Biblical Chronology: Introduction

There have been many attempts to derive a chronology of mankind from the Bible...to set the date of creation, if you will.  Some believe the Bible does not offer enough data.  Some believe otherwise, since it gives ages for the births of successive generations, and essential information is given to overcome the potential of confusion.

There are differences between chronologists when creating a chronology from the Bible.  And there are both valid reasons and personal opinions for those differences.  Here are some examples of some conflicting arguments:

• The genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 contain gaps
• These genealogies can't be trusted since manuscripts contain differences
• The genealogies are only accurate if the son was born on the father's birthday
• The ages in genealogies are always when the first child was born, not the named son.
• There are different understandings as to the time spent in Egypt
• There is a missing individual in the genealogies based on Luke 3:36
• In establishing dates BC, there are disagreements over dates of fixed historical events
• Does "two years after the flood" mean after the beginning or after the end
• And so on...

We will never be able to fully resolve the issue and say, "God created the world in ______ BC."  But we will be developing a generally accurate chronology, counting from Creation.  We will be making some assumptions:

• The Bible gives us enough information to provide that generally accurate chronology
• There are no grounds for supposing gaps in the Genesis genealogies
• The Masoretic text will be our text of choice, as opposed to the Septuagint (LXX) or the Samaritan Pentateuch.  Most, if not all, of our Old Testament texts are based on the Masoretic Text

We will use one particular scheme of chronology for this timeline, and the reasons for our choices in this scheme will be given as needed.  Other schemes that could be used would be that of Archbishop James Ussher (1658) or that of the Seder Olam Rabbah, a Jewish text.  We will look at supposed chronological difficulties and disagreements as we get to them.