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Chronology of Biblical Events

PART 1. 从先祖到所罗门王去世 From the Patriarchs to the Death of King Solomon

20th Century BC

• 1950 Abraham is born in Ur 吾珥 of the Chaldeans 迦勒底 (situated in today’s Iraq).

19th Century BC

• 1875 Abraham emigrates with his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot 罗德 from Haran 哈兰, (situated in today’s Turkey), to Canaan 迦南, (today’s Israel), at the age of seventy-five.
• 1850 Isaac is born.
• 1810 Isaac at the age of forty marries Rebekah.

18th Century BC

• 1790 Jacob is born.
• 1750 Hyksos, (possibly a Canaanite people) invade Egypt and seize control.

17th Century BC

• 1660 Jacob with his family settles in Egypt.
• 1643 Death of Jacob in Egypt.
• 1600 Alphabet writing is developed probably in Canaan.

16th Century BC

• 1570 Ahmose I expels the Hyksos and restores native Egyptian control to Egypt.

13th Century BC

• 1230 Exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt, after having been 430 years in Egypt, (Exodus 12:40), led by Moses.

12th Century BC

• 1190 After wandering forty years in the desert of Sinai, the Hebrew tribes enter Canaan, under the command of Joshua, defeat and destroy a number of Canaanite cities.
• 1150 The Peoples from the Sea invade Egypt but are turned back. Part of them, the Philistines, settle in the southern coast of Canaan, where they set up a network of five cities, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath.
• 1120 The northern tribes of Israel, under the leadership of Deborah, defeat Sisera.
• 1100 Gideon is judge over Israel. After his death, his son Abimelech destroys the city of Shechem.

11th Century BC

• 1075 The city of Geba is destroyed during an intertribal war against the tribe of Benjamin.
• 1050 The Philistines destroy Shiloh and capture the Ark of God. Samuel becomes judge over Israel.
• 1020 Saul is anointed by Samuel as the first king of Israel. He unites the tribes which until then had formed a loose confederation.
• 1005 Saul is defeated by the Philistines and dies. David is chosen king of Judah in Hebron at the age of thirty.

10th Century BC

• 998 After reigning seven years over Judah in Hebron, David becomes king of all the tribes, when the northern Israelite tribes join Judah in recognizing David as king.
• 990 David conquers Jerusalem from the Jebusites and makes it the capital of his kingdom.
• 970 Absalom attempts to overthrow his father David.
• 965 David dies at the age of seventy, after reigning for forty years, seven over Judah in Hebron, and thirty three in Jerusalem over the united country. He is succeeded by his son Solomon.
• 961 Solomon starts the building of the Temple.
• 954 King Solomon finishes the Temple, a project which took seven years.
• 928 Rehoboam succeeds Solomon. The northern tribes secede and choose Jeroboam as king of Israel, while Rehoboam remains King of Judah.

PART 2. From the Division of the Kingdom to the Fall of Israel

10th Century BC

• 923 The Egyptian pharaoh Sheshonk I (called Shishak in the Bible) invades Israel, takes away all the treasures of the Temple and the palace in Jerusalem and destroys several cities in both Judah and Israel.
• 922 Jeroboam moves his capital from Shechem to Tirzah, and establishes two shrines at both ends of his kingdom, Bethel and Dan.
• 913 Abijah succeeds Rehoboam in Judah, and reigns for three years.
• 908 Asa succeeds Abijah in Judah, and reigns for forty-one years.
• 907 Nadab succeeds his father Jeroboam in Israel, and reigns for one year.
• 906 Nadab is killed by one of his officers, Baasha, who usurps the throne of Israel, and reigns for twenty-three years.

9th Century BC

• 886 King Asa asks King Ben Hadad of Damascus for help against Baasha, who is trying to seize the territory just north of Jerusalem.
• 883 Baasha of Israel is succeeded by his son Elah, who reigns one year.
• 882 Elah, king of Israel, is killed by Zimri, one of his army commanders, who reigned for only seven days, until Omri, acclaimed king by the people, takes Tirzah, the capital city, and Zimri seeing that he is lost, finds refuge in the palace, burns it, and dies in the flames. Tibni challenges Omri for the Kingdom, but Omri prevails, and Tibni dies
• 871 Omri of Israel dies, after reigning the first years in the old capital of Tirzah, and his final years in Samaria, which he founded and made his capital. His son Ahab succeeds him, and reigns for twenty-one years.
• 867 Asa, king of Judah, dies, and is succeeded by his son Jehoshaphat, who reigns for twenty-one years.
• 853 The Assyrian record of Shalmaneser III mentions that king Ahab took part in the battle of Qarqar with 2,000 chariots and 10,000 soldiers. This event is not mentioned in the Bible
• 850 Ahab, king of Israel, is mortally wounded in battle. His son Ahaziah succeeds him. During Ahab’s reign, his wife Jezebel, a Sidonian princess, introduces in Israel the worship of the Phoenician god Baal against the protest and resistance of the prophet Elijah.
• 848 Elisha succeeds Elijah as the leading prophet. Ahaziah, the king of Israel, dies of his injury resulting from falling from his balcony, and his succeeded by his brother Jehoram.
• 846 Jehoshaphat of Judah dies, and is succeeded by his son Jehoram.
• 843 Jehoram, King of Judah, and is succeeded by his son Ahaziah.
• 842 King Jehoram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah are killed in a revolt by Jehu, who becomes king, and kills all the members of the royal house of Israel, together with members of the royal family of Judah. Athaliah, Judah’s queen mother, liquidates the surviving members of the royal house of Judah, with the exception of Jehoash, who is hidden by the high priest.
• 836 Athaliah is killed in a palace revolt, and Jehoash is proclaimed king in Judah.
• 814 Jehu, King of Israel, dies and is succeeded by his son Jehoahaz.
• 800 Jehoahaz, King of Israel, dies and is succeeded by his son Jehoash, during whose reign the prophet Elisha became very ill and died.

8th Century BC

• 798 Jehoash of Judah is killed by palace conspirators. His son, Amaziah, succeeds him.
• 784 King Jehoash of Israel dies and is succeeded by his son Jeroboam II, during whose rule the prophet Amos is active.
• 769 King Amaziah of Judah is murdered by conspirators, and his son Uzziah reigns in his place.
• 748 King Jeroboam II of Israel dies and is succeeded by his son Zechariah. He rules six months and is murdered by Shallum, who, after being king for only one month, is himself murdered by Menahem, who becomes king.
• 739 Uzziah of Judah dies and is succeeded by his son Jotham.
• 737 Menahem of Israel, who had become a tributary of Assyria, dies and is succeeded by his son Pekahiah.
• 735 King Pekahiah of Israel is killed by Pekah, one of his commanders, who succeeds him as king.
• 733 Tiglathpileser, king of Assyria, invades Israel, captures a number of cities and exiles many inhabitants.
• 732 Hoshea plots against Pekah, king of Israel, assassinates him, and succeeds him as king, with Israel becoming a vassal kingdom of the Assyrian empire. Jotham, the king of Judah, dies and is succeeded by his son Ahaz.
• 725 Hoshea revolts against Assyria. King Shalmaneser of Assyria invades Israel, and besieges Samaria. Micah prophesies the fall of the city.
• 721 Sargon II, king of Assyria, sacks Samaria, and exiles a large segment of the population. The kingdom of Israel comes to an end. The deported Israelites—the legendary ten lost tribes—did not survive as a community; they assimilated into their new localities and disappeared from history. Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, and after him his son Ashurbanipal, brought foreigners (whose descendants were later known as Samaritans) to settle in the abandoned cities of Israel.

PART 3. From the Fall of Israel to the Fall of Judah

8th Century BC

• 727 Jotham of Judah dies and is succeeded by his son Ahaz.
• 716 King Ahaz of Judah dies and is succeeded by his son Hezekiah, who encourages the immigration of the Northerners who escaped exile.
• 701 The Assyrians, under Sennacherib, lay siege to Jerusalem, but King Hezekiah, with the moral encouragement of the prophet Isaiah, does not surrender, and the Assyrians retire without taking the city.

7th Century BC

• 688 King Hezekiah of Judah dies and is succeeded by his son Manasseh, who becomes an Assyrian vassal and promotes foreign cults in Judah.
• 642 King Manasseh of Judah dies and is succeeded by his son Amon.
• 640 Amon is murdered by his officers in the palace. The people of Judah kill the assassins and make his son Josiah king of Judah, during whose kingdom the prophets Zephaniah, Jeremiah and Nahum are active.
• 609 Josiah, while trying to stop an expedition force of Pharaoh Necho, is killed in battle, and succeeded by his son Jehoahaz, who is dethroned after three months by Pharaoh Necho, and succeeded by another of Josiah’s sons, Jehoiakim, who becomes an Egyptian vassal.
• 605 Pharaoh Necho is defeated by Nebuchadnezzar, who makes Jehoiakim a vassal of Babylon.

6th Century BC

• 598 Jehoiakim dies, and is succeeded by his son Jehoiachin.
• 597 Nebuchadnezzar lays siege to Jerusalem, the king surrenders and is taken prisoner to Babylon, together with the treasures in the Temple. Zedekiah, uncle of the deposed king Jehoi achin, is named king by the Babylonians and governs as a puppet, until a few years later he revolts.
• 586 After two years of siege the Babylonians breach the walls of Jerusalem. King Zedekiah escapes but is caught, blinded, after seeing his sons get killed, put in chains and taken to Babylon. Nebuzaradan, commander of the Babylonian army, burns down the Temple, the palace, and most of the city, and exiles the people to Babylon.

PART 4. From the Fall of Judah to the Return to Zion

6th Century BC

• 585 Gedaliah, appointed governor of Judah by Babylon, is murdered by Judean nationalists who considered him a Babylonian collaborator. Other Babylonian supporters flee to Egypt taking the prophet Jeremiah with them.
• 561 Upon the death of Nebuchadnezzar, Evil Merodach, the new king of Babylon, releases Jehoiachin from prison and lets him stay in the Babylonian court.
• 550 Cyrus the Persian gains control of the Median Empire.
• 539 Cyrus, king of Persia, conquers Babylon.
• 538 Cyrus authorizes the exiles to return to their land. A number of them do, led by Sheshbazzar, a member of the Judean royal family.
• 522 Zerubbabel, a descendant of the royal family, is made governor of Judea, which is now a Persian province.
• 520 The reconstruction of the Temple begins.
• 515 The Temple is completed.

5th Century BC

• 486 Xerxes 1 succeeds his late father Darius as king of Persia. Most scholars identify him as King Ahasuerus in the book of Esther.
• 450 The book of Malachi is written.
• 445 A Jewish official of the Persian court, Nehemiah, is appointed governor of Judea, and is sent to Jerusalem, where he rebuilds the walls of the city.
• 437 The Jerusalem walls are completed.
• 433 Nehemiah returns to Babylon. Eliashib, the high priest, allows Tobiah, governor of the Persian province of Transjordan and bitter enemy of Nehemiah, to stay in the Temple.
• 431 Nehemiah is reappointed to Jerusalem. Upon his arrival he expels Tobiah and enforces observance of the Sabbath and the ban on intermarriage.
• 428 The priest-scribe Ezra arrives in Judah, authorized by the Persian government to teach the Jews the laws of Moses. He forces those who had married foreign women to divorce them and to commit themselves to the exact observance of the religious laws.

PART 5. From the Return to Zion to the Birth of Jesus

4th Century BC

• 330 Alexander the Great conquers Persia, and the whole Middle East including the land of Israel.
• 323 Alexander the Great dies of malaria in Babylon. His generals divide the empire between them. Ptolemy gets control of Egypt. Seleucus controls Babylonia.
• 301 Ptolemy I of Egypt conquers the land of Israel.

3rd Century BC

• 250 The Hebrew Bible is translated to Greek in Alexandria.
• 217 Antiochus III of Syria conquers the land of Israel, but Ptolemy IV defeats him and recovers it.

2nd Century BC

• 198 The Seleucids conquer the land of Israel.
• 175 Antiochus IV Epiphanes, descendant of Seleucus, becomes king.
• 169 Antiochus IV plunders the Temple treasuries.
• 167 Antiochus bans Jewish religious practices, and desecrates the Temple.
• 166 The Hasmonean family of priests in the Judean town of Modiin leads a rebellion against the Hellenistic priests in Jerusalem and against the regime of Antiochus. The revolt begins when the Hasmonean patriarch slays a Jew making a sacrifice ordained by Antiochus.
• 164 Judah Maccabee, leader of the rebellion, is victorious over the Syrian armies, captures Jerusalem and rededicates the Temple.
• 160 Judah Maccabee dies in battle. His brother Jonathan assumes the leadership.
• 142 Jonathan is murdered. His brother Simeon assumes leadership; the independence of Judea is recognized by the Syrians; Judea signs a treaty with Rome.
• 134 Simeon is assassinated. John Hyrcanus assumes the leadership.

1st Century BC

• 67 Civil war starts between Hyrcanus II and his brother Aristobulus II.
• 63 Pompey captures Jerusalem, brings Palestine under Roman rule and appoints Hyrcanus II high priest.
• 44 Julius Caesar is assassinated by Brutus, Cassius and others.
• 40 The Parthians invade Palestine; help Antigonus, son of Aristobulus II, to seize control. The Senate in Rome proclaims Herod, son of the Idumean Antipater, king of the Jews.
• 37 Jerusalem is captured by Herod, who starts his reign.
• 31 Octavius defeats Mark Anthony, and becomes master of the Roman world.
• 27 Octavius is proclaimed emperor under the name Augustus (the Exalted).
• 22 Herod begins the construction of the Roman port of Caesarea in the Mediterranean.

PART 6. From the Birth of Jesus to the Death of Paul

1st Century BC

• 7 Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. (Although the traditional date for the birth of Jesus is the year zero, many archeologists and scholars believe that it was some years before the begin ning of the Era).
• 4 Death of Herod. The Romans divide his kingdom among his three sons: Judea, Samaria and Idumea to Archelaus, Galilee to Herod Antipas, and the Lebanon districts to Philip.

1st Century AD

• 6 Augustus deposes Archelaus and puts Judea under the direct control of a Roman governor.
• 14 Tiberius succeeds Augustus as Roman emperor.
• 26 Pontius Pilate becomes governor of Judea.
• 28 John begins baptizing in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius.
• 30 Crucifixion of Jesus.
• 33 Paul is converted.
• 37 Caligula succeeds Tiberius as Roman emperor.
• 41 Claudius succeeds Caligula. Herod Agrippa I, appointed king of Judea, executes James, and imprisons Peter.
• 44 Herod Agrippa dies, and Judea reverts to direct Roman government under a procurator.
• 47 Paul, accompanied by Barnabas, begins his first missionary journey to Cyprus.
• 48 Paul confers with leaders of the church in Jerusalem and wins approval of his mission to the Gentiles. He begins his second missionary journey, accompanied this time by Silas, going overland through Asia Minor and crossing to Macedonia.
• 50 Paul arrives in Corinth, and meets Aquila and Priscilla.
• 53 Paul arrives at Ephesus on his third missionary journey.
• 54 Nero succeeds Claudius as Roman emperor.
• 57 Paul visits Jerusalem, is arrested, and sent to the procurator Felix at Caesarea.
• 59 Festus replaces Felix as procurator. Paul appeals to the emperor, and is sent to Rome.
• 60 Paul arrives in Rome, and is imprisoned there.
• 64 A fire destroys much of Rome. Christians are blamed and persecuted. It is probable that Peter and Paul were among the martyrs.
• 66 The Jews revolt against Rome.
• 70 Titus takes Jerusalem and burns down the Temple.
• 73 Masada, the last Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans. Hundreds of defenders commit suicide, choosing to die before becoming slaves.
• 75 The book of Mark is written.
• 85 The book of Matthew is written
• 90 The books of Luke and Acts are written
• 92 The letters of Paul are collected and circulated together.

2nd Century AD

• 110 The letters of John are written.