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The Chronology of the Bible
A journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step, but if we don't keep track of how far we have traveled we soon will no longer know where we are nor how much further we must go! Our journey is through time, and the records that have survived the millenniums are for the most part incomplete or misleading, mainly because we do not fully understand the method of counting used to compile them in the first place. This chronology is an attempt to recreate the historical record of the bible, placing each event in it's proper place and assigning a date to it if possible, that is relevant to the Adamic Creation. Consequently Adam was created in the year 1 ACE. (Adamic Creation Era) not 4000B.C. (approx.) This method of counting will be far simpler to follow in a natural progression rather than counting backwards to go forwards in time as in the B.C., or B.C.E. system, it will also prevent trying to establish a known B.C. date artificially before a comparison with other histories is necessary. As it is also common practice to use cardinal numbers for years, for example the year 2000 is the 2000th year of our common era, the same convention will be used through out this work. Space is another limiting factor here so there will be no lengthy discussion on where other chronologies are incorrect, that material is best suited to a book rather than a web page, but sufficient detail will be given to allow the reader to judge for them selves on the accuracy of this chronology. What follows is a chronology based on the best interpretation possible, given that some of the information has only a single thread, where a paralel history would enable verification of the dates on both sides, and many sources of information particularly relating to the time of the kings of the divided kingdom appear to be contradictory. I believe the chronology as give below is as close to the truth as possible and it supports the accuracy of the Bible in every aspect.
In The Beginning
God created light on the first day, of the first month of the first year. When the Hebrews came out of Egypt, Moses gave them Passover on the 14th. day of the first month. As the 1st month of the year that Moses delivered to the Hebrews always starts at the 1st new moon after the spring equinox, as observed from Jerusalem, it can be assumed that God's new year must also start at this point. God's time counts the first year as year one, with no day month or year zero, this principle will be carried through the years applied to the lives of the Adam and all his decedents through Noah, Abraham and down through the kings of Israel and Judah to the time of Christ. This method of counting is more accurate under the circumstances, as the new year always occurs at the same time for everyone, therefore the actual date is not needed only the year of the event. The following lists the decedents from Adam through Noah to Jacob, with the father's name above the son's. Opposite the son's name, the age of the father is given in years, then the creation year of birth according to the postdating and antedating forms of chronology. The years given below can be verified from the biblical references given in the list.
Age of father at son's birth
Creation year of birth postdating chronology
Father Creation year of birth antedating chronology
Son
Gen 5:3-32 Adam 130 131 130
Seth 105 236 234
Enos 90 326 323
Cainan 70 396 392
Mahalaleel 65 461 456
Jared 162 623 617
Enoch 65 688 681
Methuselah 187 875 867
Lamech 182 1057 1048
Gen 11:10-26 Noah 500 1557 1547
Shem 100 1657 1646
Arphaxad 35 1692 1680
Salah 30 1722 1709
Eber 34 1756 1742
Peleg 30 1786 1771
Reu 32 1818 1802
Serug 30 1848 1831
Nahor 29 1877 1859
Gen 21:5 Terah 70 1947 1928
Gen 25:26 Abram 100 2047 2027
Isaac 60 2107 2086
Jacob
There are two ways to interpret years as given in the Bible. The postdating chronology, sometimes called accession-year system postpones the counting of the first year until after the anniversary, in this case the new year, has passed, so Adam at 130 years old when Seth was born, would be in his 131st year. This is the same way that we count our ages now. Here we simply add the ages of the forbears together then add one for the birth year of the subject to find the total and the creation year for the birth of the son.
Antedating, or nonaccession-year system, on the other hand counts the first year as year one, and increases the count on each new year. This is the way regnal years of kings are counted as will be shown later. In this case one year must be subtracted for each successive king to correct the result, as the first year of each individual would be counted twice, once as the last year of the preceding period and again as the first year of the successor. This system would make Adam 129 years old and in his 130th year when Seth was born.
Without a parallel chronology to guide us it would seem there is no way to prove which is the right argument to take, but if close attention is given to the timing of the flood it gives only one option. The flood began in the 600th year of Noah's life. If Noah was born in 1048 ACE according to the antedating chronology then the flood would have started in 1647 ACE, but in 1646 ACE Arphaxad would have been born before the flood instead of after as the bible maintains. A similar problem occurs with the death of Methuselah at 969 years old occurring before the flood. Born in 681 ACE. he would have been 966 when the flood came in stead of 969 years old at death. The solution to the problem in both cases is the postdating chronology, Noah was born in 1057 ACE. and the flood started in his 600th year 1656 ACE. Methuselah born in 688 ACE. would have been in his 969th year in 1656 ACE., the year of the flood, and Arphaxad's birth in 1657 ACE. comes after the flood. Taking this view all we need to do to calculate the number of years past, is total the ages given for the forefathers at the time the son is born, and add one to give the birth year of the son in each case. The total years from the creation of Adam to the birth year of Jacob would be 2106 + 1 = 2107 ACE.
Jacob was 130 years old when he entered Egypt, (Gen 47:7-9) with all his family at the time of the great seven-year famine, when Joseph was the ruler there. This year would be the birth year 2107 + 130 = 2237 ACE. There is no need for an adjustment here to obtain the correct year for the entry into Egypt as there is a reference in Gen 47:28 that states at the age of 147, Jacob had lived in Egypt for 17 years, therefore he must have entered Egypt at the beginning of his 131st year of life. Further proof that Jacob entered Egypt in the 1st month of this year comes from Exodus 12:41 "And it came to pass at the end of the 430 years even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt." As the Exodus took place after the Passover in the 1st month on the 14th day of the month, Jacob must have entered Egypt on the same day 430 years earlier. If Jacob entered Egypt at the beginning of 2237 ACE. and remained there for a full 430 years, the Exodus must have taken place at the Passover in 2667 ACE.
The next link in the chain is some 480 years later and brings us up to the reign of Solomon (1Kings 6:1) And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord. The 480th year after the Children of Israel had come out of Egypt was the 4th year of Solomon's reign. If the Exodus did take place in 2667 ACE. then this year would be 3146 ACE. making the start of Solomon's reign 3143 ACE. Solomon reigned for another 36 years after the his fourth year, a total of 40 years until 3182 ACE. when his son Rehoboam began to reign in Jerusalem, and Jeroboam became King in the northern Kingdom of Israel, splitting the kingdom in two.
Other Sources
Samaritan Version
Methuselah lived for 969 years. Methuselah was 67 years old when Lamech was bourn. Lamech was 53 when Noah was bourn. The flood came in the 600th year of Noah's life.
67 + 53 + 600 = 720
Therefore Methuselah would have been only 720 years old in the year of the flood and excludes the Samaritan version of the Bible on this count.
Septuagint
Methuselah lived for 969 years. Methuselah was 167 years old when Lamech was bourn. Lamech was 188 when Noah was bourn. The flood came in the 600th year of Noah's life.
167 + 188 + 600 = 955
Therefore Methuselah would have been only 955 years old in the year of the flood and excludes the Septuagint version of the Bible on the same count as the Samaritan Version
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