BIBLE DIGEST - Number 82                                                                                  March 1997

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 

Event
 
Father's
Age
At birth
 Age of 
the
Earth
Bible 
Reference 
     
Genesis
In the beginning  
     0
1:1-31
Seth born when Adam
130
 130
  5:3
Enos born when Seth
105
 235
  5:6
Cainan born when Enosh
90
 325
  5:9
Mahalaleel born Cainan
70
 395
 5:12
Jared born when Mahalaleel
65
 460
 5:15
Enoch born when Jared
162
 622
 5:18
Methuselah born when when Enoch
65
 687
 5:21
Lamech born when Methusealah
187
 874
 5:25
Noah born when Lamech  
1056
 5:28
Shem born when Noah
502
 
1558
 
 5:32
11:10
Arphaxad born when Shem
100
1658
11:12
Salah born when Arphaxad
35
1693
11:14
Eber born when Salah
30
1723
11:16
Peleg born when Eber
34
1757
11:18
Reu born when Peleg
30
1787
11:20
Serug born when Reu
32
1819
11:22
Nahor born when Serug
30
1849
11:26
Terah born when Nahor
29
1878
11:30
Abraham born when Nahor
130
2008
12:4 
Acts 7:4
       
Abraham receives promises,
leaves Haran, enters Canaan
age 75
2083
Genesis 12:4

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 

Kings name
Age 
at Start
Reigned
years
Bible
Reference
Saul
 ?
 40?
 Acts      13:21
David
 30
 40
 1 Kings   2:11
Solomon
 ?
 40
              11:42

The Divided Kingdom

Kings Name
 Age 
at start
 Reigned
Years
 Bible 
Reference
Rehoboam
41
17
1 Kings 14:21
Abija
 ?
  3
              15:2
Asa
?
41
            15:10
Jehoshaphat
 35
 25
            22:42
Joram
32
   8
2 Kings 8:17
Ahaziah
 22
   1
             8:26
QUEEN Athaliah  
   6
                      11:3
Joash
 ?
 40
             12:1
Amaziah
 25
 29
             14:2
Azariah (Uzziah)
 16
 52
             15:2
Jotham
 25
 16
           15:33
Ahaz
 20
 16
         16:2
Hezekiah
 25
 29
         18:2
Manasseh
 12
 55
          21:1
Amon
 22
   2
           21:19
Josiah
   8
 31
         22:2
Jehoahaz
 23
 3 months
           23:31
Jehoiakim
 25
 11
           23:36
Jehoiachin
 18
 3 months
         24:8
Zedekiah
 21
 11
            24:18

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 :-
 
 

From Creation to Canaan  
2083
From the time when Abraham left Haran to go to Canaan
until the Exodux and the giving of the Law of Moses
Genesis 12:4; Exodus 12:40; Galatians 3:17
430 years
2513
From the Exodus to the commencement of building 
Solomon's Temple, in the second month of the 480th year 
from the Exodus  years 
(1 Kings 6:1)
479 years
2992 
From the start of building the Temple to the division of the
Kingdom under Rehoboam) 37 years. 3029 
(1Kings 11:42, 2 Chronicles 3:2) 
37 years
3029
Division of the Kingdom to destruction of Jerusalem
(Ezekiel 4:4-6 
394 years
3423

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 BC

Hales - 1803 AD                                           5402 BC

Sayce - 1914 AD                                         5300 BC

The Septuagint Greek OT - 200 BC               5270 BC

Anstey - 1913 AD                                        4124 BC

Mauro - 1961 AD                                         4046 BC

Kepler - 17th century AD                              3993 BC

Melancthon - 16th century AD                      3964 BC

Luther - 16th century AD                              3961 BC

Lightfoot - 19th century AD                           3960 BC

8. 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, 
not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only”. 
(Matthew 24:36)