Bible Chronology of Kings of Judah, Israel Solved! divided kingdom 931

Solved: Divided Kingdom Period Chronology

Timeline of Kings & Prophets:
931 - 587 BC

Timeline, maps, chronology, sermons of Divided Kingdom

Introduction:

1. The chronology of the kings of Israel and Judah timescale has been solved!

2. The important point is this: Even though the numbers puzzled good and honest Bible students for thousands's of years, now we know the numbers were right all along and it proves the text of the Bible has not been tampered with or changed! For centuries, Bible students have added up the lengths of reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah and have been baffled as to why the numbers do not seem to work. Once we understood how to correctly translate these dates into our modern AD/BC time scale the problem evaporates.

a. Some wrongly conclude the text of the Bible is unreliable and numbers have been changed. We now know this is false and that the numbers are correct after all!

b. Bible trashers who reject inspiration wrongly conclude the numbers are a fiction created centuries later by uninspired men to create an historical backdrop to bolster and promote a current political agenda.

c. Most just ignore the detail and focus on a general overview without paying attention to a specific timescale.

3. The dates when the kings of Israel and Judah reigned has been a complex and long lasting problem that has been completely solved with modern scholarship by absolutely brilliant men:

a. Evidence for Inerrancy: OT Chronology, Bible & Spade, Rodger C. Young, 2008 AD

b. Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, Edwin R. Thiele, 1983 AD

c. Supplément au Dictionnaire de la Bible, V. Coucke, 1928 AD

4. The chronology chart above, is unique in several respects:

a. The chronology table above converts the raw Bible numbers into hard BC dates on an actual timescale.

b. It is a graphical representation in the highest detail, down to the year.

c. It includes dating synchronisms between the Bible chronology and those of the Assyrians, Egyptians, Babylonians and the Canon of astronomer Claudius Ptolemy etc.

d. It marks major astronomical events like eclipses of the sun and moon, which were used to nail the Bible timeline onto a hard BC dating scale.

I. Chronology of Septuagint (LXX) vs. Masoretic Text (MT):

1. The Masoretic is superior to the Septuagint:

a. Only through using the chronological numbers in the Masoretic Text (MT) for the kings of Judah and Israel are we able to solve the data to produce a perfect result, as published on this page.

b. While the Septuagint (LXX) is almost identical to the MT, there are two places where either the ancient Jews before Christ, or the Christians at a latter date, altered the text of 1 Kings 14:20 and 1 Kings 15:9 in an attempt to bring harmony to the overall chronology. Instead of fixing a problem (which in fact did not exist) they created new chronological data which are no longer internally consistent.

2. 1 Kings 14:20 and 1 Kings 15:9 from the Masoretic vs. the Septuagint:

	Septuagint (LXX): Codex Vaticanus	Masoretic Text (MT): JPS Jewish Bible
1 Kings 14:20	Vaticanus omits verse.	"Jeroboam reigned twenty-two years; then he slept with his fathers, and his son Nadab succeeded him as king." (1 Kings 14:20)
1 Kings 15:2	"For six years he reigned, and the name of his mother was Maacah, daughter of Absalom." (3 Kingdoms 15:2)	"He reigned three years in Jerusalem; his mother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom." (1 Kings 15:2)
1 Kings 15:9	"In the twenty-fourth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king over Judah." (3 Kingdoms 15:9)	"In the twentieth year of King Jeroboam of Israel, Asa became king over Judah." (1 Kings 15:9)
1 Kings 16:8	"Elah son of Baasha ruled over Israel two years at Tirzah." (3 Kingdoms 16:8)	"In the twenty-sixth year of King Asa of Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king over Israel, at Tirzah—for two years." (1 Kings 16:8)
1 Kings 16:10	"Zimri entered and struck him down. He killed him and reigned in place of him." (3 Kingdoms 16:10)	"Zimri entered, struck him down, and killed him; he succeeded him as king in the twenty-seventh year of King Asa of Judah." (1 Kings 16:10)
1 Kings 16:15	"Zimri ruled seven years in Tirzah. The camp of Israel was against Gibbethon of the Philistines." (3 Kingdoms 16:15)	"During the twenty-seventh year of King Asa of Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah for seven days. At the time, the troops were encamped at Gibbethon of the Philistines." (1 Kings 16:15)
1 Kings 16:29	"In the second year of Jehoshaphat, Ahab son of Omri became king. He ruled over Israel at Samaria for twenty-two years." (3 Kingdoms 16:29)	"Ahab son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of King Asa of Judah, and Ahab son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years." (1 Kings 16:29)
1 Kings 22:41	"Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king over Judah in the fourth year Ahab became king." (3 Kingdoms 22:41)	"Jehoshaphat son of Asa had become king of Judah in the fourth year of King Ahab of Israel." (1 Kings 22:41)
2 Kings 1:17	"He died according to the word of the Lord that Elijah spoke." (4 Kingdoms 1:17)	"And Ahaziah died, according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken. Jehoram succeeded him as king, in the second year of King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat of Judah, for he had no son." (2 Kings 1:17)

3. “There is one corpus of Scripture where a “mathematical” test can be applied to determine which version—the Greek or the Hebrew—is original. That corpus is the books of the Bible that deal with the history of the divided kingdom. Five books—1 and 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel—give 126 exact reign lengths of the kings, or synchronisms either between the two kingdoms or between one of them and a securely dated event in Assyrian or Babylonian history. It should be surprising to those who doubt the reliability of the Old Testament in historical matters that all of the 126 precise figures fit into a scheme that is not only internally consistent, but also gives a chronology for this four-century span that matches exactly with well-established external dates. (I once tried working one of my wife’s logic problems that had nine clues, and changing any one of them meant the problem could not be solved.) This development from solid Biblical scholarship does not seem to be known by the general public. It is consistently suppressed by anti-Biblical sources such as Wikipedia. In contrast, Egyptologists are aware of the accuracy of the Biblical data, and they use it to refine their own dates for Egypt’s 21st and 22nd Dynasties. Such accuracy, however, is only possible when the Hebrew data (MT) is used for the kingdom period. When using the best texts of the LXX in places where it differs from the Hebrew, such as 1 Kings 14:20 and 1 Kings 15:9, the resultant chronology fails to match other independently derived dates and is no longer internally consistent.” (Rodger Young, email, 2017 AD)

II. Dating system notes on the chronological chart:

1. All dates are converted to modern time scale of BC dates. The result is that the lengths of reigns in Bible will differ with BC dates on chart due to these variables.

2. Understanding and defining the "inclusive" (non-accession) vs the "non-inclusive" (accession) dating systems used the by various scribes in the Bible in each kingdom at various periods of history:

a. "I" = "inclusive" (non-accession). Contrary to the way we count today, if today is Friday, three days from now is Sunday. Inclusive counting starts today with the first day and tomorrow the second day. This is how we know Jesus was crucified on a Friday and rose "three days and three nights" later on Sunday morning. This inclusive counting system is widespread in the Bible including Jesus, Esther, Acts, and the gospels. Jesus thought in terms of inclusive counting: Jesus said: Luke 13:32 "Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today [Fri] and tomorrow [Sat], and the third day [Sun] I reach My goal." The story of Cornelius proves that the 1^st century Jews used inclusive counting because to them, 72 hours = 4 days: Acts 10:3,9, 23,24,30. Detailed discussion of Jewish Inclusive time keeping.

b. "NI = "non-inclusive" (accession). This system is how we count today. If today is Friday and you ask someone, "what day is it three days from today, they will always answer "Monday".

c. This explains why the Bible says king Jeroboam reigned for 22 years (inclusive), when our chronology chart says he only reigned for 21 years (non-inclusive): “The time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years; and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.” (1 Kings 14:20). So when you notice a difference between the number on our chronology chart with the "raw" Bible number, it is because we have translated the "Jewish inclusive" time scale into our "Modern non-inclusive" time scale so WE can have a functional literal BC scale to use.

Reckoning system	Today	Tomorrow	Next day	Next day
	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday
Inclusive (non-accession) Luke 13:32	1	2	3	4
Non-inclusive (accession) Modern system	0	1	2	3

3. Dating/counting/dating system used in the Bible at various times by Israel and Judah represented on the timeline with a blue or pink vertical line.

a. To complicate matters, it is clear that each kingdom changed their counting/dating systems over time.

b. On our chronology, the two counting systems are indicated with either a blue or pink vertical bar inside the vertical time scale itself.

Graphic indication

Reckoning system

Dates used by kingdom

Vertical blue line

Inclusive (non-accession)

"Three days from Friday is Sunday"

Israel: Jeroboam-Jehu: 931-848

Judah: Jehoram-joash: 853-848

Vertical pink line

Non-inclusive (accession)

"Three days from Friday is Monday"

Judah: Rehoboam-Jehoshaphat 931-853

Judah: Amaziah-Zedekiah 848-587

Israel: Jehoash-Hoshea: 848-723

4. Tishri or Nisan new year? The new year used in the Bible at various times by Israel and Judah represented on the timeline. To further complicate matters of determining a chronology, Judah and Israel had different official dates for the New year! This explains why there are two different dates given in the Bible for the same reign of the same king. One date marks the number of years with Tishri and the other uses Nisan. This six month difference in determining when a number changed from "1" to "2" in the Bible text needs to be carefully understood in order to convert these numbers onto a modern BC time scale where we use January 1 as the new year!

a. God ordained that the religious new year was Nisan 1, (Ex 12:2).

b. Judah always used Tishri 1 (Sept.), perhaps adopting the Canaanite practice of the land.

c. The Canaanite Gezer "Harvest Calendar" (city of Gezer) also started their new year in September (Tishri). The tablet read: "Two months gathering (September, October). Two months planting (November, December). Two months late sowing (January, February). One month cutting flax (March). One month reaping barley (April). One month reaping and measuring grain (May). Two months pruning (June, July). One month summer fruit (August)"

d. Israel always used Nisan 1 (April). Egypt, Mesopotamia and Assyria all used Nisan new year. Strangely, the great apostate Jeroboam who invented an entirely new religious calendar of pagan holy days, actually used Nisan 1 as his new year. Jeroboam wanted to change everything in Israel so it was different from Judah. Since Judah was using Tishri 1 (fall new year), Jeroboam started using Nisan 1 (spring new year). Here is a case where an evil man actually restores a God given date for when the new year should begin! What irony!

e. Today we use January 1 (Julian calendar) for our new year in the calculation of BC dates.

5. TEN COREGENCIES: 10 known coregencies among the kings of Israel and Judah. Failure to discern that it was common for a king of Judah to appoint his son as king while he was still living, is a cause of confusion to solving the chronology of the kings of the divided period. To further complicate matters, the lengths of reigns of kings in the Bible sometimes included coherencies and sometimes the numbers did not. We care certain that there was coregencies, not only from Bible texts that clearly indicate such, but also by carefully noticing an overlap in the times each king began and ended their reigns in relation to other kings. Here are the six coregent periods of the divided kingdom:

a. Israel coregency #1: Omri + Tibni: 580-585 BC (5 years). Rival kings who both claimed the throne. “Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; the other half followed Omri. But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. And Tibni died and Omri became king.” (1 Kings 16:21-22)

b. Israel coregency #2: Johoash + Jeroboam II: 782-793 BC. (11 years) Jehoash appointed his son Jeroboam II because of his impending war with Amaziah, king of Judah. It was a prudent appointment during a volatile and dangerous time. “Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us face each other.” Jehoash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thorn bush which was in Lebanon sent to the cedar which was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ But there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trampled the thorn bush. “You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has become proud. Enjoy your glory and stay at home; for why should you provoke trouble so that you, even you, would fall, and Judah with you?” But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah.” (2 Kings 14:8-11)

c. Israel coregency #3: Menahem vs. Pekahiah: 740-752 BC (12 years). Israel had split into two separate kingdoms. Menahem was king of Samaria (west of Jordan) and Pekahiah was king over the Transjordan territory of Gilead (Ephraim). “Moreover, the pride of Israel testifies against him, And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also has stumbled with them.” (Hosea 5:5) This verse clearly shows, in the Hebrew, that there were three kingdoms: Judah, Israel and Ephraim.

d. Judah coregency #4: Asa + Jehoshaphat: 870-872 BC (2 years). Asa was lame due to a disease in his feet. “In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa became diseased in his feet. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians. So Asa slept with his fathers, having died in the forty-first year of his reign.” (2 Chronicles 16:12-13); “So Ahaziah died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. And because he had no son, Jehoram became king in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.” (2 Kings 1:17); “Now Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.” (2 Kings 3:1)

e. Judah coregency #5: Jehoshaphat + Jehoram: 848-853 BC. (5 years). Ahab, king of Israel and Jehoshaphat joined together to defeat Aram. Jehoshaphat appointed his son Jehoram as a safety and stability measure when he was away at war. “In the third year Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. Now the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, and we are still doing nothing to take it out of the hand of the king of Aram?” And he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?” And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” (1 Kings 22:2-4) What is very interesting, is that we know through archeology, from the Kurkh Monolith of Shalmaneser, that Ahab had assisted in the defeat of Shalmaneser in the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BC by supplying 2,000 chariots, 10,000 men. Shorty after the battle of Qurqar, Ahab joined Jehoshaphat to defeat Aram and Ahab was killed at Ramoth-Gilead.

f. Judah coregency #6: Amaziah + Uzziah (Azariah): 767-790 BC (23 years). Jehoash, king of Israel, captures Amaziah so Uzziah (Azariah) became king while his father was in captivity. “Then Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem and tore down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, 400 cubits. … All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah.” (2 Kings 14:13, 21)

g. Judah coregency #7: Uzziah (Azariah) + Jotham: 739-750 BC (11 years). Uzziah offered incense in the temple and was struck with Leprosy. This made him unclean and unable to live in the palace and/or Jerusalem. His son naturally took over the kingdom while his father lived in isolation as a leper. “The Lord struck the king, so that he was a leper to the day of his death. And he lived in a separate house, while Jotham the king’s son was over the household, judging the people of the land.” (2 Kings 15:5)

h. Judah coregency #8: Jothan + Ahaz: 731-735 BC (4 years). Jothan Deposed Ahaz from being king. This coregency another "play it safe" move where Ahaz was joining in a treaty with Tiglath-pileser III (Pul) to gain protection from Damascus. It is also indicated from the times given in the reigns of the various kings alive at the time. The reason that we know there was a coregency is because in 2 Ki 18, several synchronisms are given between Hezekiah and the reign of Hoshea of Israel, whose reign ended in 723 BC. Compare this with the 14th year of Hezekiah being in 701 BC (invasion of Sennacherib) and other texts showing that Hezekiah’s first year of sole reign was 715 BC. “So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son; come up and deliver me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.” (2 Kings 16:7) “Now it came about in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king. … Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them.” (2 Kings 18:1,13)

i. Judah coregency #9: Ahaz + Hezekiah: 715-728 BC (13 years). This coregency is indicated from the times given in the reigns of the various kings alive at the time. “And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and struck him and put him to death and became king in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.” (2 Kings 15:30) “Now it came about in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king. Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. At the end of three years they captured it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was captured.” (2 Kings 18:1, 9-10)

j. Judah coregency #10: Hezekiah + Manasseh: 686-696 BC (10 years). Manasseh was age 7 at Hezekiah’s illness and was made king when it was thought the Hezekiah would die. This is indicated when Hezekiah was told to "set your house in order" which most certainly meant to appoint a successor to the throne. “In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’” (2 Kings 20:1) “Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzibah.” (2 Kings 21:1)

6. Partial dating: When a date is given for a reign of a king that includes only one of two coregencies. Several kings began coregent with their father, then had a period of sole reign, then a final coregent period with their son. The scribe does not count all three periods, but on only two or perhaps only the sole reign.

a. Ahaz reigned for a total of 20 years which is actually the sum of three periods: 4 years coregent with his father Jothan + 3 years sole reign alone + 13 years coregent with his son Hezekiah. e

b. Yet the Bible says he reigned 16 years with is the sum of his sole reign of 3 years + his 13 years coregent with Hezekiah.

c. The bible numbers ignore his 4 coregent years with his father Jothan.

d. This is called partial dating.

7. Dual dating: Dual dating happens during coregencies a king is said to reign for a sum of the coregency with his father (x years) plus the period of sole reign alone after his father died (y years). The scribe would say he reigned x + y years, but then other kings would be said to become king in the period starting with his sole reign, instead of counting from the beginning of his coregency with his father.

a. Dual dating occurred in all three of the coregencies in Israel (Omri, Jeroboam II and Pekah) and for two coregencies in Judah (Jehoshaphat and Azariah.

b. The bible says that a king Israel reigned X (coregent) + Y (sole) years, but then says a king of Judah became king in the 4^th year of the Israeli king where the counting starts after "y" (sole) years instead of counting from the beginning of "x" (coregent reign).

c. Understanding this critical fact of Duel dating solves centuries of problems, puzzles and seeming contradictions in the numbers of the Bible.

III. Chronological chart for the dates of the King of Israel during the divided kingdom:

Kings of Israel: 931-723 BC

King of Israel	Bible verses	Coregency	start and end	Years reigned from Bible	Translated BC Years reigned	Translated BC date ranges
Jeroboam I	1 Ki 12:25-14:20	None	931n-910t/909n	22	21	931-910 BC
Nadab	1 Ki 15:25-31	None	910t/909n-909t/908n	2	1	910-909 BC
Baasha	1 Ki 15:32-16:7	None	909t/908n-886t/885n	24	23	909-886 BC
Elah	1 Ki 16:8-14	None	886t/885n-885t/884n	2	1	886-885 BC
Zimri	1 Ki 16:15-20	None	885t/884n-885t/884n	7 days	7 days	885 BC
Tibni	1 Ki 16:21-22	885-880 BC (5 years)	885t/884n-880n/880t	no data	5	885-880 BC
Omri	1 Ki 16:23-28	885-880 BC (5 years)	880n/880t-874t/873n	12	11 total 6 sole	885-874 BC
Ahab	1 Ki 16:28-34; 1 Ki 20:1-22:40	None	874t/873n-853n/853t	22	21	874-853 BC
Ahaziah	1 Ki 22:40-53; 2 Ki 1:2-18	None	853n/853t-852n/852t	2	1	853-852 BC
Joram	2 Ki 3	None	852n/852t-841n/841t	12	11	852-841 BC
Jehu	2 Ki 9:11-10:36	None	841n/841t-814t/813n	28	27	841-814 BC
Jehoahaz	2 Ki 13:1-9	None	814t/831n-798n/798t	17	16	814-798 BC
Jehoash (Joash)	2 Ki 13:10-25; 14:15-16	793-782 BC (11 years)	798n/798t-782t/781n	16	16 total 11 sole	798-782 BC
Jeroboam II	2 Ki 14:23-29	793-782 BC (11 years)	782t/781n-753, Elul (Sep)	41	40 total 29 sole	793-753 BC
Zechariah	2 Ki 15:8-12	None	753, Elul-752, Adar (Mar)	6 mos.	6 mos.	753-752 BC
Shallum	2 Ki 15:13-15	None	752, Adar-752, Nisan (Apr)	1 mos.	1 mos.	752 BC
Pekah	2 Ki 15:27-31	None	752, Nisan-742t/741n	20	20 total 8 sole	752-732 BC
Menahem	2 Ki 15:16-22	752 - 742 BC (10 years) With Pekah	742t/741n-740t/739n	10	10	752-742 BC
Pekahiah	2 Ki 15:23-26	742-740 BC (2 years) With Pekah	740t/739n-732t/731n	2	2	742-740 BC
Hoshea	2 Ki 17:1-6	None	732t/731n-723n/723t	9	9	732-723 BC

IV. Chronological chart for the dates of the King of Judah during the divided kingdom:

Kings of Judah: 931 - 587 BC

King	Bible Verses	Coregency		Bible Date ranges	Years reigned from Bible	Translated BC Years reigned	Translated BC Date ranges
Rehoboam	1 Ki 14:21-31; 2 Chro 10-12	None		932t-914n/914t	17	17	931-914 BC
Abijah	1 Ki 15:1-8; 2 Chro 13:1-22	None		914n/914t-912t/911n	3	3	914-911 BC
Asa	1 Ki 15:9-24; 2 Chro 14-16	Asa + Jehoshaphat 872-870 BC (2 years)		912t/911n-871t/870n	41	41	911-870 BC
Jehoshaphat	1 Ki 22:41-50; 2 Chro 17-20	Asa + Jehoshaphat 872-870 BC (2 years)	Jehoshaphat + Joram 853-848 BC (5 years)	871t/870n-848n/848t	25	24 total 17 sole	872-848 BC
Joram (Jehoram)	2 Ki 8:16-24; 2 Chro 21		Jehoshaphat + Joram 853-848 BC (5 years)	848n/848t-841n/841t	8	12 total 7 sole	853-841 BC
Ahaziah	2 Ki 8:25-29; 9:27-29; 2 Chro 22:1-9	None		841n/841t-841n/841t	1	0 (a few months)	841 BC
Athaliah	2 Ki 11:1-16; 2 Chro 22:10-23:15	None		841n/841t-835n/835t	7	6	841-835 BC
Joash (Jehoash)	2 Ki 12; 2 Chro 23:16-24:27	None		835n/835t-796n/796t	40	39	835-796 BC
Amaziah	2 Ki 14:1-20; 2 Chro 25	Amaziah + Uzziah 790-767 BC (23 years)		796n/796t-767n/767t	29	29 total 6 sole	796-767 BC
Uzziah	2 Ki 14:21-22; 15:1-7; 2 Chro 26	Amaziah + Uzziah 790-767 BC (23 years)	Uzziah + Jotham 750-739 BC (11 years)	767n/767t-740t	52	51 total 17 sole	790-739 BC
Jotham	2 Ki 15:32-38; 2 Chro 27	Jotham + Ahaz 735-731 BC (4 years)	Uzziah + Jotham 750-739 BC (11 years)	740t-(735n/735t) 732t	16	15 total 11 w/Uzziah 4 sole	750-735 BC
Ahaz	2 Ki 16; 2 Chro 28	Jotham + Ahaz 735-731 BC (4 years)	Ahaz + Hezekiah 728-715 BC (13 years)	732t-716t/715n	16	20 total 3 sole 16 w/Hezekiah	735-715 BC
Hezekiah	2 Ki 18-20; 2 Chro 29-32	Hezekiah + Manasseh 691-681 BC (10 years)	Ahaz + Hezekiah 728-715 BC (13 years)	716t/715n-687t	29	42 total 19 sole 29 w/Manasseh	728-686 BC
Manasseh	2 Ki 21:1-18; 2 Chro 33:1-20	Hezekiah + Manasseh 691-681 BC (10 years)		687t-643t	55	54 total 10 w/Hezekiah	696-642 BC
Amon	2 Ki 21:19-26; 2 Chro 33:21-25	None		643t-641t	2	2	642-640 BC
Josiah	2 Ki 22:1-23:30; 2 Chro 34-35	None		641t-609 Tammuz (July)	31	31	640-609 BC
Jehoahaz	2 Ki 23:31-33	None		609 Tammuz-609 Tishri (Oct)	3 mos.	3 mos.	609-609 BC
Jehoiakim	2 Ki 23:34-24:7	None		609 Tishri-598 21 Heshvan (about 9 Dec 598)	11	11	609-598 BC
Jehoiachin	2 Ki 24:8-16	None		598 (21 Marsheshvan = Sat. December 9th)-597 (2 Adar = Saturday March 16)	3 mos. 10 days	3 mos. 10 days	598-597 BC
Zedekiah	2 Ki 24:18-25:26	None		597 (2 Adar = Saturday March 16) -587 (9 Tammuz = July 29)	11	10	597-587 BC

V. Nisan/Tishri dating codes used on above charts for kings of Israel and Judah:

1. Nisan = "n". Tishri = "t"

2. 931n Sometime during the 12 months after the year beginning on Nisan 1 (April 1) of 931 BC. Israel, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Assyria used Nisan 1 as their new year.

3. 931t Sometime during the 12 months after the year beginning on the first of Tishri (September) of 931 BC. The Canaanites use the "Harvest Calendar" that had a new year on Tishri 1.

4. 931n/931t The six-month period between Nisan 1 (April 1) of 931 BC and Tishri 1 (September 1) 931 BC. (The six months between April-September 931 BC.)

5. 931t/930n The six-month period between Tishri 1 (September 1) of 931 BC and Nisan 1 (April 1) 930 BC. (The six months between September 931 and April 930 BC)

6. Examples:

a. Reheboam: 932t-914n/914t = Start reign sometime in the twelve months after Tishri 1 (September), 932 BC. End reign sometime in the six month period between Nisan 914 (April 914) and Tishri 914 BC (September 914 BC).

b. Jeroboam: 931n-910t/909n = Start reign sometime in the twelve months after Nisan 1 (April 1), 931 BC. End reign sometime in the six month period between Tirsri 1 (September 1), 910 BC and Nisan 1 (April 1), 909 BC.

c. We know that Rehoboam became king before Jeroboam. He became king in 931 BC so the notation of "932t-914n/914t" is correct if he became king, for example in February of 931 BC since 931 BC is less than 12 months after 932t = September 932 BC. Jeroboam, on the other hand became king shortly after Reheboam (3 months?). If Jeroboam became king in May 931 BC then the notation of "931n-910t/909n" is correct because May 931 BC is less than 12 months later than Nisan 1 (April 1) 931 BC.

VI. Anchors and synchronisms that nail the Bible timeline to the true AD/BC time scale:

Think of the Bible chronology as a fixed time scale of a slide ruler. The question is where does the Bible time scale connect with the real time scale we use in terms of BC dating. Anchors are single pieces of historical evidence that nail the Bible timeline onto this BC scale with a degree of high certainty.

1. Ptolemy canon is a very reliable list of rulers and world events that reference many eclipses of the sun and moon etc.

2. Assyrian eponym canon of rulers. Each year a ruler was named for that single year. The list is extensive.

3. A key anchor is in 763 BC where we can synchronize the Assyrian Eponymy of Bur-Sagale and Ptolemy’s Canon to determine that there was a Solar eclipse 15 June in 763 BC.

4. Shoshenq’s 25 foot high battle relief of 138 cities conquered in 926 BC.

5. Kurkh Monolith of Shalmaneser: (Battle of Qarqar) Ahab's presence in the battle of Qarqar in 853 BC

6. Ahab’s Battle of Qarqar in 853BC = Eponymy of Daian-ashur= Shalmaneser’s 6th year. Shalmaneser’s stelae (Kurkh Monolith) says Ahab sent 2,000 chariots, 10,000 men which contributed to Shalmaneser’s defeat. Ahab soon died at Ramoth-gilead in a different battle. (1 Ki 22:1-40)

7. Moabite/Mesha Stone 848 BC, Names: Mesha king of Moab, House of David, Omri, Ahab, Israel, YHWH: 2 Ki 3:4-27

8. Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III: Jehu's tribute shalameser III in 841 BC “In the 18th year of my rule ... I received the tribute of ... Jehu, son of Omri”

9. Prism of Esarhaddon and Prism of Ashurbanipal: Both prisms name Manasseh as one of 22 kings who were enlisted “to transport lumber for Esarhaddon’s palace” and were considered "servants who belong to me, brought gifts to me, kissed my feet" to defeat of Pharoah Taharqa in 671 BC.

10. Sennacherib’s Annals: (circa 689 BC) “Hezekiah... I made prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage.”

11. Iran Stela of Pul: “I recieved tribute from ... Menahem of Samaria”. Menahem pays Tilgath-pileser III/Pul tribute for protection in 743BC: 2 Ki 15:19

12. Stela of Adad-nirari III: 811-782BC: “I received the tribute of Jehoash the Samarian” 795 BC

13. Roman counsel list

14. The Talmud says Ezek 40:1 is in the 17th jubilee cycle.

15. The Babylonian Chronicles 605-594 in British museum tell us:

a. that jehoiakim was installed by Neco in Tishri of 609 BC.

b. Nebuchadnezzar's 1^st year was 605 bc which was the battle of Carchemish.

c. Jehoiachin was captured March 16, 597 BC and replaced by Zedekiah.

16. The Seder Olam gives indications of historical kings of Judah:

a. "Chronological discussions in the Talmud often associate Rabbi Yose ben Halafta with the work Seder Olam (“Order of the World”) (e.g., b. Šabb. 88a; b. Nid. 46b), and it seems that the tanna R. Yose both compiled and authored sections of this major midrashic chronography which treats events from Adam to the Bar Kokhba rebellion. Though often credited with being the first to use the “Era of Creation” (Heb minyan layyĕṣı̂râ; Lat anno mundi), Seder Olam in actuality set dates by sabbatical and jubilee cycles (e.g., 11:50; 15:14; 23:83; 24:24; 25:54) and in so doing, adopted a practice already found in Josephus and occasionally in the Talmud. The main concern of Seder Olam was “the establishment of a chronological continuum from the beginning of the biblical story until its end” (Milikowsky 1981: 4), achieved by calculating the intervals between events and harmonizing conflicting traditions; its eclectic methodology embodies the essence of rabbinic rationalization of the biblical data (cf. Heinemann 1978). (The “Era of Creation,” together with the regulated 19-year cycle of intercalation, the basis for the current Jewish festival calendar, is traceable to the 9th century.)" (Chronology, ABD, Volume 1, Page 1003)

b. "In a later chronicle, Seder ʿOlam Zuta (composed circa the 8th century), the anonymous author presents a list of exhilarchs. The list is headed by Jehoiachin the king of Judah. A listing of the entire dynasty follows (Neubauer 1895: 74–77). However, it is apparent that the compiler copied the earliest names from the listing in 1 Chr 3:18ff., and that he did not have before him a tradition concerning the later exhilarchs who held the office until the 3d century c.e. The author’s tendency is clear; he wanted to show the ancient origins of the institution and the genealogy of the exhilarchs of his time, starting with the house of David." (Judaism, ABD, Volume 3, Page 1080)

17. Tyrian kings list from Hiram (David's time) down to Pygmalion. Anchor point is the 7^th year of Pygalion in which his sister, Dido left Tyre and founded the city of Carthage which is mentioned by classical writers who tie this event to the roman calendar and the Greek Olympiads. The Tyrian kings list has been tied to shalameser III.

Conclusion:

1. The chronologies of the Kings of Judah and Israel have been solved!

2. For centuries the chronologies of the Kings of Judah and Israel have been fraught is confusion and complication, causing Bible students to give up and ignore the numbers. Bible trashers on the other hand are delighted because they point to the numbers as proof the Bible is full of contradiction and represents a fictional history that was invented for political gain.

3. What is so stunning about all this, is that we can now prove that the text of the Bible is in fact fully intact as a real historical record.

4. The numbers given for the length of time a king reigned have now been proven to be correct!

5. Although these numbers have confounded Bible students for thousands of years, they respected the command NOT TO ADD TO OR TAKE AWAY OR CHANGE THE WORD OF GOD. Had they done that, we would not be able to now solve the chronology once and for all, with the same numbers that perplexed men in the past!

6. What a fabulous testament and proof to the inspiration of the Bible.

Credits:

1. Evidence for Inerrancy: OT Chronology, Bible & Spade, Rodger C. Young, 2008 AD

2. Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, Edwin R. Thiele, 1983 AD

3. Supplément au Dictionnaire de la Bible, Valarius Coucke, 1928 AD

By Steve Rudd: Contact the author for comments, input or corrections.

Go To Start: WWW.BIBLE.CA