Category:Chronology

Chro*nol"o*gy, n.; pl. Chronologies. Etym: [Gr. chronologie.]

Defn: The science which treats of measuring time by regular divisions or periods, and which assigns to events or transactions their proper dates. If history without chronology is dark and confused, chronology without history is dry and insipid. A. Holmes.

---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Chronology - Is the arrangement of facts and events in the order of time. The writers of the Bible themselves do not adopt any standard era according to which they date events. Sometimes the years are reckoned, e.g., from the time of the Exodus (Numbers 1:1; Numbers 33:38; 1 Kings 6:1), and sometimes from the accession of kings (1 Kings 15:1, 1 Kings 15:9, 1 Kings 15:25, 1 Kings 15:33, etc.), and sometimes again from the return from Exile (Ezra 3:8). Hence in constructing a system of Biblical chronology, the plan has been adopted of reckoning the years from the ages of the patriarchs before the birth of their firstborn sons for the period from the Creation to Abraham. After this period other data are to be taken into account in determining the relative sequence of events. See table, as to the patriarchal period, there are three principal systems of chronology: (1) that of the Hebrew text, (2) that of the Septuagint version, and (3) that of the Samaritan Pentateuch. Hebrew Text Septuagint Version Samaritan Pentateuch Patriarch Lived years before birth of first son Lived after birth of first son Total life Lived years before birth of first son Lived after birth of first son Total life Lived years before birth of first son Lived after birth of first son Total life Adam 130 800 930 230 700 930 130 800 930 Seth 105 807 912 205 707 912 105 807 912 Enos 90 815 905 190 715 905 90 815 905 Cainan 70 840 910 170 740 910 70 840 910 Mahalaleel 65 830 895 165 730 895 65 830 895 Jared 162 800 962 162 800 962 62 785 947 Enoch 65 300 365 165 200 365 65 300 365 Methuselah 187 782 969 187 782 969 67 653 720 Lamech 182 595 777 188 565 753 53 600 653 From Adam to the birth of Noah 1056 1662 707 From birth of Noah to the Flood 600 600 600 From Adam to the Flood 1656 2262 1307 The Samaritan and the Septuagint have considerably modified the Hebrew chronology. This modification some regard as having been willfully made, and to be rejected. The same system of variations is observed in the chronology of the period between the Flood and Abraham. See table following: Hebrew Septuagint Samaritan From the birth of Arphaxad, 2 years after the flood, to the birth of Terah. 220 1000 870 From the birth of Terah to the birth of Abraham 130 70 72 The Septuagint fixes on seventy years as the age of Terah at the birth of Abraham, from Genesis 11:26; but a comparison of Genesis 11:32 and Acts 7:4 with Genesis 12:4 shows that when Terah died, at the age of two hundred and five years, Abraham was seventy-five years, and hence Terah must have been one hundred and thirty years when Abraham was born. Thus, including the two years from the Flood to the birth of Arphaxad, the period from the Flood to the birth of Abraham was three hundred and fifty-two years. The next period is from the birth of Abraham to the Exodus. This, according to the Hebrew, extends to five hundred and five years. The difficulty here is as to the four hundred and thirty years mentioned Exodus 12:40, Exodus 12:41; Galatians 3:17. These years are regarded by some as dating from the covenant with Abraham (Gen. 15), which was entered into soon after his sojourn in Egypt; others, with more probability, reckon these years from Jacob's going down into Egypt. (See EXODUS.) In modern times the systems of Biblical chronology that have been adopted are chiefly those of Ussher and Hales. The former follows the Hebrew, and the latter the Septuagint mainly. Archbishop Ussher's (died 1656) system is called the short chronology. It is that given on the margin of the Authorized Version, but is really of no authority, and is quite uncertain. See table: System of Biblical Chronology Ussher B.C. Hales B.C. Creation 4004 5411 Flood 2348 3155 Abram leaves Haran 1921 2078 Exodus 1491 1648 Destruction of the Temple 588 586 See Chronological Tables - The Old Testament to the Death of Solomon - 4004 B.C.-976 B.C. See Chronological Tables - The Kingdoms of Judah and Israel - 976 B.C.-918 B.C. See Chronological Tables - The Kingdoms of Judah and Israel - 918 B.C.-883 B.C. See Chronological Tables - The Kingdoms of Judah and Israel - 883 B.C.-705 B.C. See Chronological Tables - The Kingdoms of Judah and Israel - 697 B.C.-588 B.C. See Chronological Tables - The Kingdoms of Judah and Israel - 562 B.C.-332 B.C. See Chronological Tables - Chronology According to the Assyrian Inscriptions - 858 B.C.-606 B.C. See Chronological Tables - Between the Testaments - 331 B.C.-4 B.C. See Chronological Tables - The New Testament History - 4 B.C.-A.D. 98 To show at a glance the different ideas of the date of the creation, it may be interesting to note the following: From Creation to 1894. According to Ussher, 5,898; Hales, 7,305; Zunz (Hebrew reckoning), 5,882; Septuagint (Perowne), 7,305; Rabbinical, 5,654; Panodorus, 7,387; Anianus, 7,395; Constantinopolitan, 7,403; Eusebius, 7,093; Scaliger, 5,844; Dionysius (from whom we take our Christian era), 7,388; Maximus, 7,395; Syncellus and Theophanes, 7,395; Julius Africanus, 7,395; Jackson, 7,320.