One Thing Leads To Another

One Thing Leads To Another

Have you ever wondered how Bible scholars are able to assign dates to the events of the Old Testament?

THE MAJOR breakthrough came with the discovery of the tablets containing the Assyrian Eponym lists. (An eponym is a person from whom something gets its name.) They listed all the years from 892 to 648 B.C., naming each year after the prime minister, or limmu, of Assyria who was elected that year. In addition to these names, the tablets also recount the major events of each year.

The Eponym lists contain an unbroken chain of events relating not only to Assyria but also to other nations that were interacting with Assyria. Because the tablets list the years of battles between Assyria and Israel, Bible scholars have been able to date the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah from these dates.

In the year of a prime minister named Bur-Sagale, the Assyrians recorded that there had been an eclipse of the sun. Modern astronomers are able to calculate the dates of eclipses with great precision and have determined that the eclipse of the sun described in the tablets occurred on June 15, 763 B.C.

Ninety years before this eclipse in the year 853 B.C., the lists report the battle of Qarqar in which the Assyrian emperor Shalmaneser III defeated a coalition of Syria and Israel under King Ahab. According to 1 Kings 22:1, the only period in which Israel was at peace with Syria was near the end of Ahab’s reign, so it must have occurred during that time.

While that information was interesting, it did not conclusively link the Eponym lists to the Old Testament until the discovery of the Black Obelisk. The Black Obelisk is a pillar erected by Shalmaneser III of Assyria in 841 B.C. to commemorate his victory over his enemies, including King Jehu of Israel. Jehu is pictured on the Obelisk as kneeling in subjection to Shalmaneser in the eighteenth year of the Assyrian emperor’s reign. This can then be dated from the Eponym lists since they give the dates of Shalmaneser’s reign. The date of the Black Obelisk is 841 B.C., which apparently was the first year of Jehu’s reign over Israel. According to 2 Kings 3:1; 9:1-8, 24, there were twelve years between the end of Ahab’s reign and the beginning of Jehu’s. Thus the date of 853 B.C. can be determined as the end of Ahab’s reign over Israel.

Nailing down these two dates made the process of constructing the chronology of the Old Testament relatively easy. The books of 1 and 2 Kings give the lengths of the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah before and after Ahab and Jehu. By adding the years of these reigns, the accession year of each king can be determined, as well as the dates of many associated events.

Reflection

Do you think God intends us to understand that the stories of the Bible are historical events? Why? Luke was one biblical author who explained the methodology he used in writing his Gospel. He wanted to make sure that his readers were aware of the accuracy of his research and truth of his account.

Many people have written accounts about the events that took place among us. They used as their source material the reports circulating among us from the early disciples and other eyewitnesses of what God has done in fulfillment of his promises. Having carefully investigated all of these accounts from the beginning, I have decided to write a careful summary for you, to reassure you of the truth of all you were taught.

Luke 1:1-4