THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
CALCULATING THE AGE OF THE EARTH
By
Allon Maxwell
If any reader has their own “pet theory” about some aspect of this subject, please note that I do not feel under obligation either to promote, defend, or discuss the method used here. I am merely reporting one of the simpler ways of using the information contained in the Bible, to provide an approximate historical perspective. However, many other different answers are possible. Some of these vary by hundreds of years. There does not seem to be any way for laymen to resolve some of the difficulties debated by the “Scholars”.
To perform this calculation, we will use data from the genealogies and history of the KJV Old Testament. Where information is lacking, we will use other information from secular historians. TABLE 1 - FROM CREATION TO CANAAN
See note 1 below, for brief comment on the age of Terah when Abraham was born.
TABLE 2 - THE KINGS OF JUDAH The United Kingdom
The Divided Kingdom
Total Duration of United and Divided Kingdoms 393 1/2 years
ARRIVING AT THE AGE OF THE EARTH From here we will use the data in a simplistic way, without attempting to answer any of the awkward questions about which the scholars disagree. (Some of these are mentioned in the notes below). All we need now is a little simple
arithmetic. This is how it is done :-
According to secular history, the Kingdom of Judah fell to Babylon in :- 586 BC. Then we calculate the date of creation, simply by adding :- 586 + 3423 By this method we arrive at the date for the creation of the earth as :-4009 BC
Notes :- 1. Genesis 5:32 says that Noah was 500 years old when he begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Genesis 11:10 tells us that Shem was 100 years old, two years after the flood. i.e. Shem was not the oldest son, and he was born when Noah was 502 years old. 2. Genesis 11:26 says that Terah begot Abraham, Nahor and Haran when he was 70 years old. However Genesis 12:4 says that Abraham was 75 when He left Haran. Acts 7:4 tells us that this was after Terah died. This would mean that Abraham was not the eldest son, and that he was born when Terah was 130 years old. 3. Calculations based on the ages at which children of the Patriarchs were born, could introduce cumulative errors of several years. It is reasonable to assume that few sons were born exactly on their father's birthday! In most cases they were probably born several months afterwards. Since no information is available, the calculations shown cannot make any allowance for this factor. 4. According to Table 2, the Kingdom of Judah lasted for 393 1/2 years after the revolt of the ten tribes. However, this almost certainly includes some cumulative errors caused by the use of rounded whole numbers for the total reigns of kings. It would be expected that the reigns of most kings would terminate part way through their final year. The relatively minor discrepancies which would be introduced, are not important here. 5. Most secular historians seem to date the destruction of Solomon's temple in 586 BC. However there are others who say BC587, or even BC588. One writer last century, manipulates the data to arrive at BC592. 6. Ussher's Chronology There have been many attempts to calculate the age of the earth, and the date of creation. One of the best known of these is that made by Archbishop James Ussher in 1650. Ussher boldly announced that he had calculated the precise date of the first day of Creation as, Sunday, 23 October, 4004 BC! . His Chronology is contained in his book “The Annals of the World”. published in Latin in 1650, and in English 1658, two years after his death. Later scholars, with more information available, tell us that Ussher's work contains a number of now obvious inaccuracies. In spite of that Ussher's chronology is still one of the best known and respected. The dates calculated by Ussher, are published in the margins of many KJV Bibles. One problem is that Ussher's work may have commenced with a preconceived target in view. It has been suggested that the data is made to fit his opinion that Jesus was born exactly 4000 years after Creation. (In BC4) 7. Other Chronologies Using the same data, other chronologists arrive at different dates for the Creation of Adam. Some of these are :- Josephus - 70 AD 5555 BC8. The Jewish Chronology Last but not least, is the official Jewish calculation, which places creation in BC 3760. 9. The End Of The Earth Until a couple of years ago, it was popular to use Ussher's chronology to predict the End of the Age at 6000 years, in 1996. Yes, they got the maths wrong too! It should have been 1997! But it doesn't matter now. 1996 and 1997 have both come and gone, and we are still waiting.
DISCLAIMER After doing some initial research on the subject of Bible Chronology, I have been amazed at the variety of opinions on various points. To say the least, this is not always a precise science ! I have come to the conclusion that to attempt to be dogmatic about the precise date of some events, would require a great amount of very presumptuous speculation. I am not a scholar of History. Nor do I claim to be an expert in Biblical Chronology. I make no pretension to have read in detail from all of the very large number of sources, quoted by others. I don't have time for that. There are more important priorities in God's timetable for my life. Consequently, I do not presume to have resolved any of the difficult questions raised by some of the “experts”.Instead, this paper has been written as an exercise in “interesting information”. For this purpose, it seems much easier to be content with a simplistic approach to the use of the information contained in the Bible. What I have done here, as a layman, is to attempt to use that information to reach an answer that places some significant events in Jewish history, in approximate Biblical historical perspective. Only the date of the Babylonian destruction of Solomon's Temple has been taken from secular history. I suspect that on many aspects of the subject of Chronology, God has deliberately concealed some of the vital information necessary to arrive at definite answers. Why should that be? The final word must remain with Jesus. “But of that day and that hour, no one knows,
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