Creation--3958 B.C.

The 10 Antediluvian Patriarchs

Adam--930 years 3958-3028 B.C.

Seth--912 years 3828-2916 B.C.

Enosh--905 years 3723-2818 B.C.

Cainan--910 years 3633-2723 B.C.

Mahalalel--895 years 3563-2668 B.C.

Jared--962 years 3498-2536 B.C.

Enoch--365 years 3336-2971 B.C. Enoch translated to heaven in 2971 B.C.--365years on this earth

Methuselah--969 years 3271-2302 B.C. Methuselah died the year of theFlood

Lamech--777 years 3084-2307 B.C.

Noah--950 years 2902-1952 B.C.

Flood--2302 B.C.

Those Who Lived on Both Sides of the Flood

Noah--he was 600 years old when the Flood came (2302 B.C.), and he lived350 more years after the Flood (until 1952 B.C.). So in a sense he was both the last Antediluvian patriarch and the first post-Flood patriarch.

The 7 others saved in Noah's Ark: Noah's wife, Shem, Ham, Japeth, and their three wives--no information known about their ages except for Shem.

Shem--600 years 2400-1800 B.C. Shem was 98 years old when the Flood came, and he lived 502 more years after the Flood.

The Post-Flood Patriarchs

(those born after the Flood)

Abraham--175 years 1950-1775 B.C.

Isaac--180 years 1850-1670 B.C.

Jacob--147 years 1790-1643 B.C.

Joseph--110 years 1699-1589 B.C.

Dates Concerning Important Events Regarding the Post-Flood Patriarchs

1875 B.C. Abram first entered Canaan from Ur of the Chaldees via Haran.

1864 B.C. Ishmael was born.

1713 B.C. Jacob deceived Isaac over birthright and fled from Esau toHaran.

1713-1693 B.C. Jacob worked for Laban these 20 years.

1706 B.C. Jacob married Leah and then Rachel.

1693 B.C. Jacob and his family returned to Canaan--wrestled with theAngel of the Lord, reconciled with Esau, etc.

1682 B.C. Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery.

1669 B.C. Joseph was made second in command in all of Egypt.

1662-1655 B.C. These were the 7 years of famine which Joseph had dreamed about.

1660 B.C. Jacob and the entire clan of 70 persons (total) came to Egyptto live.

Dates Concerning Moses and the Exodus

Moses--120 years 1525-1405 B.C.

1485-1445 B.C. Moses killed the Egyptian and fled to the land of Midian, where Jewish and Christian tradition says that he wrote the book of Genesis.

Exodus--1445 B.C.

Ten Commandments Given at Mt. Sinai--1445 B.C.

Israelites Crossed Jordan River into Canaan--1405 B.C.

Period of the Judges--1405-1050 B.C.

Bible scholars recognize today that some of the judges (listed in the book of Judges) overlapped in years of judgeship. That means that some judged in different regions in Canaan at the same time. However, there is no known available data from which to determine which ones overlapped each other, or for how many years they overlapped. Therefore, there is no way presently to assign specific B.C. dates for any of the judges. The only thing we can reasonably conclude is that those judges mentioned earlyin the book of Judges probably served earlier in the period of the judges than those mentioned late in the book.

Period of the United Monarchy--1050-931 B.C.

King Saul 1050-1010 B.C.

King David 1010-970 B.C.

King Solomon 970-931 B.C. Construction of the Temple in Jerusalem was begun in 966 B.C. and completed in 959 B.C.

Period of the Divided Kingdom

Israel 931-722 B.C. The revolt of the 10 tribes (led by Jeroboam) againstSolomon's son Rehoboam created the northern kingdom of Israel in 931 B.C.,with Jeroboam as its 1st king. Then in 722 B.C., the AssyrianEmpire utterly destroyed Israel and scattered many of their people to other nations. These later became known as the "Ten Lost Tribes of Israel."

Judah 931-586 B.C. The southern kingdom of Judah was created with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin after the other 10 tribes revolted againstSolomon's son Rehoboam in 931 B.C. Rehoboam was the 1st king of Judah. Then in 586 B.C., Babylon (under Nebuchadnezzar) destroyed the capital city of Jerusalem, ending the period of the divided kingdom. NOTE:Daniel and many other Hebrews were taken captive to the city of Babylon earlier in 605 B.C. (and Ezekiel in 597 B.C.), but Jerusalem was not completely destroyed until 586 B.C.
 

Kings of Israel

Jeroboam 931-910 B.C.

Nadab 910-909 B.C.

Baasha 909-886 B.C.

Elah 886-885 B.C.

Zimri 885 B.C.

Omri 885-874 B.C.

Ahab 874-853 B.C.

Ahaziah 853-852 B.C.

Jehoram (Joram) 852-841 B.C.

Jehu 841-814 B.C.

Jehoahaz 814-798 B.C.

Jehoash (Joash) 798-782 B.C.

Jeroboam II 793-753 B.C.*

Zechariah 753-752 B.C.

Shallum 752 B.C.

Menahem 752-742 B.C.

Pekahiah 742-740 B.C.

Pekah 740-732 B.C.

Hoshea 732-722 B.C.

 

 

Kings of Judah

Rehoboam 931-913 B.C.

Abijam 913-911 B.C.

Asa 911-870 B.C.

Jehoshaphat 873-848 B.C.*

Jehoram (Joram) 853-841 B.C.*

Ahaziah 841 B.C.

Athaliah 841-835 B.C.

Joash 835-796 B.C.

Amaziah 796-767 B.C.

Uzziah 792-740 B.C.*

Jotham 750-731 B.C.*

Ahaz 735-715 B.C.*

Hezekiah 715-686 B.C.

Manasseh 695-642 B.C.*

Amon 642-640 B.C.

Josiah 640-609 B.C.

Jehoahaz 609 B.C.

Jehoiakim 609-597 B.C.

Jehoiachin 597 B.C.

Zedekiah 597-586 B.C.

Prophets of Israel**

Elijah

Obadiah

Elisha

Jonah

Hosea

Prophets of Judah**

Joel

Amos

Micah

Isaiah

Zephaniah

Nahum

Habakkuk

Jeremiah

Ezekiel

Daniel

Haggai

Zechariah

Malachi

 

* A co-regency, in which more than one king (usually a father and son)reigns simultaneously, probably explains the overlap of some kings' reigns, according to most conservative scholars. The dates for nearly all the kings of Israel and Judah during the period of the Divided Kingdom are close estimates, not precise dates.

** Because of the great difficulty in assigning very specific dates for the reigns of the kings during the Divided Kingdom, it is also impossible to assign very specific dates for the prophets. However, they are listed in the chronological order in which they served as prophets, except in a few cases--such as Ezekiel and Daniel, who lived and worked during the same time.

Period of the Babylonian Captivity--605-536 B.C.(1)

The 3-Fold Decree to Return Jews to Palestine

1. Cyrus (Persian king) ca. 537 B.C.--He gave permission for the Jews to return to Palestine and rebuild their Temple at Jerusalem (which Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed in 586 B.C.). About 50,000 Jews did return within a year, under the leadership of their Jewish governor, Zerubbabel.

2. Darius I (Persian king) ca. 519 B.C.--He confirmed Cyrus' original decree (see above) after considerable trouble from the Samaritans, etc.The Temple at Jerusalem was completed in 515 B.C.

3. Artexerxes I (Persian king) 457 B.C.--His decree authorized the establishment of a civil Jewish government in Palestine, subject to the Persian Empire, of course. This was the decree which marked the beginning of both the 70Weeks prophecy (Daniel 9:24-27) and the 2300 Day prophecy (Daniel 8:14).Ezra went from Babylon to Jerusalem as a result of this decree in orderto encourage the people spiritually.

NOTES:

1. In between Darius I and Artexerxes was Xerxes, the son of DariusI, who is known in the book of Esther as Ahasuerus. After he was defeated by the Greeks at the Battle of Salamis (480 B.C.), Xerxes (Ahasuerus) returned to Babylon (also capital of Persian Empire). It was shortly after this defeat that Esther won the beauty contest and married him, becoming QueenEsther in the Persian Empire.

2. In 444 B.C., Artexerxes confirmed his own 457 B.C. decree by sending his Jewish cupbearer, Nehemiah, to Jerusalem after more trouble from outsiders there. As the new governor, Nehemiah rallied the people to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, which they did in just 52 days.

The Intertestamental Period--ca. 430-5 B.C.

This was the time between the last Old Testament prophet, Malachi, and the birth of Jesus. Although the 70 Weeks prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 (along with historical proof of when that prophecy was to begin) provides us with a specific date for Jesus' baptism (A.D. 27), there is presently no proof concerning His birth year. If Luke 3:23's time for Jesus' ministry to begin at "about thirty years of age" (NKJV), right after His baptism (see verses21-22) is exactly in His 30th year (inclusive reckoning), thenHe was born in 3 B.C. If He had not reached His 30th year yet, but was "about" (or close to it) to reach it, then He may have been born in 2 B.C. Historical evidence concerning Herod's death seems to make 3or 2 B.C. too late for Jesus' birth, for the most likely interpretation of the Jewish historian Josephus' date for Herod's death is quite early in 4 B.C. And since Luke, as a physician, might reasonably be expected to be more accurate than the average writer, and he used the word "about"in this text instead of a more specific term, then all of the evidence points most strongly to Jesus' birth sometime in 5 B.C., probably in the fall of that year.

This Intertestamental period was also the era in which the first collection of the Hebrew books of the Old Testament was made(2) original manuscripts of the Greek Septuagint text(3) were produced.

The New Testament Period--ca. 5 B.C.-A.D. 95

5 B.C. Approximate date of Jesus' birth (see above)

A.D. 27 Jesus' baptism and the beginning of His public ministry

A.D. 31 Approximate date for the crucifixion of Christ

A.D. 34 End of Daniel 9:24-27's 70 Weeks prophecy, and the end of national probation for the nation of Judah (as predicted by that same 70 Weeks prophecy);the gospel went primarily to the Gentiles after that.

A.D. 70 Destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple by Roman soldiers

A.D. 45-95 Approximate years for the writing of the entire New Testament(4)


1. By our modern reckoning of time, this would be a period of 119 years. However, after the patriarchal periods (ie., Adam-Joseph), the Bible most often used a system called inclusive reckoning--which meant that if any part of a year was reached, it was included as a whole year.
2. This is the 70 years of Jeremiah's prophecy concerning the captivity of Judah in Babylon, reckoned inclusively.
3. This first collection of the Hebrew Old Testament first appeared approximately during the 4th century B.C.; an edited version was officially accepted as the Jewish Scriptures at the Council of Jamnia(ca. A.D. 90 or so), close to the time of the writing of the last New Testament books by the apostle John.
4. This is the Greek translation of the Old Testament, taken from theHebrew text, and probably appearing during the 3rd century B.C.Its name Septuagint, symbolized by the Roman numeral for 70--LXX, was basedon a Jewish tradition that 70 Jewish scholars in Alexandria, Egypt actually did the translating work. Conservative Bible scholars are more comfortable with the accuracy of the later Hebrew Masoretic text than that of the LXX.