(Dates taken from Preface to ASV of the Bible)
Lands| Hebrew People|Kingdoms| Maccabees| Parties
Egypt: 3200-1800 Before Christ. There were 30 dynasties in Egypt.
From Abraham to Moses
(Genesis 12-25)1850 Abraham: Begins in Ur--central Mesopotamia--western bank of the Euphrates, Haran. Remains in Haran until the death of his father Terah. In Canaan, Abraham and his family dig wells, erect altars, and acquire land. During a famine, Abraham goes to Egypt. Abraham returns to Canaan where he and his brother Lot separate. Lot chooses the Jordan valley as far as Sodom and the Dead Sea. Abraham remains in Mamre. He defeats the kings of the East who have sacked Sodom and carried off Lot. He is blessed by Melchizedek, priest and king of Salem (Jerusalem). Abraham migrates into Negeb, to Gerar, and Beersheba. His near sacrifice of Isaac takes place at Mt. Moriah, identified with the temple site in Jerusalem. Abraham's home is in Hebron, where Sarah dies; she is buried at Machpelah; Abraham is buried next to Sarah.
1630 House of Israel imigrates to Egypt as a result of famine. Joseph, son of Jacob, is the important patriarch. Israelites settle in the land of Goshen, the land of Raamses and remain there for about 400 years. The house increases ethnically through annexation of Asiatic Semites. Seti I and Ramesses II oppress the Israelites (1315-1224).
From Egypt to the Promised Land
(Genesis 25-50; Exodus 1-18; Numbers 33)
1230 Probable date of Exodus; probable route: Rameses, Succoth, Etham, Bitter Lakes, Desert of Etham, Marah, Elim, Dophkah, Rephidim, Mt. Sinai, Kibrath, Hazeroth, Rithmah, Rimmon-perez, Libnah, Rissah, Makheloth, Hashmonah, Kadesh-barnea, Horbaggidgad, Jotbathah, Abronah, Ezion-geber, Punon, Oboth, Iye-abarim. Israel wanders, finally reaching Nebo. Moses sees the "promised land," his mission is accomplished, and he dies.
From Joshua to Judges
1200 Transjordan is conquered by Moses and Joshua, who crosses the Jordan into Jericho; Joshua extends the Israelite conquest to the territory between Gaza and Kadesh-barnea, conquering central and nothern Palestine.
1190 The Transjordan has already been divided by Moses among Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe Manesseh; Joshua partitions CisJordan. Joshua dies at 120 years. Israel is divided into twelve tribes, and harassed by Philistines, Moabites, and Ammonites.
Twelve Judges
(Judges 1-21)
1130
1. Othniel-delivers from oppression of Edom; lands rests for 40 years.
2. Ehud--slays Eglon, king of Moab; land has peace for 80 years.
3. Shamgar-active at time of Sampson; saves from Philistines.
4. Barak-driven by prophetess Deborah to defeat Sisera, general of the Canaanites.
5. Gideon-delivers from the Midianites
6. Abimelech-son of Gideon, cruel, kills brothers and sisters, proclaims himself king at Shechem, perishes after three years; tyranically seeks to introduce monarchy.
7. Tola-rules 23 years.
8. Jair-rules 22 years.
9. Jepthah-conquers Ammonites and rules 6 years.
10. Ibzan-ruls 7 yars.
11. Elon-judges for 10 years.
12. Sampson--famous for his feats, defeats Philistines, rules 20 years.
13. Samuel--from tribe of Levi, leads his people to worship of true God, fights and defeats Philistines, annoints Saul as first king of Israel, then David.
Three Kings of Israel: Monarchy
(I Samuel 13-31; 2 Samuel 1-24; I Kings 1-11)
1020 Saul first king of Israel, wars against Moabites, Edomites, Ammonites, kings of Zobah, the Philistines; dies by own hand at Mt Gelboa after reigning 20 years.
1000 David king of Judah and Hebron; becomes king of all Israel, makes Jerusalem his capital; wars against Philistines, reconquers all of the territory of Canaan, subjugates Ammonites, Edomites, and Moabites, reigns 40 years.
970 Solomon provides for safety of throne; builds temple-palace united to city of David; life signals a progressive moral decline; at his death, kingdom splits; Israel has capital at Shechem, and Judah has capital at Jerusalem.
587-538 Babylonian captivity
538-515 Return from captivity; reconstruction of temple
445 Nehemiah reconstructs walls of Jerusalem.
458-398 Ezra reestablishes observance of Mosaic law.
332 Alexander the Great conquers Palestine.
305-285 Ptolemies (Egypt) rule Palestine.
199 Seleucid Kingdom (Syra) occupies Palestine.
168 Antiochus IV Epiphanies establishes hellenizing policy: tries to abolish Judaic religion for ecumenical one worship, one religion with temple dedicated to Olympian Zeus.
Judas Maccabeus revolts; from family of Mattathias; revolt is righteously against foreign domination and favors rigorism with respect to Jewish law.
167-165 Mattathias lead Jewish revolt against Antiochus IV.
165-160 Judas, third born, wages war after death of Mattathias.
160-142 Jonathan, fifth son of Mattathias, acknowledged as high priest and leader of the Jews. Stuggles against Bacchides and combats Appolonius. Attracted by peace proposals , Jonathan goes to Ptolemais to meet Trypho but is taken prisoner and killed.
142-134 Simon Maccabeus, brother of Jonathan and Judas, becomes leader of Jews, gains independence of Judea from Demetrius II. Combats Antiochus VII, defeats him by means of his son John. Simon is betrayed and slain during a banquet by Ptolemy, governor of Jericho.
(The struggle of Judea has been largely against Greek hellenizing influences; the Mattathias family is aroused by pagan sacrifices in their own temple. The family revolts in an effort to return emphasis to Jewish laws and customs. Emphasis is on the Torah and rigorism. Jews returning from exile look with some disdain at Jews who have remained behind and Jews who have intermarried with foreign cultures; recall Ezra's reform. The 400 silent years between the Old Testament and the New Testament is the time when the canon is established: the Maccabeus books are an important history written, but generally, emphasis is on establishing and interpreting the canon, with emerging books being excluded. This is a time of Jewish expansion; although only about fifty thousand Jews return from exile, thay have now grown to about 120, 000. The Persian rulers had been very tolerant towards the Jewish religion; under Greek pressure to adopt their culture, Jews reacted by revolt, withdrawal, and simply intermingling. The various sects begin to shape themselves.
Until the Maccabean revolt, Jewish groups were united in their support of the traditional religion; after the revolt, diagreements about correct interpretations of the Torah and who was to interpret it began to emerge. Previous leadership had been provided by the priests, descened from Zadok, from the line of Aaron; now, the priestly family had become Hasmonean. Ezra had been a Zadokite priest and a "scribe."
During the Persian period, two forms of religious leadership co-existed:
Sadducees--priests and aristocrats, supported former leadership; they favored hellenism, opposed usurpation of priesthood by non-Zadokites; believed in free will, but not angels and not afterlife. They were literalists in their interpretations and did not permit the Oral Torah; calendar was luni-solar.
Pharisees--came from the common people, were called "Disciples of the Wise," opposed expansion of priestly authority, especially any usurpation of the House of David; were selective in their acceptance of hellenism; believed in free will, angels and the Resurrection; created sophisticated, scholarly interpretations and accorded Oral Torah equality with written; applied priestly laws (tithes and purity rules) to non-priests; used luni-solar calendar.
Essenes--knows as "teachers of righteousness," and opposed hellenism; they were personally opposed to Jonathan, known as the "wicked priest"; did not believe in free will, questionable beliefs about angels and afterlife; believed in "inspired exegesis" of scripture and held to a solar calendar.
Scribes--teachers of Torah.
135-104 John Hyrcanus I, Son of Simon Maccabeus
104-103 Aristobulus I Judah, first born of John. Annexes Judah to
Iturea.
103-76 Alexander Jannaeus, son of John Hyrcanus, succeeds brother
Aristobulus, uses title of king, dies in battle.
76-67 Alexander Salome, wife of Aristobulos II, ideal ruler.
67-73 Aristobulus II, son of Alexander, poisoned; undertakes civil war against Hyrcanus II, provokes intervention of Pompey (63) after the conquest of Syria for the Romans.
63-40 Hyrcannus II, son of Alexander Jannaeus, forced to resign in favor of his brother Aristobulus II; he is, though, named ethnarch of the Jews by the Romans.
40-36 Antigonus, son of Aristobulus II, last Hasmonean king, lives in continuous fighting with the pretender to the throne, Herod. Herod becomes king by will of Antony and Cleopatra, and brings about decapitation of Antigonus.
39 B.C.- 4 B. C. Herod the Great, proclaimed king of the Jews by Rome; captures Jerusalem after a 3 month siege, occupies Samaria, and has temple rebuilt; dies at Jericho and is buried at the fortress Herodium.
Year of Rome 747-748 Birth of Jesus Christ
Year of Rome 754 Beginning of the Christian Era
4 B.C.- 6 A.D.- Archelaus, son of Herod, succeeds his father as ethnarch of Judea, Idumea, and Samaria; deposed by Romans after tens years and sent into exile.
4 B.C. - 39 A.D.Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, becomes tetrarch of Galilee and Perea with his capital at Sepphoris, 4 miles from Nazareth; called a "fox" by Jesus, reproached repeatedly by John the Baptist for his adultry, sent into exile by Caligula, dies there.
4 B. C. -34 A. D. Philip, son of Herod the Great and Cleopatra of Jerusalem; after 37 years, dies childless.
6-41 Judea becomes part of Roman province of Syria but is ruled by Roman procurator.
41-44 Herod Agrippa I, nephew of Herod and Marianne, by favor of Claudius, becomes king of Judea and the lands that had belonged to Herod the Great.
44-46 All of Palestine becomes at the death of Agrippa I a Roman province, administered by a Procurator.
7-6 B.C.- Jesus Christ is born during the time of Herod the Great at the census of Querinius.
5-6 A.D.- At age of 12, Jesus is taken to the Temple in Jerusalem.
27- John the Baptizer; Jesus is baptized.
28 - Jesus goes to Jerusalem for the Passover.
29- John the Baptist is imprisoned. He donounced Herod Antipas' marriage to Herodias, his half-brother's wife.
Shortly before the Passover, Jesus multiplies loaves and promises Eucharist.
Jesus goes to Jerusalem for feasts of the Tabernacles and Dedication.
30 - Jesus triumphantly enters Jerusalem; a public demonstration proclaims Him as Messiah. At time of Passover, Jesus is betrayed; arraigned as pretender to the Jewish throne and instigator of revolt against Rome; condemned by Pontius Pilate to be crucified. Rises again on the third day.
Holy Spirit is poured out on the disciplies of Christ, and the first community of the church is born.
35 - Martydom of Stephen, one of the first Hellenist deacons.
37- Conversion of Saul on the Damascus road; retreats to Arabia and then Damascus.
45 - Paul's first missionary journy: Cyprus, Antioch, Lystra, Antioch.
49 - Council of Jerusalem; at Paul's insistence, converts from paganism are exempted from Mosaic law.
50-52 Paul's second missionary journey: Lystra, Phrygia, Galatia, Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens
53-38 Paul's third missionary journey: same cities as second journy, stays at Ephesus for three years.
61-63 Paul is imprisoned at Rome, set free; possibly visits Spain.
63 or 67 Martydom of Peter at Rome.
67 - Martydom of Paul at Rome
After the death of Herod Agrippa I in 44, Judea is ruled by Roman procurators. Their cruelties and excesses stimulate fervent nationalism and messianic expectation and revolt against Rome.
The war in Galilee
66-70 The Jewish War. Nero entrusts Vespasian with bringing Jews into subjection. Titus, from Alexendria, goes to meet his father at Ptolemais; in 67, the Roman army under Trajan and Titus occupies Sepphoris and other cities, and in 67, Galilee is conquered.
The War in Perea and Judea
June of 67 Roman legion goes to Mount Gerizim to put down Samaritan rebellion.
68 Vespasian conquers Perea.
69 Vespasian occupies cities around Jerusalem; elected Emperor of Rome (the turbulent year which sees three emperors succeed Nero--Galba, Otho and Vitellius. Entrusts his son Titus with ending the war in Judea and returns to Rome.
Conquest of Jerusalem
70 Titus surrounds Jerusalem; battle begins, and after 15 days of fierce fighting, on May 25 of 70, Romans batter Third wall to ground; Titus places his command at Gareb. Titus attacks the Fortress Antonia. On August 9 of 70, Temple goes up in flames; banners of Rome go up, and Titus is proclaimed "emperor."
The upper city is conquered in September of 70.
The Second Revolt
135 The Jewish revolt is put down with blood (132-135), and Emperor Hadrian rebuilds Jerusalem as a Roman colony. A statue of Jupiter is erected; Luke 21, 24 has predicted Jerusalem will be trampled on by Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles are fulfilled. The ancient name of Judea is changed to Palestine Syria.