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Biblical chronology dispute (view source)
Revision as of 16:34, February 1, 2018
, 16:34, February 1, 2018In "Date of the Exodus" section, added recent scholarship.
The other three camps stand on {{Bible ref|book=I_Kings|chap=6|verses=1}}. Late-date theorists cannot and do not attempt to square this simple statement—that the Temple was built exactly 480 years after the Exodus—with archaeological findings that, to some, suggest that the Exodus and the Temple groundbreaking occurred closer together in time. Instead, they simply assert that the literal reading cannot be trusted, on grounds that their opponents find highly tenuous at best.<ref name=Dyer/>
The other three camps stand on {{Bible ref|book=I_Kings|chap=6|verses=1}}. Late-date theorists cannot and do not attempt to square this simple statement—that the Temple was built exactly 480 years after the Exodus—with archaeological findings that, to some, suggest that the Exodus and the Temple groundbreaking occurred closer together in time. Instead, they simply assert that the literal reading cannot be trusted, on grounds that their opponents find highly tenuous at best.<ref name=Dyer/>
A fairly recent line of investigation supports the 1446 date, based on Israel’s Jubilee cycles.<ref>Andrew E. Steinmann, “From Abraham to Paul: A Biblical Chronology“ (St. Louis: Concordia, 2011), pp. 48–53.</ref> This research takes as a starting point that the Hebrew text of Ezekiel 40:1, a revelation given on Tishri 10 (Day of Atonement) of 574 BC, implies that Ezekiel’s vision was at the beginning of a Jubilee year. Additionally, Jewish tradition<ref>“Seder Olam Rabbah“ 11, 24; “Babylonian Talmud“ ‘Arakin 12b.</ref> says Ezekiel’s vision was the beginning of the 17th Jubilee.<ref>Rodger C. Young, “The Talmud’s Two Jubilees and Their Relevance to the Date of the Exodus” “Westminster Theological Journal“ 68 (2006), pp. 71–83.</ref> Back-calculating then yields 1406 BC (exactly) as the start of counting for the Jubilee cycles. Counting for the Sabbatical and Jubilee cycles began when Israel entered Canaan (Lev. 25:1–4, 8–10), so the Exodus would have occurred 40 years earlier, in 1446 BC. This calculation, with its starting point in 574 BC, is entirely independent of Thiele’s chronology, although it is consistent with Thiele’s date for the division of the kingdom in 931 BC. It thus lends credibility to Thiele’s Bible-based reasoning that arrived at his date for the division of the kingdom, as well as providing independent evidence in favor of the “early” date of the Exodus (1446 BC).
=== The Chronology of the United and Divided Kingdoms ===
=== The Chronology of the United and Divided Kingdoms ===