The chart is calculated on the basis that Josiah's eighteenth year, which started in Tishri (approx October) 622BC, was also a Jubilee year. Evidence for this is that Ezekiel counted his years from this date (Ez.1:1). Only two chronologies seem possible for the span of Jubilees to Josiah's 18th:- The 16 Jubilee span (shown below) and a 17 Jubilee span (High Date).
The first Jubilee is dated 49 years from the entry of the Israelites into Canaan (50 years counting the first and last years), 40 years after the Exodus. Each subsequent Jubilee period adds 49 years to the total because the start year has already been counted in the previous sequence. This method of counting is suggested by the days of Pentecost, in which the first and last Sabbath days were included in the count to give 50 days.
Although the BC dates (calculated from 622BC) are different in the two charts, the only change is in the span between Josiah's 18th and Solomon's 4th. This gives only two possibilities for the date of the death of Solomon: 930BC (Low Date) or 979BC (High Date) and only two possible dates for the Exodus: 1446BC or 1495BC.
It is interesting that the Low Date chart furnishes the same date for the death of Solomon as Thiele,1 without any analysis of the kings' reigns. Apart from his dates around the time of Hezekiah (where he disregards the Biblical synchronisms and 'moves' two reigns), his method of synchronising the reigns during the divided Kingdom has much to recommend it. It is, however, possible to use all the Biblical synchronisms and still retain the 930/931BC date for the death of Solomon. The Low Date chart is preferable to the High Date chart because of the difficulty in extending this period to 979BC from the Biblical data.
BC dates can vary by a year due to the difference between year starts. The time span 'bridges' can also vary by a year depending on the method of calculation. With this proviso, and the assumptions above, this scheme gives a rigid chronological framework within which to work.
Note also that the 17th Jubilee (in this chart), Ezekiels vision of the Temple in the 25th year of Jehoiachin's captivity and Nebuchadnezzar's 32nd year, all fall in the same year. It was around this time that, through pride, Nebuchadnezzar lost his reason for seven 'times' (years) until he understood that God ruled in the kingdom of men. Seven 'times', (2520 years on a day for a year basis) from 573BC brings us to AD1948 and the restoration of the state of Israel as a sovereign nation. This represents the end of an era in which the gentile nations held exclusive rule on the earth, thus giving us another possible chronological bridge.
By supplying an AM date for the Confirmation of the Covenant - calculable (with a few uncertainties) from the continuous chronology of Genesis - the Creation date can be determined for either chart and a complete chronology built up by 'filling in' and extending to modern times - enjoy!
1 "The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings", Edwin R. Thiele, Kregel Publications 1994
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