Chronology

Biblical chronology is the arrangement of the events and persons of Scripture in their temporal sequence. The task is complicated by the variety of dating systems used in the ancient Near East, the use of both lunar and solar calendars, co-regencies between kings (where a son ruled alongside his father before the father's death), and apparent discrepancies between the numbers given in Kings and Chronicles. Key chronological anchors include the fixed dates of Assyrian and Babylonian records (particularly the Assyrian eponym lists and the Chronicle of Nabonassar) that can be correlated with biblical events such as the fall of Samaria (722 BC) and the destruction of Jerusalem (586 BC).

The date of the exodus from Egypt has been debated extensively, with proposals ranging from the fifteenth to the thirteenth century BC, dependent on the interpretation of the four hundred and eighty years of 1 Kings 6:1 and on archaeological evidence from Canaan. New Testament chronology similarly involves debate over the precise year of Jesus's birth, the length of his ministry, and the dates of Paul's missionary journeys — all set within the framework of datable Roman and Herodian history.