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.
Short Discussion on Josephus' Chronological Errors
In this article we are going to briefly look at one correct and unique chronological reference, in order that we might understand some other erroneous chronological references to the Building of Solomon's Temple. Every reference to a date or Line Number, can be verified by comparing the charts with:
1. 1468.5 years from the founding of Jerusalem to 586 BCE
From King's Calendar Chapter 20 - Part 1 - Example (iv) - From the Founding of Jerusalem to its destruction in 586 BCE 1468 .5 years elapse - The Jewish War Book Six Chapter X.I. (437) Cornfeld, 1982, pp.451/452
The study of this chronological reference determined that it is a genuine (although uncorroborated) extra-biblical chronological reference indicating that Jerusalem was founded 995 years prior to the reign of King David.
The 995 year figure (Foundation of Jerusalem to David) was calculated by splitting 1468.5 years into two components, and deducting a variety of erroneous dates provided by Josephus for the Monarchal Period.
To Verify these results see the 1800 line calendar in Appendix 12 which is available until March 2006.
The 1468.5 years was demonstrated to be correct, but had to be reduced by the 13.5 years of overlapping reigns
The resultant date is found on Line 1454 at appendix 12 as the year 1928 BCE
This is 995 years prior to the Reign of David.
With this in mind, we will now look at some other chronological figures quoted by Josephus, that are derived from either the 995 or 1468 years.
2. Antiquities Book 8 Chapter 3:1 Five (5) Chronological References
SOLOMON began to build the temple in the fourth year of his reign, on the second month, which the Macedonians call Artemisius, and the Hebrews Jur, five hundred and ninety-two years after the Exodus out of Egypt; but one thousand and twenty years from Abraham's coming out of Mesopotamia into Canaan, and after the deluge one thousand four hundred and forty years; and from Adam, the first man who was created, until Solomon built the temple, there had passed in all three thousand one hundred and two years. Now that year on which the temple began to be built was already the eleventh year of the reign of Hiram; but from the building of Tyre to the building of the temple, there had passed two hundred and forty years.
a). After the Exodus out of Egypt: 592 years
The first thing we note is that Josephus is not talking about the Mosaic Exodus
According to 1 King 6:1, the Mosaic Exodus occurred 480 years earlier than Solomon's 4th year
When you check the Date for the Hyksos Exodus [From the Departure from Egypt to Fall of Jerusalem in 586 BCE] 1062.5 years [less 13.5 overlapping years] elapse.
The Hyksos Exodus is on Line 1048 for the year 1554 BCE [right in the middle of where every academic puts it]
It is the 589th year from King David's 1st year.
If you Add his 1st, 2nd and 3rd years to that figure, you arrive at 592 years as being the time between the Hyksos Exodus and the End of David's 3rd year.
One Again: Josephus confuses David's Reign with Solomon's
b) After Abraham came from Mesopotamia 1020 years
As per Point 1. - and Refer to Appendix 12 Chart Solomon's 1st year is 973 BCE found on Line 419. Add 1020 years and you arrive at Abraham's Birth on Line 1439 at 1915 BCE.
This reference is not to Abraham leaving Haran but to his birth.
Once Again Josephus confuses the 1st year, 4th year, 7th Year, and 11th year, in relation to David and Solomon.
c). After Noah's Flood 1440 years
Theoretically, this figure should be comprised of the 1020 reference as above, the 75 years back to Abraham's birth + the 292 years that transpire between the flood and his birth
These figures ]amount to slightly less than 1400 years, depending on when you have Abraham leaving Mesopotamia.
Therefore this 1440 figure was calculated in some other way.
Interestingly enough, if you subtract these 1440 years from the reference to the 3102 years between Adam and Solomon's 4th year, you get exactly the same figure that the Seder Olam Rabbah provides for the Period from Adam to the Flood (1662), which is 6 years excessive of the Biblical Chronological Details (1656)
d). 3102 years from Adam to Solomon's 4th year
Giving the Result first rather than the process, the following is how Josephus calculated the Figure.
1. Adam - Flood 1662 (not 1656)
2. Flood to Abraham 292
3. Abraham to Covenant 75
4. Covenant to Exodus 430
5. Exodus to Solomon's 4th year 480
6. Solomon's 1st year to Death of Ahab = 163 years [Antiquities Introduction to Book Eight: 163 years from the Death of David to the Death of Ahab.]
= 3102 years
As already noted Josephus often failed to see the carelessness of his figures. In this particular case, he was working from athird party reference that indicated that between Adam and the Fall of the house of Omri at the death of Jehoram, 3102 artificial years expired.
3102 years less 1656 years Adam to Flood takes us to Line 1731 on the King's Calendar or 2184 BCE [appendix 17],
The balance is 1446 years from the Flood to Solomon's 4th year.
The flood is on Line 1731 [2184 BCE]
Deduct 1446 years from Line 1731 and you arrive at Line 285 or 849 BCE at the death of Jehoram Appendix 5 synchronisms confirm this date
Josephus applied the 3102 years to Solomon's 4th year and the building of the Temple, instead of applying it to the end of the house of Omri.
If you follow the Biblical Chronological Details, the years elapsing between Adam and Solomon's 4th year should be:
1656 years from Adam to Flood
292 years from Flood to Abraham
75 years from Abraham to the covenant
430 years of Covenant to Exodus
480 years Exodus to Solomon's 4th year
= 2933 years
Leaving as a balance the same infamous 169 years that are a puzzle in the Seder Olam Rabbah.
However The King's Calendar demonstrates that the 480 [artificial] years from Exodus to Solomon's 4th year [1 Kings 6:1], actually applies from Entrance to Canaan, and so another 40 artificial years must be provided. These 520 artificial years, are in fact 480 solar years, which demonstrates that 1 Kings 6:1 originally extended from Exodus to Solomon's 1st year. Refer to Seder Olam Rabbah Short Topical Excerpts
Topic 13: Apportioning the 63 years left for Samuel & Saul
Topic 14: Seder Olam Rabbah : How many days in a Biblical year?
The King's Calendar reconstruction is
1656 years Adam to the Flood
291 years (1 overlap) Flood to Abraham's birth
75 years Abraham's birth to the time of the covenant
429 years of the covenant (1 overlap) to the Exodus
516 years to Solomon's 4th year (480 entrance to Solomon's 4th year + 40 years in the wilderness + 4 years of Solomon's reign)
= 2977 years
2977 plus 40 Solomon, 17 Rehoboam, 3 Abijah, 41 Asa, 25 Jehoshaphat, 8 Jehoram of Judah, 1 Ahaziah of Judah who was slain by Jehu at the same time as Jehoram of Israel, son of Ahab
= 3102 years.
Once Again Josephus was careless.
e). Hyram of Tyre commenced 11 years earlier than Solomon's 4th year
Josephus frequently provided figures with parameters indicating a particular person or event, but which upon deconstruction, were discovered to have been calculated from another person or event. Therefore, to calculate the 11 years that Hyram had been king, all possibilities must be considered. Feel free to pick any one of the following
From David's First year Line 459 / 1010 BCE = Line 470 / 1020 BCE (2 Samuel 5:11)
From David's 7th year Line 453 / 1004 BCE = Line 464 / 1015 BCE (2 Samuel 5:11)
From Solomon's First year Line 419 / 973 BCE = Line 430 / 983 BCE
From Solomon's Fourth year Line 416 / 970 BCE = Line 427 / 980 BCE
From Solomon's 11th year Line 409 / 964 BCE = Line 420 / 974 BCE
If it is the same Hiram who knew David then one of the first two options seems more logical.
f). Tyre built 240 years earlier than Solomon's 4th year
Based on the above dates in order of appearance, Tyre will have been built in
Line 459 + 240 = Line 699 = 1231 BCE
Line 453 + 240 = Line 693 = 1226 BCE
Line 419 + 240 = Line 659 = 1195 BCE
Line 416 + 240 = Line 656 = 1192 BCE
Line 409 + 240 = Line 649 = 1185 BCE
I hope you enjoyed this little excursion.
To see how effective the King's Calendar method of synchronising the Biblical data is, SEE : Appendix 5: Diagrammatic Reconstruction of Israelite History from 936 to 586 BCE
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'.