The Chronological record of the Biblical Narrative has demonstrated itself to be a completely unreliable record when approached in the same way as the records of other peoples. The King's Calendar' is a synchronous chronological presentation of the history of Ancient Israel, as principally recorded in the Biblical books of Kings and Chronicles, and sets forth Apologetics for and the results of R.P.BenDedek's discovery of an "artificial chronological scheme" running through the Books of the Bible, Josephus,the Damascus Documents of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Seder Olam Rabbah.
Chronologies of Josephus
by R.P. BenDedek
Excerpts from 'The Secret of Qumran' (Ch. 20 – Josephus)
The Chronological record of the Biblical Narrative has demonstrated itself to be a completely unreliable record when approached in the same way as the records of other peoples.
The 'King's Calendar' however, has abandoned that traditional method. Defying logic, and accepting the data as it stands, but giving it a different value, the 'King's Calendar' in applying that data, has revealed that the biblical record is correct, and synchronises with known history.
The purpose now, is to examine specific data provided by Josephus, to demonstrate that the artificial construct was accepted as genuine historical data, by the first centuries, BCE and A.D.
Specifically, in Part One, we will examine nine references. In addition to demonstrating their validity (and erroneous calculations), and exploring novel data (not contained in the biblical narratives), the purpose will be to highlight Josephus' obvious ignorance (and hence by extension, the rest of Jewish society generally), of the encryption which the biblical chronological data had in fact undergone.
In Part Two, Thirty-Two other observations will be made concerning other chronological references.
Part One - Section Four: Correcting Josephus' Data
The purpose of this section is to do precisely as is stated above, and that task will be done based on the previous discussions, and will be done in point fashion.
i) Aristobulus to Titus.
173 solar years = 187.4 artificial years
ii) Cyrus to Aristobulus.
The correct artificial figure is 471 years.
iii) Babylonian Exile to Cyrus.
The Correct Chronological Reference is 52 artificial years.
iv) Monarchal Israel from David to the Babylonian Exile
473.5 artificial years As per Biblical Narratives
v) Departure from Egypt to David
From the expulsion of the Hyksos to King David is 589 artificial years
vi) Founding of Jerusalem to David
The Correct figure is 995 artificial years
vii) Departure from Egypt to Babylonian Exile
The Expulsion of the Hyksos to the Babylonian Exile is correct at1062.5 artificial years
viii) Founding of Jerusalem to the Babylonian Exile
This is a correct artificial figure of 1468.5 artificial years
ix) Babylonian Exile to Aristobulus
Artificially this is 525 years.
x) Error of 13.5 artificial years
The Biblical Narrative, which is reflected in all the ancient sources, contains an accumulative error of 13.5 years, the result of overlapping reigns. (Twelve years overlap Uzziah and Amaziah, one year overlap Jotham to Hezekiah, and 6 months assigned Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin)
Part Two
Example 17
Antiquities of the Jews – 9:7
Athaliah reigned 5 years
These can be seen in Appendix Five to be correct in solar years
Example 19.
Antiquities of the Jews – 9:8:5
Jehoash of Judah
In Antiquities 9:8:5 Josephus informs us that in Jehoash of Judah's Twenty-First (21st) year, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu came to power, reigning seventeen years. These Twenty-One ( 21) years are correct in solar terms, as can be seen in Appendix 5
Chapter Conclusion
That Josephus worked from original, chronologically correct artificial and solar year data is self evident.
It is equally obvious that he had great difficulty in both understanding and applying that data.
Despite the complexities of his chronological compositions however, they are far from incomprehensible, and can assist in accurately guiding us through Israelite history.
From this study of Josephus' data, it also seems reasonable to believe that he had access to at least Six (6) Original, Artificially Correct, chronological pieces of datum, that are no longer available to us.
These are:
1.That Jerusalem was founded 995 (ARTIFICIAL) years prior to David's reign.
2.That 'an' Exodus (Hyksos expulsion from Egypt) occurred 589 years prior to David's reign
3.That 525 years elapsed between the Exile and Cyrus' kingship in Babylon.
4.That 995 years elapsed between the commencement of David's reign and that of Aristobulus in 104 BCE.
5.That 423 years elapsed between Cyrus' accession as King of the Medes, and the death of Judas Maccabeus.
6.That 908.5 years elapsed between the Israelite entrance into Canaan under Joshua, and the Babylonian Exile.
Note:
The Chronological Calendar of Josephus' references is found in appendix 12, and may be accessed online until March 2006. To go there you must Go to the Chapter Precis page [Toolbar at the top] and click directly onto Appendix12 [Appendix 17 is also available].
Copyright 2013 is held by the nominated authors on this article page.
The Download book does not contain a section on Seder Olam
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.
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 also 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 a conversational English Teacher in China since 2003 and is currently (2013) teaching in SuZhou City Jiangsu Province in China.
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'.
