02/15/06

Book of Daniel Chronology Woes

The Difficulties of Chronology

Despite our atomic clocks and whiz–bang know–how, our calendar is still requires leap years and our best clocks occasional leap seconds to reticulate our measurement of time–motion to the elliptical meanderings of earth around our favorite star. Purposeful calibrations demonstrate our technical advancement; even still, physics under Einstein proposes that intense gravity and velocity affect the passage of time. While the science of astronomy tells us that earth’s axial rotation is carelessly slowing due to tidal friction, the upshot being that days are becoming slightly longer (i.e., more than 24 hours) or, if we prefer to hold a rotation to be 24 hours by definition, it will consume longer minutes, seconds, or sub–seconds. My point is merely that calendars, measurements of time and chronology are complex and have varied greatly across centuries and cultures. A year is a year is a year, but is your year my year?

The reckoning of the passage of time, which we take so much for granted, differed considerably in the Old Testament world. References to years were relative to important regional events rather than objectively calculated. (Where were you during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001?). Events inscribed in the records and on the ancient monuments were measured relative to the reign of a particular ruler, in a specific place, in accordance with local customs. Strictly partisan reporting was the rule and events unfavorable were often deemed not worthy of recording. Even the ancient Babylonians had media spin–doctors impressing their cuneiform wedges into state–subsidized clay records. As we examine the chronologies of ancient records our expectations and cultural baggage may differ considerably from that of the culture which produced the records in question. The Hebrews based their monthly calendar on an observed lunar cycle rather than our solar–based Julian Calendar. (This is why the date for Passover / Easter changes every year by our Julian calendar system.). They did make periodical corrections to synchronize with the solar year and prevent the drifting of seasons and seasonal holidays. But the exact details of such calibrations are simply not recorded.

Complexities arise when years are counted by the happenstance of kings and dragged through the muck of political procedures. Exactly when was George W. Bush elected President? Given a snapshot of any particular episode in the debacle might one be confused? Which count counted? Were chads chucked? Five hundred years from now will anybody know what a chad is? Will linguists argue? Even today my Merriam Webster dictionary reports that the etymology of the word ‘chad’ is unknown but that the term originated about 1947. Did the people elect President Bush or did the Electoral College decide amongst themselves? Even in a normal election process, might not rulers seem to have overlapped if based upon lacunate data? Was President Bush elected in November 1999? Wasn’t Bill Clinton still President in December 1999? There are strong indications that President Bush was President in the early 1990’s. Did George Bush have two terms? Surely you would not suggest that there were two different men named George Bush and that they both served as President? Surely the records have been confused. Was President Bush governor of Texas? Does the previous sentence mean that while he was President he was also governor concurrently? Or it is sufficiently clear that I meant the man who is now President was at some past time governor? Will the archeologists of the future have sufficient records to reconstruct these unlikely events? Language and custom and terminology can lead and mislead.

An ancient monarch might appoint his son or chosen successor as co–regent or sub–king to retain power and ensure a smooth transition. A land might even be without a ruler for some brief period. Custom may dictate the method of counting a king’s years. In the case of the Ancient Near East it seems that “The year of a king’s reign can be counted from the new year before his accession, from the accession itself, or from the next new year…” (Goldingay Daniel, p.14). The start of the new year itself was subject to custom and purpose commencing either at the first of Nisan (Spring) or the first of Tishri (Fall).

The Third Years of Jehoiakim

Dan 1:1 (ASV) “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.”
 

Jer 25:1 (ASV) “The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (the same was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon,)”
 

Jer 46:1–2 (ASV) “The word of Jehovah which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh-Neco king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.”

Variables

	Accession Year Reckoning or Non–Accession Reckoning
	A Tishri New Year or A Nisan New Year
	Use of the Title King

Jehoiakim 609–598 B.C.

Babylonian Year Counting:

1st Year begins in Nisan after the Year of Accession.

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