Biblical Chronology

1. Introduction

The dating of various events in the Bible has attracted a lot of interest over the years and continues to do so today. Two assumptions are made in this paper

First, the Bible contains sufficient information to construct a definite chronology.

Secondly, there are no contradictory statements in the Bible.

The consequence of the second assumption is that when the meaning of a passage is not immediately obvious then the best guide to understanding it is to look at what is said elsewhere in the Bible.

Many people have compiled biblical chronologies and undoubtedly the most famous in English speaking circles is that of Archbishop James Ussher. The dates given here agree, except in a few small points, with those provided by Ussher. This is not surprising since Ussher seems to have had similar starting assumptions about the integrity of the Biblical text.

Of course, Ussher's chronology has attracted much derision. Various scientific theories imply that the world is much older than this chronology suggests. Likewise archaeological theories also posit human and pre-human life long before the date of creation given here. When it comes to historical theories however, the evidence fits much more comfortably with this sort of timeframe and many written sources also given chronologies which are similar in span if not always in detail. The difficulty is that today scientific and archaeological theories about the past are assumed by many to be hard facts whereas historical sources are often treated with little regard. No attempt is made here to address either the scientific, archaeological, or historical data merely to set out the Biblical data.

It should be noted that this article assumes that the surviving Hebrew text is reliable in the sense that it faithfully transmits what was originally said or written. There are discrepancies between different Hebrew manuscripts indicating that copyists did make mistakes although these are largely not significant. However, it does mean that one can never be absolutely certain that the Hebrew text follows the original, although in most cases it is beyond reasonable doubt.

More significantly at least one ancient translation of the Old Testament has some different dates and ages. The Greek Septuagint was a translation made some years Before Christ in Alexandria. The translators included some material which is not in the Hebrew Bible and at times appears to be a fairly loose translation. The general view is that the Hebrew is much more reliable than the Septuagint. Nevertheless, there remains a possibility, which some have advanced, that the Septuagint Chronology is to be preferred.

2. The Key Dates

The dates used are from creation, though dates BC (before Christ) are also given on later pages for convenience.

Since most people date the fall of Jerusalem to 586BC (give or take a couple of years) this gives a date for the creation of around 4004BC.

3. Deriving the Key Dates

The chronology naturally starts with the year 0.

0     Creation (4004BC)

Adding up the ages and years mentioned in Genesis gives a total of 1656 years. Each of the figures given is precisely stated being the age of the patriarch when the son mentioned was born. There is no reason to suppose that the list is incomplete, it gives every appearance of being a complete and consecutive list.

The details of this period are given in section 4.

It should be noted that some ancient translations of Genesis give different ages. It is assumed here that the surviving Hebrew text is reliable though some have called this into question and suggested that other texts, such as the Greek Septuagint translation might reflect the original manuscripts more accurately. The Hebrew text appears to this author to be more reliable in this respect and do not create any inconsistencies in the Bible.

1656     Flood (2348BC)

A straightforward list from Noah to Terah is given in Genesis 11.10-24 indicating that Terah was born 222 years after the flood (1878).

The text implies, but does not state, that Abraham left Haran very soon after Terah died. It is assumed here that Abraham did indeed leave very shortly afterwards although this assumption could be incorrect he must have left no more than a few years afterwards.

Abraham was 75 when he left Haran (Gen 12.4) whilst Terah was 205 years old when he died (Gen 11.32). This would mean that Terah was 130 when Abraham was born.

Abraham was evidently not the firstborn because Terah's three sons began to be born when he was 70 years old (Gen 11.26 – although Abraham is listed first in this passage it does not necessarily mean that he was the eldest, and evidently he was not.)

Adding up the spans above means that Abraham left Haran 222+130+75 (427) years after the flood.

The details of this period are given in section 5.

2083     Abraham leaves Haran (1921BC)

The sojourn of the children of Israel in Egypt was 430 years (Ex 12.40) and this was likewise the period from the giving of the promise to Abraham to the giving of the law (Gal 3.17).

The period of 'sojourn' is thus dated from shortly after Abraham leaves Haran and first goes to Egypt. Abraham was not actually living in Egypt, nor indeed were Isaac and Jacob, but from this point on they did not have land of their own.

The details of this period are given in section 6.

2513     Exodus (1491BC)

There were 480 years from the date of the Exodus to the commencement of the building of the Temple (1 Kings 6:1).

The details of this period are given in section 7.

2992     Temple Begun (1012BC)

Solomon began the temple in his 4th year (1 Kings 6.1) and reigned 40 years (1 Kings 11.42) so he died in 3029 (975BC).

The rebellion of Israel lasted 390 years (Ezek 4.4-5) which is the period from the division after the death of Solomon and the sin of Jeroboam up to the destruction of the temple.

The details of this period are given in section 8.

3420     Fall of Jerusalem (586BC)

5. Flood to Promise

6. Promise to Exodus

7. Exodus to Temple

In the four hundred eightieth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the LORD. (1 Kings 6.1)

The Temple building began 480 years after the Exodus. The period in between was at times chaotic and although many dates are given care has to be shown in relating them together. It was 300 years from the conquest to Jephtha (11.26).

8. From the beginning of the Temple to its destruction

The book of Chronicles gives a complete list of Kings and their dates matching the 390 year period from the death of Solomon to the destruction of the Temple (Ezek 4.4-5).

Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment of the house of Israel upon it; you shall bear their punishment for the number of the days that you lie there. For I assign to you a number of days, three hundred ninety days, equal to the number of the years of their punishment; and so you shall bear the punishment of the house of Israel. (Ezek 4.4-5)

The book of Kings gives dates for both Israel and Judah together with the relative dates between the two and in the period leading up to the fall of Samaria. Some of the dates need to be read carefully.

There are two particular points of comparison, the year in which Jehu slew both Jehoram of Israel and Ahaziah of Judah, and the fall of Samaria. The period in between these two events is that which is most confusing and it was again a time of turmoil.

The date given here for the fall of Samaria is 3286 whereas Ussher gives the date as 3283. Ussher's date may well be more accurate. The date given here is based on simply adding up the various numbers in the Bible but inevitably because these are almost always in terms of years alone discrepancies of a few months here and there can easily build up.

Appendix A : What is Paul referring to in Acts 13.20?

Preaching to Jews in the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch the Apostle Paul makes reference to a period of 450 years. His sermon is about the coming of Christ. In particular he stresses that Jesus is the promised seed of David but he begins with a reference to God's choice of their fathers, meaning Abraham, Issac and Jacob, and to the sojourn in Egypt. When he makes his appeal he refers to his hearers as the sons Abraham (v26) and goes on to speak about the fact that God had fulfilled his promise to the fathers (v32-33).

Verse 20 is not straightforward to translate. Paul's speech as a whole consists of a series of related statements linked by the word 'and' (Greek - kai).

And the people exalted ...

And with an upheld arm...

And about forty years...

And having destroyed... (v19-20)

all this took about 450 years

And after these things... (v20-21)

And-thence they asked for a king....

And removing him...

The reference to 450 years comes at the start of verse 20 and therefore in the structure of the sentence it most naturally goes with verse 19.

However, some translations relate the 450 years to what follows:

After that He gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. (NKJV).

This fails to do justice to the structure of the passage, effectively re-arranges the sentence and is difficult to relate to other dates in the Bible. One proposal to retain this translation is that the 'judges' should include Moses, who did indeed judge, and Samuel. The time from Exodus to the death of Samuel was at most 436 years, which could possibly referred to as 'about 450 years' but it is strange that the 40 years in the wilderness has already been mentioned. Finally, Paul next speaks of the desire for a king, but this happened during the lifetime of Samuel, less than 400 years after the Exodus.

Other translations follow the word order and structure of the speech more closely so that the 450 years is linked with verse 19.

When he had destroyed seven nations in Canaan, he put them in possession of their land for about four hundred and fifty years.  After this he gave them judges, down to the prophet Samuel. (NJB)

With this translation the 450 years does not relate directly to the judges or to the time of Samuel. Rather it would seem to relate to the time they are in possession of their land. This makes sense of the words but not of the speech, why does Paul refer to this? The land was allocated in 2559, and about 450 years later is the reign of Solomon, but this does not fit the logic of the argument except possibly that Solomon was the son of David.

A third translation sees the 450 years as a summary of all that has gone before. The immediate context is taking possession of the promised land (2553 when they crossed the Jordan, 2559 when it had been divided). About 450 years earlier is 2108 and the birth of Isaac, the seed of Abraham. Indeed the whole episode, from the first call of Abraham 25 years earlier can be said to be about 450 years before the time when the seed of Abraham finally take possession of the land they were promised. Since the fathers and Abraham are stressed this interpretation all makes good sense of Paul's argument as a whole.

This appears to be the logic of the Engish Standard and New International translations:

All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. (ESV)

It should also be noted that the word rendered “about” can be used as “an expression used to introduce an alternative form of expression as an interpretation of what has been said”. So it could be translated something like “that is”, “that is to say” or “so to speak”.

Thus the following are reasonable translations which make sense of the argument in a way that others do not and are consistent with the rest of Scripture:

and when he had destroyed seven nations in Canaan, he allotted them their lands - about 450 years.

or

and when he had destroyed seven nations in Canaan, he allotted them their lands - that is to say 450 years

Appendix B : The years of anarchy

In the century or so before the fall of Samaria the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah went through a tumultuous time. Whilst we know the time frame into which these events fit there are four particular statements which at first sight look out of place. However each statement is perfectly reasonable and does tell us something important.

The rule of Jeroboam

We are told that Azariah (Uzziah) came to the throne in the 27th year of Jeroboam. This cannot refer to the 27th year after Jeroboam became King of Israel which was in 3182 only 14 years before Azariah became King of Judah. Therefore, it must mean that Jeroboam was pro-rex, carrying out duties as a King whilst his father was still ruler, from 3169. This was not unusual in practice and other examples can be found in the Bible.

Jeroboam then reigned for 41 years as King dying in 3223 but his son, Zechariah did not begin reigning until the 38th year of Azariah, which was 10 years after the death of Jeroboam.  Neither Zechariah, nor his brother who reigned after him lasted a full year and it seems therefore that after the death of Jeroboam there was ten years of dispute before Zechariah was made king and that the kingship question was not solved by this.

The rule of Hoshea

Hoshea came to rule when he led a conspiracy against King Pekah of Israel. We are told that he reigned in place of Pekah in the 20th year of Jotham, which would be 3268. Curiously, however, Jotham had died four years earlier. Whilst it might seem odd to name Jotham, in the flow of the book of Kings no mention of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, has been made when Hoshea is introduced.

Later it is stated that Hoshea became King of Israel in Samaria in the 12th year of Ahaz (2 Ki 17.1) which is the year 3277. It appears therefore that from 3268 to 3277 Hoshea was ruling Israel but had not been made King, so that it took him 9 years to secure the kingship.

David Phillips