Chronology of the Old Testament
| Death of Noah (Gen. 9:28). | (Those desiring calculated dates on these events may wish to consult published chronologies.) | |
| Joseph sold into Egypt (Gen. 37:2). Joseph stands before Pharaoh (Gen. 41:46). Jacob and his family go down to Egypt. | In the days of Abram we meet with the names of Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Amraphel, king of Shinar. Egypt was manifestly a powerful kingdom before and during the patriarchal times, but the early annals of Egypt as they have come down to us help us to few synchronisms that can be relied on. | |
| After the death of Joshua was the period of the Judges, of whom the first was Othniel and the last Samuel, but the arrangement and dates of the rest are very uncertain. | The commencement of the Assyrian empire appears to have been somewhere in the period of the Judges, but much of the chronological data preserved in Assyrian tablets is of a mythical character. | |
In this section approximate dates are suggested, some help being derived from synchronisms with secular history, which become more numerous with every succeeding century.
| Commencement of Saul’s reign. Samuel lives for a great part of Saul’s reign. | ||
In the following table the first column of dates follows the books of Kings and Chronicles; the third column contains a revised chronology derived from inscriptions on Assyrian and other monuments. The kings of Judah are printed in heavy type, and the kings of Israel in capitals.
| Ahijah the Shilomite prophesies, also Shemaiah. Penuel built (1 Kgs. 12:25). | |||||
| Benhadad Ⅰ conquers Omri (1 Kgs. 20:34). | |||||
| Samaria built (1 Kgs. 16:24). | |||||
| Syrian invasion of Samaria (1 Kgs. 20:34). | |||||
| Jahaziel prophesies (2 Chr. 20:14). Eliezer of Mareshah prophesies (2 Chr. 20:37). | |||||
| Joash buys off Hazael’s invasion (2 Kgs. 12:18). | Syrian victories over Israel (2 Kgs. 10:32). | ||||
| Jonah prophesies (2 Kgs. 14:25). | Amaziah subdues Edom (2 Kgs. 14:7). | ||||
| There is much uncertainty about the chronology of the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, and Pekah, and from 2 Kgs. 15:1–2, and 30–32, it is clear that there is some confusion in the biblical numbers. Uzziah’s name is now thought to have been discovered in an Assyrian inscription 740 B.C. If that proves correct, the commencement of Isaiah’s prophecy cannot date before that year, and the time of Jotham’s regency may have been counted as regnal years. In these tables the biblical numbers have been adhered to, as far as possible, but they require further elucidation, which we may hope for as the Assyrian chronology becomes more assured. | |||||
| Ahasuerus (Ezra 4:6). | |||
| Artaxerxes (Ezra 4:7). | |||
| Darius Ⅰ (Ezra 4:5). | |||
| The hindered temple building resumed. Haggai and Zechariah prophesy. | |||
| Ahasuerus (Esth. 1:1). | |||
| Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:1). | |||
| Nehemiah’s second mission to Jerusalem. Prophecy of Malachi. | |||
| Darius Ⅲ (Neh. 12:22). … | |||
| Death of Alexander the Great and dismemberment of his empire. | |||
