Difference between revisions of "Chronology"

<p> There are more links of time mentioned in scripture than is generally supposed, forming together an approximate chronology. There is however one great difficulty in the variations of the Hebrew text from the Samaritan [[Pentateuch]] and the Septuagint. It is found that there must have been a systematic alteration somewhere, and if the Hebrew text is correct, a period of 100 years has been added to the lives of several, both before the Flood and after it. </p> <p> The above figures form the basis of what is called the 'long chronology' from the LXX, and the 'short chronology' from the Hebrew. It will be seen thatthere are about 1400 years difference from the birth of Seth to the Call of Abraham. It is difficult to see why the Hebrew text should be abandoned; and if it were, what superior claim would the LXX have over the Samaritan Pentateuch? </p> <p> A summary of the several periods is added, with a few notes and references to the scriptures. </p> <p> YEARS. </p> <p> From Adam to the Flood … … … … … … … … … 1656 </p> <p> (Arrived at by adding the ages of the patriarchs, when the sons named were born.) </p> <p> From the Flood to the Call of Abraham … … … … … … … 427 </p> <p> (This is found in the same manner, and putting Terah's age at 130 when Abraham </p> <p> was born, that is, adding 60 years to &nbsp;Genesis 11:26 : where only one date is given </p> <p> for Terah's three sons. Abraham may not have been the eldest, and may have been </p> <p> born long after. Compare &nbsp;Genesis 11:32; &nbsp;Genesis 12:4 , with &nbsp;Acts 7:4 .) </p> <p> From the Call of Abraham to the Exodus … … … … … … … 430 </p> <p> (This is obtained from &nbsp;Exodus 12:40 and &nbsp; Galatians 3:17 .) </p> <p> From the Exodus to the [[Temple]] … … … … … … … … 479 </p> <p> (This is stated in &nbsp;1 Kings 6:1 as in the 480th year, or 479 complete years.) </p> <p> From the commencement of the Temple to the division of the kingdom … … … 37 </p> <p> (Solomon reigned 40 years, &nbsp;1 Kings 11:42 and the Temple was begun in his 4th year.) </p> <p> From the division of the kingdom to the destruction of [[Jerusalem]] … … … … 388 </p> <p> (Stated in &nbsp;Ezekiel 4:4-6 to be 390 years, or 388 complete years.) </p> <p> From the destruction of Jerusalem to the return of the captives … … … … 52 </p> <p> (They were captives 70 years, &nbsp;Jeremiah 25:11,12; &nbsp;Jeremiah 29:10 . This began in the 1st year </p> <p> of Nebuchadnezzar, and Jerusalem was destroyed in his 19th year: 70 - 18 = 52.) </p> <p> From the 1st year of Cyrus to the 20th year of Artaxerxes, </p> <p> when the 70 weeks of Daniel commenced … … … … … … 81 </p> <p> (Not given in scripture. Cyrus, 7 years; Cambyses, 7; Pseudo-smerdis, 1; </p> <p> Darius, 36; Xerxes, 11; Artaxerxes, 19.) </p> <p> From the 20th of [[Artaxerxes]] to the [[Era]] A.D. … … … … … … 454 </p> <p> (From the 20th of Artaxerxes to the crucifixion is, according to &nbsp;Daniel 9 , </p> <p> 69 weeks = 483 years; from which deduct 29, the date of the crucifixion: </p> <p> 483 - 29 = 454). See [[Seventy Weeks]] </p> <p> TOTAL 4004 </p> <p> The 430 years of &nbsp;Exodus 12:40 arein the above taken to mean the sojourn in Canaan <i> and </i> in Egypt, the latter being 215 years; this agrees with &nbsp;Galatians 3:17 , and with the Israelites being brought out in the fourth generation &nbsp;Genesis 15:16 . </p> <p> As to the time of the Judges it appears clear from &nbsp;Judges 10:7,8 that the events recorded did not all follow chronologically: there were oppressions in the west by the [[Philistines]] and in the east by the [[Ammonites]] in 'the same year;' the periods of some of the Judges also being synchronal. The A.V. of &nbsp; Acts 13:19,20 , presents a difficulty, but most of the Editors (with MSS A B C) read "he gave them their land for an inheritance for the space of [or literally <i> in </i> ] 450 years; and after that he gave them judges," and this rendering removes all difficulty. It will be seen by the above that most of the dates affixed to the A.V. are approximately correct: the reign of Artaxerxes is an exception and is incorrect, as may be seen under SEVENTYWEEKS. See [[Judges, Kings]]  ANTIOCHUS,and NEW TESTAMENT. </p> <p> The principal events stand thus: </p> <p> B.C. </p> <p> 4004 Adam created. </p> <p> 2948 Noah born. </p> <p> 2348 The Flood. </p> <p> 1996 Abraham born. </p> <p> 1921 Call of Abraham. </p> <p> 1896 Isaac born. </p> <p> 1836 Jacob born. </p> <p> 1706 The Israelites enter Egypt. </p> <p> 1491 The Exodus. The law given. </p> <p> 1451 The Israelites cross the Jordan. </p> <p> 1444 The division of the land. (See [[Judges]] </p> <p> 1095 Saul anointed king: the kingdom begins. </p> <p> 1055 David, king. </p> <p> 1015 Solomon, king. </p> <p> 1005 [[Dedication]] of the Temple. </p> <p> 975 [[Division]] of the kingdom. (See KINGS.) </p> <p> (776 Era of the Olympiads begins.) </p> <p> (753 Rome built: era of A.U.C. begins.) </p> <p> 740 Captivity of the two and a half tribes east of the Jordan. </p> <p> 721 End of the kingdom of Israel. </p> <p> 658 [[Manasseh]] carried to Babylon. </p> <p> 606 Jerusalem taken: first captivity of Judah. </p> <p> 605 Nebuchadnezzar reigns alone. Time of the [[Gentiles]] begins in the </p> <p> <i> first </i> great empire — Babylon. </p> <p> 599 Jerusalem re-taken: the great captivity. </p> <p> 588 Jerusalem re-taken and destroyed. </p> <p> 538 [[Belshazzar]] slain: the <i> second </i> great empire commences. The [[Medes]] and Persians. </p> <p> 536 Cyrus reigns alone. The 70 years of &nbsp;Jeremiah 25:11,12 end. The [[Jews]] return. </p> <p> &nbsp;Ezra 1,2 : (See [[Persia]] </p> <p> 475 Artaxerxes succeeds Xerxes. </p> <p> 455 Artaxerxes commissions Nehemiah to build Jerusalem. </p> <p> The Seventy [[Weeks]] of Daniel begin. </p> <p> 336 [[Alexander]] the Great, head of the <i> third </i> great empire — The Greek. </p> <p> 323 Death of Alexander the Great: his four Generals divide the kingdom, but it </p> <p> mainly merged into two kingdoms: Egypt, 'kings of the South,' and Syria, </p> <p> 'kings of the north.' (See [[Antiochus]] </p> <p> 191 All Asia Minor on the west of Mount [[Taurus]] delivered to Rome. </p> <p> 166 to {The times of the Maccabees. </p> <p> about 65 {In 166 Jerusalem was recovered and the temple re-dedicated. </p> <p> 65 Rome, the <i> fourth </i> great empire, rapidly gains ascendancy. </p> <p> Syria becomes a Roman province. In 63Judaea is subjected to Rome. </p> <p> In 30 Egypt becomes a Roman province. </p> <p> 40 Herod is appointed by Rome king of Judaea. </p> <p> 20 Herod begins to rebuild the temple </p> <p> 6 Birth of John the Baptist. </p> <p> 5 Birth of Christ. (See NEW TESTAMENT.) </p>

&nbsp;Numbers 1:1&nbsp;33:38&nbsp;1 Kings 6:1&nbsp;1 Kings 15:1,9,25,33&nbsp;Ezra 3:8 <p> Hence in constructing a system of Biblecal chronology, the plan has been adopted of reckoning the years from the ages of the patriarchs before the birth of their first-born sons for the period from the Creation to Abraham. After this period other data are to be taken into account in determining the relative sequence of events. </p> <p> As to the patriarchal period, there are three principal systems of chronology: (1) that of the Hebrew text, (2) that of the Septuagint version, and (3) that of the Samaritan Pentateuch, as seen in the scheme on the opposite page. </p> <p> The Samaritan and the Septuagint have considerably modified the Hebrew chronology. This modification some regard as having been wilfully made, and to be rejected. The same system of variations is observed in the chronology of the period between the Flood and Abraham. Thus: </p> <p> | Hebrew Septuigant Samaritan | From the birth of | Arphaxad, 2 years | after the Flood, to | the birth of Terah. 220 1000 870 | From the birth of | Terah to the birth | of Abraham. 130 70 72 </p> <p> The Septuagint fixes on seventy years as the age of Terah at the birth of Abraham, from &nbsp;Genesis 11:26; but a comparison of &nbsp;Genesis 11:32 and &nbsp; Acts 7:4 with &nbsp; Genesis 12:4 shows that when Terah died, at the age of two hundred and five years, Abraham was seventy-five years, and hence Terah must have been one hundred and thirty years when Abraham was born. Thus, including the two years from the Flood to the birth of Arphaxad, the period from the Flood to the birth of Abraham was three hundred and fifty-two years. </p> <p> The next period is from the birth of Abraham to the Exodus. This, according to the Hebrew, extends to five hundred and five years. The difficulty here is as to the four hundred and thirty years mentioned &nbsp; Exodus 12:40,41; &nbsp;Galatians 3:17 . These years are regarded by some as dating from the covenant with Abraham (&nbsp;Genesis 15 ), which was entered into soon after his sojourn in Egypt; others, with more probability, reckon these years from Jacob's going down into Egypt. (See [[Exodus]] .) </p> <p> In modern times the systems of Biblical chronology that have been adopted are chiefly those of Ussher and Hales. The former follows the Hebrew, and the latter the Septuagint mainly. [[Archbishop]] Ussher's (died 1656) system is called the short chronology. It is that given on the margin of the Authorized Version, but is really of no authority, and is quite uncertain. </p> <p> | Ussher Hales | [[B.C. BC]]  | Creation 4004 5411 | Flood 2348 3155 | Abram leaves Haran 1921 2078 | Exodus 1491 1648 | Destruction of the | Temple 588 586 </p> <p> To show at a glance the different ideas of the date of the creation, it may be interesting to note the following: From Creation to 1894. </p> <p> According to Ussher, 5,898; Hales, 7,305; Zunz (Hebrew reckoning), 5,882; Septuagint (Perowne), 7,305; Rabbinical, 5,654; Panodorus, 7,387; Anianus, 7,395; Constantinopolitan, 7,403; Eusebius, 7,093; Scaliger, 5,844; [[Dionysius]] (from whom we take our Christian era), 7,388; Maximus, 7,395; [[Syncellus]] and Theophanes, 7,395; [[Julius]] Africanus, 7,395; Jackson, 7,320. </p>