SYNCHRONICAL TABLES OF THE KINGS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL
SYNCHRONICAL TABLES OF THE KINGS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL
The most difficult part of sacred chronology is the period from the revolt of the ten tribes to the destruction of Jerusalem. To harmonize the different reigns of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel has been a perplexing task with chronologists. No man, perhaps, has devoted to this subject more careful and critical study than Dr. Hales in his Analysis. He speaks of it as the “Gordian knot” of sacred chronology. He says that the difficulty of harmonizing the reigns of the kings of Judah and Israel together has principally arisen:
1. From the discordance of some of the correspondences in the years of their respective reigns, with the direct lengths of these reigns; and
2. From not critically determining the duration of the two interregnums or vacancies in the succession of the latter kings, so as to make them correspond with the former throughout.
Dr. Hales has attempted, as he thinks, successfully, to adjust and harmonize the respective reigns of the two kingdoms. Without stating the principles on which his adjustment is based, it will be sufficient to give the results of his critical labors in the following tables:
Kings of Judah|Length of reigns. Yrs.|Begin-ning of reigns. B.C.|Kings of Israel|Length of reigns. Yrs.|Begin-ning of reigns. B.C.|
Rehoboam|17|990|Jeroboam|22|990|
Abijah|3|973|Nadab|2|968|
Asa|41|970|Baasha|23|966|
Jehoshaphat|25|929|Ela|1|943|
Jehoram|8|904|Omri|11|942|
Ahaziah|1|896|Ahab|22|931|
Athaliah|6|895|Ahaziah|2|909|
Joash|40|889|Jehoram|12|907|
Amaziah|29|849|Jehu|28|895|
Interregnum|11|820|Jehoahaz|17|867|
Uzziah|52|809|Jehoash|16|850|
Jotham|16|757|Jeroboam II|41|834|
Ahaz|16|741|1st Interregnum|22|793|
Hezekiah|29|725|Zechariah and Shallum|1|771|
Manasseh|55|696|Menahem|10|770|
Amon|2|641|Pekahiah|2|760|
Josiah|31|639|Pekah|20|758|
Jehoahaz|3 mos.||2d Interregnum|10|738|
Jehoiakim|11|608|Hoshea|9|728|
Jehoiakin|3 mos.||Samaria taken||719|
Zedekiah|11|597||||
Jerusalem taken||586||||
The Babylonish captivity takes place under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.|||The Ten Tribes carried captive into Assyria by Shalmaneser.|||
There is some difference between the chronological dates of Dr. Hales and those adopted by some other chronologists. Our common version of the Bible reckons the time of the revolt of the Ten Tribes, and the beginning of the reigns of Rehoboam and Jeroboam, to be 975 years B.C. The dates adopted by Jahn, as found in Prof. Stowe's translation, conform to those of the authorized English version, in which the chronology of Abp. Usher is adopted. Stackhouse's tables do not differ materially from the same. These discrepancies, to be expected from the absence of positive Scripture data, are of very little account, since they do not affect the general results aimed at in chronological calculations.