Exile & Return

1 The 70 years (Jer 25:11; 29:10) run 605–536 (counted inclusively) or 586–515 (temple burned to temple rebuilt) — about 70 years either way. Jer 25:11–12 — the nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years, then Babylon is punished: 609 (Assyria's last stand at Haran) to 539 = 70; 605 to 539 = 66. Jer 29:10 — after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you: 605 to 536 counted inclusively = 70 (605 − 536 + 1). 2 Chr 36:21 links the 70 years to the land's sabbaths, ending with Cyrus. Dan 9:2 — Daniel reads Jeremiah in the first year of Darius (539/538), 67 years after 605. Zech 1:12 (Feb 519) these threescore and ten years and Zech 7:5 (Dec 518) count from the destruction: 586 → 519 = 67, 586 → 518 = 68; from the burning (Aug 586) to the finished temple (12 March 515) is 70 years 7 months. Some take 70 as a round number for a lifetime. (Jer 25:11–12; 29:10; 2 Chr 36:21; Dan 9:2; Zech 1:12; 7:5)

2 Esther's story (483–473 BC) falls between Ezra 6 (temple finished, 515) and Ezra 7 (Ezra's return, 458), not beside the temple's completion as some charts show. (Ezra 6:15; 7:7; Esth 1:3; 3:7)

3 Ahasuerus is Xerxes I (486–465): the Hebrew name matches his Persian name (Shea 1976). Josephus (Ant. 11.6) called Esther's king Artaxerxes. Shea's table of the name: Old Persian Khshayarsha, Aramaic hshy'rsh (Elephantine papyri), Akkadian (a)hshi'arshu, Hebrew 'Ahashwerosh (Esth 1:1; Ezra 4:6). The book's dates then fit Xerxes' reign: his 3rd year (Esth 1:3) = 483/482, the year of the planning for the Greek war; his 7th (2:16) = 479/478, after his return from Greece; his 12th (3:7) = 474/473. Josephus, Antiquities 11.6.1, names the king "Cyrus, whom the Greeks called Artaxerxes" and puts Ezra and Nehemiah under Xerxes — a different order from the Bible's. (Esth 1:1, 3; 2:16; 3:7; Ezra 4:6)

4 Jerusalem fell in summer 586 if Zedekiah's years run from autumn after an accession year (Thiele, Horn); Albright (spring years) and Young (no accession year) have 587. The Bible dates the breach to the 9th day of the 4th month of Zedekiah's 11th year (2 Kgs 25:2–4; Jer 39:2; 52:5–7) and Nebuzaradan's coming, followed by the burning, to the 5th month of Nebuchadnezzar's 19th year (the 7th day in 2 Kgs 25:8–9, the 10th in Jer 52:12–13); no Babylonian record of the event survives. Counting Zedekiah's years from 1 Tishri (autumn) and from an accession year, his 11th year is autumn 587 – autumn 586, and Nebuchadnezzar's 19th year (Babylonian count from Nisan 586, or Judean count from Tishri 587) contains the 4th and 5th months only in 586: breach 18 July, Nebuzaradan's coming (the 7th of Ab) 14 August 586 (Horn 1967, using Parker and Dubberstein's tables). Horn's figures for a spring-to-spring count of Zedekiah's years are 29 July and 25 August 587. Young (2004) argues for 587 from autumn years too, but with Zedekiah's and Nebuchadnezzar's years counted without an accession year, the siege beginning in January 589 and Ezekiel's years counted from autumn 598. Jer 52:29 (832 taken in Nebuchadnezzar's 18th year) is read either as the fall (the usual 587 view) or as a deportation during the siege (the usual 586 view). This chart follows System A (586). (2 Kgs 25:1–9; Jer 39:1–2; 52:4–13, 29; Ezek 24:1–2; 33:21)

5 Nisan of Artaxerxes' 20th year = spring 445. Chisleu in the twentieth year (Neh 1:1) came first, so Nehemiah counted from autumn; some get 444 (Hoehner). Persian years ran from 1 Nisan: Artaxerxes' 20th year = 13 April 445 – 3 April 444 (Parker & Dubberstein), so Neh 2:1 = Nisan (13 April – 11 May) 445, and the wall was finished on 25 Elul = 2 October 445 (Neh 6:15). But Neh 1:1 puts Chisleu in the same 20th year BEFORE that Nisan — possible only in a year that began in autumn (Horn 1967). Xerxes was murdered about 4–8 August 465 (a later Babylonian tablet, Neuffer 1968): if Artaxerxes' first autumn year began Tishri 465, his 20th ran Tishri 446 – Tishri 445 → Chisleu (Dec 446/Jan 445), Nisan 445. If it began only in Tishri 464 (Elephantine papyrus AP 6 still calls January 464 his "accession year"), the 20th year is Tishri 445 – 444 → Chisleu (Dec 445/Jan 444), Nisan 444, the date used by Hoehner (1977) for Daniel's seventy weeks. Others think "twentieth" in 1:1 is a slip. This chart: 445. (Neh 1:1; 2:1; 6:15)

6 Ezra 4:6–23 jumps ahead to letters under Ahasuerus (Xerxes) and Artaxerxes about the city walls; 4:24 returns to the temple under Darius. The chapter is arranged by subject — opposition to the Jews — not in time order (Ahasuerus = Xerxes, 486–465; Artaxerxes I, 465–424). (Ezra 4:5–7, 23–24)

7 Artaxerxes I's 7th year (Ezra 7:7–9) = spring 458 by Persian (Nisan) years; 457 if counted from autumn 464. Many critics put Ezra under Artaxerxes II (398). 1st of the 1st month = 8 April 458; 1st of the 5th month = 4 August 458 (Parker & Dubberstein). The 457 date (Horn and Wood, followed by some charts) counts Artaxerxes' years from Tishri 464. The 398 view (Van Hoonacker, Batten), which Wright (1958) found "accepted almost without question in recent books", reads Ezra 7's Artaxerxes as Artaxerxes II so that Ezra comes after Nehemiah; Wright argues that the Bible's order (Ezra 458, Nehemiah 445, both under Artaxerxes I) stands. The Elephantine papyri (407 BC) name Sanballat's sons and Johanan the high priest, which fits Nehemiah under Artaxerxes I (Cowley 1923). (Ezra 7:7–9; 8:31; Neh 8:9; 12:26)

8 Darius the Median (Dan 5:31) is not named outside the Bible. He may be Cyrus himself (Wiseman), his governor Gubaru (Whitcomb), or no real king (Rowley). The Nabonidus Chronicle says Ugbaru, governor of Gutium, entered Babylon with Cyrus' army on the 16th of Tashritu, that Cyrus entered on 3 Arahsamnu (29 October 539), that "Gubaru, his governor" appointed officers, and that Ugbaru died on the 11th of Arahsamnu. Wiseman (1965) surveys the identifications: Whitcomb (following Albright) takes Darius as Gubaru, the governor of Babylon; Rowley rejected that and held Darius to be fictitious, a confusion with Darius I; Wiseman proposes that Darius the Median is another name for Cyrus, translating Dan 6:28 "in the reign of Darius, even (namely, or i.e.) the reign of Cyrus the Persian". Rowley had also rejected Cambyses, Astyages and Cyaxares. Josephus (Ant. 10.11.4) makes Darius a son of Astyages who "had another name among the Greeks". (Dan 5:31; 6:1, 28; 9:1; 11:1)

9 Jer 52:28–30: 3,023 taken in 597, 832 in Nebuchadnezzar's 18th year, 745 in 582. 2 Kgs 24:14–16 has 10,000 in 597; Dan 1:1 adds 605. Nebuchadnezzar's 7th and 23rd years here follow the Babylonian count (the Chronicle's 7th year = 597). The total in Jer 52:30 is 4,600. (Jer 52:28–30; 2 Kgs 24:14–16; Dan 1:1–3)

10 Belshazzar was Nabonidus' son, left to rule Babylon (Nabonidus Chronicle; Verse Account). His first year (Dan 7:1) is probably c. 553. The Verse Account says that "when the third year was about to begin" Nabonidus "entrusted the kingship" to his eldest son and went to Tema; Nabonidus' 3rd year began 7 April 553. The Nabonidus Chronicle has the king at Tema and "the prince" in Akkad in years 7, 9, 10 and 11. Belshazzar's years are not counted in any Babylonian document, so Dan 7:1 and 8:1 can only be dated roughly (c. 553 and c. 551). Daniel 5 calls Nebuchadnezzar his father, which can mean a predecessor. (Dan 5:2, 30; 7:1; 8:1)

11 An Elephantine letter of Darius II's 17th year (407) names the sons of Sanballat, governor of Samaria, and Johanan the high priest — so Nehemiah's king is Artaxerxes I. Cowley (1923, papyrus 30) concludes that the 32nd year of Neh 13:6 is 433 BC under Artaxerxes I. Cowley dates the letter 408; Darius II's 17th year by Parker & Dubberstein ran from spring 407. (Neh 12:22; 13:6, 28)

12 Jehoiakim slept with his fathers (2 Kgs 24:6), in December 598; 2 Chr 36:6 says Nebuchadnezzar bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon. Horn (1967) works back from 2 Adar 597 by Jehoiachin's three months and ten days (2 Chr 36:9) to 22 Marcheshvan, about 10 December 598. How Jehoiakim died is not told (Jer 22:18–19; 36:30). (2 Kgs 24:6; 2 Chr 36:6, 9; Jer 22:18–19; 36:30)

13 2 Kgs 24:8 says Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign; 2 Chr 36:9 says eight years old (and adds ten days to the three months). (2 Kgs 24:8; 2 Chr 36:9)

14 Gedaliah was killed in the seventh month (2 Kgs 25:25), year not given — 586 for most, 582 for some (Jer 52:30). Jeremiah was then taken to Egypt. (2 Kgs 25:25–26; Jer 41:1–2; 43:6–7; 52:30)

15 Cyrus' first year began in spring 538. Ezra 3 dates the altar and the foundation by month only, so they fall in 538 or 537 and in 537 or 536. (Ezra 1:1; 3:1, 8)

16 Ezekiel counts years from king Jehoiachin's captivity (597). His call fell in July 593 — 1 July in the 1942 tables, 31 July as Zimmerli cites them. Year 5, month 4, day 5 (Ezek 1:2): Parker & Dubberstein's 1942 table gives 1 July 593; Zimmerli's commentary (citing Parker–Dubberstein) gives 31 July 593 — a one-month difference that comes from where an extra month was inserted. His last dated word (29:17), 1st of the 1st month of the 27th year, = 26 April 571 in both. Ezek 40:1 (the five and twentieth year of our captivity, the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten) = 573. (Ezek 1:1–2; 29:17; 33:21; 40:1)

17 Lamentations names no author and gives no date; it mourns the fallen city (Lam 1:1–3). (Lam 1:1–3)

18 Julian days are read from Parker & Dubberstein's Babylonian tables; a few may be a day out, and Jerusalem's month could begin a day before Babylon's. Parker & Dubberstein (1942, pp. 23–24) say about 70 % of their dates are exact and the rest may be one day out; the crescent was visible at Jerusalem 37 minutes earlier than at Babylon. Their 1956 edition changed a few month starts by a day (e.g. 9 Tammuz 586 = 18 July in Horn's 1956 figures, 19 July in the 1942 table). A computer check of every month start used (new moon by Meeus' method) found none that is impossible.

19 Nehemiah went back to Artaxerxes in his 32nd year (433/432) and returned after certain days (Neh 13:6); how long he was away is not told. (Neh 13:6–7)

20 Malachi is undated. Its governor (1:8), working temple and mixed marriages (2:11) fit 460–430: before Ezra (Stade) or between Nehemiah's visits (Robinson). Robinson (ISBE 1915) dates the book between 445 and 432, since the abuses it attacks (mixed marriages, unpaid tithes, careless priests) are those Nehemiah found on his second visit (Neh 13); he notes that Stade, Cornill and Kautzsch argued for a date before Ezra. (Mal 1:8, 10; 2:11; 3:8–10; Neh 13:10–29)

21 Dan 1:1 says the third year of Jehoiakim, Jer 46:2 the fourth year for the events of 605 — two ways of counting a reign (Wiseman 1965). Wiseman: Daniel may count with an accession year (the Babylonian way) and Jeremiah without one; Horn instead keeps Tishri years and reads Jer 46:2 as dating the prophecy. The Babylonian Chronicle does not mention a siege of Jerusalem in 605, but Berossus (in Josephus, Against Apion 1.19) says Nebuchadnezzar took captives "from the Jews" when he hurried home on his father's death. (Dan 1:1; Jer 46:2; 25:1)

22 The Chronicle dates the capture to Nebuchadnezzar's 7th year; 2 Kgs 24:12 says his eighth year — Judah counted his years from autumn 605 (Horn). Horn (1967): Judah counted Nebuchadnezzar's first year from 1 Tishri 605 (7 October), so its 8th year began in autumn 598; the Babylonian 7th year ran 27 March 598 – 12 April 597. Others explain the 8th year by the deportation itself taking place after Nisan 597 (2 Chr 36:10 when the year was expired). (2 Kgs 24:12; 2 Chr 36:10)

23 2 Kgs 25:8 gives the 7th day of the 5th month, Jer 52:12 the 10th day (14 and 17 Aug 586 in Horn's figures). (2 Kgs 25:8; Jer 52:12)

24 Three returns are recorded: with Zerubbabel and Jeshua (538/537, Ezra 1–2), with Ezra (458, Ezra 7–8) and with Nehemiah (445, Neh 2). (Ezra 2:1–2; 7:7; Neh 2:9–11)

25 Ezra gives no date for Tatnai's inquiry; it began after work resumed in Darius' 2nd year (Ezra 4:24; 5:1–3) and ended before his 6th (Ezra 6:15). (Ezra 4:24; 5:1–3; 6:15)

26 3 Adar of Darius' 6th year = 12 March 515 (Parker & Dubberstein). His 6th year began in spring 516, but its 12th month fell in 515. (Ezra 6:15)

27 Nehemiah 12:27–43 gives no date for the dedication of the wall. (Neh 12:27)

28 The dream in Nebuchadnezzar's second year (Dan 2:1) came after three years' training (Dan 1:5) — counting 605 as his accession year, 604 his first. (Dan 1:5; 2:1)

29 27th (2 Kgs 25:27) or 25th (Jer 52:31) of the 12th month = 31 March–2 April 561, or 20–22 March 560, as the 37 years are counted. Counting the 37 years from Nebuchadnezzar's 7th year (598/597) gives Adar 561, in Evilmerodach's accession year (in the year that he began to reign); counting like Ezekiel from 597/596 gives Adar 560, in his first year (in the first year of his reign, Jer 52:31). Evilmerodach reigned October 562 – August 560 (Parker & Dubberstein). Babylonian ration tablets from Nebuchadnezzar's palace list Jehoiachin as a captive (published by Weidner, 1939; Horn 1967). (2 Kgs 25:27; Jer 52:31)

30 Ezekiel 1:1 the thirtieth year does not say thirtieth year of what; verse 2 dates the vision by Jehoiachin's captivity. (Ezek 1:1–2)

31 Daniel 3 and 4 give no year; they fall within Nebuchadnezzar's reign (605–562). (Dan 3:1; 4:1, 28–33)

32 Babylon fell on the 16th of the 7th month (Nabonidus Chronicle) — the day that began at sunset on 12 October 539 (Parker & Dubberstein 1942). The Babylonian day began at sunset, so the night of 12/13 October; the tables count it as 13 October. Herodotus (1.191) says the Babylonians were holding a festival when the city was taken. (Dan 5:30)

33 Dan 9:25 counts from the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem — taken as Cyrus' (538), Artaxerxes' to Ezra (458/457) or to Nehemiah (445/444). (Dan 9:24–27; Ezra 1:1–4; 7:11–26; Neh 2:1–8)

34 Cyrus' first year (Ezra 1:1) as king of Babylon began 1 Nisan = 24 March 538; he had taken Babylon in October 539. The Cyrus Cylinder records that he returned the gods of conquered cities to their shrines and "gathered all their inhabitants and returned to them their dwellings"; it does not name the Jews. (Ezra 1:1)

35 Between Esther 1 (3rd year, 483) and Esther 2:16 (7th year, winter 479/478) Xerxes was away invading Greece (Herodotus) — a gap the book does not mention. (Esth 1:3; 2:16)

36 Xerxes' 12th year had a second Adar; 13 Adar = 6 March 473, or 5 April if the second Adar was meant (Parker & Dubberstein). (Esth 3:13; 9:1)