, or even the date of Creation
Dating Creation
Cultures throughout history have attempted to date the beginning of the the world in the past, so methods of dating Creation have involved analysing scriptures or ancient texts.-Ancient creation dates:...
itself have met with little success.
Overview
The biblical chronology is built on "blocks" of numbers which were significant to the authors: the basic numbers are 12, 40 (a "generation"), and 480 (12 generations of 40 years); other significant numbers include 100, 60, 20 and 10.The biblical chronology takes as its main events the creation of Adam in Year 0 AM, the birth and call of Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
, the Exodus
The Exodus
The Exodus is the story of the departure of the Israelites from ancient Egypt described in the Hebrew Bible.Narrowly defined, the term refers only to the departure from Egypt described in the Book of Exodus; more widely, it takes in the subsequent law-givings and wanderings in the wilderness...
, the construction of the Temple of Solomon, the Edict allowing the return of the Jews to Jerusalem which, according to Ezra
Ezra
Ezra , also called Ezra the Scribe and Ezra the Priest in the Book of Ezra. According to the Hebrew Bible he returned from the Babylonian exile and reintroduced the Torah in Jerusalem...
, was issued by Cyrus the Great
Cyrus the Great
Cyrus II of Persia , commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much...
in the first year of his conquest of Babylon, and the rededication of the Temple under the Maccabees. The following table is from Seder Olam Rabbah
Seder Olam Rabbah
Seder Olam Rabbah is a 2nd century CE Hebrew language chronology detailing the dates of biblical events from the Creation to Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia...
:
| Event | Year AM | Year BCE (non-biblical) | Span |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creation of Adam | 0 | 3924 BCE | 0 |
| Birth of Abram (Genesis 11:26) | 1948 | 1976 BCE | 1948 |
| Promise to Abraham | 2048 | 1906 BCE | 70 |
| Birth of Isaac | 2148 | 1876 BCE | 100 |
| Descent into Egypt | 2235 | 1686 BCE | 190 |
| Exodus from Egypt (Exodus 12:40) | 2448 | 1476 BCE | 210 (430 from Promise to Abraham; 400 from Birth of Isaac) |
| Foundation of Solomon's Temple (1 Kings 6:1) | 2928 | 997 BCE | 480 |
| Destruction of Temple | 3338 | 587 BCE | 410 |
| Return from exile (Ezra 1:2-4) | 3626 | 535 BCE | 52 |
BCE denotes "Before our Common Era" - CE denotes "Common Era". In the calculation of these dates, bear in mind that there is no year zero in the transition between BCE year 1 and CE year 1.
Some scholars have posited that the underlying chronology is built on a special calendar called the Jubilees
Jubilees
The Book of Jubilees , sometimes called Lesser Genesis , is an ancient Jewish religious work, considered one of the pseudepigrapha by Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Churches...
calendar, which has exactly 52 (not 54) weeks, and 364 (not 365) days, so that each day falls on on the same date each month (the first day of each month, for example, is always a Wednesday, which was a major festival-day).
Creation to the Flood
Biblical dating commences with CreationCreation according to Genesis
The Genesis creation narrative describes the divine creation of the world including the first man and woman...
or the creation of Adam, depending on the source. In the Seder Olam Rabbah
Seder Olam Rabbah
Seder Olam Rabbah is a 2nd century CE Hebrew language chronology detailing the dates of biblical events from the Creation to Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia...
, written in ca. 160 CE and meant to be a history of the world, Adam's creation is considered year 0, and his death 930 years later is considered year 930.
The Jewish calendar currently in use calls the 5 days prior to Adam's creation year 1, and has Adam created on the first day of year 2.
The period to the Flood
Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark is a vessel appearing in the Book of Genesis and the Quran . These narratives describe the construction of the ark by Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.In the narrative of the ark, God sees the...
is derived using the genealogical table of the ten patriarchs listed in , and , called the generations of Adam
Generations of Adam
"Generations of Adam" is a concept in in the Hebrew Bible. It is typically taken as name of Adam's line of descent going through Seth. Another view equates the generations of Adam with material about a second line of descent starting with Cain in Genesis 4, while Genesis 5 is taken as the...
. According to the Masoretic Text
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
, this period consists of 1656 years, and this dating is also followed by Western Christian Bibles derived from the Latin Vulgate
Vulgate
The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...
.
According to the Samaritan texts
Samaritan Pentateuch
The Samaritan Pentateuch, sometimes called Samaritan Torah, , is a version of the Hebrew language Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, used by the Samaritans....
the period is 1307 years, and according to the Septuagint (Codex Alexandrinus
Codex Alexandrinus
The Codex Alexandrinus is a 5th century manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early history of Christianity...
, Elizabeth Bible
Elizabeth Bible
The Elizabeth Bible is the authorized version of the Russian Orthodox Church. Elizabeth Bible was the third complete printed edition of the Bible in Church Slavonic, published in Russia in 1751 under and with the assistance of the Russian Empress Elizabeth.In 1712, Tsar Peter the Great issued an...
) it is 2262 years.
J. Ussher
James Ussher
James Ussher was Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625–56...
agrees with the dating until the birth of Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
, which he argues took place when Terah was 130, and not 70 as is direct reading of , thus adding 60 years to his chronology for events postdating Abraham.
| Masoretic Date (AM Anno Mundi ' , abbreviated as AM or A.M., refers to a Calendar era based on the Biblical creation of the world. Numerous efforts have been made to determine the Biblical date of Creation, yielding varying results. Besides differences in interpretation, which version of the Bible is being referenced also... ) |
Septuagint Date http://www.ecmarsh.com/lxx/Genesis/index.htm |
Event | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 AM | 0 AM | The heaven and the earth are created Creation according to Genesis The Genesis creation narrative describes the divine creation of the world including the first man and woman... , including Adam and Eve Adam and Eve Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews... . |
ff |
| 130 AM | 230 AM | Seth Seth Seth , in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, is the third listed son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, who are the only other of their children mentioned by name... born, son of Adam with Eve |
|
| 235 AM | 435 AM | Enosh born, son of Seth | |
| 325 AM | 625 AM | Kenan Kenan Kenan , , or Cainan, was a Biblical patriarch first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible Book of Genesis as living before the Great Flood.- Family :... born, son of Enosh |
|
| 395 AM | 795 AM | Mahalalel Mahalalel Mahalalel, Mahalaleel, or Mihlaiel Hebrew מהללאל was a patriarch named in the Hebrew Bible.- Family :Mahalalel was a son of Kenan, son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam in the Old Testament of the Bible... born, son of Kenan |
|
| 460 AM | 960 AM | Jared Jared (ancestor of Noah) Jared, or Jered, in Judeo-Christian religious belief was a fifth-generation descendant of Adam and Eve.- Tradition :... born, son of Mahalalel |
|
| 622 AM | 1122 AM | Enoch Enoch (ancestor of Noah) Enoch is a figure in the Generations of Adam. Enoch is described as Adam's greatx4 grandson , the son of Jared, the father of Methuselah, and the great-grandfather of Noah... born, son of Jared |
|
| 687 AM | 1287 AM | Methuselah Methuselah Methuselah is the oldest person whose age is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Extra-biblical tradition maintains that he died on the 11th of Cheshvan of the year 1656 , at the age of 969, seven days before the beginning of the Great Flood... born, son of Enoch |
|
| 874 AM | 1474 AM | Lamech Lamech Lamech is a character in the genealogies of Adam in the Book of Genesis. He is the sixth generation descendant of Cain ; his father was named Methusael, and he was responsible for the "Song of the Sword." He is also noted as the first polygamist mentioned in the Bible, taking two wives, Ada and... born, son of Methusaleh |
|
| 930 AM | 930 AM | Adam dies at 930 | |
| 987 AM | 1487 AM | Enoch "walks with God" | |
| 1042 AM | 1142 AM | Seth dies at 912 | |
| 1056 AM | 1663 AM | Noah Noah Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark... born, son of Lamech |
|
| 1140 AM | 1340 AM | Enosh dies at 905 | |
| 1235 AM | 1535 AM | Kenan dies at 910 | |
| 1290 AM | 1690 AM | Mahalalel dies at 895 | |
| 1422 AM | 1922 AM | Jared dies at 962 | |
| 1557 AM | 2163 AM | Shem Shem Shem was one of the sons of Noah in the Hebrew Bible as well as in Islamic literature. He is most popularly regarded as the eldest son, though some traditions regard him as the second son. Genesis 10:21 refers to relative ages of Shem and his brother Japheth, but with sufficient ambiguity in each... , Ham and Japheth Japheth Japheth is one of the sons of Noah in the Abrahamic tradition... born, sons of Noah Noah still 500 years old, nearly 501 years old. |
|
| 1651 AM | 2207 AM | Lamech dies at 777 | |
| 1656 AM | 2252 AM | Methusaleh dies at 969 | |
| 1656 AM | 2262 AM | On the seventeenth (Septuagint: 27th) day of the second month, the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened. | |
| 1656 AM | 2262 AM | On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, Noah's Ark Noah's Ark Noah's Ark is a vessel appearing in the Book of Genesis and the Quran . These narratives describe the construction of the ark by Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.In the narrative of the ark, God sees the... lands on "mountains of Ararat" |
|
| 1657 AM | 2263 AM | On the twenty-seventh day of the second month, Noah Noah Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark... and his family exit the ark |
|
| 1658 AM | 2264 AM | Arphaxad Arpachshad Arpachshad or Arphaxad or Arphacsad was one of the five sons of Shem, the son of Noah . His brothers were Elam, Asshur, Lud and Aram; he is an ancestor of Abraham. He is said by Gen... born, son of Shem Shem still 100 years old, 2 years after the flood began, nearly 101 years old. |
Flood to Abraham
The period from the Creation to AbrahamAbraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
is measured by the genealogies at Genesis 5 and 11, elapsed time being calculated by the addition of the ages of the patriarchs at the birth of their offspring. The genealogies exist in three main manuscript traditions, the Masoretic (in Hebrew), the Septuagint (in Greek), and the Samaritan Torah (Hebrew). The three do not agree with each other, here or elsewhere. (The Septuagint is represented in this table by two manuscripts, Alexandrinus and Vaticanus; dates are Anno Mundi, or AM, meaning from the Creation):
| Period | Masoretic |
Alexandrinus |
Vaticanus |
Samaritan |
Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year of the Flood | 1656 AM | 2262 AM | 2242 AM | 1307 AM | The Masoretic, Alexandrinus and Samaritan chronologies puts the deaths of all the pre-Flood patriarchs except Noah either in or prior to the Flood, but Vaticanus has Methuselah Methuselah Methuselah is the oldest person whose age is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Extra-biblical tradition maintains that he died on the 11th of Cheshvan of the year 1656 , at the age of 969, seven days before the beginning of the Great Flood... outlive the Flood by 14 years. |
| Flood to Abraham | 292 years | 1072 years | 1172 years | 942 years | The year which the Flood takes up appears to be excluded from the count of the chronology: Shem is born in Noah's 500th year, the Flood begins in Noah's 600th, and they leave the Ark a little more than a year later; yet we are told that Shem, who should be 102, is only 100. This is presumably because the world has been "deconstructed" (returned to the state of tohu wa bohu, chaos) and time does not exist for this period. |
| Year of Abraham's birth | 1948 AM | 3334 AM | 3414 AM | 2249 AM | The two sets of patriarchs before and after the Flood are exactly symmetrical: there are ten in each group, and the final members of each, Noah and Terah, each have three sons who will begin the next section of the chronology. |
The following is a list of Biblical patriarchs from Shem to Abraham, given with their Masoretic date.
| Masoretic date | Event | Bible verse |
|---|---|---|
| 1658 AM | Arpachshad Arpachshad Arpachshad or Arphaxad or Arphacsad was one of the five sons of Shem, the son of Noah . His brothers were Elam, Asshur, Lud and Aram; he is an ancestor of Abraham. He is said by Gen... , son of Shem, born |
|
| 1693 AM | Shelah, son of Arpachshad, born | |
| 1723 AM | Eber Eber Eber is an ancestor of the Israelites, according to the "Table of Nations" in and . He was a great-grandson of Noah's son Shem and the father of Peleg born when Eber was 34 years old, and of Joktan. He was the son of Shelah a distant ancestor of Abraham... , son of Shelah, born |
|
| 1757 AM | Peleg Peleg __notoc__Peleg is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two sons of Eber, an ancestor of the Israelites, according to the "Table of Nations" in and . Peleg's son was Reu, born when Peleg was thirty, and he had other sons and daughters. According to the Hebrew Bible, Peleg lived to the age... , son of Eber, born and the division of tongues |
|
| 1787 AM | Reu Reu Reu or Ragau in Genesis was the son of Peleg and the father of Serug, thus being Abraham's great-great-grandfather.He was 32 when Serug was born and lived to the age of 239 , according to the Masoretic text... , son of Peleg, born |
|
| 1819 AM | Serug Serug Serug was the son of Reu and the father of Nahor, according to Genesis 11:20-23. He is also the great-grandfather of Abraham.In the Masoretic text that modern Bibles are based on, he was 30 when Nahor was born, and lived to the age of 230... , son of Reu, born |
|
| 1849 AM | Nahor Nahor Nahor, Nachor, or Naghor may refer to three different names in the Hebrew bible: two biblical people, who were both descendants of Shem, and one biblical place named after one of these descendants.... , son of Serug, born |
|
| 1878 AM | Terah Terah Terah or Térach is a biblical figure in the book of Genesis, son of Nahor, son of Serug and father of the Patriarch Abraham, all descendants of Shem. He is mentioned in the Hebrew bible and the New Testament.-Genesis narrative:... , son of Nahor, born |
|
| 1948 AM | Abram, son of Terah, born |
Abraham to United Monarchy
This table gives the Masoretic dates (Seder Olam RabbahSeder Olam Rabbah
Seder Olam Rabbah is a 2nd century CE Hebrew language chronology detailing the dates of biblical events from the Creation to Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia...
) in the Anno Mundi
Anno Mundi
' , abbreviated as AM or A.M., refers to a Calendar era based on the Biblical creation of the world. Numerous efforts have been made to determine the Biblical date of Creation, yielding varying results. Besides differences in interpretation, which version of the Bible is being referenced also...
era and converted to the Dionysian era (1 AM = 3925 BCE).
The 40-year reigns of David and Solomon of the United Monarchy
United Monarchy
According to Biblical tradition, the united Kingdom of Israel was a kingdom that existed in the Land of Israel, a period referred to by scholars as the United Monarchy. Biblical historians date the kingdom from c. 1020 BCE to c...
are probably schematic rather than historical, even though those two kings may be historical.
| Masoretic date (AM Anno Mundi ' , abbreviated as AM or A.M., refers to a Calendar era based on the Biblical creation of the world. Numerous efforts have been made to determine the Biblical date of Creation, yielding varying results. Besides differences in interpretation, which version of the Bible is being referenced also... ) |
Masoretic date (BCE) |
Event | Bible verse |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 AM | 1976 BCE | Abram Abraham Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam... , son of Terah, born. The Ussher chronology from this point diverges with the earlier chronologies, as J. Ussher James Ussher James Ussher was Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625–56... assumes that Terah was 130 when Abram was born, and not 70. based on and . |
. |
| 1958 AM | 1966 BCE | Sarai Sarah Sarah or Sara was the wife of Abraham and the mother of Isaac as described in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. Her name was originally Sarai... is born |
|
| 1996 AM | 1928 BCE | Peleg dies | |
| 1996 AM | 1928 BCE | The Tower of Babel Tower of Babel The Tower of Babel , according to the Book of Genesis, was an enormous tower built in the plain of Shinar .According to the biblical account, a united humanity of the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, came to the land of Shinar, where... was destroyed |
|
| 1997 AM | 1927 BCE | Nahor dies | |
| 2006 AM | 1918 BCE | Noah dies | |
| 2026 AM | 1898 BCE | Reu dies | |
| 2034 AM | 1890 BCE | Ishmael Ishmael Ishmael is a figure in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, and was Abraham's first born child according to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Ishmael was born of Abraham's marriage to Sarah's handmaiden Hagar... , son of Abram with Sarai's handmaiden, Hagar Hagar (Bible) Hagar , according to the Abrahamic faiths, was the second wife of Abraham, and the mother of his first son, Ishmael. Her story is recorded in the Book of Genesis, mentioned in Hadith, and alluded to in the Qur'an... , born |
|
| 2047 AM | 1877 BCE | Abram and Sarai are renamed Abraham and Sarah by God. Abraham is circumcised Circumcision Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and .... . Sodom and Gomorrah Sodom and Gomorrah Sodom and Gomorrah were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and later expounded upon throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and Deuterocanonical sources.... are destroyed |
|
| 2048 AM | 1876 BCE | Isaac Isaac Isaac as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the only son Abraham had with his wife Sarah, and was the father of Jacob and Esau. Isaac was one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites... , son of Abraham with Sarah, born |
|
| 2049 AM | 1875 BCE | Serug dies | |
| 2083 AM | 1841 BCE | Terah dies | |
| 2085 AM | 1839 BCE | Sarah Sarah Sarah or Sara was the wife of Abraham and the mother of Isaac as described in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. Her name was originally Sarai... dies |
|
| 2096 AM | 1828 BCE | Arpachshad dies | |
| 2108 AM | 1816 BCE | Jacob Jacob Jacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the... and Esau Esau Esau , in the Hebrew Bible, is the oldest son of Isaac. He is mentioned in the Book of Genesis, and by the minor prophets, Obadiah and Malachi. The New Testament later references him in the Book of Romans and the Book of Hebrews.... , sons of Isaac with Rebekah, born |
|
| 2123 AM | 1801 BCE | Abraham dies | |
| <2126 AM | 1798 BCE | Shelah dies | |
| 2158 AM | 1766 BCE | Shem dies | |
| 2171 AM | 1753 BCE | Ishmael dies | |
| 2187 AM | 1737 BCE | Eber dies | |
| 2199 AM | 1725 BCE | Joseph Joseph (Hebrew Bible) Joseph is an important character in the Hebrew bible, where he connects the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Canaan to the subsequent story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.... , son of Jacob with Rachel Rachel Rachel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, is a prophet and the favorite wife of Jacob, one of the three Biblical Patriarchs, and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. She was the daughter of Laban and the younger sister of Leah, Jacob's first wife... , born |
|
| 2216 AM | 1708 BCE | Joseph is sold by his brothers | |
| 2227 AM | 1697 BCE | Joseph interprets the dreams of the butler and the baker while in prison | |
| 2228 AM | 1696 BCE | Isaac dies | |
| 2229 AM | 1695 BCE | Joseph is elevated to Pharaoh's second | |
| 2238 AM | 1686 BCE | Jacob moves to Egypt at the age of 130 After 7 years of plenty and 2 years of famine When Joseph was 39 |
, , |
| 2255 AM | 1669 BCE | Jacob dies | |
| 2309 AM | 1615 BCE | Joseph dies | |
| 2365 AM | 1560 BCE | Aaron Aaron In the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, Aaron : Ααρών ), who is often called "'Aaron the Priest"' and once Aaron the Levite , was the older brother of Moses, and a prophet of God. He represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Israelites... , son of Amram Amram In the Book of Exodus, Amram Arabic عمران Imran, is the father of Aaron, Moses, and Miriam and the husband of Jochebed.-In the Bible:In addition to being married to Jochebed, Amram is also described in the Bible as having been related to Jochebed prior to the marriage, although the exact... with Jochebed Jochebed According to the Torah, Jochebed was a daughter of Levi and mother of Aaron, Miriam and Moses. She was the wife of Amram, as well as his aunt. No details are given concerning her life. According to Jewish legend, Jochebed is buried in the Tomb of the Matriarchs, in Tiberias.-Birth of Moses:The... , born |
|
| 2368 AM | 1557 BCE | Moses Moses Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed... , son of Amram with Jochebed, born |
|
| 2448 AM | 1476 BCE | The Israelites leave in a mass exodus from Egypt The Exodus The Exodus is the story of the departure of the Israelites from ancient Egypt described in the Hebrew Bible.Narrowly defined, the term refers only to the departure from Egypt described in the Book of Exodus; more widely, it takes in the subsequent law-givings and wanderings in the wilderness... . |
, see also |
| 2487 AM | 1437 BCE | Moses and Aaron die | |
| 2488 AM | 1436 BCE | The Israelites enter Canaan | |
| 2448–2884 AM | 1476–1040 BCE | Period of Joshua Joshua Joshua , is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua... , Judges Biblical judges A biblical judge is "a ruler or a military leader, as well as someone who presided over legal hearings."... and Saul Saul -People:Saul is a given/first name in English, the Anglicized form of the Hebrew name Shaul from the Hebrew Bible:* Saul , including people with this given namein the Bible:* Saul , a king of Edom... , first King of Israel |
|
| 2853 AM | 1071 BCE | Jesse Jesse Jesse, Eshai or Yishai, is the father of the David, who became the king of the Israelites. His son David is sometimes called simply "Son of Jesse" .... begets David David David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary... |
|
| 2883–2923 AM | 1041–1001 BCE | David reigns as king of Israel | - reigns for 40 years |
| 2890 AM | 1034 BCE | David moves his capitol from Hebron to Jerusalem | |
| 2923–2963 AM | 1001–961 BCE | Solomon son of David reigns as king of Israel | |
| 2927 AM | 997 BCE | Foundation of Temple Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of... laid in the 4th year of Solomon's reign 480th year after the Exodus |
|
Divided Monarchy
The biblical chronology of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah concern historical events and can be compared to dates from Assyrian chronology such as the Battle of QarqarBattle of Qarqar
The Battle of Qarqar was fought in 853 BC when the army of Assyria led by king Shalmaneser III encountered an allied army of 12 kings at Qarqar led by Hadadezer of Damascus and King Ahab of Israel...
.
The sum of the reigns of the kings of Judah comes to 430 years, the same as the Septuagint's version of the period between the promise of the Land of Canaan given to Abraham and the covenant at Sinai.
For this period, most historians follow either of the older chronologies established by William F. Albright
William F. Albright
William Foxwell Albright was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist and expert on ceramics. From the early twentieth century until his death, he was the dean of biblical archaeologists and the universally acknowledged founder of the Biblical archaeology movement...
or Edwin R. Thiele
Edwin R. Thiele
Edwin R. Thiele was an American missionary in China, an editor, archaeologist, writer, and Old Testament professor. He is best known for his chronological studies of the Hebrew kingdom period.- Biography :...
, or the newer chronologies of Gershon Galil
Gershon Galil
Gershon Galil is Professor of Biblical Studies and Ancient History and former chair of the Department of Jewish History at the University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel. He received his doctorate at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. His work, The Chronology of the Kings of Israel and Judah,...
and Kenneth Kitchen
Kenneth Kitchen
Kenneth Anderson Kitchen is Personal and Brunner Professor Emeritus of Egyptology and Honorary Research Fellow at the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, England...
.
See Kings of Israel and Kings of Judah
Kings of Judah
The Kings of Judah ruled the ancient Kingdom of Judah after the death of Saul, when the tribe of Judah elevated David to rule over it. After seven years, David became king of a reunited Kingdom of Israel. However, in about 930 BC the united kingdom split, with ten of the twelve Tribes of Israel...
for the differences between these chronologies.
These scholarly chronologies may differ for up to about forty years from the traditional Masoretic dates in the early period, while all authorities agree that the last king of Judah, Zedekiah
Zedekiah
Zedekiah or Tzidkiyahu was the last king of Judah before the destruction of the kingdom by Babylon. He was installed as king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon, after a siege of Jerusalem to succeed his nephew, Jeconiah, who was overthrown as king after a reign of only three months and...
, ruled from 597 to 587 or 586 BCE.
The following table only gives the Anno Mundi dates of the Masoretic tradition and its conversion in the Dionysian era (AM 1 = 3925 BC).
| Masoretic date (AM Anno Mundi ' , abbreviated as AM or A.M., refers to a Calendar era based on the Biblical creation of the world. Numerous efforts have been made to determine the Biblical date of Creation, yielding varying results. Besides differences in interpretation, which version of the Bible is being referenced also... ) |
Masoretic date (BCE) |
Event | Bible verse |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2963 AM | 961 BCE | The United Monarchy United Monarchy According to Biblical tradition, the united Kingdom of Israel was a kingdom that existed in the Land of Israel, a period referred to by scholars as the United Monarchy. Biblical historians date the kingdom from c. 1020 BCE to c... splits into two rival kingdoms: Israel in the north and Judah Kingdom of Judah The Kingdom of Judah was a Jewish state established in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. It is often referred to as the "Southern Kingdom" to distinguish it from the northern Kingdom of Israel.... in the south. |
|
| 2964–2981 AM | 961–944/3 BCE | Rehoboam son of Solomon Rehoboam Rehoboam was initially king of the United Monarchy of Israel but after the ten northern tribes of Israel rebelled in 932/931 BC to form the independent Kingdom of Israel he was king of the Kingdom of Judah, or southern kingdom. He was a son of Solomon and a grandson of David... reigns as king of Judah (Albright: 922–915 BCE; Thiele: 931–913 BCE) |
|
| 2964–2986 AM | 961/60–939 BCE | Jeroboam I son of Nebat Jeroboam Jeroboam was the first king of the northern Israelite Kingdom of Israel after the revolt of the ten northern Israelite tribes against Rehoboam that put an end to the United Monarchy.... reigns as king of Israel |
|
| 2981–2984 AM | 944/3–941 BCE | Abijam son of Rehoboam Abijam Abijam was the fourth king of the House of David and the second of the Kingdom of Judah. He was the son of Rehoboam, the grandson of Solomon and the great-grandson of David. The Chronicler refers to him as Abijah .... reigns as king of Judah |
|
| 2984–3025 AM | 941–900 BCE | Asa son of Abijam Asa of Judah Asa was the third king of the Kingdom of Judah and the fifth king of the House of David. He was the son of Abijam, grandson of Rehoboam, and great-grandson of Solomon. The Hebrew Bible gives the period of his reign as 41 years. His reign is dated between 913-910 BCE to 873-869 BCE. He was... reigns as king of Judah |
|
| 2986–2987 AM | 939–938 BCE | Nadab son of Jeroboam I Nadab of Israel Nadab was the second king of the northern Israelite Kingdom of Israel. He was the son and successor of Jeroboam. Nadab became king of Israel in the second year of Asa, king of Judah, and reigned for two years. William F. Albright has dated his reign to 901 - 900 BCE, while E. R... reigns as king of Israel |
|
| 2987–3010 AM | 938–915 BCE | Baasha reigns as king of Israel | |
| 3010–3011 AM | 915–914 BCE | Elah son of Baasha King Elah Elah was a son of Baasha, who succeeded him as the 4th king of Israel. William F. Albright has dated his reign to 877 BC - 876 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 886 BC - 885 BC.... reigns as king of Israel |
|
| 3011 AM | 914 BCE | Zimri Zimri (king) Zimri or Zambri was a king of Israel for seven days. William F. Albright has dated his reign to 876 BCE, while E. R. Thiele offers the date 885 BCE. His story is told in 1 Kings, Chapter 16.... reigns as king of Israel |
|
| 3011–3012 AM | 914–913 BCE | Tibni Tibni Tibni was a claimant to the throne of the Israel, and the son of Ginath, a man of some position. Albright has dated his reign to 876 – 871 BC, while Thiele offers the dates 885 – 880 BC.... reigns as king of Israel |
|
| 3011–3022 AM | 913–903 BCE | Omri Omri Omri was a king of Israel, successful military campaigner and first in the line of Omride kings that included Ahab, Ahaziah and Joram.He was "commander of the army" of king Elah when Zimri murdered Elah and made himself king. Instead, the troops at Gibbethon chose Omri as king, and he led them to... reigns as king of Israel |
|
| 3022–3042 AM | 903–883/2 BCE | Ahab son of Omri Ahab Ahab or Ach'av or Achab in Douay-Rheims was king of Israel and the son and successor of Omri according to the Hebrew Bible. His wife was Jezebel.... reigns as king of Israel |
|
| 3025–3050 AM | 900–875 BCE | Jehoshaphat son of Asa Jehoshaphat Jehoshaphat was the fourth king of the The Kingdom of Judah, and successor of his father Asa. His children included Jehoram, who succeeded him as king... reigns as king of Judah |
|
| 3042–3043 AM | 883/2–882/1 BCE | Ahaziah son of Ahab Ahaziah of Israel Ahaziah or Ochozias was king of Israel and the son of Ahab and Jezebel.William F. Albright has dated his reign to 850-849 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 853-852 BC... reigns as king of Israel |
|
| 3047–3054 AM | 878/7–871/70 BCE | Jehoram (Joram) son of Jehoshaphat Jehoram of Judah Jehoram of Judah was the king of the southern Kingdom of Judah, and the son of Jehoshaphat .According to , Jehoram became king of Judah in the fifth year of Jehoram of Israel, when his father Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, indicating a co-regency. The author of Kings also speaks of both Jehoram... reigns as king of Judah |
|
| 3043–3054 AM | 875–871/70 BCE | Joram (Jehoram) son of Ahab Jehoram of Israel Jehoram was a king of the northern Kingdom of Israel. He was the son of Ahab and Jezebel.According to , in the fifth year of Joram of Israel, Jehoram became king of Judah, when his father Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, indicating a co-regency... reigns as king of Israel |
|
| 3054–3055 AM | 871/70–870 BCE | Ahaziah son of Jehoram Ahaziah of Judah Ahaziah of Judah was king of Judah, and the son of Jehoram and Athaliah, the daughter of king Ahab of Israel. He is also called Jehoahaz .... reigns as king of Judah |
|
| 3055–3061 AM | 870–864 BCE | Athaliah wife of Jehoram Athaliah Athaliah was the queen of Judah during the reign of King Jehoram, and later became sole ruler of Judah for six years. William F. Albright has dated her reign to 842–837 BC, while Edwin R. Thiele's dates, as taken from the third edition of his magnum opus, were 842/841 to 836/835 BC... rules over Judah |
|
| 3054–3084 AM | 871/70–841 BCE | Jehu son of Nimshi Jehu Jehu was a king of Israel. He was the son of Jehoshaphat, and grandson of Nimshi.William F. Albright has dated his reign to 842-815 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 841-814 BC... reigns as king of Israel |
|
| 3061–3101 AM | 864–824 BCE | Joash (Jehoash) son of Ahaziah Jehoash of Judah Jehoash or Joas , sometimes written Joash or Joás , was the eighth king of the southern Kingdom of Judah, and the sole surviving son of Ahaziah. His mother was Zibiah of Beersheba .... reigns as king of Judah |
|
| 3084–3100 AM | 841–825/4 BCE | Jehoahaz son of Jehu Jehoahaz of Israel Jehoahaz of Israel was king of Israel and the son of Jehu . William F. Albright has dated his reign to 815 BC – 801 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 814 BC – 798 BC. A stamp seal dated to the end of the 7th century BC has been found with the inscription "[belonging] to Jehoahaz, son of the... reigns as king of Israel |
|
| 3098–3114 AM | 827/6–811 BCE | Jehoash (Joash) son of Jehoahaz Jehoash of Israel Jehoash , whose name means “Yahweh has given,” was a king of the ancient Kingdom of Israel and the son of Jehoahaz. He was the 12th king of Israel and reigned for 16 years. William F. Albright has dated his reign to 801 BC – 786 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 798 BC – 782 BC... reigns as king of Israel |
|
| 3100–3129 AM | 825–796 BCE | Amaziah son of Joash Amaziah of Judah Amaziah of Judah, Amasias , pronounced , and Amatzyah was the king of Judah, the son and successor of Joash. His mother was Jehoaddan and his son was Uzziah . He took the throne at the age of 25... reigns as king of Judah |
|
| 3103–3154 AM | 822–771/70 BCE | Jeroboam II son of Jehoash Jeroboam II Jeroboam II was the son and successor of Jehoash, , and the fourteenth king of the ancient Kingdom of Israel, over which he ruled for forty-one years according to 2 Kings . His reign was contemporary with those of Amaziah and Uzziah , kings of Judah... reigns as king of Israel |
|
| 3117–3168 AM | 808–757/6 BCE | Uzziah (Azariah) son of Amaziah Uzziah of Judah Uzziah , also known as Azariah , was the king of the ancient Kingdom of Judah, and one of Amaziah's sons, whom the people appointed to replace his father... reigns as king of Judah |
|
| 3154–3155 AM | 771/70–770 BCE | Zechariah son of Jeroboam II reigns as king of Israel | |
| 3155–3155 AM | 770 BCE | Shallum Shallum of Israel Shallum of Israel was the king of the ancient Kingdom of Israel, and the son of Jabesh. He "conspired against Zachariah, and smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his stead" . He reigned only "a month of days in Samaria" before Menahem rose up, put him to death , and became... reigns as king of Israel |
|
| 3155–3166 AM | 770–759 BCE | Menahem son of Gadi Menahem Menahem, was a king of the northern Israelite Kingdom of Israel. He was the son of Gadi, and the founder of the dynasty known as the House of Gadi or House of Menahem.... reigns as king of Israel |
|
| 3166–3168 AM | 759–757 BCE | Pekahiah son of Menahem Pekahiah Pekahiah was a king of Israel and the son of Menahem, whom he succeeded, and the second and last king of Israel from the House of Gadi. He ruled from the capital of Samaria.... reigns as king of Israel |
|
| 3168–3184 | 757/6–741/40 BCE | Jotham son of Uzziah Jotham of Judah Jotham or Yotam was the king of Judah, and son of Uzziah with Jerusha, daughter of Zadok.He took the throne at the age of twenty-five and reigned for sixteen years. William F. Albright dated his reign to 742 – 735 BC. Edwin R... reigns as king of Judah |
|
| 3167–3188 AM | 758–737 BCE | Pekah son of Remaliah Pekah Pekah was king of Israel. He was a captain in the army of king Pekahiah of Israel, whom he killed to become king. Pekah was the son of Remaliah .... reigns as king of Israel |
|
| 3184–3200 AM | 741/40–725 BCE | Ahaz son of Jotham Ahaz Ahaz was king of Judah, and the son and successor of Jotham. He is one of the kings mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.... reigns as king of Judah |
|
| 3188–3206 AM | 737–719 BCE | Hoshea son of Elah Hoshea See also Hosea, who has the same name in Biblical Hebrew.Hoshea was the last king of the Israelite Kingdom of Israel and son of Elah . William F. Albright dated reign to 732 – 721 BC, while E. R. Thiele offered the dates 732 – 723 BC.Assyrian records basically confirm the Biblical... reigns as king of Israel |
|
| 3200–3229 AM | 725–696 BCE | Hezekiah son of Ahaz Hezekiah Hezekiah was the son of Ahaz and the 14th king of Judah. Edwin Thiele has concluded that his reign was between c. 715 and 686 BC. He is also one of the most prominent kings of Judah mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.... reigns as king of Judah |
|
| 3206 AM | 719 BCE | Northern kingdom of Israel falls to Assyria Assyria Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur... |
|
| 3229–3284 AM | 696–641 BCE | Manasseh son of Hezekiah Manasseh of Judah Manasseh was a king of the Kingdom of Judah. He was the only son of Hezekiah with Hephzi-bah. He became king at an age 12 years and reigned for 55 years. Edwin Thiele has concluded that he commenced his reign as co-regent with his father Hezekiah in 697/696 BC, with his sole reign beginning in... reigns as king of Judah |
|
| 3284–3286 AM | 641–639 BCE | Amon son of Manasseh Amon of Judah Amon was the king of Judah who succeeded his father Manasseh of Judah on the throne according to the Bible. His mother was Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. He was married to Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.... reigns as king of Judah |
|
| 3286–3317 AM | 639–608 BCE | Josiah son of Amon Josiah Josiah or Yoshiyahu or Joshua was a king of Judah who instituted major reforms. Josiah is credited by most historians with having established or compiled important Jewish scriptures during the Deuteronomic reform that occurred during his rule.Josiah became king of Judah at the age of eight, after... reigns as king of Judah |
|
| 3317 AM | 608 BCE | Jehoahaz son of Josiah Jehoahaz of Judah Jehoahaz or Joachaz in the Douay-Rheims and some other English translations was king of Judah and son of king Josiah whom he succeeded and Hamautal, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. He was born in 633/632 BC and his birth name was Shallum... reigns as king of Judah |
|
| 3317–3327 AM | 608–598 BCE | Jehoiakim son of Josiah Jehoiakim Jehoiakim .On Josiah's death, Jehoiakim's younger brother Jehoahaz was proclaimed king, but after three months pharaoh Necho II deposed him and replaced him with the eldest son, Eliakim, who adopted the name Jehoiakim and became king at the age of twenty-five... reigns as king of Judah |
|
| 3327 AM | 598–597 BCE | Jehoiachin (Jeconiah, Coniah) son of Jehoiakim Jeconiah Jeconiah "; ; ), also known as Coniah and as Jehoiachin , was a king of Judah who was dethroned by the King of Babylon in the 6th Century BCE and was taken into captivity. Most of what is known about Jeconiah is found in the Hebrew Bible. After many excavations in Iraq, records of Jeconiah's... reigns as king of Judah |
|
| 3327–3338 AM | 597–587 BCE | Zedekiah (Mattaniah) son of Josiah Zedekiah Zedekiah or Tzidkiyahu was the last king of Judah before the destruction of the kingdom by Babylon. He was installed as king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon, after a siege of Jerusalem to succeed his nephew, Jeconiah, who was overthrown as king after a reign of only three months and... reigns as king of Judah |
|
| 3338 AM | 587 BCE | Kingdom of Judah falls to Babylon Babylon Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad... |
Jewish computation
The current Hebrew calendarHebrew calendar
The Hebrew calendar , or Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits , and daily Psalm reading, among many ceremonial uses...
year numbering system, which counts years from the Creation
Dating Creation
Cultures throughout history have attempted to date the beginning of the the world in the past, so methods of dating Creation have involved analysing scriptures or ancient texts.-Ancient creation dates:...
, has been in use for over 1000 years. The year numbering system was adopted sometime before 3925 AM (165 CE), and based on the calculation of Rabbi Yose ben Halafta in about 160 CE in the Seder Olam Rabbah
Seder Olam Rabbah
Seder Olam Rabbah is a 2nd century CE Hebrew language chronology detailing the dates of biblical events from the Creation to Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia...
.
The year numbers are based on the computations of dates and periods found in the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
. In Jewish tradition, "Year 1" is considered to have begun on the 25 of Elul
Elul
Elul is the twelfth month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a summer month of 29 days...
, 6 days before the beginning of "Year 2" on the first of Tishrei
Tishrei
Tishrei or Tishri , Tiberian: ; from Akkadian "Beginning", from "To begin") is the first month of the civil year and the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year in the Hebrew calendar. The name of the month is Babylonian. It is an autumn month of 30 days...
, when Adam
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
was created. The new moon of its first month (Tishrei) is called molad tohu (the mean new moon of chaos or nothing). By Halafta's calculation first humans were created in the year 3761 BCE. However, Seder Olam Rabbah treats the creation of Adam as the beginning of "Year Zero". This results in a two year discrepancy between the years given in Seder Olam Rabbah and the Jewish year used today. For example, Seder Olam Rabbah gives the year of the Exodus
The Exodus
The Exodus is the story of the departure of the Israelites from ancient Egypt described in the Hebrew Bible.Narrowly defined, the term refers only to the departure from Egypt described in the Book of Exodus; more widely, it takes in the subsequent law-givings and wanderings in the wilderness...
from Egypt as 2448 AM; but, according to the current system, the year would be 2450 AM.
Despite the computations by Yose ben Halafta, confusion persisted for a long time as to how the calculations should be applied. In 1000, for example, the Muslim chronologist al-Biruni
Al-Biruni
Abū al-Rayḥān Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-BīrūnīArabic spelling. . The intermediate form Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī is often used in academic literature...
noted that three different epochs were used by various Jewish communities being one, two, or three years later than the modern epoch. The epoch seems to have been settled by 1178, when Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
, in his work Mishneh Torah
Mishneh Torah
The Mishneh Torah subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka is a code of Jewish religious law authored by Maimonides , one of history's foremost rabbis...
, described all of the modern rules of the Hebrew calendar, including the modern epochal year. His work has been accepted by Jews as definitive, though it does not correspond to the scientific calculations. For example, the Jewish year for the destruction of the First Temple
Solomon's Temple
Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple, was the main temple in ancient Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount , before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar II after the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BCE....
has traditionally been given as 3338 AM or 421 BCE. This differs from the modern scientific year, which is usually expressed using the Gregorian calendar as 587 BCE. The scientific date takes into account evidence from the ancient Babylonian calendar and its astronomical observations. In this and related cases, a difference between the traditional Jewish year and a scientific date in a Gregorian year results from a disagreement about when the event happened — and not simply a difference between the Jewish and Gregorian calendars. (See the "Missing Years" in the Jewish Calendar
Missing years (Hebrew calendar)
The missing years in the Hebrew calendar refer to a discrepancy of some 165 years between the traditional Hebrew dating for the destruction of the First Temple and the modern secular dating for it that results if its traditional date 3338 AM is interpreted according to the standard Hebrew...
.)
Although in popular Jewish thought the counting is to the creation of the world, it had been emphasized in many ancient texts dealing with creation chronology that the six days of creation till man are metaphoric days - especially the days before the creation of the sun and earth.
The modern epoch year is set at 3761 BCE, taking into account that there is no year zero in the Julian year count.
See also
- Anno MundiAnno Mundi' , abbreviated as AM or A.M., refers to a Calendar era based on the Biblical creation of the world. Numerous efforts have been made to determine the Biblical date of Creation, yielding varying results. Besides differences in interpretation, which version of the Bible is being referenced also...
- Byzantine calendarByzantine calendarThe Byzantine calendar, also "Creation Era of Constantinople," or "Era of the World" was the calendar used by the Eastern Orthodox Church from c. 691 to 1728 in the Ecumenical Patriarchate. It was also the official calendar of the Byzantine Empire from 988 to 1453, and in Russia from c...
- Chronology of the Ancient Orient
- Chronology of Babylonia and Assyria
- Dating creationDating CreationCultures throughout history have attempted to date the beginning of the the world in the past, so methods of dating Creation have involved analysing scriptures or ancient texts.-Ancient creation dates:...
- History of ancient Israel and JudahHistory of ancient Israel and JudahIsrael and Judah were related Iron Age kingdoms of ancient Palestine. The earliest known reference to the name Israel in archaeological records is in the Merneptah stele, an Egyptian record of c. 1209 BCE. By the 9th century BCE the Kingdom of Israel had emerged as an important local power before...
- Timeline of ChristianityTimeline of ChristianityThe purpose of this timeline is to give a detailed account of Christianity from the beginning of the current era to the present. Question marks on dates indicate approximate dates....
- Universal historyUniversal historyUniversal history is basic to the Western tradition of historiography, especially the Abrahamic wellspring of that tradition. Simply stated, universal history is the presentation of the history of humankind as a whole, as a coherent unit.-Ancient authors:...
- Intertestamental periodIntertestamental periodThe intertestamental period is a term used to refer to a period of time between the writings of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament texts. Traditionally, it is considered to be a roughly four hundred year period, spanning the ministry of Malachi The intertestamental period is a term...
Sources
- http://books.google.com.au/books?id=dMidce6H4WYC&dq=Theological+dictionary+of+the+Old+Testament,+Volume+14++By+G.+Johannes+Botterweck,+Helmer+Ringgren,+Heinz-Josef+Fabry&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=dwUnTMHnKI7JceqTvNsC&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Theological%20dictionary%20of%20the%20Old%20Testament%2C%20Volume%2014%20%20By%20G.%20Johannes%20Botterweck%2C%20Helmer%20Ringgren%2C%20Heinz-Josef%20Fabry&f=falseG. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, Heinz-Josef Fabry (eds), "Theological dictionary of the Old Testament"(Eerdmans, 2004; originally published in German, 1992-4)]
- Mercer Dictionary of the Bible, Chronology
- Tables from Jeremy Hughes, "Secrets of the Times: Myth and History in Biblical Chronology" (JSOTSS, 66; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1990; reprinted: LHBOT; London: Continuum, 2009).
- James Barr, Biblical Chronology: Legend or Science? (the Ethel M. Wood lecture, 1987)
- Mattis, Kantor, The Jewish time line encyclopedia: a year-by-year history from Creation to present, Jason Aronson Inc., Northvale, N.J., 1992
- Handbook of Biblical Chronology by Jack Finegan (Revised edition, 1998), ISBN 1-56563-143-9.
- http://books.google.com.kh/books?id=n2lE-TlXv1gC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Christine+Tetley%27s+The+Reconstructed+Chronology+of+the+Divided+Kingdom&source=bl&ots=VUkY8a3ta5&sig=w26WCu3O2uEn3d6eWhbIuD-5B3c&hl=km&ei=Wxt6S93hK4GY6gOpod2kCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=falseChristine Tetley, "The Reconstructed Chronology of the Divided Kingdom" (Eisenbraun's, 2005)]
- Gershon Galil, "The chronology of the kings of Israel and Judah" (Brill, 1996)
- Edwin R. Thiele, "The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings" (Zondervan, 1983)
- James Maxwell Miller, John Haralson Hayes, "A history of ancient Israel and Judah" (Westminster John Knox, 1986)
- http://books.google.com.au/books?id=lwrzapZYqFAC&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=The+biblical+chronologies+for+the+Patriarchal+period+The+historicity+of+the+Patriarchal+narratives&source=bl&ots=lKbKATeKJa&sig=FeL94tzj3b5XVUI_kaeojBXOisc&hl=en&ei=--AmTOyRAsPQcZiEvesC&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=The%20biblical%20chronologies%20for%20the%20Patriarchal%20period%20The%20historicity%20of%20the%20Patriarchal%20narratives&f=falseThomas L. Thompson, "The historicity of the Patriarchal narratives" (Trinity Press, 2002)]
- Thomas L. Thompson, "Early History of the Israelite People" (Brill, 1994)
- http://books.google.com.au/books?id=vo55jHJv2xYC&pg=PA243&lpg=PA243&dq=Philippe+Guillaume,+%22Tracing+the+Origin+of+the+Sabbatical+Calendar+in+the+Priestly+Narrative+%28Genesis+1+to+Joshua+5%29&source=bl&ots=95dMAHSutr&sig=5zL5R_Tz5EpNTJEb5tyym6dGLmM&hl=en&ei=CZYmTK-oF82rcdTKpesC&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Philippe%20Guillaume%2C%20%22Tracing%20the%20Origin%20of%20the%20Sabbatical%20Calendar%20in%20the%20Priestly%20Narrative%20%28Genesis%201%20to%20Joshua%205%29&f=falsePhilippe Guillaume, Tracing the Origin of Origin of the Sabbatical Calendar in the Priestly Narrative (Genesis 1 to Joshua 5) in Ehud Ben Zvi (ed) "Perspectives on Hebrew Scriptures II, Volume 5" (Gorgias Press, 2007)]
- J. Maxwell Miller, "Another Look at the Chronology of the Early Divided Monarchy", Journal of Biblical Literature, 1967
External links
- Tabular summaries of biblical chronologies
- Chronology of Man According to Scripture Exhaustive study on the Chronology according to Scriptures.