At various times throughtout these Series of Newsletters, attention has been drawn to some 'apparent' Scriptural contradictions, which, under the scrutiny of the 'King's Calendar', are found not in fact to be 'contradictory'. The most famous of these are the dates provided for the Burning of the Temple in 586 BCE. Jeremiah 52:12 records that this event occurred on the 10th day of the 5th month of that year, and 2 Kings 25:8 records that it occurred on the 7th day of the 5th month. These are in fact two different chronological perspectives, the one being artificial and the other being the Babylonian. Jeremiah 52:28,29 in reference to the two exiles (596 BCE and 586 BCE), records that they occured in the 7th and 18th years of Nebuchadrezzar.
Newsletter No 15 Series III - Extra Free Glimpses The Burning of the Jerusalem Temple in 586 BCE by Nebuchadrezzar 'Secret of Qumran' Chapter Six - 883 - 849 BCE
While last week's newsletter primarily concerned the chronologies of Josephus, this week we will turn solely to Biblical References, and while staying with the 'Extra Free Glimpse' theme, I want once again to deal with 'Scriptural contradictions'.
At various times throughtout these Series of Newsletters, attention has been drawn to some 'apparent' Scriptural contradictions, which, under the scrutiny of the 'King's Calendar', are found not in fact to be 'contradictory'.
The most famous of these are the dates provided for the Burning of the Temple in 586 BCE.
THE BURNING OF THE TEMPLE:
Jeremiah 52:12 records that this event occurred on the 10th day of the 5th month of that year, and 2 Kings 25:8 records that it occurred on the 7th day of the 5th month. These are in fact two different chronological perspectives, the one being artificial and the other being the Babylonian.
JEHOIACHIN'S RELEASE:
Second Kings 25:27 informs us that this event occurred in the 37th year of Jehoiachin's exile on the 27th day of the twelfth month, while Jeremiah 52:31 informs us that it occurred on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month. These are also two different chronological perspectives for the same event.
NEBUCHADREZZAR'S REIGN
Jeremiah 32:1 synchronises the tenth (10) year of Zedekiah with the Eighteenth (18th) year of Nebuchadrezzar. This is correct in artificial and Solar years.
Second Kings 25:8 synchronises the burning of the Temple in Zedekiah's Eleventh (11th) year, with Nebuchadrezzar's Nineteenth (19th) year which is also correct in artificial years.
Jeremiah 52:28,29 in reference to the two exiles (596 BCE and 586 BCE), records that they occured in the 7th and 18th years of Nebuchadrezzar. These are provided from the Babylonian Calendrical system of recording Nebuchadrezzar's reign in Solar Years.
None of these references are incorrect, even though they all appear to be contradictory.
THE REIGN OF AHAZIAH OF JUDAH:
2 Kings 8:25 & 9:29 give apparently contradictory dates for Ahaziah's succession to the throne. Ahaziah King of Judah was the son of Jehoram and grandson of Jehoshaphat.
2 Kings 8:25 says that in the twelfth year of Jehoram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign, while 2 Kings 9:29 says that in the eleventh year of Jehoram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah.
Within the perspective of the redactors, both of these references are correct, one being the artificial figure whilst the other is the solar Figure. However, as a factual matter, both of these figures are incorrect, for there is a factual error in what the redactors wrote for this time period. This factual error is that to which we shall turn now.
AHAB TO JEHORAM OF ISRAEL & JEHOSHAPHAT TO AHAZIAH OF JUDAH.
The Biblical picture:
Ahab came to the throne of Israel during the 12th Artificial year of Omri, his father. This was also both the 38th (January) and 39th (December) artificial years of King Asa of Judah, and both years fell in 883 BCE. {In fact this was Asa's 36th Solar Year).
Joshaphat (Asa's son) commences his first artificial year in October of 880 BCE, which is Ahab's 4th artificial year (1 Kings 22:41). As you follow the synchronisms, you come to an unusual problem, which has remained unsolvable except by the 'King's Calendar'.
Ahab's 22nd and final year commences in May of 863 BCE and extends to April of 862 BCE. He died sometime within this period. But this period of time was also Jehoshaphat's 19th ARTIFICIAL year, AND 18th SOLAR/REGNAL year. So far no problem.
But according to 1 Kings 22:51 Ahab's son Ahaziah ascended to the throne during the 17th year of Jehoshaphat and reigned for 2 years, ie, the 17th and 18th years of Jehoshaphat. This then means that he coreigned with Ahab, while Ahab was still alive. After Ahaziah's accidental death, his brother Jehoram succeeded to the throne during the 18th year of Jehoshaphat, thereby indicating that Ahaziah did not reign two full years. Nevertheless, Ahab was not yet dead.
Furthermore, Jehoram of Israel, son of Ahab, reigns (so say the Scriptures) for only 12 years. Note This!
No matter how you work the figures at this point, the Scriptural references do not sychronise. Jehoram of Israel came to the throne during Jehoshaphat's 18th of his 25 years.
Jehoshaphat has therefore 7 artificial years of reign left.
Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram of Judah reigned for 8 years.
Jehoram's son Ahaziah reigned for 1 year.
This brings us to a total of 16 years between the death of Ahaziah of Israel (during the 18th year of Jehoshaphat) and the death of Jehoram of Israel during the one year year reign of Ahaziah of Judah (grandson of Jehoshaphat).
There are 4 unaccounted years.
THE 'KING'S CALENDAR' SIMPLIFIED EXPLANATION:
I shall provide here only the simple observations of the 'King's Calendar'. {The full details of the argument are found in Chapter Six}.
Chronologically, from the Death of Ahab to the Death of his son Jehoram, 14 Solar years elapse. Since Jehoram is provided with a 12 year reign and his brother is assigned a 2 year reign, we can conclude one of two things.
1. Ahaziah had an independent reign of two years, and Jehoram had an independent 12 years, in which case the Biblical synchronisms are completely incorrect - or -
2. The synchronisms represent the historical facts (including that there were only 14 solar years left to the Dynasty after Ahab's death) But, at some point, someone, failing to note the significance of the synchronisms with Jehoshaphat's reign, they assigned Ahaziah a two year independent reign out of the 14 SOLAR years that belonged to Jehoram.
This is the picture painted by the Biblical Synchronisms
But This
is what the Synchronisms are meant to Portray
Ahab died between May of 863 BCE and April of 862 BCE. during Jehoshaphat's 19th artificial year BUT 18th Solar/REgnal year.
Jehoram (Ahab's son) commenced his first ARTIFICIAL YEAR on April 17th 862, and his first SOLAR/REGNAL year in Nisan of that year (march/april).
Jehoram reigned 14 Solar years commencing his first Solar/regnal year at the same time as Jehoshaphat commenced his 19th Solar year AND Jehoram reigned 15 artificial years commencing his first artificial year in Jehoshaphat's 20th artificial year.
Note: If the references to Jehoshaphat's 17th & 18th years are SOLAR YEAR REFERENCES, then Jehoram in fact ascended to the throne during Ahab's last year, that is, during Jehoshaphat's 18th solar year. As Jehoshaphat reigned only 23 solar years, then there were left to Jehoshaphat 5 years, which, added to the 8 year reign of his son Jehoram and the one year of his grandson Ahaziah, amounts to a total of 14 years, during which Jehoram of Israel reigned.
Post Publication Update:
A more recent on site section entitled: "The Law, Rules of Evidence & Archaeology" deals specifically with the archaeology and its evidences for this time period.
I mentioned earlier that both these references were correct from the redactors perspectives, and they are. If one assigns Ahaziah of Israel an independent two year reign, followed by his brother's 12 independent years, these two scriptures are correct. Ahaziah of Judah would have ascended to the throne during the 11th SOLAR - and - 12th ARTIFICIAL year of Jehoram of Israel, and commenced his first solar/regnal year during Jehoram's 12th SOLAR year. Because of the error in relation of the independent reign of Ahaziah of Israel however, the TRUE SITUATION is not recorded. Ahaziah of Judah did in fact commence his first year during the 14th SOLAR / 15 th ARTIFICIAL year of Jehoram of Israel.
Of course the two above mentioned Scriptures are not the only ones that cause trouble for chronologists for this period of time. The one which proves most interesting to the above painted scenerio is found in 2 Kings 8:16 - Jehoram of Judah commenced to reign in the 5th year of Jehoram of Israel.
While it does not appear to be so, it is in fact correct. Jehoshaphat died during the 5th year of Jehoram of Israel, and therefore Jehoram of Judah does indeed commence in the 5th year of Jehoram of Israel. But we can't end the problem at this point, for 2 Kings 1:17 informs us that Jehoram of Israel commenced to reign in the second year of Jehoram of Judah. On the surface this appears to be a contradiction, but it is not, for Jehoram of Judah co-reigned with Jehoshaphat.
The 'King's Calendar' cannot be precise is stating which year this coreign commenced, for it all depends on what the redactor had in his mind. There are 3 options.
1. 865 BCE: Jehoram of Judah commenced to co-reign with Jehoshaphat during his 17th year; NOTE THAT it was during this year that Ahaziah of Israel commenced his co-regency with Ahab. (This speaks volumes about the pact between Jehoshaphat and Ahab).
2. 864 BCE: Jehoram of Judah commenced his co-reign at the time of the death of Ahaziah of Judah (and the accession of Jehoram), during Jehoshaphat's 18th year, in which case, during both JEHORAM'S 2nd year, Jehoram of Israel commenced his true accession year upon his father's death.
3. 863 BCE: Jehoram of Judah commenced his co-reign the year before Jehoram of Israel commenced his first SOLAR REGNAL year in 862 BCE.
What was covered in this newsletter was in fact a 17 year period from 865 BCE to 849 BCE., or from Jehoshaphat's 17th year & Ahab's 20th year, to the deaths of Ahaziah of Judah and Jehoram of Israel. For the Academics among you, there are two very obvious chronological points which stick out, and we will commence with the first of these next week.
For the time being, I hope that what you have read today has made for a more simplified understanding of Chapter Six of 'The King's Calendar : The Secret of Qumran'.
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About the KingsCalendar Publisher
R.P.BenDedek is the owner and Editor of KingsCalendar.com which was originally set up to publicize his research results into the Chronology of Ancient Israel. Those results were published under the title: 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran'.
Whilst there have been many attempts to solve the chronological riddle of the Bible's synchronisms of reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah and their synchronism with other Ancient Near Eastern Nations, no other research is based on a simple mathematical formula which could, if it is incorrect, be disproved easily. To date, no one has been able to dismiss the mathematical results of this research.
Free to air Academic articles set forth Apologetics for and results of his discovery of an "artificial chronological scheme" running through the Bible, Josephus, the Damascus Documents of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Seder Olam Rabbah.
During the current economic downturn, this book has been dramatically reduced in price but will eventually rise as the economy improves.
Check the Chapter Precis Page to see details of each chapter and to gain access to the Four Free to Air Chapters
R.P. BenDedek writes social commentaries and photographic 'Stories from China' both at KingsCalendar, and as a contributing columnist at Magic City Morning Star News in Maine USA.
He has been teaching English to Chinese Students in China since 2003 and currently (2013) is teaching in Suzhou City Jiangsu Province.
Part 1. The Law, Rules of Evidence & Archaeology Part 2. The Law, Rules of Evidence & Archaeology Part 3. The Law, Rules of Evidence & Archaeology Part 4. The Law, Rules of Evidence & Archaeology
The Premise: Between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE (but continuing down to at least 104 BCE), Sectarian redactors transcribed the legitimate 'solar year' chronological records of Israel and Judah, into an artificial form, with listed years as each comprised of 12 months of 4 weeks of 7 days, or 336 days per year, thus creating a 13th artificial year where 12 solar years existed.
When the Synchronous Chronological Data provided in the Books of Kings and Chronicles for the Divided Kingdom Period are measured in years of 336 days, the synchronisms actually align. [Refer to Appendix Five to see how it synchronises the Divided Kingdom Period]
General formula for Biblical Data conversion:
The formula for constructing the artificial calendar was:
'X' times 364 equals 'Y' days'Y' days divided by 336 equals 'Z' artificial years.Values are:'X' = any given number of 'real/solar' years364 = perceived days in the sectarian calendar'Y' = number of days calculated336 = number of days in an artificial year'Z' = artificial years = 1.083'X' and represents the original number of the converted years plus 8%.To reverse the process by hand:'Z' years times 336 equals 'Y' divided by 364 equals the Number of 'X' years converted.
To see how effective this method is, SEE:Appendix 5:Diagrammatic Reconstruction of Israelite History from 936 to 586 BCE:
The Principle of Linear Causality
The King's Calendar is a very simple approach to Biblical Chronology. It substitutes a value of 336 days for every year listed in Scripture. As far as the Divided Kingdom is concerned, when you use this 336 day year value, the synchronisms actually work. To see how effective this method is, SEE:Appendix 5: Diagrammatic Reconstruction of Israelite History from 936 to 586 BCE
Because it is a mathematical system, the King's Calendar must abide by certain mathematical rules, the most important of which, is that if you change any date for any day, month, or year every other day, month, or year is effected and must also change. It's like a 'domino effect'. Chronological references cannot be 'forced' to fit, and nor can they simply be ignored or 'compressed' as is the usual case with historians and archaeologists.
If any King's Calendar chronological determination disagrees with anything in the history books, it must argue the case as to why the history books are wrong, or why the evidence for an assertion is untrustworthy. If the King's Calendar successfully defends its' position, then the history books cannot be treated as definitive, and if the King's Calendar is 'proven' wrong, then every other chronological reference it provides is also wrong.
Because of this, the King's Calendar Chronological Reconstruction of Israel's history is unique, in that its' methodology can be scientifically (mathematically) tested and demonstrated to be either true or false. Its' chronological predictions are able to be 'proved' or 'disproved'.
