Jerusalem Fell in 587 Not 586 BC -- By: C. Ermal Allen

Journal: Bible and Spade (Second Run)
Volume: BSPADE 18:1 (Winter 2005)
Article: Jerusalem Fell in 587 Not 586 BC
Author: C. Ermal Allen


Jerusalem Fell in 587 Not 586 BC

C. Ermal Allen

Biblical scholarship will be forever indebted to Edwin Thiele for his discovery that finally made sense of the confusing dating systems for kings mentioned in the OT. Two keys unlocked the secrets that had mystified scholars for centuries: (1) the year in some time-lines began with the month Nisan (in the spring), and in others it began with Tishri (in the fall). Furthermore, (2) the first year of the king’s reign was sometimes counted from the year he actually began and at other times from his first full year, counting the initial months prior to the new year as his accession year. When these two keys are combined, the result is four different ways of dating any particular year in the reign of a king. See the chart below, based on Thiele’s work, showing the possibilities for dating the last days of Jerusalem, when it was besieged and destroyed by the Babylonians.

Possible Systems for Dating the Final Days of Jerusalem, years BC

    Accession

    Non accession

Nisan

Tishri

Nisan

Tishrt

Zedekiah

Accession

597–596

597

1

596–595

597–596

597–596

(598)-597

2

595–594

596–595

596–595

597–596

3

594–593

595–594

595–594

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