Significant Chronology: 1 King 6:1

1 King 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.”

COMMENT:

For the purpose of obtaining an accurate chronology, the years, and figures from the book of Judges as well as the reign of Eli and Samuel are not used for the following reasons:

1)      The years the elders lived after the death of Joshua is not stated in the Scripture.

2)      The years that a particular judge reigned in the land of Israel and the oppression from enemies was not always mutually exclusive. For example, during the years of Samson, the children of Israel were oppressed by the Philistines.

3)      A judge’s reign can overlap with other judges and kings. For example: “And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. ”- 1 Sam 7:15. Since Samuel lived during the time of Eli as well as most of the reign of Saul, his period of reign overlaps with another judge (Eli) and a king (Saul). Another notable example is that Eli judged Israel in civil matters while Samson judged Israel in military matters during the overlapping period.

4)      Perhaps the most convincing reason of all is that 1 King 6:1 is written in such a plain way that no one can mistake its meaning. The Lord in His mercy gave us plainly the time spanning from the year of Exodus to the fourth year of King Solomon.

Therefore, let us not disregard 1 King 6:1 and add up all the overlapping periods of judges.