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From Magic City Morning Star R.P. BenDedek
Many ordinary Bible reading people in the world today, are confused by a number of things related to the chronological history of ancient Israel. They are not alone. Many archaeologists, historians and other academics have over the last 150 years, shaken their heads trying to understand certain sections of the Bible. Recently I received an enquiry concerning the period of history in which the Northern Kingdom of Israel - called Samaria at the time - fell to the Assyrians (722BCE). The nature of the enquiry related to certain chronological statements made in the Bible, as well as to calculations that the writer had made based on certain scriptural quotes. In part, he wrote:
Before proceeding to provide some explanation of the times under discussion, I would like to make two points clear.
Background to the issue From the Syro-Ephraimitic War 734 - 732 BCE to the Fall of Samaria in 722BCE [Bible Quotes are from Mechon-Mamre Hebrew/English Bible] This period of Biblical history has everybody confused. Scriptural chronological quotes often seem contradictory, and some things do not appear to align with known history. In my research I discovered that the underlying cause of all the confusion, is that the ancient redactors confused, three similar names, and wrongly appended them to historical circumstances. Allow me to quote from 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran', Chapter Eleven: 756 BCE to 701 BCE, Uzziah to Hezekiah (Apologetics).
My research indicated that the chronological data 'standing alone' was correct, and was recorded from a southern kingdom perspective. Furthermore, that the redactors confused the identities of:
King Pekah of Israel / Samaria By the standard of the 'King's Calendar', Pekah reigned fourteen (14) artificial years commencing in 743 BCE. 2 Kings: 15:27 informs us that he reigned twenty years. This may in fact reflect a misunderstanding of 2 Kings:15:30 in reference to Jotham (as opposed to academic belief that 2 Kings 15:30 is a misunderstanding of 2 Kings 15:27).
Bright 1 (1981, p 273) assigns Pekah only a five (5) year reign (737-732 BCE), adding a footnote to the effect that the claim to a twenty year reign may derive from some semi-autonomous authority that Pekah may have exercised in Gilead prior to taking the throne. See also Miller & Hayes 2 (1986, p323). Miller and Hayes (1986, p 323) tell us that during or just after Tiglath-Pileser's campaign against Damascus in 732 BCE, he confirmed Hoshea on the throne in Samaria. Meanwhile, 2 Kings: 15:27 informs us that after Tiglath-Pileser's campaign, Hoshea made a conspiracy against Pekah, and slew him. Since from neither the Assyrian nor Biblical perspectives is there any precise date for this event (Alhstrom 1993, p. 635)3 some latitude must exist to allow the possibility of Pekah remaining King until mid-late 731 BCE, especially from a Stage One and Two perspective of Assyrian control, (Herrmann, 1981, pp. 244/49)4 . The two points I make here are that:
Hoshea of Israel / Samaria Because of the latitude allowed for Pekah's death, Hoshea's commencement year remains open to debate. Irrespective of which year is accepted however, (732 or 731 BCE), it is clear that 2 Kings 17:1, which synchronises Hoshea's ascension or First Regnal Year, with the twelfth year of Ahaz, is incorrect, and ought to synchronise with Jotham. This is clear for several reasons. 1. That Jotham's twentieth year cannot have corresponded with Ahaz' twelfth year, unless they were co-reigning. 2. Such a schema would throw all of the synchronisms in the biblical narrative into total disarray, making them all completely untrustworthy, and if so, then the balance of information as well.
3. If we accept current opinions which have Menehem on the Throne as late as 738 BCE, Jotham's reign would disappear, leading to the possibility that Jotham and Ahaz were the one and the same person.
4. If Hoshea commenced to reign after Pekah's 20th year (2 Kings 15:27), and Ahaz commenced to reign during Pekah's 17th year, it is not possible for Hoshea to commence reigning in the 12th year of Ahaz. 5. If Hoshea commenced in the Twelfth (12th) of Ahaz' sixteen (16) years (2 Kings 16:2), then Hezekiah's reign could not commence in Hoshea's Third (3rd) year (2 Kings 18:1), and Hezekiah's reign would need to be put back from 714 BCE to around 726 BCE, which negates 701 BCE as his Fourteenth (14th) year. Clearly, any notion that Hoshea commenced during the reign of Ahaz, is erroneous, as is also the notion that it had ended by the time Hezekiah became king. (Refer to Thiele 1966, p.152)
Regarding The Fall of Samaria Under Pekah in 732 BCE, and Hoshea in 722 BCE, Samaria fell to the Assyrians. The former disaster resulted in an overall reduction of territory, and the latter, the loss of all territory. Unfortunately, the 'King's Calendar' has been unable to precisely synchronise all the data with these two important years, in part because there are academic options in relation to each event, that make it impossible to incorporate all academic viewpoints. It has therefore been necessary to offer two synchronistic alternatives, one which emphasises 732 BCE as Pekah's final year and the other, which emphasises 722 BCE as Hoshea's last year. I believe that the source of most of the problems can be found in the misidentification of the three Judean kings. Inconsistencies regarding the Syro-Ephraimitic war Part of academic confusion over this particular period of Israelite history, results directly from their reliance upon the biblical narratives which clearly state that it was King Ahaz of Judah who appealed to Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria, for assistance during the Syro-Ephraimitic War against Rezin of Damascus, and Pekah of Israel. That confusion is further compounded by reference to tribute paid by 'Jehoahaz' to Tiglath-Pileser III, and by the lack of any other Assyrian records for Israel and Judah at this time. Since we have no record of a King 'Jehoahaz' in Scripture, it is only an assumption that this is the full name of 'Ahaz'. In fact, it could easily have been the real name of King Jotham. There are Four (4) Biblical Narrative Discrepancies or Contradictions which make it plain that the redactors ascribed to Ahaz, events which involved Jotham. The apologetics on this issue can be read online at Kingscalendar at Rules of Evidence in Archaeology: The Syro-Ephraimitic War: 734-732 BCE The four contradictions examined in that article are:
Biblical Chronology through the lens of the King's Calendar. As far as the King's Calendar research can detect, there is only one Chronological Scripture quote that seems to actually be incorrect: 2 Kings 15:27
Azariah is of course Uzziah who reigned 52 years. Deduct the last 2 years of Uzziah from the 20 ascribed to Pekah and you come to a time 18 years after Uzziah's death. This year is said in verse 30 to be the 20th year of Jotham (who reigned only 16 years). If Jotham had a 4 year co-regency, then Pekah died 2 years after Jotham's death, in the 2nd year of Ahaz. When you follow this line of reasoning however, you find all the Biblical synchronisms mixed up. The reason for this is simply that the redactors were mixed up. Relying on the Biblical and Assyrian Narratives, Pekah died in 732/731 BCE, having commenced in the second last year of Uzziah. No matter how you work it, it doesn't come out to a 20 year reign. In the Final Analysis: It is apparent that Pekah did not reign 20 years, and while it is apparent that Hoshea only reigned 9 years, because the King's Calendar is an artificial calendar of years (336 days), it is difficult to know exactly how to apply these nine years. One thing is certain however, that the only chronological error is 2 Kings 15:27 which gives Pekah a 20 year reign, and that the redactors were a little confused about which events applied to which kings. To see how the King's Calendar aligns the reigns of these kings, go to the Divided Kingdom Synchronous Calendar R.P. BenDedek Email: rpbendedek@hotmail.com Footnote / Bibliography
Relevant Reading:
"The King's Calendar" [ on sale - while the economic recession is on], is a chronological study of the historical books of the Bible (Kings and Chronicles), Josephus, Seder Olam Rabbah, and the (Essene) Damascus Document of The Dead Sea Scrolls. See Chapter Precis page. Academic Articles at Magic City © Copyright 2002-2011 by Magic City Morning Star |
