Furthermore, biblical interpretation is dependent not only on the grammatical lexical details of the text, but also on the historical situation of that text, insofar as it can be known. And in order to establish that historical situation as broadly (geographically) and as deeply (culture) as possible, we must establish biblical chronology. The interpreter of the Book of Malachi, for example, wants to know as much as possible about what people were doing, saying, and thinking at that time in Persia, Egypt, Babylon, and elsewhere. The author of the book assumed a certain amount of that knowledge on the part of his readers. The modern interpreter therefore needs a basic understanding of how the events of the Bible fit the events of the biblical world. As E.A. Thiele has written, "Chronology is the backbone of history".

Historical chronology involves measuring the distance in time of an event from the present. Since ancient peoples did not use our chronological system, however, this involves converting the chronological references in our ancient sources to our Julian system. According to Suetonius, the poet Horace was born on the sixth day before the Ides of December during the consulate of Lucius Cotta and Lucius Torquatus, which is December 8, 65 B.C. Conversion, however, necessitates understanding both systems.

The Julian system, invented by Julius Caesar, is based on a 365-day year arbitrarily divided into twelve months of twenty-eight to thirty-one days. Since a solar year is actually 365 days, five hours, forty-eight minutes, and almost forty-six seconds (about 365 1/4 days), a "bisextile" day (now Feb. 29) was added every four years. Since this moved the calendar year ahead of the solar year by forty-four minutes every four years, however, Pope Gregory XIII found it necessary to omit ten days from October in 1582, hence the "Gregorian" calendar. Considering these factors, historians can count backward into antiquity with the Julian calendar, being careful to remember that the eras change from 1 AD to 1 BC. So there are only three years, not four, between 2 BC and 2 AD.

Except for the Egyptians and the Romans, the ancients had a "lunisolar" year; that it, they used the moon as well as the sun for their calendar. As the moon rotates counterclockwise around the earth (every 29.26-29.8 days), it is between the earth and the sun from one to three days during which it cannot be seen. The reappearance of the right crescent moon at twilight, often announced by the priests, was used by most peoples to mark the beginning of a new month (hence the Hebrew word hodesh meaning both month and new moon).

Since twelve lunar rotations are only 354 days, it was necessary to adjust the lunar cycle to the solar to account for the eleven days. Otherwise December would eventually occur in the summer. Since the Babylonians wanted to keep the barley harvest in the month Nisan for religious and tax purposes, they followed a practice later used by the Greeks and others of adding whenever necessary an "intercalary" month. Eventually this addition became regular so that seven intercalary months were added every nineteen years (about one every three years). This system was adopted by the Assyrians around 1100 BC and imposed by the Babylonians on their empire, including the Jews. After Persian conquered Babylon in 539 B.C., they adopted the same system and made it official throughout their empire.

This system presented a problem to the Jews because their religious festivals and calendar were closely and inextricably bound to the lunar (Num. 10:10; 28:11) and agricultural cycles. According to Leviticus 23:4-14, for example, Passover was to be on the fourteenth day of the first month, at which time they were to offer the first-fruits of the barley harvest. The precalculated Babylonian calendar did not maintain this close connection; therefore a distinction began, probably in the sixth century, between the religious and the civil calendar. In the religious calendar (which was continued at least until the fourth century AD) months and days were added whenever necessary.

Some have argued that before the Babylonian period the Jews followed what is called a "Jubilees" calendar in which a year consisted of fifty-two weeks, hence 364 days. The New Year, as well as Unleavened Bread (Lev. 23:6) and Tabernacles (Lev. 23:34), began on Wednesday, the day on which GOD created the sun and moon (Gen. 1:14). One function of the "jubilee year" (Lev. 25) might have been to add forty-nine days to the calendar every forty-nine years, a "little year", realigning the calendar with the seasons.

Roman control of Palestine did not greatly alter their chronological system. Since Rome did not impose their Julian calendar on the provinces, the Babylonian system continued in use (complete with Babylonian names for the months) of the civil year, though some sectarians refused to use it. The Roman presence is evident, however, in the use of Roman regnal years (that is, the number of years a ruler has been in office, used as a method of naming a year) as in Luke 3:1.

The oldest and simplest method of dating was to relate one event to another such as a flood, war, or the administration of a king or government official. This method is called relative chronology. If it is to have meaning for the historian, the event must then be related to an absolute chronology. That is, it must be placed (with varying degrees of exactness) on a time scale of equal units connected in the present - the Julian calendar.

Most of our sources for the ancient Near East, Greece and Rome date an event according to an "eponymous year", a year named for an official such as the Roman consul (as with the birth of Horace referred to earlier. Lists were made of these years in antiquity, often including certain events that occurred in a particular year. If historians can relate one of those events to the Julian calendar, then they can synchronize the whole "eponym list" with an absolute chronology. By this means we have a firm Assyrian chronology, since we have eponym lists from 891 to 648 B.C. which contain a reference to a solar eclipse that occurred when But-Sagale was governor of Guzana. Astronomers have dated that eclipse to June 15, 763 B.C.

TIMES AND SEASONS

The title of this article suggests a different view of time than ours. With few expectations the biblical view of time is neither abstract nor cyclic. For the Hebrews the idea of time was related inextricably with GOD' actions and the response of humans. The fact that the date of the exodus can be identified in only one biblical passage (I Kgs 6:1) is surprising to us. Yet the exodus was a focal point of past, present, and future time. It was perpetually memorialized in the Passover (Deut. 16:1; Exod. 13:3). Though Scripture gives instructions for celebrating Passover, it does not tell us the date of the exodus. Old Testament The Hebrews saw time as the arena for GOD's acts. Consequently, the primary word for time was "day" - the fifth most common substantive in the OT. Fittingly, Genesis closes each of the first six acts of creation and then introduces the seventh day when GOD rested. "Days" that GOD had acted were to be memorialized through ritual celebration. Though ritual is regularly scorned by modern Christians, celebrations are inseparably related to the events in Hebrew thinking. Thus our LORD His disciples, and even Paul observed the appointed holy days (for Paul note especially Acts 20:6,16; 21:17-20). Time for the Hebrews was regarded both as an opportunity and responsibility for persons. Proper response to time resulted in a rebuilt temple (Hag. 1:1) and a people saved from extermination (Esth. 4:14). Seasons Ecclesiastes 3 is the closest the Hebrews came to the cyclic thinking so common in the ancient Near East. The Gezar calendar (see "Calendar") shows indisputably that one way of viewing time was seasonal. The primary difference in their view was that there was an order and goal for time. Israel's GOD had created the seasons and knew the course of time (Dan. 2:20-23). Time, therefore, is to be thought of primarily in theological terms. New Testament The focal point for time in the OT was related to either the Day of the LORD or to the national future. The NT, however, focuses time against the coming of Christ. The Baptist's message was "the time has come" (Mark 1:15). John's confusion (Matt. 11:2,3), however, was not clarified even when Jesus announced at the end of His life, "My appointed time is near" (Matt. 26:18). Even after Christ's resurrection the disciples failed to understand His teachings about time: "LORD, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6). Paul's teaching in II Corinthians 6:2 reflects the NT's unique view of time: "I tell you, now is the time of GOD's favor, now is the day of salvation". It is precisely this Christological emphasis that delineates the Jewish and Christian traditions. The New Testament idea of time and Christ can thus be summarized: The future (present salvation) is available now, and in the present we are in the latter days. Jesus appears to have been the hinge between the two eras - the past (Israel and the OT) and the future (days are coming). Eternity The idea of eternity may be understood in two ways. One view is derived from the Greek philosopher Plate. He taught that there is a fundamental difference between time in our world and time in eternity. The other view teaches that eternity is an unending continuation of time. Whatever the debate, GOD is Master of time in all forms (II Pet. 3:8).

The Old Testament historical books are full of relative chronological references. One of the most important is I Kings 6:1:

In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the Lord.

If dates can be established for the reign of Solomon, this verse provides a means to date the exodus, from which other verses can yield dates for the patriarchs. Solomon's reign can be dated, though not directly.

The primary tool by which absolute dates are provided for ancient Israel is Assyrian chronology because two Israelite kings, Jehu and Ahab, are referred to on Assyrian tablets. By them we know that King Ahab (I Kgs 16-22) fought Shalmaneser III at the Battle of Qarqar and died in 853 B.C. Furthermore, King Jehu (II Kgs 9-10) in the first year of his reign paid tribute to the same Assyrian king in 841 B.C. Since the Books of Kings give the names and length of reign of all the kings of Judah and Israel (see I Kgs 2:11; 11:42; 14:20; 15:25,33; 16:8,23,29), the years of Solomon's reign were 970 to 930 B.C.; and David's, 1010 to 970 B.C. The date of the exodus, then, assuming a literal interpretation of I Kings 6:1, is 1446 B.C. The dates of the Patriarchs are established as follows:

Because the genealogical lists in Genesis are believed by most to be intentionally incomplete ("open"), attempts are usually not made to establish historical dates prior to Abraham.

Such an exact chronology is made problematic, however, especially for the Patriarchal Age, by several factors. One is the claim of some that many of the numerical references (especially the number forty and its multiples) should be understood figuratively. Some will even discount them altogether.

Another difficulty is the inconsistency of certain biblical references in Kings and Chronicles. Jerome wrote:

Reread all the books of the Old and New Testaments and you will find such confusion of years and numbers that getting stuck in such questions fits more a man who has too much free time than a man who is eager to study.

For example, Ahab's second son, Jehoram, succeeded his first son, Ahaziah, as king of Israel in the second year of Jehoram (same name!), king of Judah, son of Jehoshaphat (II Kgs 1:17). But II Kings 3:1 says that Jehoram became king of Israel in Jehoshaphat's eighteenth year as king (II Kgs 8:16). .Furthermore, I Kings 22:42 says that Jehoshaphat ruled twenty-five years. Based on the assumption that the chronological references in the Bible are essentially correct and consistent if properly understood, E.A. Thiele produced a consistent chronology of Israel. In order to solve problems like the one just mentioned and others, he based his system on the suppositions that co-regencies (a king and his successor ruling at the same time) and rival reigns (two kings claiming the throne at the same time) occurred in both Israel and Judah and that regnal years were counted differently in the two nations. He argued that a co-regency of Jehoshaphat and his son Jehoram explains the difficulty mentioned earlier. This co-regency began in 853 B.C., Jehoshaphat's sixteenth year, when he went to war against Aram with Ahab (I Kgs 22:2-37), leaving the kingdom securely in the hands of his son Jehoram.

Most scholars have accepted Thiele's system of dating! Hayes and Hooker, however, have offered an alternate system based on supposed editorial changes to the biblical text. Their solution to the problem discussed earlier involves the claim that there was only one Jehoram (the son of Jehoshaphat) and that he occupied both thrones for over ten years. Fortunately, the two systems of Thiele and of Hayes and Hooker usually vary by only a few years. Thiele dates the death of Solomon, for example, in 931 or 931 B.C.; whereas Hayes and Hooker have it in 926 B.C.

CALENDARS

One of the most surprising aspects of the OT is that while it explicitly orders its cultic system according to the phases of the moon (lunisolar), it never speaks to the issue of the calendar. In Exodus 12:2 GOD commanded, "This month is to be fore you the first month, the first month of your year". Of course, reckoning time solely on the phases of the moon is impossible. The solar year represents the actual seasonal cycle. The earth circles the sun in 365 1/6 days. The problem with the lunar calendar is that it is approximately eleven days shorter than the solar year. With the exceptions of the Egyptians and Romans, all ancient peoples followed a lunar calendar. The Hebrews seem to have adopted the West Semitic lunar calendar (I Kgs 4:7). The Calendar Four Canaanite names for the months appear in the OT: Abib, first month; Ziv, second month; Etanim, seventh month; Bul, eighth month. The postexilic names were Babylonian and are listed in ascending order: Nisan, Iyyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Ab, Elul, Tishri, Marchesvan, Chislev, Tebeth, Shebat, Adar. Nisan, mid-March to mid-April, coincides with the grain harvest. Thus the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Lev. 23:6) and Firstfruits (Lev. 23:10f.) occur in this month. The centrality of the moon to this discussion may be seen in that Hebrew word Yerah means both moon and month. Both the Greek word men and English month point to the word moon. The apparent source of lunation is probably ancient Sumer, for which there is evidence as early as 2500 B.C. that a lunar calendar was being used. Other Calendars In 1908 a tablet that was dated from the tenth century B.C. was found at Gezer. While attempts to translate the tablet have differed, one common discovery was that the tablet was a record of an agricultural calendar separating a year into eight periods beginning with September and ending with October. Some biblical evidence suggests that several changes in calendars had occurred. While the calendar used will probably remain unknown, I Kings 12:32-33 might suggest that Jeroboam's innovations included a different calendar. The Talmud's interpretation of II Chronicles 30:2,13,15 might also support this idea. The possibility that a change may have occurred during Josiah's reform has also been suggested. NT Issues By NT times a number of competing calendars were being used. The calendar was a major point of conflict between the Pharisees and Sadducees since that would determine the dates for the actual holy days. The Samaritans seem to have followed Jeroboam's, for theirs differed (and still does) from the others. Interestingly, the pseudepigraphic works, the Ethiopian Book of Enoch and Jubilees, both advocated strongly a solar calendar of 364 days. The publication of the temple scroll from Qumran has led scholars to agree that the sect there supported the 364-day solar calendar. The calendar appears to have been the sect's outstanding characteristic. Clearly the choice of a calendar had major theological implications for the followers of Moses.

New Testament Chronology

In A.D. 525 John I, Bishop of Rome, commissioned a Scythian monk to prepare a standard calendar for the Western church based on the birth of Christ. He determined that birth to have been on December 25, 753 years after the agreed date for the founding of Rome, making the following January 1, A.D. We know today that he was wrong. According to evidence from Josephus, Herod the Great, who was still very much alive when Jesus was born, died between March 12/13 and April 11, 4 B.C. Jesus was probably born not long before that, perhaps in late 5 B.C. or early 4 B.C.

The year of Jesus' crucifixion has been dated by various scholars at A.D. 21, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32 and 33. Although A.D. 30 is probably the majority opinion, Harold Hoehner presents a good argument for A.D. 33. According to Luke 3:1, John the Baptist began his ministry in the fifteenth year of Tiberias, which (if not counted from his co-regency with Augustus) was A.D. 28/29. Since the Gospel of John mentions three Passovers (2:13; 6:4; 11:55), tradition has held that Jesus' ministry lasted a little more than three years (although some have argued for a ministry of as little as three or four months). According to John 2:20, the first of those Passovers occurred forty-six years after Herod completed the temple building, which was in 18/17 B.C. Jesus' first Passover, then, was in A.D. 30, and he was crucified in A.D. 33.

Paul's conversion (Acts 9) is usually dated in A.D. 33 or 34, although Hoehner favors A.D. 35. The rest of Paul's life is dated as follows:

First Missionary Journey

Acts 13-14  A.D. 47/8-48/9

Second Missionary Journey

Acts 15-18  A.D. 49/50-51/2

Third Missionary Journey

Acts 18-21  A.D. 52/3-56/7

Arrest in Jerusalem

Acts 21  A.D. 56/7

Roman Imprisonment

Acts 28  A.D. 60-62

Death

A.D. 64-68?

Sources for Additional Study

Bickerman, E.J. Chronology of the Ancient World. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1965

Finegan, Jack. Handbook of Biblical Chronology. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1964

Hayes, John H. and Paul K. Hooker. A New Chronology for the Kings of Israel and Judah. Atlanta: John Knox, 1988.

Hoehner, Harold W. Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1977.

Thiele, Edwin A. The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings. Revised. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1983.

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