Changes

The synchrony of Jehoiakim with [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] is well-attested in the [[Bible]]. Multiple points of synchrony exist, but many authorities consider these to be in conflict:

The synchrony of Jehoiakim with [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] is well-attested in the [[Bible]]. Multiple points of synchrony exist, but many authorities consider these to be in conflict:

# [[Jeremiah (prophet)|Jeremiah]] specifically stated<ref name=synchrony1/> that the third year of Jehoiakim was also the first year of Nebuchadnezzar.

# [[Jeremiah (prophet)|Jeremiah]] specifically stated<ref name=synchrony1/> that the fourth year of Jehoiakim was also the first year of Nebuchadnezzar.

# [[Daniel]], furthermore, says that Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to [[Jerusalem]] in the third year of King Jehoiakim.<ref name=synchrony2>{{Bible ref|book=Daniel|chap=1|verses=1|version=NASB}}</ref>

# [[Daniel]] says that Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to [[Jerusalem]] in the third year of King Jehoiakim.<ref name=synchrony2>{{Bible ref|book=Daniel|chap=1|verses=1|version=NASB}}</ref>

# [[Jehoiachin]]'s three-month-and-ten-day reign ended in the same year that it began, and this is described as the ''eighth'' year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign.<ref name=synchrony3>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=24|verses=12|version=NASB}}</ref>

# [[Jehoiachin]]'s three-month-and-ten-day reign ended in the same year that it began, and this is described as the ''eighth'' year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign.<ref name=synchrony3>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=24|verses=12|version=NASB}}</ref>

# Jehoiachin won release from prison in the thirty-seventh year of his captivity, in the year that [[Evil-Merodach]], Nebuchadnezzar's son and successor, began to reign.<ref name=synchrony4>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=25|verses=27|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=pytlik2>George Pytlik, [http://www.pytlik.com/observe/daniel/setting/setting-03.html The Setting], ''Daniel: Messenger to the Future'', 2003. Retrieved April 12, 2007.</ref>

# Jehoiachin won release from prison in the thirty-seventh year of his captivity, in the year that [[Evil-Merodach]], Nebuchadnezzar's son and successor, began to reign.<ref name=synchrony4>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=25|verses=27|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=pytlik2>George Pytlik, [http://www.pytlik.com/observe/daniel/setting/setting-03.html The Setting], ''Daniel: Messenger to the Future'', 2003. Retrieved April 12, 2007.</ref>

# Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 BC.<ref>Anonymous, "[http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/ixbin/goto?id=ENC111105 Nebuchadnezzar II, King of Babylon (605-562 BC)]", ''The British Museum Compass'', 2000. Retrieved April 12, 2007.</ref><ref>Anonymous, [http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/middle_east/nebuchadnezzar.html The Chaldeans], E-Museum at [[Minnesota]] State University, Mankato, Minnesota. Retrieved April 12, 2007.</ref><ref>Anonymous, [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Nebuchad.html Nebuchadnezzar], The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed., 2006. Retrieved April 12, 2007 from the HighBeam Encyclopedia.</ref>

# Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 BC.<ref>Anonymous, "[http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/ixbin/goto?id=ENC111105 Nebuchadnezzar II, King of Babylon (605-562 BC)]", ''The British Museum Compass'', 2000. Retrieved April 12, 2007.</ref><ref>Anonymous, [http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/middle_east/nebuchadnezzar.html The Chaldeans], E-Museum at [[Minnesota]] State University, Mankato, Minnesota. Retrieved April 12, 2007.</ref><ref>Anonymous, [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Nebuchad.html Nebuchadnezzar], The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed., 2006. Retrieved April 12, 2007 from the HighBeam Encyclopedia.</ref>

The conflict is that Jehoiachin's captivity must have ''begun'' on 599 BC (562 + 37). That would mean that the first year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign was in 607 BC. Yet Nabopolassar did not die until two years later. [[John Calvin]] noticed this problem as well.<ref name=Calvin>[[John Calvin]], ''Commentaries on the Book of Daniel'', vol. 1, Thomas Meyers, MA, trans. Retrieved April 12, 2007 from the [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom24.txt Christian Classics Ethereal Library] at Calvin University. See also this [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom24.xiii.i.html?bcb=0 dissertation] (retrieved from the same host) on the chronological problem and the efforts of Calvin's contemporaries to resolve it.</ref>

The conflict between Jeremiah and Daniel in regard to "third" or "fourth" years of Jeremiah is relatively minor. [[James Ussher|Ussher]] says that the year of Nebuchadnezzar's expedition (and viceroyalty) was toward the end of Jehoiakim's third year and the ''beginning'' of his ''fourth'' year.<ref>Ussher, ''op. cit.'', pgh. 769</ref>

 

The more important conflict is that Jehoiachin's captivity must have ''begun'' on 599 BC (562 + 37). That would mean that the first year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign was in 607 BC. Yet Nabopolassar did not die until two years later. [[John Calvin]] noticed this problem as well.<ref name=Calvin>[[John Calvin]], ''Commentaries on the Book of Daniel'', vol. 1, Thomas Meyers, MA, trans. Retrieved April 12, 2007 from the [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom24.txt Christian Classics Ethereal Library] at Calvin University. See also this [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom24.xiii.i.html?bcb=0 dissertation] (retrieved from the same host) on the chronological problem and the efforts of Calvin's contemporaries to resolve it.</ref>

Calvin's resolution was simple: Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem while his father was still alive. But [[James Ussher]] appears to be the first person to suggest the obvious: that Nebuchadnezzar became ''[[viceroy]]'' of [[Babylonia]] in the same year that he led his expedition against Necho, and then onward to Jerusalem. Regnal years of executive viceroys who continue to reign alone are reckoned from the date of the viceroyalty and ''not'' the date of the lone reign. [[Edwin R. Thiele|Thiele]] appears to have taken no notice of this solution--and as a result he never presented a satisfactory solution to the length of Jehoiachin's captivity. This captivity, if Thiele were correct, would have lasted thirty-five years, not thirty-seven.

Calvin's resolution was simple: Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem while his father was still alive. But [[James Ussher]] appears to be the first person to suggest the obvious: that Nebuchadnezzar became ''[[viceroy]]'' of [[Babylonia]] in the same year that he led his expedition against Necho, and then onward to Jerusalem. Regnal years of executive viceroys who continue to reign alone are reckoned from the date of the viceroyalty and ''not'' the date of the lone reign. [[Edwin R. Thiele|Thiele]] appears to have taken no notice of this solution--and as a result he never presented a satisfactory solution to the length of Jehoiachin's captivity. This captivity, if Thiele were correct, would have lasted thirty-five years, not thirty-seven.