Continuing from the reign of the kings of Israel and Judah in Biblical Chronology: From Adam To The End Of The World (4947 Anno Mundi - Saul To Babylon) we must account for the time from Babylon to Cyrus and from Cyrus to Christ. Once this is complete we may determine the truth of the time span between the end of Samson's reign to the beginning of Saul's reign:
70 Years (Babylon to Cyrus)
The above may be confirmed by checking the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10 cf. 2 Chronicles 36:21, Isaiah 23:15 & 17, Daniel 9:2, Zechariah 1:12; 7:5).
Once I had reached this point in my own studies I saw that the LXX, DSS, Josephus, MT, and SP all agree from Adam to the numbers leading up to the death of Moses. From here I abandoned the SP and compared the numbers of the reigns of the Judges and those of the kings of Israel and Judah and, I found the LXX, DSS, and Josephus to be in agreement with the exception of the number of years from the time Moses freed Israel from Egypt to the 4th Year of king Solomon's reign:
Masoretic Text
480 Years (Moses to 4th Year of Solomon)
1 Kings 6:1
Josephus
592 Years (Moses to 4th Year of Solomon)
Antiquities of the Jews, Book 8, Chapter 3:1
Dead Sea Scrolls
??? Years (Moses to 4th Year of Solomon)
1 Kings 6:1 is missing
Septuagint
440 Years (Moses to 4th Year of Solomon)
1 Kings 6:1
This issue was resolved after I reckoned the reigns of the Judges and the kings of Israel and Judah whose years I have fully laid out in Biblical Chronology: From Adam to the End of the World (Anno Mundi 4947 - Saul to Babylon) and in Biblical Chronology: From Adam To The End Of The World (4430 Anno Mundi - Moses To Saul).
2,242 Years (Adam to Flood)
1,247 Years (Flood to Abraham)
430 Years (Abraham to Moses)
3,919 Years (Adam to Moses)
...next we can reckon the years from Moses to the 4th Year of Solomon...
511 Years (Moses to Saul)
40 Years (Saul)
2 Years (Ishbosheth)
40 Years 6 Months (David)
4 Years (Solomon begins 1st Temple)
597 Years 6 Months (Moses to 1st Temple)
3,919 Years (Adam to Moses)
597 Years 6 Months (Moses to 1st Temple)
4,516 Years 6 Months (Adam to 1st Temple)
...as you can all clearly see Josephus is the one who got the closest and that is because he was going by the longer chronology in the Septuagint/LXX. While it is not the purpose of this blog to investigate and expose specific scribes or teachers: we can know from the circumstantial evidence that a lot of tampering and "editing" was going on...of course this should serve as no surprise competitions for titles and prestige will motivate many a man and woman to push out unverified information in order to advance their political aims...
After this the years the Jews spent in Babylon and the years from Cyrus the Great to Christ were easy enough to reconcile with the help of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel.
Before being able to complete such a massive work I needed to be sure that my numbers were confirmed by an explicit prophecy concerning the 5,500 Years from Adam to Christ. While the creation week (Genesis 1:1-2:3) 70 Weeks of Daniel (Daniel 9:24-27) and the dimensions (in cubits) of the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 37:1) lined up with what I had found, I still needed an explicit prophecy stating such things. This is when I began reviewing all of the apocryphal works I had read in the past, and, to my delight I found three witnesses among them:
1. The Gospel of Nicodemus 22:1-14 (formerly Acts of Pilate)
2. Life of Adam and Eve 42:1-2
3. 1 Adam and Eve 3:1-6
Being extremely delighted that God had so wonderfully and miraculously preserved such truths I began to put all of my work in good order. After checking my calculations numerous times, and being sure that I had not added or taken away anything from the Word of God, I was convinced by the numerous proofs that there was no other way to arrive at 5,500 Years from Adam outside of the genealogical records of Genesis 5 & 11 in the LXX; and, that it is the only text--besides the Antiquity of the Jews--which gives a longer biblical chronology than that of the SP and MT.
And to be sure that no falsehood is being committed and we may validate the 69 Weeks/483 Years in truth and all righteousness I shall demonstrate by reckoning the time from king Nebuchadnezzar I to the death of Belshazzar by Darius the Mede; and, from Darius the Mede to the beginning of the reign of Alexander; and, from Alexander to Augustus Caesar who ended the reign of the ptolemies; and finally from Augustus Caesar to the death of Christ on the cross.
In the second book of the kings and the second book of the chronicles we read that king Nebuchadnezzar I took some of the Jews captive during the beginning of king Jehoaikim's reign and, among these captives we find the prophet Ezekiel. After 11 Years Jehoaikim dies and is succeeded by his son Jehoachin who, after reigning for 3 Months is taken prisoner by king Nebuchadnezzar I. Following Jehoiachin is Mattaniah, who is also called Zedekiah, whose sons Nebuchadnezzar I killed in his presence before gouging out his eyes. And this happened at the end of his 11 Year reign over Judah which is also the 19th Year of king Nebuchadnezzar I. Three years later we read the words of Ezekiel:
"In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me there."
Ezekiel 40:1
Let us reckon the numbers carefully…
Jehoiakim
11 Years (Ezekiel's 11th Year in Babylon)
0 Years 3 Months (Jehoiachin Imprisoned)
Mattaniah/Zedekiah
11 Years (Ezekiel's 22nd Year in Babylon)
10 Years 9 Months (Jehoiachin's 11th Year in prison)
Ezekiel's Vision of the Temple
3 Years (Ezekiel's 25th Year in Babylon)
3 Years (Jehoiachin's 14th Year in prison)
We shall now account for the time from Nebuchadnezzar I to Darius the Mede:
Babylonian Kings
43 Years (Nebuchadnezzar I)
0 Years ?? Months (Evil-Merodach)
22 Years (Nebuchadnezzar II)
7 Years (Belshazzar)
Now as I have said earlier Zedekiah was killed in the 19th Year of Nebuchadnezzar I and it is during his time that Daniel and his three friends sat at the king's table and were instructed in all the wisdom of the Babylonians. At the end of his father's reign Evil-Merodach released Jehoiachin who was imprisoned for 37 Years, and he ruled for a short time and was followed by Nebuchadnezzar II who is also known as Nabonidus: and it is this king whose two dreams Daniel interpreted successfully. Daniel informs us that he interpreted the dream of the Giant Statue of Nebuchadnezzar II in the second year of his reign: therefore this isn't the same Nebuchadnezzar I who destroyed and burned the First Temple with fire. And it is in the 21st Year of Nebuchadnezzar II that he received his second dream of the Giant Tree being cut down and the stump being placed in bonds for seven years: and, exactly one year later this dream is fulfilled; and, during his seven year absence Belshazzar is made king over Babylon and, this is why he offers to make anyone who could interpret the unknown writing on the wall third ruler in the kingdom (see Daniel 4 cf. 5:1-29). Right after Daniel interprets the writing on the wall: Belshazzar is killed by Darius the Mede. During this period of time Darius the Mede and Cyrus perform a joint attack on Babylon and Herodotus and Xenophon inform us in their histories that during this time the king of Babylon was unaware of their presence as the whole kingdom was feasting. While many historians are divided on this issue let it be clear that Nebuchadnezzar I marks the beginning of the Jews' 70 Year captivity in Babylon; Darius the Mede marks their 53rd Year; and, Cyrus the Great marks the 70th Year and liberation of the Jews from Babylon. To be sure of this matter let us account for the time from Nebuchadnezzar I to Darius the Mede:
Beginning from Nebuchadnezzar I 19th Year
24 Years (43rd Year of Nebuchadnezzar I)
0 Years ?? Months (Evil-Merodach)
21 Years (Nebuchadnezzar II 2nd Dream)
1 Year (Fulfillment of 2nd Dream)
7 Years (Belshazzar)
53 Years (Nebuchadnezzar I to Darius the Mede)
From the time of Adam to the 53rd Year of the Jews' captivity in Babylon, which is the first year of Darius the Mede, is 5,000 Years:
2,242 Years (Adam to Flood)
1,247 Years (Flood to Abraham)
430 Years (Abraham to Moses)
511 Years (Moses to Saul)
517 Years (Saul to Nebuchadnezzar I)
53 Years (Nebuchadnezzar I to Darius the Mede)
5,000 Years (Adam to Darius the Mede)
Therefore Darius the Mede ruled for 17 Years before Cyrus freed the Jews from Babylon…
5,000 Years (Adam to Darius the Mede)
17 Years (Darius the Mede)
5,017 Years (Darius the Mede to Cyrus the Great)
...we must now trace back to Zedekiah to be sure the numbers are true…
5,017 Years - 70 Years = 4,947 Years (Cyrus to Zedekiah)
...as for the 69 Weeks/483 Years…
5,017 Years (Adam to Cyrus)
483 Years (Cyrus to Christ)
5,500 Years (Adam to Christ)
To make sure this is correct we will account for the time from Cyrus the Great to Alexander the Great. This part of history many historians are divided on as well for we are not told how long each king of Media and Persia ruled separately and jointly; and, to make matters more difficult Scripture only acknowledges four Persian kings as Daniel and Ezra tell us:
"As for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to support and strengthen him. “Now I will announce the truth to you. Three more kings shall arise in Persia. The fourth shall be far richer than all of them, and when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece. Then a warrior king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and take action as he pleases. And while still rising in power, his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to the dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted and go to others besides these."
Daniel 11:1-4
Many have falsely claimed the fourth king to be Xerxes but, this is foolish as Daniel clearly informs us here this fourth Persian king will be defeated by a warrior king whose kingdom will be divided into four parts at his death: history informs us that Daniel is speaking of Darius the Great and Alexander of Macedon. And when we read the words of Ezra this becomes clearer:
"So the elders of the Jews built and prospered, through the prophesying of the prophet Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished their building by command of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus, Darius, and King Artaxerxes of Persia; and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius."
Ezra 6:14-15
While many historians will argue over the names of these kings Scripture plainly tells us the names of the four kings Daniel spoke of:
And to be sure that the fourth Persian king is none other than Darius the Great we must understand that Cyrus did not give the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple until after Darius the Mede's 17th Year; next Darius the Persian, whom we shall also call Darius I; as for Artaxerxes he is also called Ahasuerus by Ezra:
"In the reign of Ahasuerus, in his accession year, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to King Artaxerxes of Persia; the letter was written in Aramaic and translated."
Ezra 4:6-7
This is the same Ahasuerus who made Esther Queen but, do not confuse the husband of Esther with the father of Darius the Mede who also bears the same name (see Esther 1:1 cf. Daniel 9:1)! Finally we know from The Gests Of Alexander of Macedon and The Romance of Alexander the Great that Alexander arrived at Jerusalem when the city and the Temple were already completed. And among the chronicles of Eusebius and the writings of Josephus Alexander began his reign in the 111th Olympiad and died after ruling 12 Years in the 114th Olympiad; and, Phlegon in his Olympiads writes:
"In the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was an eclipse of the Sun which was greater than any known before and in the sixth hour of the day it became night; so that stars appeared in the heaven; and a great Earthquake that broke out in Bithynia destroyed the greatest part of Nicaea."
This is in agreement with what we read at the end of the the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Nicodemus, and the prophecy of Amos:
"On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day."
Amos 8:9-10
"From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o'clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was God's Son!” Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee."
Matthew 27:45-56
"In the name of the Holy Trinity, thus end the acts of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which the Emperor Theodosius the Great found at Jerusalem, in the hall of Pontius Pilate, among the public records; the things were acted in the nineteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, Emperor of the Romans, and in the seventeenth year of the government of Herod, the son of Herod and of Galilee, on the eighth of the calends of April, which is the twenty-third day of the month of March, in the CCIId Olympiad, when Joseph and Caiaphas were rulers of the Jews; being a History written in Hebrew by Nicodemus, of what happened after our Saviour's crucifixion."
We know the above has a few scribal errors as we have Luke informing us that Christ died in the 15th Year of Tiberius and, Eusebius and Josephus inform is that this was the 18th Year of Herod but, I will prove with further calculations that this is true:
1 Olympiad = 4 Years
202 Olympiads × 4 Years = 808 Years
5,500 AM - 808 Years = 4692 AM
This brings us to the 6th Month of the 37th Year of king Joash of Judah…
2,242 Years (Adam to Flood)
1,247 Years (Flood to Abraham)
430 Years (Abraham to Moses)
511 Years (Moses to Samson)
40 Years (Saul)
2 Years (Ishbosheth)
40 Years 6 Months (David)
40 Years (Solomon)
17 Years (Rehoboam)
3 Years (Abijah)
41 Years (Asa)
25 Years (Jehoshaphat)
8 Years (Jehoram)
1 Year (Ahaziah)
7 Years (Athaliah)
37 Years 6 Months (Joash)
4,692 Years (Adam to Joash)
With all this in order we may resume accounting for the time from Cyrus to Alexander:
111 Olympiads × 4 Years = 444 Years
Darius the Great whom we are told by Eusebius and Hippolytus ruled for only 7 Years…
4692 AM + 444 Years = 5136 AM
...Cyrus gave his decree 5017 AM so…
5136 AM - 5,017 Years = 119 Years (Alexander to Cyrus)
...and since only four Persian kings ruled we may conclude that there were about 29 Years and 9 Months to divide between them and the last of these 7 Years would belong to Darius II the Great. This helps us understand that the other Persian kings would have their reigns overlapping one another and should put to rest the confusion around them.
From Alexander the Great to Augustus Caesar are 292 Years for Cleopatra and Mark Antony died in the 184th Olympiad thus bringing the ptolemaic dynasty to an end: for Alexander ruled for 12 Years while the Ptolemies ruled for 280 Years as we read from the accounts of Eusebius, Hippolytus, Josephus, and St. Epiphanius…
184 Olympiads × 4 Years = 736 Years
114 Olympiads × 4 Years = 456 Years
111 Olympiads × 4 Years = 444 Years
736 Years - 456 Years = 280 Years
736 Years - 444 Years = 292 Years
And we know from Josephus, Tacitus, Eusebius, and Hippolytus that Augustus ruled for 57 Years therefore Christ was born 5470 AM in the 42nd Year of Augustus Caesar; in the 57th Year of Augustus Christ is 15 Years old; and, in the 15th Year of Tiberius Caesar Christ dies on the cross:
5,017 Years (Adam to Cyrus)
119 Years (Cyrus to Alexander)
292 Years (Alexander to Augustus)
42 Years (Christ is born)
15 Years (57th Year of Augustus)
15 Years (15th Year of Tiberius Caesar)
5,500 Years (Adam to Christ)
And we know this to be the correct year of Tiberius for Eusebius tells us that Nero began his reign in the 208th Olympiad which is 24 Years after Jesus Christ rose from the dead; and, Hippolytus gives us the years of the Caesars from Augustus to Nero as follows:
57 Years (Augustus Caesar)
22 Years 7 Months (Tiberius Caesar)
3 Years 9 Months (Gaius)
13 Years 1 Month (Claudius)
13 Years (Nero)
Beginning from the 15th Year of Tiberius
7 Years 7 Months (22nd Year of Tiberius)
3 Years 9 Months (Gaius)
13 Years 1 Month (Claudius)
23 Years 17 Months
17 Months ÷ 12 Months = 1 Year 5 Months
23 Years + 1 Year 5 Months = 24 Years 5 Months
We have decisively proven again that there are 5,500 Years from Adam to Christ. And we have also resolved the confusion of the Medo and Persian kings and those of Babylon, and accounted for 69 Weeks/483 Years of Daniel.
As it is plain for all to see, none of this could have been possible or understandable had we not corrected the many errors in the genealogical records of Genesis 5 & 11. And that couldn't be possible without the longer chronology preserved in the Septuagint/LXX and the Antiquities of the Jews. Tune in for another exciting series on Biblical Chronology: From Adam To The End Of The World (5500-6000; 6000-7000 Anno Mundi - Miellenial Reign To Final Judgment).
70 Years (Babylon to Cyrus)
The above may be confirmed by checking the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10 cf. 2 Chronicles 36:21, Isaiah 23:15 & 17, Daniel 9:2, Zechariah 1:12; 7:5).
Once I had reached this point in my own studies I saw that the LXX, DSS, Josephus, MT, and SP all agree from Adam to the numbers leading up to the death of Moses. From here I abandoned the SP and compared the numbers of the reigns of the Judges and those of the kings of Israel and Judah and, I found the LXX, DSS, and Josephus to be in agreement with the exception of the number of years from the time Moses freed Israel from Egypt to the 4th Year of king Solomon's reign:
Masoretic Text
480 Years (Moses to 4th Year of Solomon)
1 Kings 6:1
Josephus
592 Years (Moses to 4th Year of Solomon)
Antiquities of the Jews, Book 8, Chapter 3:1
Dead Sea Scrolls
??? Years (Moses to 4th Year of Solomon)
1 Kings 6:1 is missing
Septuagint
440 Years (Moses to 4th Year of Solomon)
1 Kings 6:1
This issue was resolved after I reckoned the reigns of the Judges and the kings of Israel and Judah whose years I have fully laid out in Biblical Chronology: From Adam to the End of the World (Anno Mundi 4947 - Saul to Babylon) and in Biblical Chronology: From Adam To The End Of The World (4430 Anno Mundi - Moses To Saul).
2,242 Years (Adam to Flood)
1,247 Years (Flood to Abraham)
430 Years (Abraham to Moses)
3,919 Years (Adam to Moses)
...next we can reckon the years from Moses to the 4th Year of Solomon...
511 Years (Moses to Saul)
40 Years (Saul)
2 Years (Ishbosheth)
40 Years 6 Months (David)
4 Years (Solomon begins 1st Temple)
597 Years 6 Months (Moses to 1st Temple)
3,919 Years (Adam to Moses)
597 Years 6 Months (Moses to 1st Temple)
4,516 Years 6 Months (Adam to 1st Temple)
...as you can all clearly see Josephus is the one who got the closest and that is because he was going by the longer chronology in the Septuagint/LXX. While it is not the purpose of this blog to investigate and expose specific scribes or teachers: we can know from the circumstantial evidence that a lot of tampering and "editing" was going on...of course this should serve as no surprise competitions for titles and prestige will motivate many a man and woman to push out unverified information in order to advance their political aims...
After this the years the Jews spent in Babylon and the years from Cyrus the Great to Christ were easy enough to reconcile with the help of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel.
Before being able to complete such a massive work I needed to be sure that my numbers were confirmed by an explicit prophecy concerning the 5,500 Years from Adam to Christ. While the creation week (Genesis 1:1-2:3) 70 Weeks of Daniel (Daniel 9:24-27) and the dimensions (in cubits) of the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 37:1) lined up with what I had found, I still needed an explicit prophecy stating such things. This is when I began reviewing all of the apocryphal works I had read in the past, and, to my delight I found three witnesses among them:
1. The Gospel of Nicodemus 22:1-14 (formerly Acts of Pilate)
2. Life of Adam and Eve 42:1-2
3. 1 Adam and Eve 3:1-6
Being extremely delighted that God had so wonderfully and miraculously preserved such truths I began to put all of my work in good order. After checking my calculations numerous times, and being sure that I had not added or taken away anything from the Word of God, I was convinced by the numerous proofs that there was no other way to arrive at 5,500 Years from Adam outside of the genealogical records of Genesis 5 & 11 in the LXX; and, that it is the only text--besides the Antiquity of the Jews--which gives a longer biblical chronology than that of the SP and MT.
And to be sure that no falsehood is being committed and we may validate the 69 Weeks/483 Years in truth and all righteousness I shall demonstrate by reckoning the time from king Nebuchadnezzar I to the death of Belshazzar by Darius the Mede; and, from Darius the Mede to the beginning of the reign of Alexander; and, from Alexander to Augustus Caesar who ended the reign of the ptolemies; and finally from Augustus Caesar to the death of Christ on the cross.
In the second book of the kings and the second book of the chronicles we read that king Nebuchadnezzar I took some of the Jews captive during the beginning of king Jehoaikim's reign and, among these captives we find the prophet Ezekiel. After 11 Years Jehoaikim dies and is succeeded by his son Jehoachin who, after reigning for 3 Months is taken prisoner by king Nebuchadnezzar I. Following Jehoiachin is Mattaniah, who is also called Zedekiah, whose sons Nebuchadnezzar I killed in his presence before gouging out his eyes. And this happened at the end of his 11 Year reign over Judah which is also the 19th Year of king Nebuchadnezzar I. Three years later we read the words of Ezekiel:
"In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me there."
Ezekiel 40:1
Let us reckon the numbers carefully…
Jehoiakim
11 Years (Ezekiel's 11th Year in Babylon)
0 Years 3 Months (Jehoiachin Imprisoned)
Mattaniah/Zedekiah
11 Years (Ezekiel's 22nd Year in Babylon)
10 Years 9 Months (Jehoiachin's 11th Year in prison)
Ezekiel's Vision of the Temple
3 Years (Ezekiel's 25th Year in Babylon)
3 Years (Jehoiachin's 14th Year in prison)
We shall now account for the time from Nebuchadnezzar I to Darius the Mede:
Babylonian Kings
43 Years (Nebuchadnezzar I)
0 Years ?? Months (Evil-Merodach)
22 Years (Nebuchadnezzar II)
7 Years (Belshazzar)
Now as I have said earlier Zedekiah was killed in the 19th Year of Nebuchadnezzar I and it is during his time that Daniel and his three friends sat at the king's table and were instructed in all the wisdom of the Babylonians. At the end of his father's reign Evil-Merodach released Jehoiachin who was imprisoned for 37 Years, and he ruled for a short time and was followed by Nebuchadnezzar II who is also known as Nabonidus: and it is this king whose two dreams Daniel interpreted successfully. Daniel informs us that he interpreted the dream of the Giant Statue of Nebuchadnezzar II in the second year of his reign: therefore this isn't the same Nebuchadnezzar I who destroyed and burned the First Temple with fire. And it is in the 21st Year of Nebuchadnezzar II that he received his second dream of the Giant Tree being cut down and the stump being placed in bonds for seven years: and, exactly one year later this dream is fulfilled; and, during his seven year absence Belshazzar is made king over Babylon and, this is why he offers to make anyone who could interpret the unknown writing on the wall third ruler in the kingdom (see Daniel 4 cf. 5:1-29). Right after Daniel interprets the writing on the wall: Belshazzar is killed by Darius the Mede. During this period of time Darius the Mede and Cyrus perform a joint attack on Babylon and Herodotus and Xenophon inform us in their histories that during this time the king of Babylon was unaware of their presence as the whole kingdom was feasting. While many historians are divided on this issue let it be clear that Nebuchadnezzar I marks the beginning of the Jews' 70 Year captivity in Babylon; Darius the Mede marks their 53rd Year; and, Cyrus the Great marks the 70th Year and liberation of the Jews from Babylon. To be sure of this matter let us account for the time from Nebuchadnezzar I to Darius the Mede:
Beginning from Nebuchadnezzar I 19th Year
24 Years (43rd Year of Nebuchadnezzar I)
0 Years ?? Months (Evil-Merodach)
21 Years (Nebuchadnezzar II 2nd Dream)
1 Year (Fulfillment of 2nd Dream)
7 Years (Belshazzar)
53 Years (Nebuchadnezzar I to Darius the Mede)
From the time of Adam to the 53rd Year of the Jews' captivity in Babylon, which is the first year of Darius the Mede, is 5,000 Years:
2,242 Years (Adam to Flood)
1,247 Years (Flood to Abraham)
430 Years (Abraham to Moses)
511 Years (Moses to Saul)
517 Years (Saul to Nebuchadnezzar I)
53 Years (Nebuchadnezzar I to Darius the Mede)
5,000 Years (Adam to Darius the Mede)
Therefore Darius the Mede ruled for 17 Years before Cyrus freed the Jews from Babylon…
5,000 Years (Adam to Darius the Mede)
17 Years (Darius the Mede)
5,017 Years (Darius the Mede to Cyrus the Great)
...we must now trace back to Zedekiah to be sure the numbers are true…
5,017 Years - 70 Years = 4,947 Years (Cyrus to Zedekiah)
...as for the 69 Weeks/483 Years…
5,017 Years (Adam to Cyrus)
483 Years (Cyrus to Christ)
5,500 Years (Adam to Christ)
To make sure this is correct we will account for the time from Cyrus the Great to Alexander the Great. This part of history many historians are divided on as well for we are not told how long each king of Media and Persia ruled separately and jointly; and, to make matters more difficult Scripture only acknowledges four Persian kings as Daniel and Ezra tell us:
"As for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to support and strengthen him. “Now I will announce the truth to you. Three more kings shall arise in Persia. The fourth shall be far richer than all of them, and when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece. Then a warrior king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and take action as he pleases. And while still rising in power, his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to the dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted and go to others besides these."
Daniel 11:1-4
Many have falsely claimed the fourth king to be Xerxes but, this is foolish as Daniel clearly informs us here this fourth Persian king will be defeated by a warrior king whose kingdom will be divided into four parts at his death: history informs us that Daniel is speaking of Darius the Great and Alexander of Macedon. And when we read the words of Ezra this becomes clearer:
"So the elders of the Jews built and prospered, through the prophesying of the prophet Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished their building by command of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus, Darius, and King Artaxerxes of Persia; and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius."
Ezra 6:14-15
While many historians will argue over the names of these kings Scripture plainly tells us the names of the four kings Daniel spoke of:
- Cyrus
- Darius
- Artaxerxes
- Darius
And to be sure that the fourth Persian king is none other than Darius the Great we must understand that Cyrus did not give the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple until after Darius the Mede's 17th Year; next Darius the Persian, whom we shall also call Darius I; as for Artaxerxes he is also called Ahasuerus by Ezra:
"In the reign of Ahasuerus, in his accession year, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to King Artaxerxes of Persia; the letter was written in Aramaic and translated."
Ezra 4:6-7
This is the same Ahasuerus who made Esther Queen but, do not confuse the husband of Esther with the father of Darius the Mede who also bears the same name (see Esther 1:1 cf. Daniel 9:1)! Finally we know from The Gests Of Alexander of Macedon and The Romance of Alexander the Great that Alexander arrived at Jerusalem when the city and the Temple were already completed. And among the chronicles of Eusebius and the writings of Josephus Alexander began his reign in the 111th Olympiad and died after ruling 12 Years in the 114th Olympiad; and, Phlegon in his Olympiads writes:
"In the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was an eclipse of the Sun which was greater than any known before and in the sixth hour of the day it became night; so that stars appeared in the heaven; and a great Earthquake that broke out in Bithynia destroyed the greatest part of Nicaea."
This is in agreement with what we read at the end of the the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Nicodemus, and the prophecy of Amos:
"On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day."
Amos 8:9-10
"From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o'clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was God's Son!” Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee."
Matthew 27:45-56
"In the name of the Holy Trinity, thus end the acts of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which the Emperor Theodosius the Great found at Jerusalem, in the hall of Pontius Pilate, among the public records; the things were acted in the nineteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, Emperor of the Romans, and in the seventeenth year of the government of Herod, the son of Herod and of Galilee, on the eighth of the calends of April, which is the twenty-third day of the month of March, in the CCIId Olympiad, when Joseph and Caiaphas were rulers of the Jews; being a History written in Hebrew by Nicodemus, of what happened after our Saviour's crucifixion."
We know the above has a few scribal errors as we have Luke informing us that Christ died in the 15th Year of Tiberius and, Eusebius and Josephus inform is that this was the 18th Year of Herod but, I will prove with further calculations that this is true:
1 Olympiad = 4 Years
202 Olympiads × 4 Years = 808 Years
5,500 AM - 808 Years = 4692 AM
This brings us to the 6th Month of the 37th Year of king Joash of Judah…
2,242 Years (Adam to Flood)
1,247 Years (Flood to Abraham)
430 Years (Abraham to Moses)
511 Years (Moses to Samson)
40 Years (Saul)
2 Years (Ishbosheth)
40 Years 6 Months (David)
40 Years (Solomon)
17 Years (Rehoboam)
3 Years (Abijah)
41 Years (Asa)
25 Years (Jehoshaphat)
8 Years (Jehoram)
1 Year (Ahaziah)
7 Years (Athaliah)
37 Years 6 Months (Joash)
4,692 Years (Adam to Joash)
With all this in order we may resume accounting for the time from Cyrus to Alexander:
111 Olympiads × 4 Years = 444 Years
Darius the Great whom we are told by Eusebius and Hippolytus ruled for only 7 Years…
4692 AM + 444 Years = 5136 AM
...Cyrus gave his decree 5017 AM so…
5136 AM - 5,017 Years = 119 Years (Alexander to Cyrus)
...and since only four Persian kings ruled we may conclude that there were about 29 Years and 9 Months to divide between them and the last of these 7 Years would belong to Darius II the Great. This helps us understand that the other Persian kings would have their reigns overlapping one another and should put to rest the confusion around them.
From Alexander the Great to Augustus Caesar are 292 Years for Cleopatra and Mark Antony died in the 184th Olympiad thus bringing the ptolemaic dynasty to an end: for Alexander ruled for 12 Years while the Ptolemies ruled for 280 Years as we read from the accounts of Eusebius, Hippolytus, Josephus, and St. Epiphanius…
184 Olympiads × 4 Years = 736 Years
114 Olympiads × 4 Years = 456 Years
111 Olympiads × 4 Years = 444 Years
736 Years - 456 Years = 280 Years
736 Years - 444 Years = 292 Years
And we know from Josephus, Tacitus, Eusebius, and Hippolytus that Augustus ruled for 57 Years therefore Christ was born 5470 AM in the 42nd Year of Augustus Caesar; in the 57th Year of Augustus Christ is 15 Years old; and, in the 15th Year of Tiberius Caesar Christ dies on the cross:
5,017 Years (Adam to Cyrus)
119 Years (Cyrus to Alexander)
292 Years (Alexander to Augustus)
42 Years (Christ is born)
15 Years (57th Year of Augustus)
15 Years (15th Year of Tiberius Caesar)
5,500 Years (Adam to Christ)
And we know this to be the correct year of Tiberius for Eusebius tells us that Nero began his reign in the 208th Olympiad which is 24 Years after Jesus Christ rose from the dead; and, Hippolytus gives us the years of the Caesars from Augustus to Nero as follows:
57 Years (Augustus Caesar)
22 Years 7 Months (Tiberius Caesar)
3 Years 9 Months (Gaius)
13 Years 1 Month (Claudius)
13 Years (Nero)
Beginning from the 15th Year of Tiberius
7 Years 7 Months (22nd Year of Tiberius)
3 Years 9 Months (Gaius)
13 Years 1 Month (Claudius)
23 Years 17 Months
17 Months ÷ 12 Months = 1 Year 5 Months
23 Years + 1 Year 5 Months = 24 Years 5 Months
We have decisively proven again that there are 5,500 Years from Adam to Christ. And we have also resolved the confusion of the Medo and Persian kings and those of Babylon, and accounted for 69 Weeks/483 Years of Daniel.
As it is plain for all to see, none of this could have been possible or understandable had we not corrected the many errors in the genealogical records of Genesis 5 & 11. And that couldn't be possible without the longer chronology preserved in the Septuagint/LXX and the Antiquities of the Jews. Tune in for another exciting series on Biblical Chronology: From Adam To The End Of The World (5500-6000; 6000-7000 Anno Mundi - Miellenial Reign To Final Judgment).
