Chronology of the Bible (Old Testament)

Old Testament chronology is the study of the dates and order of events in the Old Testament. Scholars examine evidence, theories, and assumptions to decide when events may have happened and how they relate to one another.

Some questions do not have a clear answer. Scholars may need to choose between different theories, even when none of them solves every problem.

Chronology is an important part of biblical studies because it helps people understand the historical setting of biblical texts. In general, scholars understand the order of Old Testament events well enough to support the basic historical accuracy and sequence presented in Scripture.

Students studying Old Testament timelines use both the Bible and sources from outside the Bible. Biblical information includes:

genealogies (lists of family relationships) that show connections between families and tribes;

specific numbers given by biblical authors to show a person's age, a king's reign, or the length of an event; and

statements that date an event in a specific year of a king's reign or link it to a well-known natural event at the time (for example, Amos 1:1; Zechariah 14:5).

With so many chronological passages in the Old Testament, you might think setting dates and sequences would be easy. However, each type of biblical material has unique problems that need solving first.

Many nonbiblical sources help us understand Old Testament timelines. New sources continually add to what we know as they are discovered. These include:

official records of important events such as military campaigns from countries like Egypt or Babylonia;

official inscriptions that dedicate or celebrate a major victory;

annals (official yearly records) that list a ruler's major achievements each year; and

ostraca (inscribed pieces of pottery) containing letters, tax transactions and economic records, military dispatches between field leaders and command headquarters, or other information.

Ostraca may be dated archaeologically and are often used to supplement the biblical record.

Chronologists study information from the Bible and from outside the Bible to find connections between the sources. These connections create a system that fits the greatest number of facts. New evidence might require changes to this system. While the main framework of biblical chronology appears stable, many details may shift with new discoveries.

Generally, the older the historical period, the less certain we are about the exact dates. For example, in the second millennium BC, many dates have a 100-year range. By the time of David and Solomon (around 1000 BC), scholars debate dates within a decade.

As we move closer to the present, the date range narrows. By the middle of the ninth century BC, most dates are accurate within one or two years, except for a few problematic periods. Keep these limitations in mind when studying major periods of Old Testament history.

Before the Patriarchs

From Abraham to Moses

Conquest and Settlement of the Land

The United and Divided Kingdoms

Judah After the Fall of Israel

After 586 BC

This period covers the time before Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the early ancestors of Israel.

The first 11 chapters of Genesis follow a specific timeline of events that include:

stories about the creation of the world in chapters 1–2,

the fall of humanity in chapter 3,

Cain and Abel in chapter 4,

the flood in chapters 6–9, and

the tower of Babel in chapter 11.

According to Genesis 5, ten generations passed between the creation of the world and the flood. The people listed lived an average of 847 years each. However, only 1,656 years passed from Adam to the flood.

According to Genesis 11, ten generations passed from the flood to Abraham's time. This comes from the Septuagint, a third-century BC Greek translation of the Old Testament. The Masoretic Text, the traditional Hebrew text of the Old Testament, lists nine generations.

In the Septuagint list, people lived an average of 346 years (using 460 years for Arphaxad’s son Cainan, mentioned in verse 13 of the Septuagint; see also Luke 3:36). The total time from the flood to Abraham was only 520 years. If taken literally, this means all of Abraham’s ancestors back to Noah’s son Shem were alive at Abraham’s birth, and 2,176 years passed from the creation to Abraham.

A strict or overly mathematical understanding of the figures requires several assumptions, including:

that no names are missing from the genealogies,

all numbers are in sequence, and

that ancient biblical numbers mean the same as they do today.

We need to carefully examine each assumption based on other known facts.

A careful look at other biblical genealogies shows that these lists did not always include every person in a family line. For example, Matthew listed 28 generations (two sets of 14) between David and Jesus. However, if you compare this with Old Testament genealogies, you will find that Matthew left out some names. Luke, on the other hand, listed 42 generations for the same period. You can also see missing names when you compare the genealogies in 1 Chronicles 1–8 with those in Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings.

Ancient people often thought of numbers in a symbolic way. Their use of numbers was very different from how we use them today. We know about these practices from the Bible and from sources outside the Bible. For example, eight Sumerian kings ruled Shuruppak before the "great flood" of the Jemdet Nasr era, around 3000 BC. The list gives each king an average reign of over 30,000 years. Berossus, a Babylonian priest of Marduk from the third century BC, added two more names to this list and said each king ruled an average of 43,200 years. These huge numbers help us understand the numbers in Genesis.

The ages given for the ancestors before Abraham in Genesis probably had real meaning for the people who preserved these records. However, we should not use these numbers as exact figures for calculating the length of each generation. The Septuagint and the Samaritan Pentateuch (an early form of the first five books of the Bible used by the Samaritan community) also give different numbers in many places. These differences show that the numbers in Genesis were difficult to understand even for some of the earliest scholars of Scripture.

Archaeology does not offer evidence to date the creation or any events in Genesis 1–11. The flood story highlights some challenges. Experts in science, geography, and theology have claimed that archaeology proves the Genesis flood story. However, no city excavated in Palestine and Syria, even the oldest ones, shows archaeological evidence of the flood.

Event

Reference Point

Biblical Basis

Date

Nehemiah’s wall

20th year of Artaxerxes I of Persia

Nehemiah 2:1

444 before Christ

Return decreed

1st year of Cyrus II of Persia over Babylon

Ezra 1:1

538

Fall of Jerusalem

19th year of Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon

2 Kings 25:8

586

Fall of Samaria

Last year of Shalmaneser V of Assyria

2 Kings 17:3

722

Division of the kingdom

77 years before the 6th year of Shalmaneser III

1 Kings 11:29–43

930

Temple founded

4th year of Solomon

1 Kings 6:1

966

Exodus from Egypt

480 years before the founding of the temple

1 Kings 6:1

1446

Descent into Egypt

Beginning a temporary stay of 430 years there (but 397 there, plus 33 in Canaan, for “the sons of Israel,” according to the Greek text)

Exodus 12:40

1876

Greek / Hebrew text

Jacob born

130 years before

Genesis 47:9

1973 (2006)

Isaac born

60 years before

Genesis 25:26

2033 (2066)

Abraham born

100 years before

Genesis 26:5

2133 (2166)

While some cities in Mesopotamia show signs of a flood, three reasons make it hard to connect this with Genesis 6–9:

Each flood layer found is from a different time.

Nearby areas show no flood signs, suggesting these were small local floods.

There is no evidence of major cultural changes that would happen if an entire population was destroyed.

The evidence of ancient floods found in Mesopotamia seems similar to the floods that still happen in the Euphrates River valley today.

Some questions about the Genesis stories cannot be answered. Many people who see the Bible as God's Word believe the dates in Genesis 1–11 are less important than the lessons on salvation, faith, and obedience found in these stories.

This period begins with the patriarch Abraham and continues through the time of Moses.

The patriarchal age is the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the early ancestors of Israel. It also includes Jacob's sons, who became the ancestors of the tribes of Israel.

The date of Abraham is a debated topic among biblical scholars, even those who agree that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were historical people. Some scholars believe the patriarchal age was from 2086 to 1871 BC. Others think Abraham lived around 1400 BC. Each view claims to match the biblical information, so examining both perspectives is important.

Many Old Testament passages suggest that Abraham lived a long time ago. First Kings 6:1 calculates 480 years back from the start of the temple in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign (961 BC, according to the early-date view) to the exodus from Egypt, dating it to 1441 BC. The Israelites stayed in Egypt for 430 years (see Genesis 15:13; Exodus 12:40), which takes the timeline back to 1871 BC. The total of 215 years includes:

Abraham was 75 years old when he entered Canaan (Genesis 12:4);

Isaac was born 25 years later (Genesis 21:5);

Jacob was born 60 years after Isaac (Genesis 25:26); and

Jacob was 130 years old when he met the pharaoh (Genesis 47:9).

These 215 years added to the previous total suggest Abraham entered Canaan in 2086 BC and was born in 2161 BC.

This calculation does not use all the chronological evidence in the Old Testament, so the date for Abraham is debatable. The 480 years between the exodus and Solomon’s fourth year as king include the time for:

the wilderness wanderings,

Joshua's leadership,

the judges,

Samuel,

Saul, and

David.

The Old Testament does not specify the lengths of Joshua's, Samuel's, or Saul's leadership. However, even a simple estimate suggests these events together require about 600 years.

Additionally, the length of time the Israelites stayed in Egypt is challenging to determine. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the Septuagint both interpret the number 430 (in Exodus 12:40) to include the years in Egypt as well as the years Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob spent in Canaan.

Paul likely followed the Septuagint tradition when he dated the giving of the law 430 years after God's promise to Abraham (see Galatians 3:15–18). This means the Septuagint's number is significant and should not be ignored.

The late dating of Abraham (around 1400 BC) relies on two ideas:

The patriarchal society described in Genesis is similar to one described by cuneiform tablets from Nuzi. Nuzi is a town in northeastern Mesopotamia about 175 miles (282 kilometers) north of Baghdad.

Since these tablets are from the 15th and 14th centuries BC, the patriarchal age likely occurred during the same time.

People who support the late-date view know their timeline for Abraham does not match the numbers used by the early-date view. They refer to other information from the Old Testament. Joseph, who was an important Egyptian official when Jacob moved to Egypt, lived to be 110 years old (Genesis 50:26). Moses was the great-grandson of Levi, Joseph’s older brother. Joseph lived to see his great-grandchildren, who were likely younger than Moses. So the late-date view suggests Joseph might have been alive when Moses was born.

The genealogy of Moses (in Exodus 6:16–20; Numbers 3:17–19; 26:58–59; and 1 Chronicles 6:1–3) lists four generations:

Levi,

Kohath,

Amram, and

Moses.

This seems complete according to Genesis 15:16, which predicted that Abraham’s descendants would be freed from Egyptian slavery "in the fourth generation."

However, dating Abraham to around 1400 BC does not match other biblical information. This includes the long stay in Egypt mentioned in Genesis 15:13 and Exodus 12:40, and the 40-year wilderness period. Some usually moderate scholars shorten the wilderness time to two years to support their later date for Abraham.

In summary, the late-date theory aligns with some biblical evidence, like the genealogies of Moses. The early-date theory matches other evidence, such as specific years mentioned in Genesis and Exodus. The late-date theory suggests genealogies are more generally reliable in Semitic societies. In contrast, the early-date theory takes the years in the biblical account more literally.

Due to issues with both dating positions, many scholars choose a middle ground for the patriarchal age. They argue that Abraham's life fits well in the early second millennium BC, but is less compatible with later time periods. By placing Abraham between 1800 and 1600 BC, they can combine all available evidence into a workable timeline. Archaeology offers four key pieces of evidence for an early second-millennium patriarchal era:

The Nuzi tablets provide a clear example of patriarchal social life. Other tablets from different towns and earlier times show similar customs found in both Nuzi and Genesis. The Nuzians, who were Hurrians, possibly migrated to northeastern Mesopotamia from Armenia. Their social customs likely began much earlier than the time of the tablets we have today. Therefore, the 15th-century BC date of the Nuzi tablets does not rule out an earlier date for Abraham.

Some of Abraham's ancestors named in Genesis 11 are now linked to towns in northern Mesopotamia near Haran. This is the city Abraham left to go to Canaan (Genesis 11:31–12:3). Haran was a thriving city in the 19th and 18th centuries BC.

Shortly after 2000 BC, Semitic nomads from the desert invaded the Fertile Crescent's civilized communities. These invaders, known as Amorites in the Old Testament, settled in several cities in northern Syria and Mesopotamia. One Amorite city was Babylon, ruled by Hammurabi around the early 18th century BC. Although King Amraphel from Genesis 14:1 is not the same as the Babylonian king Hammurabi, as earlier scholars thought, the events after the Amorite invasion still match the general timeline of stories in Genesis.

Mari, an Amorite town, is famous for over 20,000 tablets found in its royal palace and archives. Mari was near Haran. The tablets date back to the 18th century BC. Zimri-Lim, an 18th-century king of Mari, exchanged many letters with Hammurabi of Babylon. The Mari tablets provide valuable information about tribal and ethnic groups and their movements in the region. Some documents from Mari are important for dating the Genesis stories. They include personal names similar to Abraham (Abi-ram), Jacob, Laban, and other West Semitic names.

Archaeological evidence does not confirm or deny the existence of Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. Everyone agrees on this point. However, archaeology offers a context that makes the biblical stories of these patriarchs more plausible.

Determining the time period of the patriarchal age is linked to dating the Israelites' exodus from Egypt. Since we cannot determine when exactly Abraham lived, we also cannot determine when Joseph or Jacob entered Egypt. Additionally, the Bible does not provide an exact duration for the Israelites' stay in Egypt.

For many years, biblical scholars used 1 Kings 6:1 to establish a firm date for the exodus. They could fix Solomon’s fourth year to a ten-year range, from 967 to 958 BC. By adding 480 years, they could date the exodus with similar accuracy. However, other biblical information challenges this simple method. The Bible covers events from the exodus to the founding of Solomon’s Temple, from Numbers to 1 Kings 5:18. The total years given are closer to 600, not 480.

The evidence is not enough to pinpoint the exact date of the exodus, so scholars have two main theories. Some evidence supports a 15th-century exodus. The timeline in 1 Kings 6:1 seems to match a passage in Judges 11:26. It says Israel lived near Heshbon for 300 years before Jephthah's time. If Jephthah lived around 1100 BC, this suggests an exodus in the mid-15th century. Additionally, three generations of pharaohs in the 16th and 15th centuries had no male heirs. This makes it more likely that Moses could have been adopted by a royal princess during one of those generations. In contrast, all the kings of Egypt’s Nineteenth Dynasty, from 1306 to 1200 BC, had recognized male heirs.

A 15th-century date suggests a link between the Habiru invasion of Canaan around 1400–1350 BC and the Hebrew invasion described in the Old Testament book of Joshua. The Amarna letters, found in Tell el-Amarna, Egypt, describe the Habiru invasion. Additionally, the Merneptah Stele, a stone pillar from around 1220 BC, mentions "Israel." This suggests that the people Merneptah encountered during a Canaanite military campaign had existed for some time. Lastly, archaeologist John Garstang dated the destruction of Jericho to around 1400 BC.

Other evidence suggests the exodus happened in the 13th century, not the 15th. Many scholars date it between 1290 and 1275 BC based on this evidence:

The 480 years mentioned in 1 Kings 6:1 might represent 12 generations, as shown in 1 Chronicles 6:3–8. If each generation averaged 25 years instead of 40, the 480 years would reduce to 300 actual years, suggesting an exodus around 1266 BC.

Archaeological evidence shows destruction at the assumed sites of several cities like Lachish, Debir, Bethel, and Hazor, conquered by Joshua, dating to the late 13th century.

The Bible does not mention Egyptian military campaigns, such as Merneptah’s in 1220 BC. Israelites in Canaan before the active pharaohs Seti I, who ruled from 1319 to 1301 BC, and Ramses II, who ruled from 1301 to 1234 BC, would have been affected by such campaigns.

Exodus 1:11 mentions the city of Rameses, built by Ramses II, according to his inscriptions.

Archaeological findings show that Transjordan and the Negev Desert were unoccupied by settled people between 1900 and 1300 BC. The Bible states the Israelites faced strong opposition in that region, suggesting they entered after 1300 BC.

The term “Habiru” seems to have had a much broader meaning, possibly “trespasser.” It is probably not related to the word “Hebrew” in either its origin or meaning.

Garstang’s work at Jericho was revised by archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon. She showed the walls Garstang dated to about 1400 BC were actually destroyed in 1800 BC or earlier.

It has been difficult to precisely choose between the two centuries suggested for the exodus. Most Old Testament scholars, including more moderate or conservative ones, support the 13th-century option. However, many other conservative scholars still prefer the 15th-century date. Being too certain is not justified because both options have unresolved issues.

Following the majority view, this article uses a date of about 1290 BC for the exodus when discussing related questions.

The conquest and settlement of the land is the period when the Israelites entered Canaan, took control of parts of the land, and began living there.

The challenge is to fit the Old Testament events, mainly recorded in Joshua and Judges, between the exodus (around 1290 BC) and the time of David and Solomon. David's lifetime can be put around 1000 BC, and Solomon died in 930 BC. This means fitting about 550 years of biblical events between Moses and David into a 290-year period.

Setting an early date for the exodus, around 1447 BC, might simplify things a bit, but adding about 157 years does not solve everything. Neither date provides enough time for all the Old Testament events from Joshua to David to happen one after the other. Supporters of both dates assume that some judges ruled at the same time rather than one after another. The main difference is how much overlap each view allows.

The book of Joshua provides most of the Old Testament evidence about the Israelites' conquest of Canaan. Unfortunately, it does not include any timelines for Joshua's career. There are also no biblical references to major events elsewhere in the ancient world that could help date these events. Instead, the book gives a condensed account of the fall of Jericho and Ai, followed by southern and northern campaigns. After these victories, the Israelites divided the land of Canaan among their tribes. Each tribe was responsible for destroying any remaining Canaanite inhabitants in their area. However, the book does not mention how long these events took.

In the book of Judges, the situation is a bit different. The Old Testament provides a detailed list showing the lengths of foreign oppression, judgeships, and peace periods. The total number of years for that time is 410, but this does not include the time for many "minor" judges. It seems clear that most judges were local leaders who ruled at the same time as others, at least for part of their rule. Unfortunately, the book of Judges does not offer a system to show which judges were contemporaries. The best approach might be to use general guidelines to understand the timeline between Moses and David.

There are two important points to remember:

Archaeological evidence suggests the conquest began around 1250 BC, not 200 years earlier. If we assume the judges served at the same time, we can fit the Old Testament figures into the timeline suggested by other evidence.

Ancient scribes often used a 40-year or generation-based timeline. This practice continued until the divided kingdom, when they started using a regular dynastic timeline. Many careers were assigned exactly 40 years, but these numbers do not match biblical or archaeological evidence. Most scholars believe the number 40 was not meant to be exact. This view allows some flexibility to fit biblical and other evidence into a general timeline.

The period of the united kingdom refers to when Israel was one kingdom under Saul, David, and Solomon. After Solomon’s death, the kingdom divided into Israel in the north and Judah in the south.

There is plenty of chronological evidence from the time of the Israelite kingdom. The Old Testament aims to give all the needed details about the timeline of the period, including:

a complete list of all the kings in Israel and Judah, both before and after the kingdom split;

the age of each king (except Saul) when they began their rule;

timelines showing which year each king started ruling in relation to the other kingdom; and

exact lengths of each king’s reign.

Additionally, some key events are dated by linking them to other events, while others are matched with events in non-religious history.

Outside the Old Testament, there is a lot of material that helps us understand the timeline of the period. The most important source is a collection of Assyrian limmu lists. In Assyria, they kept a record of each king’s reign on a special type of annal (yearly record). Each year was named after a high-ranking court official. The first year was named after the king, the second after the next highest-ranking official (though that name appears to have been selected by lot originally), and so on, until the king died. The word limmu introduced the name of the official for whom the year was named, which is why they are called "limmu lists."

Assyrian limmu lists align exactly with the solar year, making them very reliable. These lists date many events in Assyrian history and notable natural events. For instance, Assyrian scribes recorded a solar eclipse in the limmu year of Bur-Sagale, which astronomers calculated as June 15, 763 BC. Starting from 763 BC and moving both backward and forward, historians have compiled a complete list of Assyrian limmu officials from 891 to 648 BC.

The Assyrian limmu lists are accurate and supported by many sources. They are reliable for reconstructing the timeline of biblical history. This is particularly useful when a biblical writer connects an event in Israel or Judah to a specific year in an Assyrian king's reign. The limmu list shows the exact years of that king's rule.

Records from Chaldean (Babylonian) king lists and later Greek historians also exist. For example, in the second century AD, Ptolemy provided dates for Babylonian kings starting from 747 BC and continued with dates for Persian, Greek, and Roman rulers up to AD 161. Finally, inscriptions on monuments, stone tablets, and other objects from Assyria and nearby regions provide useful information.

The limmu list of Assyrian King Shalmaneser III helps compare dates among Assyria, Israel, and Judah. In the limmu of Daian-Assur, during Shalmaneser's sixth year as king, Ahab of Israel was one of the kings who fought against the Assyrians at the battle of Qarqar. Scholars date this battle confidently to 853 BC.

Assyrian records show that Shalmaneser III met an Israelite king named Jehu in 841 BC, 12 years after a previous encounter. These records help match biblical events. After Ahab's death, which is not precisely dated in Assyrian records, his two sons ruled. Ahaziah ruled for two years (1 Kings 22:51). Joram (also called Jehoram) ruled for 12 years (2 Kings 3:1). Because of the way Israelites counted years back then, the 14 years can be seen as 12 actual years. This suggests Ahab fought Shalmaneser III and died in 853 BC. His sons ruled for a total of 12 years before Jehu took over, aligning with his meeting with Shalmaneser III in 841 BC. Additionally, Jehu killed both the king of Israel (Jehoram) and the king of Judah (Ahaziah) at the same time (2 Kings 9:24–27). This event provides a fixed date that connects the timelines of the two kingdoms in 841 BC.

The first nine kings of Israel ruled for an apparent total of 98 years, or an actual total of 90 years when considering the method of counting reigns. Zimri, who ruled for only seven days (1 Kings 16:15–18), is one of these nine kings but does not add an extra year to the total. Jeroboam I became king in 930 BC. Rehoboam of Judah started his rule in the same year. Solomon's 40-year reign, as mentioned in 1 Kings 11:42, suggests he became king in 970 BC. This timing also marks David's death, though there might have been a short period when David and Solomon ruled together. Saul's reign likely occurred in the late 11th century BC.

In Judah, from Solomon's death in 930 BC to Ahaziah's murder by Jehu in 841 BC, six kings ruled for a total of 95 biblical years. Calculating this period in Judah is more complex than for the Israelite kings. This complexity comes from:

the change around 850 BC from one method of counting reigns to another,

at least two shared reigns (Jehoshaphat with Asa and then Jehoram with Jehoshaphat), and

calendar differences between the kingdoms.

To align Judah's timeline with Assyrian and Israelite records, the 95 biblical years must be adjusted to 90 actual years.

After the year 841, the next biblical event confirmed by sources outside the Bible is the fall of Samaria in 722 BC. This date comes from the records of Sargon II of Assyria, who ruled from 722 to 705 BC. He was ruler of Assyria after Shalmaneser V, who ruled from 727 to 722 BC. Although this date is only 120 years after 841 BC in Israelite history, the timeline for this period is hard to interpret accurately. In the past, scholars had to speculate about how to understand this time, including assumptions about shared reigns, possible confusion by scribes over calculation methods, and other theories.

Despite these challenges, scholars have aligned all the biblical and Assyrian dates for most of the period of the divided monarchy. Four figures related to the final years of the Israelite kingdom, all linked to the complex reign of Hoshea, are the exception.

After Samaria fell in 722 BC, Old Testament chronology focuses only on Judah, the southern kingdom, for 135 years until its destruction. Two key events help establish a timeline for this period:

Sennacherib of Assyria's siege of Jerusalem in the late eighth century.

Jerusalem's fall to the Babylonians in the early sixth century.

The Assyrian invasion took place during the reign of Sennacherib, from 704 to 681 BC. It is mentioned in 2 Kings 18:13–16. Verse 13 dates it to the 14th year of King Hezekiah. Sennacherib’s own records give more details, dating it to 701 BC, which suggests Hezekiah became king in 715 BC.

This seems straightforward, but there are issues. For instance, 2 Kings 19:9 says Sennacherib contacted Ethiopian King Tirhakah, who ruled from around 690 to 664 BC, during his campaign. The campaign included a siege of Jerusalem. Since Tirhakah became king in 690 BC at the earliest, this contact could not have happened in 701 BC. It is possible Sennacherib invaded Judah twice, first in 701 BC and again later. The date of this second invasion is uncertain, but 2 Kings 19:35–37 might suggest Sennacherib was killed soon after leaving Jerusalem. Since his son Esarhaddon took over in 681 BC, the second invasion likely happened in the late 680s BC.

Some scholars disagree with the idea of a second invasion of Jerusalem by Sennacherib. They propose that Tirhakah, who became king in 690 BC, might have led troops against Sennacherib as early as 701 BC, before he became king. The mention of King Tirhakah in 2 Kings 19:9 might use the title he received later so that people would recognize him.

The number of invasions may be unimportant. Sennacherib definitely invaded Judah in 701 BC, during Hezekiah's 14th year as king. This timing suggests Hezekiah became king in 715 BC, but that creates another issue. Samaria fell in 722 BC, and 2 Kings 18:10 dates this event to Hezekiah’s sixth year as king. The likely explanation is that Hezekiah started ruling alongside his father, Ahaz, six years before Samaria's fall.

The possibility for confusion arises from the fact that one verse, 2 Kings 18:13 (repeated in Isaiah 36:1) links Sennacherib’s 701 BC invasion to Hezekiah’s 14th year ruling alone. Another verse, 2 Kings 18:10, connects Samaria's fall to the start of Hezekiah’s co-rule. So, from about 728 to 715 BC, Hezekiah ruled with Ahaz. From 715 to 697 BC, he ruled alone. From 697 to 686 BC, his son Manasseh ruled with him.

According to several verses in 2 Kings, 128 years and six months passed between Hezekiah becoming king in 715 BC and King Jehoiachin's capture in 597 BC. This creates a problem because the biblical totals seem to demand over ten extra years. The best explanation is that Manasseh started ruling in 697 BC as co-regent (joint ruler) with his father, Hezekiah. Manasseh died in 642 BC after a 55-year reign, as stated in 2 Kings 21:1. Hezekiah, who became king in 715 BC, ruled for 29 years (2 Kings 18:2), meaning he was king until 686 BC. This is about 11 years after Manasseh would have started his reign to complete 55 years by 642 BC.

Babylonian records from that time provide valuable information about the final years of the kingdom of Judah. The Babylonian Chronicle, a formal record of Babylonian state affairs, covers the years 626–623, 618–595, and 556 BC. This chronicle, along with other cuneiform documents from that time, helps establish three key dates in Judah's history. The first is the death of Josiah in 609 BC. The second is the battle of Carchemish in 605 BC. The third is the end of Jehoiachin's reign. This is dated by the Babylonian Chronicle to the second day of Adar in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar, or March 16, 597 BC.

After Jehoiachin was taken captive, Zedekiah ruled Judah for 11 years as a king under Babylon’s control (2 Kings 24:18). On the tenth day of the tenth month in Zedekiah’s ninth year as king (2 Kings 25:1), the Babylonian army began the final siege of Jerusalem. This was January 15, 588 BC. On the ninth day of the fourth month in Zedekiah’s 11th year, after almost 18 months of siege, the wall of Jerusalem was breached (2 Kings 25:3–4). The temple was burned on the seventh day of the next month, the fifth month.

This period covers events after Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and brought the kingdom of Judah to an end in 586 BC.

The Old Testament records several later events. Jeremiah 52:30 mentions a third group of Jews being taken to Babylonia in the 23rd year of King Nebuchadnezzar (582 or 581 BC). Both 2 Kings 25:27 and Jeremiah 52:31 report the release of King Jehoiachin from prison. The Babylonian Chronicle dates this event to 27 Adar, or March 21, 561 BC.

In 539 BC, the Babylonians faced defeat. That year, Cyrus the Great, a Persian ruler, successfully attacked Babylon and its king, Nabonidus. Cyrus took control over the exiled Jews and other groups previously conquered by Babylonia. He quickly started a policy of tolerance toward his new subjects. In his first year, Cyrus issued an order allowing Jews to return to their homeland (Ezra 1:1). On the first day of the next year, 1 Tishri (Ezra 3:6), an altar was set up in Jerusalem. In Iyyar of the following year (April/May 536 BC), work began on the temple itself (Ezra 3:8).

After several frustrating delays, the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah motivated the Jews to finish the temple. They resumed work in 520 BC (Ezra 4:24; Haggai 1:1, 15) and completed it on 3 Adar, or March 12, 515 BC (Ezra 6:15). The last parts of Old Testament history focus on Ezra and Nehemiah. Traditionally, Ezra's time is in the seventh year of Artaxerxes I (458 BC) and Nehemiah's in the 20th (445 BC).

See also Conquest and Allotment of the Land; Dispersion of the Jews; Exodus; History of Israel; Period of the Patriarchs; Postexilic Period; Wandering in the Wilderness.