사용자:배우는사람/문서:Bible chronology

This article deals with the chronology of the Hebrew Bible (or Christian Old Testament). For material on the Christian New Testament, see Chronology of Jesus, Historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles, and Timeline of Christianity. For a historical look at the Bible see The Bible and history. For the composition of the various books of the Bible, see Dating the Bible.

The Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) or Christian Old Testament indicates the passage of time and thus gives a chronological calibration to biblical history by means of various genealogies, generations, reign-periods, and other means.

The passage of time in the earlier passages of Genesis is indicated by counts of generations: an individual lived so many years, begat a son, and died at such and such an age: when the ages at each birth of a new generation are added together, the result is the total number of years elapsed. In later books the passage of years is calibrated to events in the overall narrative (e.g., 1 Kings 6:1 states that the building of the Temple of Solomon began in the 480th year from the Exodus), or by inter-relationships of the reigns of kings (e.g., king A of Israel came to the throne in year X of king B of Judah and ruled Z number of years, for example in 1 Kings 15:25-28).

While some of the events during the monarchic period (10th to 7th centuries BCE) are historical and can be related to extra-biblical historiography, attempts to date Moses and the Exodus, or yet earlier events such as the birth of Abraham, Noah's Flood, or the date of Creation as real events have been unsuccessful. These events and the dates assigned to such events should not be relied upon as historical fact.

Overview

The biblical chronology largely uses numbers which were significant to the authors: the basic numbers are 12, 40 (a "generation"), and 480 (12 generations of 40 years); other significant numbers include 10, 20, 60, and 100.

The main events of the biblical chronology are the Creation (Year 0 AM), the birth and summoning of Abraham, the Exodus, the construction of the Temple of Solomon, the Edict allowing the return of the Jews to Jerusalem which, according to Ezra, was issued by Cyrus the Great during the first year of his conquest of Babylon, and the rededication of the Temple during the Maccabaean period. The following table is from Seder Olam Rabbah:

Event	Year AM	Year BCE (non-biblical)	Span
Creation of Adam	0	3924 BCE	0
Birth of Abram (Genesis 11:26)	1948	1976 BCE	1948
Promise to Abraham	2018	1906 BCE	70
Birth of Isaac	2048	1876 BCE	30
Descent into Egypt	2238	1686 BCE	190
Exodus from Egypt (Exodus 12:40)	2448	1476 BCE	210 (430 from Promise to Abraham; 400 from Birth of Isaac)
Foundation of Solomon's Temple (1 Kings 6:1)	2928	997 BCE	480
Destruction of Temple	3338	587 BCE	410
Return from exile (Ezra 1:2-4)	3390	535 BCE	52

BCE means "Before the Common Era". There is no year zero in the transition from 1 BCE to 1 CE.

Creation to the Flood

Biblical dating commences with Creation or the creation of Adam, depending on the source. In the Seder Olam Rabbah, written during ca. 160 CE and meant to be a history of the world, Adam's creation is considered year 0, and his death 930 years later is considered year 930. The Jewish calendar currently in use terms the 5 days prior to Adam's creation year 1, and has Adam created on the first day of year 2.

The period to the Flood is derived using the genealogical table of the ten patriarchs listed in Genesis 5, and 7:6, termed the generations of Adam. According to the Masoretic Text, this period consists of 1656 years, and this dating is also followed by Western Christian Bibles derived from the Latin Vulgate. According to the Samaritan texts the period is 1307 years, and according to the Septuagint (Codex Alexandrinus, Elizabeth Bible) it is 2262 years.

Masoretic Date (AM)	Septuagint Date [1]	Event	Reference
0 AM	0 AM	The heaven and the earth were created, including Adam and Eve.	Genesis 1:1
130 AM	230 AM	Seth born, son of Adam with Eve	Genesis 5:3
235 AM	435 AM	Enosh born, son of Seth	Genesis 5:6
325 AM	625 AM	Kenan born, son of Enosh	Genesis 5:9
395 AM	795 AM	Mahalalel born, son of Kenan	Genesis 5:12
460 AM	960 AM	Jared born, son of Mahalalel	Genesis 5:15
622 AM	1122 AM	Enoch born, son of Jared	Genesis 5:18
687 AM	1287 AM	Methuselah born, son of Enoch	Genesis 5:21
874 AM	1474 AM	Lamech born, son of Methusaleh	Genesis 5:25
930 AM	930 AM	Adam died at 930	Genesis 5:5
987 AM	1487 AM	Enoch "walks with God"	Genesis 5:23-24
1042 AM	1142 AM	Seth died at 912	Genesis 5:8
1056 AM	1663 AM	Noah born, son of Lamech	Genesis 5:28-29
1140 AM	1340 AM	Enosh died at 905	Genesis 5:11
1235 AM	1535 AM	Kenan died at 910	Genesis 5:14
1290 AM	1690 AM	Mahalalel died at 895	Genesis 5:17
1422 AM	1922 AM	Jared died at 962	Genesis 5:20
1557 AM	2163 AM	Noah begets Shem, Ham and Japheth. Noah is 500, nearly 501.	Genesis 5:32
1651 AM	2207 AM	Lamech died at 777	Genesis 8:4
1656 AM	2252 AM	Methuselah died at 969	Genesis 5:31
1656 AM	2262 AM	On the seventeenth (Septuagint: 27th) day of the second month, the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened.	Genesis 7:4-11
1656 AM	2262 AM	On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, Noah's Ark rested in "mountains of Ararat"	Genesis 7:27
1657 AM	2263 AM	On the twenty-seventh day of the second month, Noah and his family left the ark	Genesis 8:13-14
1658 AM	2264 AM	Arphaxad born, son of Shem Shem is 100 years old, nearly 101.	Genesis 11:10

Flood to Abraham

The period from the creation to Abraham is measured by the genealogies at Genesis 5 and 11, elapsed time being calculated by the addition of the years of the patriarchs at the birth of their offspring. The genealogies exist in three main manuscript traditions, the Masoretic (in Hebrew), the Septuagint (in Greek), and the Samaritan Torah (Hebrew). The three do not agree with each other, here or elsewhere. (The Septuagint is represented in this table by two manuscripts, Alexandrinus and Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209; dates are Anno Mundi, or AM, meaning year of the world):

Period	Masoretic	Alexandrinus	Vaticanus	Samaritan	Note
Year of the Flood	1656 AM	2262 AM	2242 AM	1307 AM	The Masoretic, Alexandrinus and Samaritan chronologies records the deaths of all the pre-Flood patriarchs except Noah either in or prior to the Flood, but Vaticanus has Methuselah outlive the Flood by 14 years.
Flood to Abraham	292 years	1072 years	1172 years	942 years
Year of Abraham's birth	1948 AM	3334 AM	3414 AM	2249 AM	The two sets of patriarchs before and after the Flood are exactly symmetrical: there are ten in each group, and the final members of each, Noah and Terah, each have three sons who will begin the next section of the chronology.

The following is a list of biblical patriarchs from Shem to Abraham, given with their Masoretic date.

Masoretic date	Event	Bible verse
1658 AM	Arphaxad born, son of Shem	Genesis 11:10
1693 AM	Shelah born, son of Arphaxad	Genesis 11:12
1723 AM	Eber born, son of Shelah	Genesis 11:14
1757 AM	Peleg born, son of Eber	Genesis 11:16
1787 AM	Reu born, son of Peleg	Genesis 11:18
1819 AM	Serug born, son of Reu	Genesis 11:20
1849 AM	Nahor born, son of Serug	Genesis 11:22
1878 AM	Terah born, son of Nahor	Genesis 11:24
1948 AM	Abram born, son of Terah †	Genesis 11:26

† This and subsequent dates rest on the assumption that Abram is the firstborn of Terah, which is not necessarily accepted within Christian tradition, because Act ch.7 v.4 is generally translated to mean that Abram left Haran after the death of his father.

Abraham to United Monarchy

This table gives the Masoretic dates (Seder Olam Rabbah) in the Anno Mundi era and converted to the Dionysian era (1 AM = 3925 BCE).

The 40-year reigns of David and Solomon of the United Monarchy are probably schematic rather than historical, even though those two kings may be historical.

The BCE dates, prior to the kings period, are estimated dates and based on a continuous judges rule which was not the case. Intermediary periods with no judges existed, and judges may have overlapped.

Masoretic date (AM)	Masoretic date (BCE)	Event	Bible verse
1948 AM	1976 BCE	Abram born, son of Terah	Genesis 11:26.
1958 AM	1966 BCE	Sarai born, wife of Abram	Genesis 17:17
1996 AM	1928 BCE	Peleg died	Genesis 11:19
1997 AM	1927 BCE	Nahor died	Genesis 11:25
2006 AM	1918 BCE	Noah died	Genesis 9:28
2026 AM	1898 BCE	Reu died	Genesis 11:21
2034 AM	1890 BCE	Ishmael born, son of Abram with Sarai's handmaiden Hagar	Genesis 16:16
2047 AM	1877 BCE	Abram and Sarai renamed Abraham and Sarah by the LORD. Abraham was circumcised. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed	Genesis 17:10
2048 AM	1876 BCE	Isaac born, son of Abraham with Sarah	Genesis 21:5
2049 AM	1875 BCE	Serug died	Genesis 11:23
2083 AM	1841 BCE	Terah died	Genesis 11:32
2085 AM	1839 BCE	Sarah died	Genesis 23:1
2096 AM	1828 BCE	Arpachshad died	Genesis 11:13
2108 AM	1816 BCE	Jacob and Esau born, sons of Isaac with Rebekah	Genesis 25:26
2123 AM	1801 BCE	Abraham died	Genesis 25:7
2126 AM	1798 BCE	Shelah died	Genesis 11:15
2157 AM	1767 BCE	Shem died	Genesis 11:11
2171 AM	1753 BCE	Ishmael died	Genesis 25:17
2187 AM	1737 BCE	Eber died	Genesis 11:17
2199 AM	1725 BCE	Joseph born, son of Jacob with Rachel	Genesis 41:46
2216 AM	1708 BCE	Joseph was sold by his brothers	Genesis 37:2
2227 AM	1697 BCE	Joseph interpreted the dreams of the butler and the baker while in prison	Genesis 41:1
2228 AM	1696 BCE	Isaac died	Genesis 35:28
2229 AM	1695 BCE	Joseph was elevated to Pharaoh's second	Genesis 41:46
2238 AM	1686 BCE	Jacob moved to Egypt at the age of 130 After 7 years of plenty and 2 years of famine When Joseph was 39	Genesis 47:9, 45:11, 41:46
2255 AM	1669 BCE	Jacob died	Genesis 47:28
2309 AM	1615 BCE	Joseph died	Genesis 50:26
2365 AM	1560 BCE	Aaron born, son of Amram with Jochebed	Exodus 7:7
2368 AM	1557 BCE	Moses born, son of Amram with Jochebed	Exodus 7:7
2448 AM	1476 BCE	The Israelites left in a mass exodus from Egypt.	Genesis 15:13, see also 1 Kings 6:1
2487 AM	1437 BCE	Aaron and Moses died	Deuteronomy 34:7
2488 AM	1436 BCE	The Israelites entered Canaan	Joshua 4:19
2448–2884 AM	1476–1040 BCE	Period of Joshua, Judges and Saul, first King of Israel	1 Kings 6:1 2 Samuel 5:4
2853 AM	1071 BCE	Jesse begat David	2 Samuel 5:4
2883–2923 AM	1041–1001 BCE	David reigned as king of Israel	1 Kings 2:11 - reigns for 40 years
2890 AM	1034 BCE	David moved his capitol from Hebron to Jerusalem	1 Kings 2:11
2923–2963 AM	1001–961 BCE	Solomon son of David reigned as king of Israel	1 Kings 11:42
2927 AM	997 BCE	Foundation of Temple laid in the 4th year of Solomon's reign 480th year after the Exodus	1 Kings 6:1

Divided Monarchy

Main articles: Kings of Israel (Samaria) and Kings of Judah

The biblical chronology of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah includes some historical events and can be compared to dates from Assyrian chronology such as the Battle of Qarqar.

The sum of the reigns of the kings of Judah is 430 years, the same as the Septuagint's version of the period between the promise of the Land of Canaan given to Abraham and the covenant at Sinai.

For this period, most historians follow either of the older chronologies established by William F. Albright or Edwin R. Thiele, or the newer chronologies of Gershon Galil and Kenneth Kitchen. See Kings of Israel and Kings of Judah for the differences between these chronologies. These scholarly chronologies may differ for up to about forty years from the traditional Masoretic dates in the early period, while all authorities agree that the last king of Judah, Zedekiah, ruled from 597 to 587 or 586 BCE.

The following table only gives the Anno Mundi dates of the Masoretic tradition and its conversion in the Dionysian era (AM 1 = 3925 BCE).

Masoretic date (AM)	Masoretic date (BCE)	Event	Bible verse
2963 AM	961 BCE	The United Monarchy split into two rival kingdoms: Israel in the north and Judah in the south.	1 Kings 12
2964–2981 AM	961–944/3 BCE	Rehoboam son of Solomon reigned as king of Judah (Albright: 922–915 BCE; Thiele: 931–913 BCE)	1 Kings 12
2964–2986 AM	961/60–939 BCE	Jeroboam I son of Nebat reigned as king of Israel	1 Kings 12
2981–2984 AM	944/3–941 BCE	Abijam son of Rehoboam reigned as king of Judah	1 Kings 15
2984–3025 AM	941–900 BCE	Asa son of Abijam reigned as king of Judah	1 Kings 15
2986–2987 AM	939–938 BCE	Nadab son of Jeroboam I reigned as king of Israel	1 Kings 15
2987–3010 AM	938–915 BCE	Baasha reigned as king of Israel	1 Kings 15
2990 AM	935 BCE	Jehoshaphat son of Asa born.	1 Kings 22
3010–3011 AM	915–914 BCE	Elah son of Baasha reigned as king of Israel	1 Kings 16
3011 AM	914 BCE	Zimri reigned as king of Israel for 7 days in Tirzah.	1 Kings 16
3011-3015 AM	914-910 BCE	The people of Israel were divided after the death of Zimri, as half wanted Tibni for King, with the other half wanting Omri for King. Omri is declared unofficially as king during 914 BCE.	1 Kings 16
3011–3022 AM	914–903 BCE	Omri reigned as king of Israel, after the death of Tibni.	1 Kings 16
3022–3042 AM	903–883/2 BCE	Ahab son of Omri reigned as king of Israel	1 Kings 16
3025–3050 AM	900–875 BCE	Jehoshaphat son of Asa reigned as king of Judah, from 35 years old until his death at 60 years old.	1 Kings 22
3042–3043 AM	883/2–882/1 BCE	Ahaziah son of Ahab reigned as king of Israel	1 Kings 22
3047–3054 AM	878/7–871/70 BCE	Jehoram (Joram) son of Jehoshaphat reigned as king of Judah
3043–3054 AM	875–871/70 BCE	Joram (Jehoram) son of Ahab reigned as king of Israel
3054–3055 AM	871/70–870 BCE	Ahaziah son of Jehoram reigned as king of Judah
3055–3061 AM	870–864 BCE	Athaliah wife of Jehoram ruled over Judah
3054–3084 AM	871/70–841 BCE	Jehu son of Nimshi reigned as king of Israel
3061–3101 AM	864–824 BCE	Joash (Jehoash) son of Ahaziah reigned as king of Judah
3084–3100 AM	841–825/4 BCE	Jehoahaz son of Jehu reigned as king of Israel
3098–3114 AM	827/6–811 BCE	Jehoash (Joash) son of Jehoahaz reigned as king of Israel
3100–3129 AM	825–796 BCE	Amaziah son of Joash reigned as king of Judah
3103–3154 AM	822–771/70 BCE	Jeroboam II son of Jehoash reigned as king of Israel
3117–3168 AM	808–757/6 BCE	Uzziah (Azariah) son of Amaziah reigned as king of Judah
3154–3155 AM	771/70–770 BCE	Zechariah son of Jeroboam II reigned as king of Israel
3155–3155 AM	770 BCE	Shallum reigned as king of Israel
3155–3166 AM	770–759 BCE	Menahem son of Gadi reigned as king of Israel
3166–3168 AM	759–757 BCE	Pekahiah son of Menahem reigned as king of Israel
3168–3184	757/6–741/40 BCE	Jotham son of Uzziah reigned as king of Judah
3167–3188 AM	758–737 BCE	Pekah son of Remaliah reigned as king of Israel
3184–3200 AM	741/40–725 BCE	Ahaz son of Jotham reigned as king of Judah
3188–3206 AM	737–719 BCE	Hoshea son of Elah reigned as king of Israel
3200–3229 AM	725–696 BCE	Hezekiah son of Ahaz reigned as king of Judah
3206 AM	719 BCE	Northern kingdom of Israel fell to Assyria
3229–3284 AM	696–641 BCE	Manasseh son of Hezekiah reigned as king of Judah
3284–3286 AM	641–639 BCE	Amon son of Manasseh reigned as king of Judah
3286–3317 AM	639–608 BCE	Josiah son of Amon reigned as king of Judah
3317 AM	608 BCE	Jehoahaz son of Josiah reigned as king of Judah
3317–3327 AM	608–598 BCE	Jehoiakim son of Josiah reigned as king of Judah
3327 AM	598–597 BCE	Jehoiachin (Jeconiah, Coniah) son of Jehoiakim reigned as king of Judah
3327–3338 AM	597–587 BCE	Zedekiah (Mattaniah) son of Josiah reigned as king of Judah
3338 AM	587 BCE	Kingdom of Judah fell to Babylon. The destruction of the First Temple of Jerusalem. The start of the Babylonian Exile.
3386 AM	539 BCE	The Babylonian Empire falls to the Persians, led by King Cyrus.	Ezra 1
3387 AM	538 BCE	End of the Babylonian Exile, as King Cyrus the Great of Persia frees the Jews from exile, in the first year of his reign over Babylon.	Ezra 1

Jewish computation

The Jewish calendar's reference point is traditionally considered to be about one year before the creation of the world.

The current Hebrew calendar year numbering system, which counts years from the creation, has been in use for more than 1000 years. The year numbering system was adopted sometime before 3925 Anno Mundi (165 CE), and based on the calculation of Rabbi Yose ben Halafta during about 160 CE in the book Seder Olam Rabbah.

The year numbers are based on the computations of dates and periods found in the Hebrew Bible. In Jewish tradition, "Year 1" is considered to have begun on the 25 of Elul, 6 days before the beginning of "Year 2" on the first of Tishrei, when Adam was created. The new moon of its first month (Tishrei) is designated molad tohu (the mean new moon of chaos or nothing). By Halafta's calculation Adam was created during the year 3761 BCE. However, Seder Olam Rabbah treats the creation of Adam as the beginning of "Year Zero". This results in a two year discrepancy between the years given in Seder Olam Rabbah and the Jewish year used now. For example, Seder Olam Rabbah gives the year of the Exodus from Egypt as 2448 AM; but, according to the current system, the year would be 2450 AM.

Despite the computations by Yose ben Halafta, confusion persisted for a long time as to how the calculations should be applied. During 1000, for example, the Muslim chronologist al-Biruni noted that three different epochs were used by various Jewish communities being one, two, or three years later than the modern epoch. The epoch seems to have been settled by 1178, when Maimonides, in his work Mishneh Torah, described all of the modern rules of the Hebrew calendar, including the modern epochal year. His work has been accepted by Jews as definitive, though it does not correspond to the scientific calculations. For example, the Jewish year for the destruction of the First Temple has traditionally been given as 3338 AM or 421 BCE. This differs from the modern scientific year, which is usually expressed using the Gregorian calendar as 587 BCE. The scientific date takes into account evidence from the ancient Babylonian calendar and its astronomical observations. In this and related cases, a difference between the traditional Jewish year and a scientific date in a Gregorian year results from a disagreement about when the event happened — and not simply a difference between the Jewish and Gregorian calendars. (See the "Missing Years" in the Jewish Calendar.)

In Jewish thought the counting is usually considered to be to the creation of the world, as has been emphasized in many ancient texts dealing with creation chronology that the six days of creation till man are literal days — including the days before the creation of the sun and earth. However, some understand these days metaphorically.

The modern epoch year is set at 3761 BCE, taking into account that there is no year zero in the Julian year count.

See also

• Anno Mundi
• Byzantine calendar
• Chronology of the Ancient Orient
• Chronology of Babylonia and Assyria
• Dating creation
• History of ancient Israel and Judah
• Timeline of Christianity
• Universal history
• Intertestamental period

Sources

• G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, Heinz-Josef Fabry (eds), "Theological dictionary of the Old Testament"(Eerdmans, 2004; originally published in German, 1992-4)
• Mercer Dictionary of the Bible, Chronology
• Tables from Jeremy Hughes, "Secrets of the Times: Myth and History in Biblical Chronology" (JSOTSS, 66; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1990; reprinted: LHBOT; London: Continuum, 2009).
• James Barr, Biblical Chronology: Legend or Science? (the Ethel M. Wood lecture, 1987)
• Mattis, Kantor, The Jewish time line encyclopedia: a year-by-year history from Creation to present, Jason Aronson Inc., Northvale, N.J., 1992
• Handbook of Biblical Chronology by Jack Finegan (Revised edition, 1998), ISBN 1-56563-143-9.
•  〈Biblical Chronology〉. 《Catholic Encyclopedia》. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 
• Christine Tetley, "The Reconstructed Chronology of the Divided Kingdom" (Eisenbraun's, 2005)
• Gershon Galil, "The chronology of the kings of Israel and Judah" (Brill, 1996)
• Edwin R. Thiele, "The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings" (Zondervan, 1983)
• James Maxwell Miller, John Haralson Hayes, "A history of ancient Israel and Judah" (Westminster John Knox, 1986)
• Thomas L. Thompson, "The historicity of the Patriarchal narratives" (Trinity Press, 2002)
• Thomas L. Thompson, "Early History of the Israelite People" (Brill, 1994)
• Philippe Guillaume, Tracing the Origin of Origin of the Sabbatical Calendar in the Priestly Narrative (Genesis 1 to Joshua 5) in Ehud Ben Zvi (ed) "Perspectives on Hebrew Scriptures II, Volume 5" (Gorgias Press, 2007)
• J. Maxwell Miller, "Another Look at the Chronology of the Early Divided Monarchy", Journal of Biblical Literature, 1967

References

External links

• Guide to scholarly sources and tabular summaries of biblical chronologies

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