Bible Prophecies
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The Years of the Kings

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The Years of the Kings Empty The Years of the Kings

Post  A Bible Student Sat Apr 25, 2015 2:31 am

Before we start looking at the years of the reigns of kings, please note, that when an event happens in the specific year of a king, that king has been reigning one year less than that number of years.  For example, if a king begins to reign in 3000 AM and an event happens in his first year, we don't add a year to come up with a date for the event of 3001, but it happened in 3000.  In more general terms, these events noted as happening in a specific year of a reign means you add one less year (3000 + 1 - 1 = 3000).

In 1 Kings, we are given a reference back to the Exodus during the reign of King Solomon.

1 Kings 6:1
And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.
By this, we would calculate the beginning Solomon's reign as 2513 AM + 480 years - 3 = 2990 AM.  However, the book Acts gives us a different view point.

Acts 13:17-21
The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it.  And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness.  And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot.  And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.  And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.
Since David reigned for 40 years (1 Kings 2:11), this reckoning puts the reign of Solomon starting in 3083 AM (2513 AM + 40 + 450 + 40 + 40), which is a difference of 93 years.

E.W. Bullinger noted that this is equal to the times when God 'disowned' Israel as being his people  (See Companion Bible Appendix 50.VII.(11))

VerseCaptorYears
Judges 3:8Mesopotamia8
Judges 3:14Moab18
Judges 4:3Canaan20
Judges 6:1Midian7
Judges 13:1Philistines40
93
So we see that there is no contradiction, only a difference in the point of view.  For the purpose of AM dating, we need to use the record in Acts as our rule.

Therefore, Saul began to reign as king in 3003 AM which was 490 years after the Exodus, (2513 AM + 490).

Kings reigning in Judah
Reign StartsYears ReignedReign EndedVerses
Saul3003403043Acts 13:17-21
David30434030831 Kings 2:11
Solomon30834031231 Kings 11:42, 2 Chronicles 9:30

A Bible Student

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