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 (not shown).
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 depending on the number of jubilees counted, 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: 931BC (16 jubilees) or 980BC (17 jubilees) and only two possible dates for the Exodus: 1446BC or 1495BC.
It is interesting that the Lower Date chart furnishes the same date for the death of Solomon as Thiele,2 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 16 jubilee calculation is preferable to the 17 jubilee case because of the difficulty in extending this period to 980BC 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 occur within one 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 (Dan.4:32). 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 and a complete chronology built up by 'filling in' and extending to modern times. One may also speculate that 'The Fall' happened around 3976BC (6000 years before the 70th jubilee). This computation results in Abraham being born 2000 years after the fall, with Christ's ministry starting 4000 years after the fall. - Enjoy
1This creation date has been derived by including an extra 35 years for Cainan, son of Arphaxad, from Luke 3:36 and the septuagent version of Gen.11:12. This name had dropped out of the Hebrew text, possibly due a repetion of the 35 years allowed for each father at the time of the begettal. Abraham's birth date is calculated from the fact that he was aged 75 when he left Haran after the death of his father who lived to be 205. (Gen.12:4, Acts 7:4) (Abraham was named first in the list of Terah's son's because he was the most important, not because he was the eldest - cf. Shem)
2 "The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings", Edwin R. Thiele, Kregel Publications 1994
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