Contradictory Judges

[Gideon]

Have you ever added up the rule of the Judges? If we do, a problem arises. Add them all up, plus the times of oppression such as the Midianite period of 7 years. Now tack on the 40 years in the wilderness plus the reigns of Saul and David and what do we get? 640 years! On face value, that’s about 640 years from the Exodus until Solomon.

‘Problem is that 1 Kings 6:1 says,

"And it came to pass in the 480[SUP]th[/SUP] year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord."

That’s about 480 years from the Exodus until Solomon. IOW, it’s about 160 years shorter than claimed in the book of Judges – a big difference!

Ive recently posted up charts showing how this contradiction is resolved. Have a look here if the subject is of interest to anyone, or discuss any ideas about it on this thread.


Gideon

 

[juvenissun]

Have you ever added up the rule of the Judges? If we do, a problem arises. Add them all up, plus the times of oppression such as the Midianite period of 7 years. Now tack on the 40 years in the wilderness plus the reigns of Saul and David and what do we get? 640 years! On face value, that’s about 640 years from the Exodus until Solomon.

‘Problem is that 1 Kings 6:1 says, That’s about 480 years from the Exodus until Solomon. IOW, it’s about 160 years shorter than claimed in the book of Judges – a big difference!

Ive recently posted up charts showing how this contradiction is resolved. Have a look here if the subject is of interest to anyone, or discuss any ideas about it on this thread.


Gideon

Neat work and nice diagrams.
But, how did you solve the problem? Is there something wrong with the 640 years counting?

 

[Gideon]

Judges from one region sometimes reigned in the same time period as a Judge in another region. This is often suggested by Bible commentators. However not many attempt to identify which of the judges actually overlap with whom. We need to do that if we wish to avoid the criticism that the older sections of historical scripture are just legends.

We need to find a "Judges timeline" that flows on from (ie. does not contradict) the "Kings timeline." (1 Kings 6:1) That is what I hope to achieve.

 

[juvenissun]

Judges from one region sometimes reigned in the same time period as a Judge in another region. This is often suggested by Bible commentators. However not many attempt to identify which of the judges actually overlap with whom. We need to do that if we wish to avoid the criticism that the older sections of historical scripture are just legends.

We need to find a "Judges timeline" that flows on from (ie. does not contradict) the "Kings timeline." (1 Kings 6:1) That is what I hope to achieve.

Excellent.
To what degree have you figured it out? I can see it is a hard work.

Just like the prophecy in the Daniel, it would be hard to fit the historical calendar exactly with the prophecy without putting in some arguments and adjustments. But, to me, even a 90% match would be an amazingly nice fit.

 

[Gideon]

bump!

Biblical chronology is a greatly neglected subject. This has led to weak defenses, with believers unable to rebut skeptical aspersions on the validity of Old Testament history. Even some evangelical scholars acquiesce with comments to the effect that the Old Testament was not meant to be followed as a reliable date source.

However, the Old Testament is rich in historical information. Its internal chronology can be traced back to Abraham (born 2165bc) and forward to Christ (died 7th April ad30) without gaps, by means of the sabbatic-year count. Identifiable validating dates can be cross-referenced to this.

Of course, there will always be those who dispute one event or another and the book of Judges is a favorite for skeptics. However the internal chronology of the Bible is very consistent. It's a pity seminaries don't take biblical chronology more seriously.

Chronology of the Judges

 

[RexOdatis]

We know that the Israelites of the time were still a nation being formed, and spread over a fairly large area. Who's to say that a Judge from one region reigned in the same time period or slightly overlapping a Judge in another region? I didn't see a clear indication that the rule of the Judges were consecutive time periods in a back-to-back fashion.

 

[Gideon]

That is my conclusion too Rex. But Ive gone one step further and mapped out where the overlaps occurred. For example Eli was judging Judah at the same time as Jephthar was liberating the eastern tribes from Ammon.

 

[granpa]

At-a-glance/The Bible - Religion-wiki