Bible Chronology / Timeline from Adam to Zedekiah

Overview

I’ve spent a good 15 years trying to test a literal biblical timeline against contemporary ancient king lists, timelines, archaeological evidence, geological evidence and other modern channeled texts.

One of the things that’s really stuck out to me in studying Egyptian, Greek, Babylonian and Akkadian histories is that these ancient people used cultural genealogies to legitimize their authority in the same way that modern Western culture uses science to claim cultural superiority. Each of them followed a similar template of claiming direct descent from the ancient heroes and demigods–passing through the ancient cataclysms–straight to their established rulers and religious priesthoods. For them it was a form of nationalism, ego and pride. To have the oldest, most cohesive history of one’s culture was to be able to lay claim of superiority over other cultures (for examples, see this article on ancient examples of history revisionism). In a tradition carried out by many Jews and Christians alike today, to possess the “true” history (ie. scripture) of the world was to be able to claim the mandate of heaven and approval of the gods or God himself. Josephus’s “On the Antiquity of the Jews” is a prime example.

Despite being forced by overwhelming evidence to drop overly literal interpretations of the bible, my scholarly research has not altogether destroyed my faith in the Bible. In fact the more I study the enduring scriptural texts of ancient and modern cultures, the more I’m convinced that much of scripture come from a source of higher intelligence and that the king lists and timelines up to the period of the judges are likely the most accurate and complete one’s known. But what I have come to believe through reading a great deal of historical and channeled material is that the Bible is a text of mysticism as much as it is a text of history. The numbers, dates, names and accounts for periods before Moses seem to be trying to teach hidden concepts more than they seem to be trying to give a literal history. That’s not to say there is not literal basis for some of the incredible historical events mentioned in the text (such as the Fall, Flood, Peleg, Tower, etc). But it is to say that to interpret them as most literalists do (such as biblical creationists) is to destroy their purpose and depth—and especially their mystical significance.

For an in depth example, one only need read Swedenborg’s, mystic interpretation of the Bible in his Arcana Cœlestia.  As another example… take the narrative given in the channeled Oaspe text. In this account it is inferred that the list of individuals from Adam to Noah, and from Noah to Terah, may actually be archetypes pointing to cycles of time spanning tens of thousands of years instead of a literal father-son genealogy spanning a mere few hundred years. Studying the king lists in  Egyptian, Sumerian and Babylonian culture also adds a good deal of insight. As well as the creation accounts found Hindu scripture or texts like The Kolbrin.

For an excellent treatise on the patterns and ancient context of biblical dates see “Making Sense of the Numbers of Genesis“.

For a well research literal timeline of the Bible, see the work of Daniel Gregg at Torahtimes.org

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GenDescendant of AdamNotes about LifeTotal Life SpanBegat son at…Lived after that …Prstd Ordin- ation BIRTH (Yr-BC)DEATH (Yr-BC)Scripture reference’s) which give exact ages/dates.
1AdamDates start at the Fall of Adam9301308004000 BC3070 BCMoses 6:10, 11, 12Gen 5:3, 4, 5
2Seth.912105807693870 BC2958 BCMoses 6:13, 14, 16Gen 5:6, 7, 8
3Enos.905908151343765 BC2860 BCMoses 6:17, 18Gen 5:9, 10, 11
4Cainan.91070840873675 BC2765 BCMoses 6:19Gen 5:12, 13, 14
5Mahalaleel.895658304963605 BC2710 BCMoses 6:20Gen 5:15, 16, 17
6Jared.9621628002003540 BC2578 BCMoses 6:21, 24Gen 5:18, 19, 20
7EnochEnoch translated either when 365 or 430 yrs old (in 1052 A.F. Or 2948 BC)N/A65N/A253378 BCN/AMoses 6:25 7:68 8:1 – Gen 5:21, 22 D&C 107:49
8Methuselah.9691877821003313 BC2344 BCMoses 8:5, 6, 7Gen 5:25, 26, 27
9Lamech.777182595323126 BC2349 BCMoses 8:8, 10, 11Gen 5:28, 30, 31
10NoahSee Note about Bible discrepacy950492458102944 BC1994 BCMoses 8:12Gen 5:32 9:29
11Shem.6101105002452 BC1852 BCGen 11:10, 11, 12

Noah’s Flood: Occurred when Noah was 600, and Shem was 108. That’s 1548 years from fall or 2344 BC. Noah died 350 years after it ended
(Gen 7:6,11 8:17 9:28).

GenDescendant of AdamNotes about LifeTotal Life SpanBegat son at…Lived after thatPrstd Ordin- ation BIRTH (Yr-BC)DEATH (Yr-BC)References
12Arphaxed.438354032342 BC1914 BCGen 11:12, 13
13Salah.433304032307 BC1884 BCGen 11:14, 15
14Eber.46434430N/A2277 BC1823 BCGen 11:16, 17
15PelegIn his days the earth is divided23930209N/A2243 BC2014 BCGen 11:18, 19
16Reu.23932207N/A2213 BC1984 BCGen 11:20, 21
17Serug.23030200N/A2181 BC1961 BCGen 11:22, 23
18Nahor.14829119N/A2151 BC2013 BCGen 11:24, 25
19TerahSee Note about Bible discrepacy20570-130+/-105N/A2122 BC1927 BCGen 11:26, 32, 12:1,4
20Abraham.17510075?2022 BC?1847 BC?Gen 21:5,25:7,8
21Isaac.1806060?1922 BC1742 BCGen 25:7 36:28
22Jacob.1476879?1862 BC1715 BCGen 47:28 9?
23Levi.13764?73?1794 BC1657 BCExodus 6:16
24KohathVery little info (Only age at death given)13370?63?1730 BC?1597 BC?Exodus 6:18
25AmramVery little info (Only age at death given)13763?74?1660 BC?1523 BC?Exodus 6:20
26MosesTranslated at age 120N/A40-80N/A40-801597 BC1477 BCDeut. 34:7, Exodus 7:7, Acts 7:23,30

The Exodus: See Note. Occurred when Moses was 80 years old. In 1517 BC, 430 years after Abraham was 75 or 215 years passed from the time that Jacob entered Israel to the exodus (Acts 7:23,30Gal 3:17Gen 15:13,16).

GenDescendant of AdamNotes about LifeTotal Life SpanBegat son at…Age Made KingTotal Reign Beg Reign (lds)Reign (accepted BC)Scripture reference’s giving exact ages/ dates.
 JoshuaSee Note for explanation for length of riegn110N/A75351477-1422 Josh 24:29
27Othneil8 yr captivity to Mesopt. 40 year freedomN/A401442-1402 Judges 3:ll (also see Judges 3:8)
 Ehud/Sham.18 yr captivity to Moab. 80 year freedomN/A801402-1322 Judges 3:30 (also see Judges 3:14)
28DeborahRules w/ Barak. 20 yr captivity to Canaan.N/A401322-1282 Judges 5:31 (see also Judges 4:2–3)
 Gideon7 yr captivity to Midian. 40 year freedom401282-1242 Judges 8:28 (See also Judges 6:1)
29AbimelechSon of Gideon (Judg 9:18,21)N/A31242-1233 Judges 9:22 (16-55)
 TolaSon of Puah of IssacharN/A231239-1216 Judges 10:1
 JairOf GileadN/A221216-1194 Judges 10:3
30Jephthah18 year oppression by PhilistinesN/A61194-1188 Judges 12:7 (see also Judges 10:8)
 Ibzanof Bethlehem (1 chron )N/A71188-1181 Judges 12:8–9
 ElonOf ZebulunN/A101181-1171 Judges 12:11–12
 AbdonSon of Hillel, of PirathonN/A81171-1163 Judges 12:13–14
31Samson40 year oppression by PhilistinesN/A201163-1143 Judges 15:20 (see also Judges 13:1)
 Eli40 is not civil reign shouldn’t be counted?98N/A401143-1103 1 Samuel 4:15,18
32SamuelRules solely for a time and jointly with Saul105N/A59?71103-1096 Josephus? (is 66 when he anoints Saul)
 SaulBorn ? (40 yrs includes Samuel?)60N/A20271102-10601037-1010Acts 13:21
33DavidBorn 1040 BC?7033401062-10221010-9702 Sam 5:4–5, 1 Chr. 29:27, 3:4
34SolomonBorn 990 BC? Temple lain in 1018 BC?58??39/401022-952970-9312 Chr. 9:30, 1 Kings 11:42

Foundation of Temple is Lain: Solomon lays temple foundation in 4rth year of his reign in approximately 1018-1019 BC, and
480 years after the Exodus (1 Kings 6:1).

GenKingLife NotesLife SpanBegat son at…Age Made KingTotal Reign Reign (lds)Reign BCReferences
35RehoboamFights against bro, Jeroboam all his life.584117982-965931-9152 Chr. 12:13, 1 Kings 14:21
36Abijam(a.k.a. Abijah) Wicked like his father3965-962915-9122 Chr. 13:2, 1 Kings 15:2
37AsaRightous41962-921912-8712 Chr. 16:13, 1 Kings 15:10
38JehoshaphatRightous60283525921-896871-8492 Chr. 20:31, 1 Kings 22:42
39JehoramWicked4018328896-888849-8422 Chr. 21:5,20, 2 Kings 8:17
40Ahaziah (x)Chronicles says he started to reign at 422322221888-887842-8412 Chr. 22:2 , 2 Kings 8:26
 AthaliaWicked wife of Jehoram. Userps throneN/A6887-881841-8352 Chr. 22:12, 2 Kings 11:3
41JoashSon of Ahaziah, saved by High Priest4722740881-841835-7962 Chr. 24:1, 2 Kings 12:1, 11:21
42Amaziah.54382529841-812796-7672 Chr. 25:1, 2 Kings 14:2
43Uzziah(a.k.a. Azariah) big earthquake during reign68431652812-760767-7402 Chr. 26:3, 2 Kings 15:2
44Jotham.41212516760-744750-7352 Chr. 27:1,8, 2 Kings 15:33
45Ahaziah(a.k.a Ahaz)362016744-728735-7152 Chr. 28:1, 2 Kings 16:2
46HezekiahSun goes back 15 degrees54422529728-699715-6872 Chr. 29:1, 2 Kings 18:2
47Manasseh.67451255699-644687-6422 Chr. 33:1, 2 Kings 21:1
48Amon (x)Murdered2416222644-642642-6402 Chr. 33:21 2 Kings 21:19
49Josiah.3914831642-611640-6092 Chr. 34:1 2 Kings 22:1
50Jehoiakim(a.ka. Eliakim) vassal to pharaoh36152511611-600609-5112 Chr. 36:5, 2 Kings 23:36
Zedekiah(a.k.a. Mattaniah) Johoiakim’s cousin32322111600-589597-5862 Chr. 36:11. 2 Kings 24:18

BOM Timeline: Babylonian Captivity. This puts us into the BOM and established written history. (See 1 Nephi 10:4)

correlation of all genealogical tables given in biblical/LDS scripture
BOLD FONT = Exact date is given in corresponding scripture references column.

REGULAR FONT = Date calculated using bold dates.
? = Uncertainty in date calculation

Kings Reigns and Dates of The Kingdom of Israel

GenKingLife NotesLife SpanAge Made KingTotal Reign Reign (lds)Reign BCReferences
35Jeroboam ISplits Northern Kingdom from Judah & pure Davidic Line ? 21 961-940931-911 1 Kings 11:26–40, 2 Chron #
 NadabKilled by Baasha  2 940-938911-910 1 Kings 15:25
36Baasha   24 938-914910-887 1 Kings 15:33
 ElahKilled by Zimri (only reigns 7 days, thus omitted here) 22 2 914-912887-886 1 Kings 16:8
 OmriTibni reigns after Zimri for 5 years as rival to Omri 1212 12 912-900886-875 1 Kings 16:23
37Ahab  2221 22 900-878875-853 1 Kings 16:29
38Ahaziah  N/A 2 878-876853-852 1 Kings 22:51 
39JerohamKilled by Jehu in 841 1212 12 876-864852–841 2 Kings 3:1
40Jehu  2828 28 864-836841-814 2 Kings 10:36
41Jehoahaz  1717 17 836-819814-798 2 Kings 13:1
41Jeoash  1616 16 819-803798-753 2 Kings 13:10
42Jeroboam IIwith Joash/Jehoash from 793/792 41 41 803-762782-753 2 Kings 14:23
43MenahemSeveral short-lived claimants omitted. 1010 10 762-752752–742 2 Kings 15:17
43PekahiahMurdered by Pekahx22 2 752-750742-740 2 Kings 15:23
44PekahKilled by Hosheax2012 20 750-730740-732 2 Kings 15:27
45HosheaSamaria and Israel fall to Assyria in 722 9-16 9 730-721732-722 2 Kings 17:1

About General Date Accuracy

Dates accuracies range from high at the reign of Zedekiah (BOM), to +/- 10-20 yrs at Rehoboam, to poorer during the reign of the judges.  LDS revelation, given in D&C 77:6–7, 12 & D&C 88:108–110 emphasizes the mystical importance of the 7000 year cycle in the bible timeline (1 Ne. 13:40, Mormon 7:9.  see also the Jaredite genealogy and the book of Moses as well, as seen in my genealogical tables)

For Mormon’s, Book of Mormon verses in 1 Nephi 1:4 & 2:4 state that Nephi’s family left Jerusalem in the first year of the reign of Zedekiah. 1 Nephi 10:4 & 19:8 assure that this was in 600-601 BC. Thus we use this as our starting point, and count back through the kings of Judah until David. We can assume an error of a few years because dates for this period are only accurate to the year, not the month. Dates from Adam to David are counted forward from Adam with an arbitrary starting point of 4000 BC (D&C 76:11). At Solomon, where the two dating schemes meet, we amazingly find only a 15 year error.

Pre-‘Flood’ Notes

Joseph Smith’s Moses 1:41 would suggest that some aspect of the dates given in that book and Genesis were channeled much like modern texts like Oahspe or The Book of Mormon. This antediluvian chronology is actually given in seven different books of both LDS and non-LDS scripture (see genealogy chart). The channeled text “The Law of One”, suggests that life spans of 900 years were common during earth’s first precessional cycle after humans were brought to the planet 75,000 years ago.  Oahspe suggests that the sinking of Pan/Lemuria occured 50,000 years ago.  Of course, none of these channeled events can be verified scientifically.

Genesis 5 says that Noah had three sons but does not give specific years, only stating that he was 500 when they had all been born. Moses 8 clears this up by giving exact years for each son’s birth.

Patriarchal Era Notes

Nimrod is the great grandson of Noah (Noah-Ham-Cush-Nimrod) said to be born around the time of Salah. He is credited with building the city of Babel (Genesis 10:10) and the tower (Apocrypha). It’s climax and destruction (I.e. Brother of Jared leaving) seem strangely out of place given the suggested populations for those who hold to a global flood. Apocryphal sources state that Nimrod lived long enough to be a contemporary of Abraham.

All three of Terah’s children are mentioned as being born when Terah was 70 (Genesis 11:26)
Lectures on faith, gives another chronology on the patriarchs which is very similar but diverges as follows: (under construction)
Jacob was about 68 calculated from….
Levi, Kohath, and Amram’s age when they had their patriarchal son is not given.
Moses and Aaron were brothers, both born of Amram; Aaron was three years older than Moses.

Exodus Notes

Jacob entered Egypt at age 130 (Gen 37:9 gives exact age)

The Septuagint copy of Exodus 14:40 says Israel was in captivity for exactly 215 years. This date fits nicely with genealogies and would have spanned from the time Jacob/Israel and his sons entered Egypt until the Exodus. Jacob died in the year 1715 BC at age 147, so he lived in Egypt for 17 years before his death. This puts his entrance into Egypt in 1732 BC. We know the exodus was in 1517 BC, so these date match since 1732 – 1517 = 215 years.  However, Oahspe puts this event thousands of years earlier.

Exodus 12:40 says “Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was 430 years”. The septuagint and Samaritan copies correct this wording to say “Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, and of their fathers, which they sojourned in the land of Canaan and in the land of Egypt was 430 years”. (p156 skousen) Gen 15:13–16 substantiates that the septuagint correction is the proper wording.

Gen 15:13–16 says that Abraham’s seed would be “sojourners in a strange land for four generations” or “400 years”. This appears to be giving a rounded estimate. The 430 year version given in Ex. 12:40 and the septuagint are likely the more exact dates.

The exodus occurred 430 years from the time of Abraham’s vision in Canaan. (Gen 16:3, 15–16 suggests that this vision was shortly before Abraham married Hagar, which was 10 years before Abraham was 86) (430 year figure comes from Gal 3:17, Acts 7:6–7, & Gen 15:13, 16. This amount of time matches well with genealogies and other dates given) The 430 years could have also have started when Abraham had Ishmeal and left Canain, which would only change dates by a few years.

Acts 7:23 tells that Moses was 40 when he smote the Egyptian and fled. Acts 7:30 tells that Moses refuge in Midian for another full 40 years. Exodus 7:7 further supports this and says Moses was 80 years old when he returned to liberate Israel. From this we know that Moses was ordained to the priesthood by Jethro and bore both his two sons during this 40 year period between the ages of 40 and 80.

Clarke’s Bible commentary 1:883 suggests that Joshua was 57 at the time of the Exodus. After 40 years in the wilderness, this would put the death of Moses, and the beginning of his reign at age 97. [reigning 13 years]

Judges Notes

Dates given for the period of the Judges seem to be the most questionable or unreliable of all post Moses Bible periods. This is somewhat expected since it was a period of repeated captivity and apostasy. Adding up the dates given equals about 536 years, but with all the apparent rounded or estimated numbers it doesn’t seem very trustworthy. However, 1 kings 6:1 clears up the problem, telling that the Solomon’s temple began to be built in the fourth year of Solomon’s Reign and “480 years after the children of israel were come out of Egypt”. Which puts us at 1499 BC. But this still begs the question of whether this date points to the Exodus, or the entry into Israel. Since the record states “come out of Egypt” instead of “Come into Canaan” we will suppose it is referring to the exodus.

A second witness comes in Judges 11:26, where Jephthah says that Israel had been living in the coasts of Israel for 300 years. Which fits appropriately with the 480 year number given in kings, since Jephthah lived a bit more than half way through the period of the judges.

A third witness is given in Acts 13:20, which says God gave unto Israel “judges about the space of 450 years until Samuel the prophet”. Samuel began to reign about 80 years before Solomon began the temple, so this may conflict a bit with the 480 from Kings or it is likely that the periods of “servitude” listed in the Book of Judges are actually also included in the rounded numbers given. If not it seems quite a coincidence that the servitude periods add up to be very close to the number needed to make the dates match 480. (8+18+20+7+18+40=111, And 585?-111=474)

Either way we have a good ballpark figure for the Exodus of about 1499 BC (1019+480) for the Exodus. (many scholars use the date 1446 BC).

Kings Notes

The period of the Kings is the most recent found in the Old Testament, and given the intricate detail involved is probably quite accurate. Many of the names and dates given in Kings and Chronicles fall within secular recorded history and can be “scientifically” verified. However, it is this same fact which has led to some confusion as archeologists and historians find slightly conflicting dates. I believe the Bible is more accurate than these however, as historical dates often used calendars and counting systems which I believe were less accurate than that of the Hebrews. The Bible’s internal chronology for this period (calculated from the length of king’s reigns) gives 429 (433-4) years from the fall of Judah to the building of Solomon’s Temple.

The book of Mormon tells us Lehi left Jerusalem 600 years before the birth of Christ (1 Ne. 10:4), which it also tells us was during the 1st year of the reign of Zedekiah (1 Ne 1:4). So to get the date for the building of Solomon’s temple we add up reigns which total 433 years. And 433 minus 10 (Zedekiah lived about 10 years after Lehi left Jerusalem) minus 4 (Solomon started his temple in the 4rth year of his reign) gives us 419 years. So all together that’s 600+419 or 1019 BC (give or take a few years because kings reigns are not accurate to the month).

General Breakdown

The mystical significance of the biblical 7000 year cycle seems to be emphasized by the fact that the bible also gives dates covering each major epoch of time.

-Adam to Abraham
Approximately 2,048 years passed from the Fall to God’s vision to Abraham. (Moses 6:10–25, 7:68, 8:1-12, Gen. 5:3–32, 11:10-32, Lectures on Faith: Lecture Second.)
-Abraham to Exodus
Approximately 430 years passed from around the time of Abraham’s vision until the Exodus. (Exodus 12:40, Gen. 15:13–16)
-Exodus to Solomon
480 years passed from the Exodus to the building of the Temple of Solomon. (1 Kings 6:1)
-Solomon to Fall of Judah
Approximately 418 years passed from the building of the temple to the reign of Zedekiah and fall of Judah to Babylon (Period well documented in books of Kings & Chronicles)
-Zedekiah to birth of Christ
600 years passed from the time Lehi left Jerusalem (the first year of Zedekiah’s reign) to the time of Christ. (1 Nephi 1:4, 2:4)

2048+430+480+418+600= +/- 3976 Years from Adam to Christ

Related Pages
Biblical Chronology- Kings of Israel Line

Jaredite Chronology

Biblical Genealogy Tables

3 replies
  1. Lujack Skylark says:

    Adam’s creation 4000 B.C. Global Flood 1656 yrs. later in 2344 B.C.
    Peleg is born in 2243 B.C. same date mankind leaves the Tower of Babel.

    Reu born 2213 B.C. Serug 2181 B.C. Nahor 2151 B.C. Terah lives 2122-1917 B.C.

    Abraham is born when Terah is 130 years old. (Genesis 12:4 & Genesis 11:32)

    Abraham 1992-1817 B.C. Isaac 1892-1712 B.C. Jacob 1832-1685 B.C. Joseph 1741-1631 B.C. Moses 1575-1455 B.C.

    Exodus 1495 B.C. Solomon’s 4th year is 1015 B.C. (1 Kings 6:1)

    Solomon’s reign 1019-979 B.C. follow the reigns of Judah’s kings. Temple destruction = 586 B.C.

    This is my calculations. Pass the word! The Bible is a historically accurate book when one searches closely.

  2. Shantra says:

    I love this, thank you so much for it. Also the discrepancy for Abraham’s birth is found when you compare Genesis 12:4 and Abraham 2:14, they give 2 different ages as to when Abraham departed out of Haran. Also Lectures on Faith states at first that he was born when Terah was 70, but then changed it for the later age of 130 just to keep in their timeline. I love how it all comes together. 😀

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