User:SouthWriter/Sandbox/Chronology



Chronology is the practice of measuring the course of the narrative in relation to the lives of the characters therein. Ancient literature did not have a standardized timeline to tie them all together. However, certain events were often measured from other major events. These events were in turn dated by the people who experienced them. When more precision was needed, months based on the moon were divided into days. These were used to determine special observed holy days.

Signposts in Time
The Bible gives the reader reliable indications of time throughout human history. Since at least the first century BC this Biblical data has been used in concordance with other civilizations to record human civilization from the earliest times.

From the Beginning
When asked about divorce, Jesus responded that Adam and Eve were made during the time of the creation of the world. It is revealed that at the age of 130 years Adam fathered Seth and lived on for 800 years, setting a formula in the Hebrew text that would continue through to the birth of Noah.

In the days of Noah
Jesus also gives us a clue to the next signpost when he mentions the days of Noah as an example of complacency before judgment to come. The Flood of Noah's day was dated by the years of his life. Noah's grandson Arphaxad is said to be born two years past the end of the flood. From there Noah's descendants can be figured through Shem's line all the way to Terah, the father of Abram. Conveniently, the seventieth year of Terah is before the death of Noah (the sum of the numbers in Genesis 11, being 292 to Noah's 350 years "after the flood" ).

Abrahamic Covenant
Again Christ gives an astonishing clue to the Bible's calendar when He confronts the Pharisees saying "Abraham rejoiced to see my day". This was a reference to the Abrahamic covenant to raise up his seed to bless the world. It is back towards this covenant that Moses harkens when relating that 430 years had passed "to the day" until the Passover.

It is at this point the chronology leaves some room for interpretation. The text reads "the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years", ambiguous as to whether the dwelling in Israel was the full 430 years. The period from Isaac's birth and Jacob's entering into Egypt is 190 years, and adding 15 years one comes to 205 years. It is best to read the phrase "who dwelt in Egypt" (KJV) as describing the people and not the time they were there.

In addition, if Abram was born when Terah was 70, then he would have entered Canaan when his father was 145, contradicting the record of Terah's death. Since the intent seems to be that Terah had died before Abram left. Abram was therefor the youngest son, born when Terah was around 130, or 422 years after the flood. The covenant with Yahweh was cut when Abram was 85, or the year 507 AF.

The Coming of the Law
The next era of the world is said to be last just over 480 years. The event is the mass exodus of Israelites from Egypt after the passover judgment. This could be called the birthday of Israel as a people. Adding 430 to 507, the date of the Passover was in 937 AF. Counting ahead to the groundbreaking for the Temple in Solomon's fourth year brings history to 1417 (or 1622) AF. Counting backward to the beginning of Saul's reign (84 years) comes to 1333 (or 1528) AF. To avoid the alternate dates from the Flood, The temple was built in the years 480 to 487 AI (Anno Israel or Anno Juris). The giving of the Law to Israel was the binding agreement with Yahweh giving the nation an identity, so years AI seem quite appropriate.

Solomon's Temple
Counting forward from the reign of the first king (84 years before the temple) about 490 years comes to 1723 AF or 970 AI to get to the fall of Jerusalem and the 70 years of exile. The prophet Jeremiah had told Judah that the land would rest for the 70 years to make up for not one Sabbath year in all the years of the kings. The end of the captivity, and the building of the second temple, would begin around 1040 AI.

The Coming Prince
Sometimes near the end of the exile, an aged Daniel was given a vision of the coming Messiah to come in "seventy sevens". Though the text does not include the units being counted, weeks of days don't seem to be in focus, especially with the subject being the Messiah. Moving forward in steps, Daniel is shown the "prince" being cut off in the middle of the final "week" of years. That is to say, after 3½ years into his "reign". Out of the 490 years, this shortcoming puts the crucifixion of Jesus 487 and a half years from the end of the captivity (1527 AI).

Jesus would begin his ministry soon after John the Baptist began his at about 30 years of age. Following the prophecy, his death and resurrection would be in his thirty-third year. In that year (1527 AI) Jesus would predict that within a generation (understood to be 40 years) Jerusalem would be destroyed (in about 1567 AI). Looking back, His birth would be in 1498 AI.

Recap
(1) After Creation, based on the ages, there were from 1656 to 1666 years before the flood.

(2) After the Flood, by the same measure, there were about 300 years before the birth of Terah's sons.

(3) Abram made a covenant with Yahweh when he was 85, ten years after leaving Haran and fifteen before Isaac was born.

(4) Abraham's grandson Jacob entered Egypt 205 years after Isaac was born.

(5) There is some ambiguity about the dates around Abraham.
 * A. He was not born when Terah was 70
 * B. The Covenant with Yahweh when he was 85 may not have been the starting date for Moses' 430 years.

(6) Year One Anno Israel (1 AI) was 480 years and one month before Solomon began to build the temple.
 * A. Saul became the king of Israel 84 years earlier, in 396 AI.
 * B. Seventy Sabbath years went unobserved while Israel/Judah had kings (490 years)
 * C. The 70 years of captivity began in 970 AI and ended in 1040 AI.
 * D. About 1040, Daniel saw a vision of 490 years before, like Israel, a new people of God would leave Jerusalem and go among the gentiles (1530 AI).
 * E. Jesus would predict the destruction of the second about 40 years after his time (1567 AI)
 * i. Jesus was born about in about 1498 AI, 73 years before the overthrow of Jerusalem.
 * ii. Jesus died in about 1531 AI, his ministry having begun in 1528 AI.

In the Beginning
Time is measured at set periods. This means that there must be a starting point. The period near the start is the the beginning [רֵאשִׁית from head]. The "head" is also the authority, or cheif, without which the rest is not possible.

The exact phrase "in the beginning" [בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית] appears in two Old Testament books: Genesis and Jeremiah. In the latter, the prophet is referring to the reigns of two kings: Jehoiakim and Zedekiah. These reigns were temporary, but the reign of the Creator will be forever.

The length of the period of beginning has been variously interpreted. Since the period is referred to as "in the day" [בְּי֗וֹם], an undue dividing of the period into uneven sections is not merited. Jesus refers to the day of the creation and marriage of Adam and Eve as within that period.

Seven Days
The period of the creation is thus to be understood as being contained in six rotational periods of the collected mass of the earth. This rotation is demonstrated by the existence from the beginning of "evening" and "morning" and the separation of light of day from the darkness of night. Evening [עָ֫רֶב] and morning [עָ֫רֶב] denote periods just after and just before the sun is in the sky. They serve as buffers between the darkness and the light (night and day).

After six days God set apart the seventh day as special--a day of rest. This principle was set as part of the Ten Commandments. This day, the Sabbath, is there for the benefit of mankind.

The days were divided into parts, called "watches", of which there were four for the night and four for the day, divided into three hours each. This is confirmed by Jesus when he speaks of the division of labor into a total of twelve hours. The day, therefore, was twenty-four "hours" long. However, the days before the flood varied by one minute per hour providing for the moon to seem to loose speed in its orbit.

Months and Years
On the fourth day of creation God placed two light sources, the Sun and the Moon near where the earth was. Their primary purpose was to give light during the day and night, respectively, but they were also to me used for keeping track of time. The moon, likely created full (for it would be known as the "ruler" of the night), began the calendar, in the evening of the fifth day just as the sun had defined the day before.

A scene like the one to the right halfway into the fourth creation day--the "work" part of the day, as the sun is rising. Twelve hours later it would have risen in the east as the sunsets, beginning the fifth day (and a new month). This illustrates the rotation of the earth, the daily cycle of night and day, and the measuring of time with the moon.

Assuming creation at one of the equinoxes (likely the spring, due to the subsequent listing of the year's celebrations), the celestrial dance would be repeated six months later. The observer can measure between the equinoxes to get a year, though it seems that the solar calendar was not utilized as such in the Bible.

Length of a Month
A double witness to an original thirty-day month can be found in the first and last books of the Bible. In the account of the flood Moses pins the story passed down from Noah, the ark came to rest exactly five months after the flood had begun after the waters had stopped rising after 150 days. In what admittedly is symbolic language Jesus uses a vision of his own birth to equate 42 months with 1260 days.

This latter vision is likely using round numbers since no calendar of the first century provided all months of exactly 30 days. Because of this, it is evident that conditions changed since creation, providing months about twelve hours shorter. The increased tidal forces of the world-wide flood is most likely the culprit. The time between the first day of the Flood and the ten days past one year, which may indicate a lengthened year over all.

Length of a Year
With months of 30 days each, the original year measured from the earth was 360 days. The present lunar months of 29½ days do not line up with that year. This was likely caused by what the flood did to the earth. The days seem to have shortened by 24 minutes a day, or one minute per hour. Such a small change took a bit of time to be noticed, but with the requirements of the Hebrew religion starting with set holidays necessitated a lunar calendar adjusted to the seasons.

Since most of the Bible is written by Hebrew scribes, the calendar is measured differently than the Romans of ancient and relatively recent times did. On the Hebrew calendar, there are 12 months, alternating from 29 to 30 days with an extra month of 30 days added seven times in a cycle of 19 years. Regular years would have 354 days and leap years would have 384 days. This system lines up with the Solar calendar of about 365.25 days better over time.

Since the years matched with the months before the flood, the only thing that needs to be known is the day of the week that the each year began on. There are 51 weeks and 3 days in that original 360-day calendar. This means if you want to know the day of the week and follow the linear Sabbath count, there are seven calendars to follow with the following cycle: days 5, 1, 4, 7, 3, 6 and 2. The last cycle of years after Creation began in 1593 AM.

Year of the World (about 1660 years)
Though the Bible does not attempt to tabulate the age of the world, there is no getting away from the implied age of mankind and the rest of life created alongside of it. Each son in the line up to Noah is given as being fathered at a certain age of his father. Some of the sons are even named by their fathers. With Noah, his sons are mentioned as a group, though the age of his grandson Arphaxad is listed in reference to the Great Flood. Following that, up to another set of sons born after their father Terah, a strict chronology can be gathered within the number of years of mentioned generations. There is not much ambiguity in dating within a margin of about 20 years for about the first two thousand years.

The Days of Noah (about 300 years)
Jesus Christ spoke of the "days of Noah" in relationship with coming judgment Since the had mercy on Noah calling him to be the savior the world needed, the saga of an increasingly violent and godless society became known as the "days of Noah". This started about 120 years before the Flood which was dated using the age of Noah who was 600 years old when it began. Noah's grandson Arphaxad is said to be born two years past the end of the flood which ended when Noah was 601. From there Noah's descendants can be figured through Shem's line all the way to Terah. The "days of Noah" effectively reach past the "days of Peleg".

The days of Peleg (about 200 years)
The descendants of Noah disregarded the instruction to spread out and populate the whole world, choosing instead to build cities and a monument to themselves: a very tall building in between two rivers they named after the rivers before the Flood. A descendant of Shem was named Peleg because it was in his days that the world was divided. Most expositors agree that this had to do with the first dispersion of mankind after God confused their languages to keep them from repeating the mistakes of the people before the flood. This continued up to about the end of Noah's life, 350 years after the Flood.

The Wandering Forefathers (about 600 years)
About the time of Noah's death, Abram was born as one of three sons of Terah. The chronology has a bit of ambiguity with Terah and Abram both leaving Ur and ending up in Heran where the elder man died at the age of 205. When Abram was 75 years old, he continued his trek into Canaan, where he made a covenant with God to be the father of "many nations". During this time a prophecy is made that his people would suffer for 400 years, or four generations. Moses, the great grandson of Jacob, would write that this was 430 years to the day. In all, this period was about 630 years, bringing the time to the Exodus somewhere over 2600 years after creation.

The Kingdom Age(about 500 years)
The time from the deliverance from slavery to the building of the Temple by Solomon was 480 years. This brings the chronology of the events since to about 3100 years since creation. In the end, the kingdom period beginning with Saul, eighty years before the temple, had rejected God's promise to take care of his people when they stopped working their fields every seventh years. Four hundred and ninety years, accumulating 70 Sabbath years, were greedily held by the kings for the taxes they brought. Therefore 70 years were to be spent in exile away from the fields while they rested.

The people had been warned against depending on a king, but demanded to be "like the other nations". In the end, a remnant would return under governors approved by their former captives. A second temple would be built and a semblance of the old glory would return. The last word from God was about heard from the prophet Malachi about 3600 years after creation. A prophecy during the exile, right before the return, spoke of 490 years to pass before the Messiah would be "cut off" for His people. This would bring a great expectation to the people of the days of the Emperors of Rome, about 4000 years after creation.

The First Century (about 100 years)
The meticulous work of Paul and his associate Luke produced sufficient references to history to provide an even better Chronology for the beginning of the "Church Age" in which the people of God would include all kinds of people, from all over the known world. The Apostles Matthew and John would leave a few clues as well.

At the age of around 30, John the Baptist and Jesus would begin teaching about the "kingdom of God" and the need for people to get ready to meet God. This was during or soon after the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar and in the forth decade of the continuing work on the building of "Herod's Temple". Jesus would die and rise again after no more than four years of ministry under the rule of Pilate and Herod Agrippa. Within a generation Jerusalem and the temple would fall, just as Jesus predicted.

In the decade to come, Paul would rise and give witness to at least 13 years before beginning his missionary journeys in the 50's. He would stand before named governors and high priests. Many assemblies would be formed and produce leaders that would help the apostle John even after the death of all the other apostles.

Application to the Text
In this wiki, an attempt will be made to provide approximate dates drawn from contemporary history known to the Bible. However, the authority of the Bible will only allow the commentator to provide dates based on the text itself with a measure of certainty.

Key to this will be the ages of principle characters as given in the text. Another key will be the prophecies of Daniel and Jesus that predict the end of the Judaism as a system of worship.