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Chronology of the Bible

This article deals with the chronology of the Hebrew Bible (the basis of the Christian Old Testament). For material on the Christian New Testament, see Chronology of Jesus, Historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles, and Timeline of Christianity. For a historical look at the Bible, see Historicity of the Bible. For the composition of the various books of the Bible, see Dating the Bible.
Creation of Adam (Michelangelo)
Sistine Chapel

The chronology of the Bible is an elaborate system of lifespans, 'generations', and other means by which the Masoretic Hebrew Bible (the text of the Bible most commonly in use today) measures the passage of events from the creation to around 164 BCE (the year of the re-dedication of the Second Temple). It was theological in intent, not historical in the modern sense,[1] and functions as an implied prophecy whose key lies in the identification of the final event.[2] The passage of time is measured initially by adding the ages of the Patriarchs at the birth of their firstborn sons, later through express statements, and later still by the synchronised reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah.[3]

The chronology is highly schematic, marking out a world cycle of 4,000 years.[4][5] The Exodus takes place in the year A.M. 2666 (A.M. = Anno Mundi, years of the world from creation), exactly two thirds of the way through the four thousand years; the construction of Solomon's Temple is commenced 480 years, or 12 generations of 40 years each, after that; and 430 years pass between the building of Solomon's Temple and its destruction during the siege of Jerusalem.[3] The 50 years between the destruction of the Temple and the "Decree of Cyrus" and end of the Babylonian Exile, added to the 430 years for which the Temple stood, produces another symmetrical period of 480 years.[4] The 374 years between the Edict of Cyrus and the re-dedication of the Second Temple by the Maccabees complete the 4,000 year cycle.[6]

As recently as the 17th–18th century, the Archbishop of Armagh James Ussher (term 1625–1656), and scholars of the stature of Isaac Newton (1642–1727) believed that dating creation was knowable from the Bible.[7] Today, the Genesis creation narrative has long since vanished from serious cosmology, the Patriarchs and the Exodus are no longer included in most histories of ancient Israel,[8] and it is very widely accepted that the Book of Joshua has little historical value.[9] Even the United Monarchy is questioned, and although scholars continue to advance proposals for reconciling the chronology of the Books of Kings, there is "little consensus on acceptable methods of dealing with conflicting data."[8][10]

  1. ^ Christensen 1990, p. 148.
  2. ^ Thompson 2007, pp. 73–74.
  3. ^ a b Barr 2001, pp. 96–97.
  4. ^ a b Johnson 2002, p. 32.
  5. ^ Hughes 1990, p. 234.
  6. ^ Thompson 2007, p. 74.
  7. ^ Barr 1987, p. 3.
  8. ^ a b Moore & Kelle 2011, pp. 81, 168.
  9. ^ Finkelstein & Mazar 2007, pp. 62, 74.
  10. ^ Konkel 2010, p. 673.

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