THE BIBLICAL TIMELINE

JACOB’S SOJOURN IN HARAN

Here in Part II of our research we start calculating the Biblical dates. Genesis 5 begins with the years of Adam and ends with Noah. Genesis 11 continues on with the Great Flood and finishes with Abram's father, Terah. But there exists different ways to interpret these two chapters, each one yielding different results. Even if we knew how to interpret Genesis 5 and 11 correctly, we'd have no way of proving our version as valid. However Exodus 6:16-20, concerning Levi's progeny in Egypt, has the same format as Genesis 5 and 11. If we could prove our interpretation of Exodus 6:16-20 as correct, then Presupposition 2 (see June 11) would allow us to use that same principle of interpretation in Genesis 5 and 11. So we first look at Exodus 6:16-20.

 

¹⁶And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years. ¹⁷The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families. ¹⁸And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years. ¹⁹And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi according to their generations. ²⁰And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years.

 

Exodus 6:16-20 concerns Levi, the third son of Jacob, and his progeny during the Jewish sojourn in Egypt. We have the lifespan of Levi, 137 years, Kohath, 133 years, and Amram, 137 years. Levi entered Egypt with his father, Jacob, and died there (see June 21 and Genesis 46); so Levi's stay there is 137 minus his age when he entered the land. Since Levi begot Kohath, who begot Amram, who begat Aaron, and Aaron with his brother, Moses, left Goshen in the Exodus (Exodus 12:40-41), we know Levi, Kohath and Amram lived out their lives in Egypt.

 

If we look at the following: |137 minus Levi's age when he entered Egypt| plus the 133 years of Kohath, plus the 137 years of Amram, plus the age of Aaron when departing the land, we'd have some number S such that the total period, T, of the Jewish sojourn must include S; i.e., S ≤ T. Knowing S and T may infer nothing: the years of two or more of these men could have overlapped, making S < T. But if God wrote the Bible, He wouldn't give us these numbers incidentally. By Corollary 2b—the assumption of divinity as a principle of interpretation—we attempt to calculate S with the expectation that it has significance. But first we have to determine the age of Levi when entering Egypt.

 

Levi's great-great-grandfather, Terah, had three sons, Abram, Nahor and Haran (Genesis 11:26). While in Mesopotamian Ur Haran died (Genesis 11:28) after fathering a son, Lot (Genesis 11:27), and a daughter, Milcah (Genesis 11:29). Abram married Sarai, a half sister and daughter of Terah (Genesis 20:12), and Nahor took Milcah, his brother's daughter (Genesis 11:29).

 

As we saw on June 21, Abram's family--Terah, Lot, Nahor, Milcah, and Sarai--left Ur (Sumer) and traveled north along the Fertile Crescent to Haran (Genesis 11:31) in today's southeast Turkey. After Terah died (Genesis 11:32), Abram, Sarai, Lot and his two daughters journeyed southwest to Canaan on the east coast of the Mediterranean (Genesis 12). Nahor remained behind in Haran, i.e., in Padanaram (Genesis 27:43 and Genesis 28:2).

 

Nahor and Milcah gave birth to Bethuel (Genesis 22:20-22), who fathered Laban (Genesis 28:5) and Rebekah (Genesis 22:23 , 25:20, 27:43). Abram and Sarai gave birth to Isaac (Genesis 21:1-3). In Genesis 24:1-10 Abraham sent his most trusted and oldest servant back to his brother's house (Nahor: Genesis 11:27) in Haran to find a wife for Isaac. The servant returned with Rebekah and she married Abram's son (Genesis 25:20).

 

Isaac and Rebekah gave birth to twins, Esau and Jacob (Genesis 25:24-26). In Genesis 27:41-43 Esau wanted to kill Jacob for stealing their father's blessing. Isaac and Rebekah thought it a good idea to send Jacob to Nahor's and Bethuel's house in Haran (Genesis 27:43; Genesis 28:2), hoping he'd get a wife who'd keep him out of trouble. So ⁵…Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother (Genesis 28; see June 21).

 

Laban, son of Bethuel (Genesis 28:5) and brother of Rebekah (Genesis 28:2), in Haran (Genesis 27:43), had two daughters, Rachel and Leah (Genesis 29:16). ²⁰…Jacob served (Laban) seven years for Rachel, Laban's younger daughter (Genesis 29:20), then another seven years after Laban dumped his older daughter, Leah, on him as well (Genesis 29:28, 30). So Jacob had worked fourteen years. He fathered four sons by Leah, including Levi, (Genesis 29:32-35). Jacob then had two more sons by Bilhah, Rachel's maid (Genesis 30:5-8), two sons by Zilpah, Leah's maid (Genesis 30:9), two sons again by Leah (Genesis 30:17-19), and finally a son by Rachel named Joseph (Genesis 30:23-24), thus a total of eleven sons (and one daughter). So we have Terah → Abram → Isaac → Jacob → Levi (and Joseph, plus nine other sons and one daughter).

 

After the birth of Joseph, Jacob intended to leave Laban in Haran and return to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan (Genesis 30:25-36); but Laban wanted him to remain. So they made a deal: Jacob would work for cattle to take home with him—later. Laban then ³⁶…set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks (Genesis 30).

 

After six years Jacob snuck off to return to his father Isaac. With his two wives, he carries …away all his cattle…his goods which he had gotten…in Padanaram…to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan (Genesis 31:18). However ²²…it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled. ²³And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days' journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead (Genesis 31).

 

While airing their differences, Jacob tells Laban, ⁴¹…I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times (Genesis 31).

 

In order to determine Levi's age, we need to know how long Jacob worked for Laban. Some people would guess at twenty-years. But was it?

 

On October 4 we calculate Jacob's stay in Haran.

JACOB AND MOSES

As we saw on October 1, Isaac's son, Jacob, worked for his uncle, Laban, in Haran and married his two daughters, Rachael and Leah. After x num- ber of years, Jacob attempts to sneak off with all his cattle, wives and children and return to his father, Isaac, in the land of Canaan. But Laban, his boss and father-in-law, catches up with him and gives him a hard time. In Genesis 31, Jacob tells him, ⁴¹…I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.

 

In order to calculate Levi's age when entering Egypt, we need to know how long Jacob had been with Laban in Padanaram. Was it twenty-years?

 

Jacob worked seven years for Rachel (Genesis 29:20). Beginning in his eighth year, Jacob had eleven sons. Six years before Jacob fled (in Gene- sis 31:17-21), Laban ³⁶…set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob (Genesis 30) and Rachel had given birth to the last son, Joseph (Genesis 30:23-24). So if Jacob had worked for Laban only twenty years, those eleven sons would be within seven years of each other (20 – 7 – 6 = 7). Rachel allowed Jacob her maid, Bilhah, only after she herself couldn't conceive (Genesis 30:3). By then only four sons had been born to Leah (Genesis 29:35), which means at least 36 months had passed. That leaves less than four years (48 months) left to have seven more sons, plus a daughter (Genesis 30:21). Rachel gave birth to only one, Bilhah to two (Genesis 30:1-7), Zilpah to two, Leah to two sons and one daughter, Di- nah (Genesis 30:17-21). Genesis 29, 30 reveals that none of these sons came prematurely or at the same time from the four women. Only after Leah couldn't conceive did she let Jacob have her maid. So most likely Jacob remained in Haran for more than twenty years.

 

Moreover, consider Genesis 30, where Laban had ³⁶…set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob; and compare that with Genesis 31, when after Jacob had fled: ²²…it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled. So it took three days for some snitch to run back and tell Laban his son-in-law had split. From those two verses we conclude that for a certain period Jacob had been three days distant from Laban, i.e., since the time he left to feed …the rest of Laban's flocks (Genesis 30:36).

 

Also in Genesis 31, Jacob tells Laban, ⁴⁰Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes. Since the drought consumed Jacob and he was three days' journey distant from Laban, Jacob did not reside in Laban's house for a certain period. But he had been in Laban's house for twenty years (Gene- sis 31:41). Since 20 years is less than 20 years in the house plus "a certain period" not in the house, we conclude Jacob had been working for Laban more than twenty years.

 

A more likely scenario: Jacob worked 14 years for Rachel and Leah (Genesis 29:20, 30); then, no longer having to pay for his wives, he could afford room and board in Laban's house, where he remained for 20 years (Genesis 31:41). That allows the four woman twenty-seven years to give birth to the eleven sons and one daughter. Finally, after the birth of Jo- seph, Jacob wanted to leave, but instead he worked six more years (Gen- esis 31:41) to pay for all his cattle…his goods which he had gotten…in Padanaram (Genesis 31:18); and he worked at a distance requiring three days' journey from Laban (Genesis 30:36). So Jacob worked a total of 14 + 20 + 6 = 40 years. At the end of these forty years we have Joseph at six or more years.

 

In deriving our timeline we must note that certain numbers have parabolic meaning. Just as Scripture uses "ships" to stand for churches (see June 30), the word "forty" signifies testing, trial or judgment (destruction). Seven days before the Noachian flood, God proclaims, ⁴…I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living sub- stance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth (Genesis 7).

 

In Numbers 14, God tells the Jews, ³³…your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. 

 

While ¹⁸ ...Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights in Exodus 24, God tested the Hebrews to determine what they would do without their leader. They failed miserably (in Exodus 32) by making and wor- shiping a molten calf.

 

In Matthew 4, ¹…was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. ²And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. Christ passed the test when ¹¹…the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

 

Just as Moses worked 40 years (see June 21 and Acts 7:30) for Jethro (Exodus 3:1), his father-in-law in Midian (North Arabia), Jacob labored under Laban in Haran the same amount of time; and both Moses and Jacob were shepherds.

 

In order to estimate the year of Levi's birth we suppose Leah's first four children arrived at one per year. Then if she gave Jacob his first child, Reuben, around the eighth year, Levi, her third child (Genesis 29:34), would have arrived about two years later, or in the 10^th year. We can now estimate how many years elapsed between the birth of Levi and that of Joseph.  

 

In 1 Samuel 1, we read that Hannah ²² …said unto her husband (El- kanah), I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD…, So we can assume that weaning was the Jewish custom such that Rachel would want to wean Joseph before leaving with Jacob. Since Jacob wanted to depart in the 34^th year, Joseph, his last child, would have been weaned, therefore would have been born around the 32^nd year. Since 32 – 10 = 22, let's estimate a 22 year difference between Joseph and Levi. 

 

On October 6 we determine Levi's age and the Jewish sojourn in Egypt.

JACOB RETURNS TO CANAAN BUT DIES IN EGYPT

So far we have Jacob working forty years in Haran and wanting to return to his father Isaac in Canaan (see October 4). But his uncle and former boss, Laban, doesn't like the idea, especially after Jacob sneaks off with- out any good-bys. However in Genesis 31 Laban and Jacob come to terms and in Genesis 32:¹…Jacob went on his way (to Canaan). In Gen- esis 33 Jacob meets his estranged brother, Esau, who forgives Jacob (for stealing their father's blessing; see October 1). Rachel bears another son, Benjamin, and dies (Genesis 35:16-20). Before Isaac's death, Jacob goes to his father in Genesis 35:27-29.

 

Almost ten years pass. As we saw on June 21, Joseph, the 11^th son, rubs his brothers the wrong way and they sell him as a slave to Ishmeelites on their way to Egypt (Genesis 37:27). Back home they tell their father, Ja- cob, that a wild animal killed his favorite son. Jacob is devastated.

 

In Egypt, after doing time, Joseph proves he can interpret Pharaoh's dreams and predicts seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine (Genesis 41). So Pharaoh makes him ⁴³…ruler over all the land of Egypt (Genesis 41). We need only remember that ⁴⁶…Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh (Genesis 41). After seven years of a plentiful harvest (Genesis 41:47), ⁵⁴…seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said (Genesis 41). So Joseph is now thirty-seven.

 

Because of the famine, ³…Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. ⁸And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him (Genesis 42). Joseph provides for them, ²⁶…they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence (Genesis 42). When Jacob's family runs out of pro- visions again, ¹⁵…the men took… double money…and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph (Genesis 43). With no hard feelings for selling him out, Joseph reveals himself (Genesis 45:1) and announces that ¹¹…there are five years (of the seven) of fam- ine… still to go (Genesis 45). So two years have passed and Joseph is now 39 years old.

 

Joseph's brothers return to Canaan. They tell their father, Jacob, that Joseph, now alive again (Genesis 45:26), has invited them to come live with him (Genesis 45:20). In Genesis 46, God tells Jacob,³…fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: ⁵And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel…and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶…they took their cattle, and their goods…and came into Egypt… (Genesis 46:5-6). So we've finally reached the period of interest in Exo- dus 6:16-20 (see October 1).

 

Since Levi is 22 years older than Joseph (see October 4) and Joseph is 39, Levi is about (39 + 22) = 61 years old when he entered Egypt and Jacob is 130 years old (Genesis 47:9).

 

Jacob's family settle down near the southeast cost of the sea, which includes the Nile River Delta, in Goshen (referred to as Rameses in Genesis 47:6, 11, an official title, like pharaoh, or Thutmoses = Amen- hotep.) At first all goes well under the auspices of Joseph, vizier to Pharaoh; but eventually he and the Pharaoh die. Upcoming kings find no reason to appreciate the Hebrews, not when the latter keep multiplying. Things go from bad to worse until the Jews find themselves in slave labor (Exodus 1:8-14). The Eighteenth Dynasty (1550 - 1295 BCE) enslaved war prisoners, deadbeats, and criminals, but that of course would've excluded the Hebrews. So only a growing paranoia would account for their subjugation (the reason given in Exodus 1:10). That the Israelites didn't worship Re, the Egyptian sun god, didn't help. King/Queen Hat- shepsut (fifth Pharaoh) had kicked the Asiatic "barbarians" out of the delta after they'd "…ruled in ignorance of Re."¹

 

King Hatshepsut was probably the princes who'd fished Moses out of the river and adopted him (Exodus 2:5), then later wanted him dead for sym- pathizing with the Jews and wasting an Egyptian (Exodus 2:12). After a 21/22 year reign, she dies in 1458 BCE (other sources approximate at 1482). Thutmoses III, co-regent with Hatshepsut for twenty-two years, became pharaoh. Moses had fled to Midian long before Men-kheper-re (the new pharaoh's throne name) had been born and could now safely return to stir up trouble. In Exodus 5:1-5 he tells Thutmoses III he wants to take the Hebrews into the wilderness to worship Jehovah. Perceiving him as a nutcase and troublemaker, the Pharaoh tells him to get lost. In Exodus 7, ⁷…Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.

 

When Pharaoh does his utmost to make life difficult, God turns his stub- bornness into stupidity with the ten plagues (see June 21). After the firstborn of Egypt all die (Exodus 12:29), Thutmosis III lets the Hebrews leave. We assume a year has gone by and Aaron is 84 years old.

 

In Exodus 12, ⁴⁰ …the sojourning of the children of Israel…in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. ⁴¹And…at the end of the four hundred and thirty years…all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.

 

That's all we need to know for now. On October 8 we crunch the num- bers.

 

^1. http://www.wyattnewsletters.com/exodus/ex08.htm

A PRINCIPLE OF INTERPRETATION

To continue developing our timeline we look again at Exodus 6:16-20:

¹⁶And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their gener- ations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years. ¹⁷The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families. ¹⁸And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years. ¹⁹And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi according to their generations. ²⁰And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hun- dred and thirty and seven years.

 

These verses give a partial lineage of Levi; also the lifespan of Levi, 137 years, Kohath, 133, and Amram, 137. As we've already shown, Levi en- tered Egypt and died there (see June 21); so Levi's stay in Egypt is 137 minus his age when he entered the land. Since Levi begot Kohath, who begot Amram, who begat Aaron, and Aaron with his brother, Moses, left Egypt (in Exodus 12:40-41), we know Levi, Kohath and Amram lived out their lies in Goshen. Since we now know the Jews sojourned in Egypt 430 years (see October 6 and Exodus 12:40) we must have those 430 years include |the lifespan of Levi minus the age he entered Egypt| plus the lifespan of Kohath plus the lifespan of Amram plus the age of Aaron when departing. We now know that Levi was about 61 when he entered the land and Aaron was about 84 when the Jews departed (see October 6). So we must have: 430 ≥ (137 – 61) + 133 + 137 + 84.

 

When we add up the right side we get a significant number: 430 years.

 

As we can see in the diagram below, this equality means no lifespan of any one of them could have overlapped with another (otherwise we'd have less than 430 years); also at any time one of them had to be alive (otherwise we'd have more than 430 years). So in the year Levi died, Kohath was born, and in the year Kohath died, Amram was born, and in the year Amram died, Aaron was born.

Levi (76 yrs)

                     Kohath (133 yrs)

                                                 Amram (137 yrs)

                                                                              Aron (84 yrs)

430 =            76          +           133        +           137      +      84

 

 

We have here a timeline and can see why Exodus 6:16-20 gave us these numbers. The Bible uses Levi, Kohath, Amram and Aaron as patriarchs to measure time just as we use Christ to refer to a year and distinguish B.C. from A.D. They could use these patriarchs as time references only if A died not only the same year but the same day B was born. Then the Jews could refer to their second year in Egypt as the 63^rd year of Levi; their 100^th year in Egypt as the 24^th year of Kohath because 137 – 61 + 24 = 100. We therefore have shown that Exodus 6:16-20 doesn't give these years incidentally, which wouldn't say much for divinity.

 

Exodus 6:16-20 allows us to interpret as follows: if A was born in the year w and lived x years and begat B, who lived y years, than B was born in the year (w + x); and B, who begat C, died in the year C was born; i.e., in the year (w + x + y).

 

That B was born in the year A died does not imply an immediate father-son relationship. Aaron, born the same year Amram died at 137, was not necessarily an immediate son of Amram, despite the language in Exodus 6:16-20 (and she (Jochebed) bare him (Amram) Aaron and Moses). Therefore that A begot (or bare) B means only that A is a progenitor of B, not an immediate father. We prove this assertion on October 11.

 

Since this principle of interpretation in Exodus 6:16-20 gives us a timeline regarding the sojourn in Egypt, we look for verses with similar language where we can apply the same principle according to Presupposition 2: A presupposition is a principle of interpretation if and only if it can be derived from Scripture (see June 11).

 

We find such verses in Genesis 5:3-32: ⁵And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died;

 

We also find such verses in Genesis 11: ¹²And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah: ¹³And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

 

Genesis 5:5 and Genesis 11:12-13 have the same format as Exodus 6:¹⁶…and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years. ¹⁷… and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years.

 

Again Exodus 16:16-17 does not imply Kohath was an immediate son of Levi. The two verses merely imply that Levi had a son, who had a son etc. who had a son named Kohath; and Kohath was born the year Levi died at age 137.

 

Similarly Genesis 11:12-13 does not imply Salah was an immediate son of Arphaxad. Genesis 11:12-13 merely implies that at thirty-five years of age Arphaxad had a son—call him Harry—who eventually had a son, etc. who had a son named Salah, who was born the year Arphaxad died at the age of 438 (= 35 + 403, since after Harry was born Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years). 

 

On Monday, October 13, we use the principle derived in Exodus 6:16-20 to calculate the timeline in Genesis 5 and 11. But first on Saturday, Octo- ber 11, in order to avoid what previously muddied correct interpretation, we prove Scripture's definition of the verbs, "bear" and "beget."

SCRIPTURE DEFINES THE WORD, "BEGOT"

Before beginning from Adam in Genesis 5 we must define a couple of terms; rather we have to let Scripture dictate according to Corollary 3c (Only Scripture can define its own vocabulary; see June 11). For Cor- ollary 3c to work it needs Corollary 3a (For confirmation of all conclu- sions or principles we must compare Scripture with all of Scripture and only Scripture). So we look at the following verse.

 ¹²And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah: (Genesis 11).

Thus Arphaxad → Salah

Compare:

³⁵… Sala, ³⁶Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad…, (Luke 3).

Thus Arphaxad → Cainan → Sala (= Salah).

 

If we think of the verb, begat, as defining an immediate father-son re- lationship, then we can't help conclude these verses contradict each other. But Presupposition 1 (the no-contradictions-allowed rule; see June 11) won't allow us that conclusion. So we must conclude (through Corollary 3a) that the Bible (according to Corollary 3c) defines the verb, begat, such that the verb does not imply an immediate father-son relationship.

 

If in Genesis 5 and 11 we read, A begat B, then we use the same principle of interpretation that we derived from Exodus 6:16-20 (according to Pre- supposition 2: A presupposition is a principle of interpretation if and only if it can be derived from Scripture.): i.e., if A lived x years and begat B, and A lived y years after he begat B, then A was the grandfather of, or the great grandfather etc, of B, and A lived (x + y) years and died the day B was born. Another way of looking at the phrase, A begat B means A begat an ancestor of B, and B was born the day A died—unless Scripture instructs us to consider B an immediate son of A.

 

So now we have to ask, suppose A begat B such that B really is an immediate son of A. Then how might Scripture (in accordance with Corollary 3c) define B as such?

 

We read in Genesis 4:²⁵And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth… ²⁶And to Seth…was born a son; and he called his name Enos… We find the same phrase, called his name thirty-two times in the KJV and it always denotes an immediate son. Therefore Seth is an immediate son of Adam and Enos is an immediate son of Seth.

 

If we now use the same principle of interpretation in Genesis 5 and 11 as we did in Exodus 6:16-20 (see October 8), we should expect to derive a similar timeline beginning from the first guy ever, Adam, to Noah (Genesis 5:32), the master shipbuilder.

 

On October 13 we take on Genesis 5.

FROM ADAM TO LAMECH

The previous five Posts, since October 1, allow us to take on the ge- nealogy of Genesis 5.

 

³And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son …and called his name Seth: ⁵And all the days that Adam lived were nine hun- dred and thirty years: and he died. ⁶And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos: ⁸And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died. ¹¹And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.

 

If we begin at the year 0, Adam dies in 930. As we determined on Octo- ber 11, Seth is an immediate son of Adam and Enos is an immediate son of Seth. Therefore Seth dies in 1042 (=130 + 912) and Enos dies in 1140 (=130 + 105 + 905).

 

Since Adam lived a hundred and thirty years before Seth, Adam's patri- archal period began in year 0 and ended in 130. Since Seth lived an hun- dred and five years, and begat Enos, Seth's patriarchal period began in 130 and ended in 235 (= 130 + 105)

 

In Genesis 5:⁹…Enos…begat Cainan: ¹⁴And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died. Nowhere does Scripture show Cainan as an immediate son of Enos. Therefore we use the principle of interpretation derived in Exodus 6:16-29; i.e., Enos begat maybe the father, or maybe the grandfather, or maybe the great grandfather, etc. of Cainan; and Enos died the same year Cainan was born. Since Enos died in 1140, his patriarchal period ends in 1140 and Cainan was born in 1140. Since Cainan lived 910 years, Cainan died in 2050 (= 1140 + 910).

 

¹²And Cainan…begat Mahalaleel: ¹⁷And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died. Mahalaleel died in 2945 (=2050 + 895).

 

¹⁵And Mahalaleel…begat Jared: ²⁰And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died. Jared died in 3907 (= 2945 + 962).

 

¹⁸And Jared…begat Enoch: ²³And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: Enoch died in 4272 (= 3907 + 365).

 

²¹And Enoch begat Methuselah: ²⁷And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died. Methuselah died in 5241 (= 4272 + 969).

 

²⁵And Methuselah…begat Lamech: ³¹And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died. Lamech died in 6018 (= 5241 + 777).

 

Now we read, ²⁸And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: ²⁹And he called his name Noah. Since he called his name Noah, Noah is an immediate son of Lamech. Since Lamech was born the year Methuselah died, Noah was born in 5423 (= 5241 + 182).

 

³²And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Since Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son (Noah), Lamech's patriarchal period ends in 5423 (= 5241 + 182). Since Noah was five hundred years old we're now at 5923 (= 5423 + 500) and the end of Genesis 5.

 

If we skip ahead to Genesis 9 we know that Shem, Ham and Japheth were immediate sons of Noah. ¹⁸And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Ca- naan.¹⁹These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.

 

So far we have:

000:     God creates Adam.

130:     Adam's patriarchal period ends;

             the patriarchal period of Seth begins.

235:      Seth's patriarchal period ends;

             the patriarchal period of Enos begins.

930:      the death of Adam.

1042:    the death of Seth

1140:    the death of Enos; the birth of Cainan

2050:    the death of Cainan; the birth of Mahalaleel

2945:    the death of Mahalaleel; the birth of Jared

3907:    the death of Jared; the birth of Enoch

4272:    the death of Enoch; the birth of Methuselah

5241:    the death of Methuselah; the birth of Lamech

5423:    the birth of Noah;

             Lamech's patriarchal periodends

5923:     Noah is 500 years old and has three sons:

              Shem, Ham and Japheth.

6018:     the death of Lamech 

 

On October 15 we go to Genesis 11.

FROM NOAH TO TERAH

We now have Noah at 500 years old in 5923 (see October 13). In Genesis 7:¹¹In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. So we have the flood beginning in 6023 (5923 + 100), in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month.

 

³And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. ⁴And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

 

Since 30 x |2 – 7| = 150, the calendar of Noah's day had 30 days per month; at least when counting from the second month to the seventh month.

 

In Genesis 8:¹³…it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. ¹⁴And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried. ¹⁵And God spake unto Noah, saying, ¹⁶Go forth of the ark… So it is now 6024 in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, when Noah departs from the ark.

 

With 30 days per month, from the seventeenth day of the second month, to the seven and twentieth day of the second month of the following year, they lived in the ark for, ((12 x 30) + |17 – 27|) = 370 days.

 

In Genesis 9:²⁹…all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died. So Noah was 500 years old in 5923, (5923 – 500) + 950 = (5423 + 950) = 6373 when Noah died.

 

¹⁰ …Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:

We have to know how to interpret the phrase, after the flood, i.e., after the flood began or after the flood ended the following year. Using Cor- ollary 3a and Corollary 3c, we consider Genesis 9:²⁸And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. Since the flood began in 6023, and Noah died in 6373, and 6373 – 6023 = 350, Genesis 9:28 defines the term, x years after the flood, as (6023 + x). Thus Genesis 11:10 tells us that Shem begat Arphaxad in 6025 (= 6023 + 2); since Shem was an hundred years old in 6025, Shem was born in 5925. Since Scripture gives the age of Shem, he is the patriarch after Noah; and Noah's patriarchal period ends in 5925.

 

And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. Since Arphaxad is not an immediate son of Shem, we have (6025 + 500) = 6525 when Shem dies.

 

Now back to Genesis 11:¹²And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah: ¹³And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years… So Arphaxad lived 438 years [= (5 + 30) + (403)]. Arphaxad (not an immediate son of Shem) is born when Shem dies; so it's (6525 + 438) = 6963 when Arphaxad died.

 

¹⁴And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber: ¹⁵And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years… Salah lived 433 years (= 30 + 403) years; so it's (433 + 6963) = 7396 when Salah died.

 

¹⁶And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg: ¹⁷And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years… Eber lived 464 years (= 4 + 30 + 430); so it's (464 + 7396) = 7860 when Eber died.

 

¹⁸And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu: ¹⁹And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years… Peleg lived 239 years (= 30 + 209); so it's (7860 + 239) = 8099 when Peleg died.

 

²⁰And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug: ²¹And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years… Reu lived 239 years (32 + 207); so it's (8099 + 239) = 8338 when Reu died.

 

²²And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor: ²³And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years… Serug lived 230 years (30 + 200); so it's (8338 + 230) = 8568 when Serug died.

 

²⁴And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah: ²⁵And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, Nahor lived 148 years (29 + 119); so it's (8568 + 148) = 8716 when Nahor died.

 

²⁶And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. ³²And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran. 8716 + 205 = 8921 when Terah died.

 

³¹…Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there… Since Terah died in Haran, we know Abram was the immediate son of Terah.

 

We now have:

6023:  the great flood

6024:  Noah exits the ark

6373:  the death of Noah

6525:  the death of Shem; the birth of Arphaxad.

6963:  the death of Arphaxad; the birth of Salah

7396:  the death of Salah; the birth of Eber

7860:  the death of Eber; the birth of Peleg

8099:  the death of Peleg; the birth of Reu

8338:  the death of Reu; the birth of Serug

8568:  the death of Serug; the birth of Nahor

8716:  the death of Nahor; the birth of Terah

8921:  the death of Terah

 

On October 18 we go from Abram to the Israelite entrance into the land of Canaan.

FROM ABRAM TO CANAAN

We know from October 15 that Terah, the father of Abram, died in Haran in 8921. Genesis 12 begins with the departure of Abram from Haran for the land of Canaan in the same year. ⁴…and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. Therefore we have 8846 as the birth year of Abram (= 8921 – 75).

 

Genesis 17:²⁴…Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. So Abraham is circumcised in 8945 (= 8846 + 99). In Genesis 19:24, 25 God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah.

 

In Genesis 17:¹⁷ …Abraham…said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And God tells him, ²¹But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year…. ⁵And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him (Genesis 21:4-5). So Isaac, an immediate son of Abram, is born in 8946 (= 8846 + 100).

 

In Genesis 25:²⁶And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them. So Jacob and Esau, immediate sons of Isaac, are born in 9006 (= 8946 + 60).

 

In Genesis 25:⁷And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years. So Abraham dies in 9021 (=8846 + 175).

 

In Genesis 47:⁹…Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years… So Jacob came to Egypt in 9136 (= 9006 + 130).

 

As we've already determined on October 6, Levi is 61 years old and Joseph is 39; therefore Levi was born in 9075 (= 9136 – 61) and Joseph was born in 9097 (= 9136 – 39).

 

Genesis 47:²⁸And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years. So Jacob died in 9153 (= 9136 + 17).

 

Genesis 50:²²And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father's house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years (Genesis 50:22). So Joseph died in 9207 (= 9097 + 110).

 

Now referring back to October 1 and Exodus 6:16-20: Since Levi lived 137 years, Levi died in 9212 (= 9075 + 137), the same year Kohath was born. Since Kohath lived 133 years Kohath died in 9345 (= 9212 + 133), the same year Amram was born. Since Amram lived 137 years, Amram died in 9482 (= 9345 + 137), the same year Aaron was born. Since Arron left Egypt at the age of 84, the Jews departed Egypt in 9566 (= 9482 + 84). Leviticus 23:5, Numbers 9:5, and Numbers 28:16 show the Israelites had their first Passover in 9566. In 9566 Israel becomes a nation.

 

We can confirm 9566 with Exodus 12:⁴⁰…the sojourning of the children of Israel…in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. ⁴¹And…at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day…all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. We've already determined from Genesis 25:26 and 47:9 that in 9136 Jacob arrived in Egypt and 9136 + 430 = 9566 is again the year of the Exodus.

 

¹In the third month (of 9566) when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai (Exodus 19; see June 23). On Mount Sinai God tells Moses, ⁸…let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. ⁹According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it. ¹⁰And they shall make an ark of shittim wood… ²¹…and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony (the ten commandments) that I shall give thee. (Exodus 25). ³³And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy (Exodus 26).

 

In 9566 the Israelites begin building the tabernacle that represents, as does Solomon's temple, God's salvation plan for His elect. Thus the tabernacle and Solomon's temple serve as significant events in the Biblical timeline (see also October 22).

 

¹…the LORD spake unto Moses… ²On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation (Exodus 40). ¹⁷And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up (Exodus 40). In 9567 the Israelites set up the tabernacle.

 

So it took them about nine months |3 – 12| to complete the tabernacle and set it up. We read that the tabernacle was portable: ⁷…Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp (Exodus 33). This tabernacle represents the elect that God saves throughout the history of the world.

 

In Joshua 5:⁶…the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness… So the Israelites entered Canaan in 9606 (= 9566 + 40).

 

We now have:

8846:  the birth of Abram

8945:  Abram circumcised

8946:  the birth of Isaac

9006:  the birth of Jacob and Esau

9021:  the death of Abraham

9075:  the birth of Levi

9097:  the birth of Joseph

9136:  Jacob arrives in Egypt

9212:  the death of Levi and the birth of Kohath

9345:  the death of Kohath and the birth of Amram

9482:  the death of Amram and the birth of Aaron

9566:  the Exodus

9566:  the tabernacle began in the 3rd month

9567:  the tabernacle set up; the 1^st day of the 1^st month.

9606:  the entrance into Canaan

 

On October 20 we begin with the judges of Israel.

INTRODUCTION TO THE JUDGES

In the year 9606 the Israelites entered Canaan (see October 18). Forty years prior to that event, in Numbers 13, Moses had sent Caleb along with men from every tribe to reconnoiter the land. When they got back everyone except Caleb (Joshua and Moses) balked at the idea of an in- vasion. So in Numbers 14:29-33 God set them to wandering in the wil- derness for forty years. That way everyone at age twenty or more—ex- cept Moses, Joshua and Caleb—would perish. About forty-five years later, after the Israelites finally enter and subdue the land, Caleb tells Joshua, ⁷Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land… (Joshua 14).

 

In Deuteronomy 2:¹⁴…the space in which we came from Kadeshbarnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, was thirty and eight years; un- til all the generation of the men of war were wasted out… Caleb is 40 years old when Moses sends him from Kadeshbarnea to spy out the land of Canaan. Israel then continues in the wilderness for 38 years. So Caleb is now 78 (= 40 + 38) when they enter Canaan under Joshua.

 

After x years in Canaan, Joshua tells them, ¹¹ …ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amo- rites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand (Joshua 24). So they'd destroyed 7 nations as predicted in Deuteron- omy 7:1. Joshua then divides the land for the 12 tribes (see Joshua 13).

 

At this time Caleb tells Joshua, ¹⁰…the LORD hath kept me alive…these forty and five years (Joshua 14).

 

Since Israel continued in the wilderness for 38 years after Kadeshbarnea (Deuteronomy 2:14) and 45 years has elapsed since then, Caleb is speak- ing (45 – 38) = 7 years after they entered the land. Since Israel entered Canaan in 9606 (see October 18), Caleb is speaking 7 years later in 9613 (= 9606 + 7). Israel defeats Canaan in about 9613.

 

Since Israel entered Canaan when Caleb was seventy-eight, Caleb speaks to Joshua (in Joshua 14:7) at the age of 85 (= 78 + 7). Joshua 14:10 con- firms these numbers when Caleb tells Joshua, ¹⁰… I am this day fourscore and five years old.

 

With the Israelites now in Canaan, we pick up the timeline in the book of Judges 3: ⁸…the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years. ¹⁰Then …the LORD deliv- ered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his (Othniel, the son of Kenaz, a younger brother to Caleb (Judges 3:9)) hand; and his hand pre- vailed against Chushanrishathaim. ¹¹And the land had rest forty years.

 

If we define x/y such that x = total years under enemy rule and y = total years under self rule, then so far we have, x/y = 8/40. The chronological order of the judges in Judges 3 through Judges 15, and 1 Samuel 4 and 1 Samuel 7, allows us to just read along and add up the years.

 

Judges 3:¹²…the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel and ¹⁴…the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years So we have, x/y = 26 (= 8 + 18)/40. Then ³⁰…Moab was subdued…under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years. So we have, x/y = 26/120 (= 40 + 80).

 

Judges 4:²…the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor…³…and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. So we have, x/y = 46 (= 26 + 20)/120.

 

Judges 5:³¹…And the land had rest forty years. So we have, x/y = 46/160 (= 120 + 40).

 

Judges 6:¹…the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. So we have, x/y = 53 (= 46 + 7)/160.

 

Judges 8:²⁸ …was Midian subdued… And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon. So we have, x/y = 53/200 (= 160 + 40).

 

Judges 9:²²…Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel. Judges 10:¹And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah,… ²…he (Tola) judged Israel twenty and three years, and died… then ³…after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years. So we have, x/y = 53/248 (= 200 + 48 (= 3 + 23 + 22)).

 

Judges 10:⁷…the LORD…sold them into the hands of the Philistines… ⁸And…they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years… So we have, x/y = 71 (= 53 + 18)/248.

 

Judges 10:⁹…the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed.

 

Judges 11: The Israelites draft Jephthah as their leader and ³²…Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.

 

Judges 12:⁷…Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died. ⁸And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. ⁹... And he judged Israel seven years. Then ¹¹…after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years. Then ¹³ …after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel. ¹⁴…eight years. So we have, x/y = 71/279 (= 248 + 31 (= 6 + 7 + 10 + 8)).

 

Judges 13:¹…the children of Israel did evil again… and the LORD deliv- ered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. So we have, x/y = 111 (= 71 + 40)/279.

 

Judges 15:¹⁵Samson …slew a thousand men (of the Philistines) ²⁰And…judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years. So we have, x/y = 111/ 299 (= 279 + 20).

 

1 Samuel 4: then when ¹⁵…Eli was ninety and eight years old… ¹⁸…it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he (Eli) fell… off the seat…and …he died…And he had judged Israel forty years. So we have, x/y = 111/339 (= 299 + 40).

 

1 Samuel 4: then ²²…The glory…departed from Israel:… because ¹…the Philistines took the ark of God (1 Samuel 5) and held onto it for seven months (1 Samuel 6:1). But the ark causes the Philistines nothing but trouble, so in 1 Samuel 6:12 they returned it. We round seven months off to one year. So we have, x/y = 111/340 (=339 + 1).

 

1 Samuel 7:¹…the men of Kirjathjearim came, and fetched up the ark… ²And…while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years… ⁶ …And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh So we have, x/y = 111/360 (= 340 + 20)

 

1 Samuel 7:¹³…the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of Israel: and the…LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. ¹⁵And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

 

Samuel tried to groom his sons to take over as judges; but ³…his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment (1 Samuel 8). So the Israelites figured the hell with them and demanded Samuel to ⁵…make us a king to judge us like all the nations. So in 1 Samuel 10:17-26 Samuel acquiesced to their demands and brought out Saul as their king.

 

On October 27 we begin with Saul and the Hebrew kings. On October 22 we determine how to interpret x/y = 111/360, i.e., whether this period of the judges lasted for 360 years or 471 (= 360 + 111) years.

JUDGES REIGN FOR 360 YEARS

After the Exodus (see June 21, 23) the Hebrews wandered in the wild- erness for 40 years. They then entered Canaan in 9606 (see October 18) and lived under various judges for 360 (or 471 = 111 + 360) years (see October 20). For 111 years the Israelites did not have complete sov- ereignty. But we need to show whether or not this 360 included the 111; i.e., whether the period of the judges lasted for 360 or 471 (= 360 + 111) years. To derive our answer we look at the first three Israeli kings.

 

When the last judge, Samuel, died, the Israelites wanted a king like all the other nations. Thus ²¹…God gave unto them Saul…by the space of forty years (Acts 13).

 

The first two chapters of 2 Samuel verify that David began to reign after Saul's death. ⁴And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, That the men of Jabeshgilead were they that buried Saul (2 Samuel 2). And ⁴David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years (2 Samuel 5). We have 40 years in the wilderness, 40 years under Saul and 40 years under David with a total of 120 years.

 

To determine the next king, we read that when Bathsheba pleads with David (in 1 Kings 1:15-30) to make her son, Solomon, king, David tells her, ³⁰…as I sware unto thee…Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne… Sure enough, it turned out that ¹...when David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel (1 Chronicles 23).

 

But David still reigned for a while after making Solomon king. He wanted to build a temple of God, ³But God said unto…(David), Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood (1 Chronicles 28).

 

However in 1 Chronicles 22 David determined the place of the temple, saying, ⁵I will…make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.

 

(As an aside: in making sense out of our timeline we must keep in mind that Solomon's temple and God's elect represent the body of Christ: the new Jerusalem of Revelation 3:12 and Revelation 21:2. Construction of the temple imports a chronological pattern on God's salvation plan—itself a function of time—thus deserves our attention for future reference.)

 

True to his word in 1 Chronicles 22:5, David made significant contribu- tion towards the temple, saying: ²…I have prepared…the house of my God the gold…silver…brass…iron…and wood…; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones…and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance (1 Chronicles 29). (Recall that the gold…silver and precious stones represent the elect (see July 16)).

 

Also Solomon, David's son, played an active part, for he ²…sent to Hiram, (king of Tyre (1 Kings 5:1)) saying, ⁶…command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians. And Solomon ¹⁷… commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house (1 Kings 5).

 

Finally David tells his son, Solomon, to ¹⁰Take heed…for the LORD hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it (1 Chronicles 28) and ¹⁷ David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying…, ¹⁹…build ye the sanctuary of the LORD…(1 Chronicles 22).

 

David dies and after maybe 30 days of mourning Solomon sets to build- ing the temple. Then⁴² ...the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years (1 Kings 11). So far we have dated the first three Israeli kings, each one reigning for forty years. After Solomon's death Is- rael split up into two nations. On November 3 we begin dating their re- spective kings.

 

Now we compare what we already know with 1 Kings 6:¹And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD. So Solomon reigned as co-regent with Da- vid for 4 years. We now have 480 years since the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, and Solomon began to build the house of the LORD.

 

We have 40 years in the wilderness, 40 years in which Saul reigned and 40 years in which David ruled, a total of 120 years. That leaves 480 – 120 = 360 years of rule under the judges. We have agreement with what we determined on October 20 (111/360); and 360 includes the 111 years un- der enemy rule. On Saturday, October 25, we'll know how to interpret the data from the previous post.

THE YEARS OF THE JUDGES

On October 18 we determined that the Israelites entered Canaan in 9606. On October 20 we saw that for 111 years Israel lost its sovereignty and the judges ruled for 360 or 471 (= 360 + 111) years. We defined x/y such that x = total years under enemy rule and y = total years under self rule; and we had x/y = 111/360. On October 22 we determined that the 360 years includes the 111. So we now know how to interpret Judges 3 through Judges 15, and 1 Samuel 4 and 1 Samuel 7.

 

Judges 3: ⁸ …the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years. ⁹Then …the LORD deliv- ered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his (Othniel, son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother) hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim. ¹¹And the land had rest forty years.

 

We now know that the forty years includes the eight years under Chushanrishathaim. During this period Joshua defeats Canaan and Othniel liberates Israel.

We have x/y = 8/40

and since Israel entered Canaan in 9606,

we're now at 9646 (= 9606 + 40).

The total period runs for 40 years: from 9606 to 9646 in which

Israel is oppressed by Chushanrishathaim of Mesopotamia for 8 years;

Othniel liberates Israel.

 

Judges 3:¹²…the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel and ¹⁴…the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

We have x/y = 26 (= 8 + 18)/40.

 

Then ¹⁵…when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera… Then ³⁰ …Moab was subdued…under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.

So we have x/y = 26/120 (= 40 + 80).

We're now at 9726 (= 9606 + 120).

The total period runs for 80 years: from 9646 to 9726 in which

Israel is oppressed by Eglon, king of Moab, for 18 years:

Ehud (and Shamgar (Judges 3:31)) liberates Israel.

 

Judges 4:²…the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor…³ …and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.

We have x/y = 46 (26 + 20)/120.

Israel is liberated by Deborah and Barak in Judges 4 & 5.

In Judges 5:³¹…the land had rest forty years.

So we have x/y = 46/160 (= 120 + 40).

We're now at 9766 (= 9606 + 160)

The total period runs for 40 years: from 9726 to 9766 in which

Israel is oppressed by Jabin, king of Canaan, for 20 years.

 

In Judges 6:¹ …the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.

We have x/y = 53 (= 46 + 7)/160.

 

In Judges 8:²⁸…was Midian subdued… And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon.

So we have x/y = 53/200 (= 160 + 40).

We're now at 9806 (= 9606 + 200).

The total period runs for 40 years: from 9766 to 9806 in which,

Israel is oppressed by Midian for 7 years and

Gideon liberates Israel.

 

In Judges 9:²²…Abimelech...reigned three years over Israel. In Judges 10:²…he (Tola (Judges 10:1)) judged Israel twenty and three years, and died… (and) ³…after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years.

In Judges 10:⁷…the LORD…sold them into the hands of the Philistines… ⁸And…they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years…

So we have x/y = 71 (= 53 + 18)/248 (= 200 + 48 (= 3 + 23 + 22)).

We're now at 9854 (= 9606 + 248).

The total period runs for 48 years: 9806 to 9854 in which

Abimelech rules over Israel for three years: from 9806 to 9809.

Tola rules over Israel for 23 years: from 9809 to 9832.

Jair rules over Israel for 22 years: from 9832 to 9854 in which

Israel is oppressed by the Philistines for 18 years.

 

In Judges 10:⁹…the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed.

In Judges 11 the Israelites draft Jephthah as their leader and ³²…Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.

In Judges 12: ⁷…Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died.

Jephthah ruled from 9854 to 9860 (= 9854 + 6).

 

In Judges 11:13 the king of Ammon accused the Israelites of having stolen land from them after coming out of Egypt. So ¹⁴…Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of…Ammon: ¹⁵And said…Israel took not away the land of Moab… ²⁶While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time?

The Exodus occurred in 9566 (see October 18) and Jephthah ruled from 9854 to 9860 (Judges 9:22; 10:2-3; 12:7). Three hundred years prior—i.e., 9554 to 9560—falls short for some x between 6 and 12 years.

 

In Judges 12:⁸…after him (Jephthah) Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. ⁹... And he judged Israel seven years. Then ¹¹…after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years. Then ¹³ …after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel. ¹⁴…eight years.

So we have x/y = 71/279 (= 248 + 31 (= 6 (years for Jephthah) + 7 (years for Ibzan) + 10 (years for Elon) + 8 (years for Abdon)))

We're now at 9885 (= 9606 + 279).

 

In Judges 13:¹…the children of Israel did evil again… and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

We have x/y = 111 (= 71 + 40)/279.

 

In Judges 15:¹⁵Samson…slew a thousand men (of the Philistines) ²⁰And…judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

So we have x/y = 111/ 299 (= 279 + 20).

We're now at 9905 (= 9606 + 299).

The total period runs for 51 years: from 9854 to 9905, in which

Jephthah rules over Israel for 6 years: from 9854 to 9860

Ibzan rules over Israel for 7 years: from 9860 to 9867

Elon rules over Israel for 10 years: from 9867 to 9877

Abdon rules over Israel for 8 years: from 9877 to 9885

Samson rules over Israel for 20 years: 9885 to 9905.

Israel is oppressed by the Philistines for 40 years.

 

In 1 Samuel 4: ¹⁵…Eli was ninety and eight years old. ¹⁸…it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he (Eli) fell… off the seat …and …he died…And he had judged Israel forty years (1 Samuel 4).

So we have x/y = 111/339 (= 299 + 40)

We're now at 9945 (= 9606 + 339).

The total period runs for 40 years: from 9905 to 9945, in which

Eli rules over Israel.

 

In 1 Samuel 4:²²…The glory…departed from Israel…: when in 1 Samuel 5: ¹…the Philistines took the ark of God and held onto it for seven months (1 Samuel 6:1). But the ark causes the Philistines nothing but trouble, so in 1 Samuel 6:12 they return it. We round seven months off to one year.

So we have x/y = 111/340 (= 339 + 1).

We're now at 9946 (= 9606 + 340).

In 1 Samuel 7:¹…the men of Kirjathjearim came, and fetched up the ark… ²And…while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years…

In 1 Samuel 7:⁶…Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.

So we have x/y = 111/360 (= 340 + 20).

We're now at 9966 (= 9606 + 360).

The total period runs for 20 years: 9946 to 9966 in which

Samuel rules over Israel.

 

Acts 13:19-20 may seem to contradict our conclusions: Paul declares, ¹⁹And when he (Joshua) had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot. ²⁰And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.

The word order throws us a curveball. The period of the judges lasted for 360 years, not 450. Paul refers to the 450 years that Israel enjoyed its in- heritance as one nation: the period of the judges, the reign of Saul, David and Solomon. After Solomon's death Israel split up.

From October 20 we determined that Israel subdued Canaan in 9613. So from 9613 to the end of Samuel's reign is 353 (= 9966 – 9613) years. On October 22 we determined that Saul and David each reigned for forty years. In 1 Kings 11:⁴²…Solomon reigned…over all Israel…forty years. But we also saw that during four of those years Solomon reigned with David. So from Saul to the end of Solomon is 116 (= (3 x 40) – 4) and 353 + 116 = 469 years. So Paul's 450 years comes close enough.

 

This completes the period of the judges. On October 27 we begin with the Hebrew Kings.

INTRODUCTION TO THE HEBREW KINGS

When the Israelites wanted a king they chose Saul by lot (1 Samuel 10:17-27). In 1 Samuel 11:¹⁵ …all the people went to Gilgal; and…made Saul king before the LORD… Saul reigned for forty years, then David for forty (see October 22) and finally Solomon, who ⁴²...reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel...forty years (1 Kings 11).

 

In 1 Kings 6:¹...it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.

 

From October 22 & 25 we can know that Saul ruled from 9966 until 10006; David from 10006 to 10046 and Solomon from 10042 to 10082. So Solomon's 4^th year is 10046. If the Exodus occurred in 9566 (see October 18) then 1 Kings 6:1 implies 10046 – 9566 = 480, which is the case; we can proceed without fear of having goofed up—so far.

 

In 1 Kings 6:³⁸And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it. So Solomon completed the temple in 10053 (= 10046 + 7 (= 11 – 4)).

 

In 1 Kings 11:⁴³…Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

 

In 1 Kings 12 the Israelites with Jeroboam assemble at Shechem to crown Rehoboam. They ask Rehoboam if he'd relax the burden Solomon had put on them.

 

In 1 Kings 12 Rehoboam answers them, saying, ¹⁴My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions …. ¹⁹So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day. ²⁰And…when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come… (they)... made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.

 

Indeed, ancient Israel split up into two nations: Judah to the south, ruled over by Rehoboam in Jerusalem; and Israel to the north, ruled over by Jeroboam in Samaria. So we have Rehoboam and Jeroboam beginning to rule after Solomon died in 10082.

 

We now look at verses that caused previous theologians to throw up their hands in despair.

²⁵In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign (2 Kings 8).

²⁹…in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah (2 Kings 9).

 

2 kings 8:25 and 2 Kings 9:29 seem to say that Ahaziah began to reign in the 12^th year of Joram and Ahaziah began to reign in the 11^th year of Joram. The atheists—probably asleep by now—come awake: "We did it! We found a contradiction! We can all go home now."

 

The devout tell us to relax—"…men copying from the original Hebrew simply made a scribal error; nobody's perfect."

 

However the transliteration for twelfth in 2 Kings 8:25 is shenayim 'āśār, translated as "twelve" 105 times and "twelfth" 21 times; while that for eleventh in 2 Kings 9:29 is ْ'eḥād 'āśār, translated as "eleven" 13 times.¹ Such definitions don't suggest a scribal error in the Hebrew itself. ‏On the other hand Presupposition 1 won't allow us a contradiction either.

 

In the past theologians didn't know how to reconcile verses like 2 Kings 8:25 and 2 Kings 9:29 and decided not to trust Biblical numbers. But only one such numerical discrepancy negates Divinity and puts us out of busi- ness. We need to prove that among the twenty kings of Judah and twenty of Israel no contradiction exists. There's more than one way to accom- plish the task: some are pictorial. But such pictographs, though they re- fute contradictions, show the end product without explaining how to cal- culate the years. Some people consider such computation very difficult:

 

In his book, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, Edwin R. Thiele tells us that in order to derive the numbers:

The following items must be definitely established: (1) the year from which a king began to count the years of his reign--whether form the time of his actual accession, from the following year, or from some other time; (2) the time of the calendar year when a king began to count his reign; (3) the method according to which a scribe of one nation reckoned the years of a king of a neighbor- ing state, whether according to the system used in his nation or according to that of the neighbor; (4) whether or not the nation made use of coregencies (sic),whether or not several rival rulers might have been reigning at the same time, and whether interreg- na occurred; (5) whether during the period under review a uni- form system was followed, or whether variations took place; and, finally, (6) some absolute date during the period in question from which the years can be figured backward and forward so that the full chronological pattern might be secured.

An understanding of each of the above items is necessary to a correct reconstruction of the chronologies of Israel and Judah, for unless one is acquainted with the type of chronological proce- dure in use, a wrong interpretation is likely to be placed on the available data and cause an erroneous pattern to ensue.

I admit that knowing all six items listed above would be nice; except we don't need any of them to figure out the numbers of the Hebrew kings; and anyway we want to prove Divinity, not get a Ph.D. in ancient history.

 

As stated back on June 11, interpretation is a function of its presupposi- tions. If one denies Divinity, as Thiele does in his approach, then correct understanding becomes extremely difficult, if not impossible. Thiele proves the case with these needless items he thinks necessary to a correct reconstruction of the chronologies of Israel and Judah.

 

If God wrote the Bible then He'd want us interpreting Scripture from Scripture alone, not some …type of chronological procedure in use over three thousand years ago. Such exclusion rings especially true in light of Revelation 22:18-19 (see June 11). Scripture doesn't concern itself with the method according to which a scribe of one nation reckoned the years of a king of a neighboring state. Divinity as a principle of interpretation demands that God alone dictated the numbers, not some scribe. So we should expect, as well as show, that we don't need any of Thiele's six items. We'll develop a simple algebra that proves our case. This approach uses letters like p(n), q(n), P, Q, that, like chess pieces, refer to a set of principles or rules. The symbols also represent years of Hebrew kings, but there's nothing Mysterious about them.

 

On October 29 we begin developing this algebra.

¹Strong's Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary.

AN ALGEBRA FOR THE HEBREW KINGS

To begin developing our algebra for the Hebrew kings we first look at 1 Samuel 13: ¹Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, ²Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel…; These verses seem to say that Saul reigned one year, then after reigning two years he chose three thousand men of Israel... However, despite its apparent sense, these verses aren't translated accurately.

 

We find a better rendering in Young's Literal Translation (YLT). In 1898 Robert Young strived for precision in verb tenses, grammatical idioms, and style in creating a strictly literal translation from the original Greek and Hebrew. In some verses he didn't succeed, but in 1 Samuel 13:1 he did. In his version we read, ¹A son of a year is Saul in his reigning, yea, two years he hath reigned over Israel (1 Samuel 13 (YLT)). At first glance this verse seems to say that by the age of one, Saul had ruled for two years. Aw, yeah.

 

1 Samuel 13:1 (YLT) could mean Saul ruled for one year and at the same time two years. He could have reigned one year as a co-regent and anoth- er one by himself—except he preceded every other king over Israel; and the next king, David, didn't rule until after Saul's death.

 

Suppose on our timeline we had three different reference points—p, q and p^•—such that from point p to point p^• is two years and from point q to p^• is one year. In other words p + 1 = q. Then we'd no longer have con- flict in 1 Samuel 13:1 (YLT) (as well as 2 kings 8:25 and 2 Kings 9:29 from October 27). Saul reigned 2 years when counting from point p and only 1 year when counting from point q.

 

Obviously we'd have to place our first point, p, on the day Saul began to rule. To account for the one year difference in 1 Samuel 13:1 (YLT), we'd have to put the next point, q, somewhere in the following year. Nowhere does the Bible indicate such a date; so we assume our second point, q, goes on Nisan 1, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. If anyone wants to consider q as the king's "year of accession" or the year his reign began officially, so be it; all we care is that the points p and q serve to harmon- ize verses like 1 Samuel 13:1 (YLT), 2 kings 8:25 and 2 Kings 9:29.

 

On October 25 we saw that the period of the judges lasted until 9966, when Saul began to reign. So our first point, p, goes somewhere in that year. Our second point, q, lands on Nisan 1 of 9967. By then he's already been on the throne x months. If we go (12 (or 13) – x) months into 9967, Saul has been ruling for one year when counting from point p, but only (12 (or 13) – x) months when counting from point q. We go another x months, to the first day of 9968, and Saul's reign now adds up to one year when counting from point q and one year plus x months when counting from point p. If we go (12 (or 13) – x) months into 9968, Saul has reigned two years when counting from point p, but only one year (plus (12 (or 13) – x) months) when counting from point q. 1 Samuel 13:1 (YLT) now makes sense: Saul has reigned one year, but also two.

 

Rather than confusion 1 Samuel 13:1 (YLT) gives us a principle of inter- pretation. Any time we read a number of years a king reigns, we have to determine what point to count from; i.e., from point p, the first day he actually sat on the throne, or from point q, the first day of the following year. Counting from point q gives us one year less than had we counted from point p. From point p a king begins to rule the same year the pre- vious king died; from point q a king begins to rule the year after the for- mer king died.

 

Now we can make sense out of 2 Kings 8:25 and 2 Kings 9:29

²⁵In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign (2 Kings 8:25 (KJV)).

²⁹And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah (2 Kings 9:29 (KJV)).

Rather than showing a contradiction, 2 Kings 8:25 and 2 Kings 9:29 pin- point the exact year Ahaziah began to reign: on Joram's eleventh year when counting from point q, and on his twelfth year when counting from point p. Given either verse alone, we wouldn't know where to begin counting to determine Ahaziah's first year.

 

We let 1p and 1q refer to the respective years the first king (after Solo- mon) of Judah began to reign; similarly 2p and 2q refer to the respective years the 2^nd king (after Solomon) of Judah began to reign etc. We let 1p_I and 1q_I refer to the respective years the first king (after Solomon) of Israel began to reign; and 2p_I and 2q_I refer to the respective years the 2^nd king (after Solomon) of Israel began to reign etc. Because both Reho- boam of Judah and Jeroboam of Israel began their reigns when Solomon died, we can write, 1p = 1p_I = 10082.

 

When we want to remind ourselves that Rehoboam is the first king of Judah after Solomon and Jeroboam is the first king of Israel after Solo- mon, we can write, Rehobaom≡1p and 1p_I≡Jeroboam. Therefore Rehobaom≡1p = 1p_I≡Jeroboam = 10082.

 

If a king begins to reign at point p or point q on the timeline and rules for n years, we have to determine how to calculate his nth year from point p and his nth year from point q. We denote the nth year of the king's reign when counting from p as p(n). Similarly we indicate the nth year of the king's reign when counting from q, as q(n).

 

If a king began to reign in the year p = x , then q = x+1. If we begin counting n years from point p = x, then to derive p(n) we actually begin counting from the year (x – 1). Therefore we define p(n) = (x – 1) + n. Thus p(1) = p.

If we begin counting n years from the point, q = x + 1, then to derive q(n) we begin counting from the previous year, ((x + 1) – 1) = x. So we define, q(n) = x + n. And q(1) = q.

 

So the second year of Rehoboam's reign when counting from 1p would be:

1p(2) = ((x – 1) + n) = ((10082 – 1) + 2) = 10083.

The second year of Rehoboam's reign when counting from 1q would be:

1q(2) = (x + n) = (10082 + 2) = 10084.

The same holds for Jeroboam, the first king of Israel; i.e., 1p_I and 1q_I.

 

The idea now is to make it all as simple and trivial as possible, so that any child could understand it. But we still need whatever it takes to get the job done; i.e., we need the following identities and their corollaries:

For all n (> 0), m (< n) = 0, 1, 2… we have the following identities:

p(n) ± m = p(n ± m) = q(n ± m) – 1 = q(n ± m – 1)

p(n) ± m = ((x – 1) + n) ± m = ((x – 1) + (n ± m) = p(n ± m).

p(n ± m) = ((x – 1) + (n ± m)) = (x + (n ± m)) – 1 = q(n ± m) – 1.

q(n ± m) – 1 = ((x + (n ± m)) – 1 = x + (n ± m – 1) = q(n ± m – 1).

 

And for all n (> 0), m (< n) = 0, 1, 2… we have the following corollaries

p + n = p(1 + n)

p = p(1) and p(1) + n = p(1 + n) Similarly q + n = q(1 + n)

 

p(n + 1) = q(n) for p(n + m), m = 1.

p(n) = q(n – 1) for m = 0.

 

p = p^• ↔ p(n) = p^•(n)

p = p^• ↔ p + (n – 1) = p ^• + (n – 1) ↔ p(1 + ( n – 1)) = p^• (1 + (n – 1)) ↔ p(n) = p^•(n). Similarly q = q^• = ↔ q(n) = q^•(n)

 

p(n) = p^•(m) ↔ q(n) = q^•(m)

p(n) = p^•(m)→p(n) + 1 = p^•(m) + 1→p(n + 1) = p^•(m + 1)→q(n) = q^•(m).

q(n) = q^•(m)→q(n) – 1 = q^•(m) – 1→q(n – 1) = q^•(m – 1)→p(n) = p^•(m).

 

We complete our algebra on November 1.