SB 00 Bible Survey

Spring 2001

Erskine Theological Seminary

Randy Broberg 2004

Formation & Dating of the Hebrew Bible

The Old Testament is a

• Very

• Very

• Very

• Old Book

Civilizations Before The Bible

• Sumerians (3500-3300 B.C).

• 3100 BC: Nile River Valley (Egypt) Hieroglyphics 3000 BC: Tigris-Euphrates River Valley (Iraq, Turkey) – “Fertile Crescent”

• 3000 BC: Indus River Valley (India, Pakistan)

• 2600 BC: Supe River Valley (Peru)

• 2000 BC: Yellow River Valley (China)

Some of the Problems With

Ussher’s Chronology • 200 years from Babel to Abram?

• Noah’s sons contemporaries of Abram

• Pyramids?

• Ice ages

• Stone ages?

•Sumerian Tablets with writing from 3300 B.C.

Old Testament Overview

2000 1500 1000 500 1

Abraham Moses Joshua Isaac

Jacob

Saul David

Solomon Divided

Kingdom

Exile

Return

to Land

Christ

and the

Church

2100 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 2200

1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 1600

Abraham (2166-1991)

Isaac (2066-1886)

Jacob (2006-1859)

Joseph (1915-1805)

400 year Sojourn in Egypt

1850-1450

Sojourn (cont)

Exo

du

s -

14

46

40 y

ears

in

the d

ese

rt

Joshua & Elders

Conquest

1406-1385

Period of the Judges

Beginning of the

United Kingdom

1050

Saul reigned

1050-1010

Moses

Timeline from Abraham to Saul

22nd Century BC -- Abraham

• Date of Abraham’s Birth – 2166 BC

– Abraham was 75 years old when

traveling to Canaan – 2091 BC

– Abraham journeyed to Egypt

soon after arriving in Canaan

(Gen. 12:10)

•In 1975, the Ebla tablets were

discovered and in it were the

names of Sodom & Gomorrah

BRONZE AGE

21st Century BC -- Isaac • Abraham’s journey to

Egypt (ca. 2091-2085) (Gen. 12:10-20)

• Date of Isaac’s Birth – 2066 BC

– Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born (Gen. 21:5)

• Date of Jacob’s Birth – 2006 BC

– Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob was born (Gen. 25:26)

20th Century BC-- Jacob

• Jacob entered Egypt – 1876 BC (430 years before Exodus – Ex. 12:40)

– Joseph had already been in Egypt at least twenty years (Gen. 37:2; 41:46, 53)

– Jacob was 130 years old when he entered Egypt (Gen. 47:9, 28)

19th Century BC -- Joseph

Joseph taken to Egypt (ca. 1896)

Joseph promotion (ca. 1883)

Jacob entered Egypt (1876) (Gen. 37-47)

Death of Joseph (ca. 1803) (Gen. 50:22-26; Ex. 1:6)

18th-17th Centuries – Hebrews in Egypt 430 Years

• Book of Job written (?)

• Genesis 15:13 -- Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.

• Exodus 12:40 --Now the length of time the Israelites lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years.

“The children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them” (Ex. 1:7)

“Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph” (Ex. 1:8)

Babylonian Code of Hammurabi

c. 1792 B.C.

If a man has

destroyed the eye

of a member of

the upper class,

they shall destroy

his eye

Minoans on Crete

2000 - 1450 BC

• Knossos built by 1700 BC

• Indoor plumbing

• Linear A not deciphered

• Destroyed by fire &

tsunami about 1450 BC

destroyed it.

• Mykenos Volcano

Tuthmosis I (1524-1518)

Tuthmosis II (1518-1504)

Tuthmosis III (1504-1450)

Queen Hatshepsut (1498-1483)

Birth of Moses (1526)

Adopted by daughter of Pharaoh (Ex. 2:1-10)

’ lived 120 years (Deut. 34:7) “And Moses was learned in all the

wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds” (Acts 7:22)

Leaves Egypt [1486] (Ex. 2:11-15)

Dwells in Midian 40 years (Acts 7:30) Moses informed of previous pharaoh’s death (Ex. 2:23; 4:19); returns to Egypt to face new pharaoh

Ten plagues on Egypt

Crossing the Red Sea (Ex. 5-14)

Death of Moses (1406)

16th Century BC Moses

Egypt

Nile Delta

Great Sea (Mediterranean)

Red Sea

Sinai Peninsula

Canaan

Traditional

Route of

the Exodus

NASA Photo

© EBibleTeacher.com

Quail/Manna

Mt. Sinai

12 Spies

Jericho

Mt. Sinai Exodus Major Events Map

INDEX

Moses as Author • Exodus 17:14

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven."

• Deuteronomy 31:24 It came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete,

15th Century BC –

Moses/Joshua

• Key date – 966 BC (1 Kings 6:1)

– Fourth year of Solomon’s reign and 480 years after the Exodus

• Date of Exodus – 1446 BC

– Moses was 80 years old at time of Exodus (Ex. 7:7; Acts 7:23, 30)

• 1491. Moses called at the burning bush. Exodus from Egypt. Law given from Mount Sinai.

• 1470. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers probably written by now.

• 1451. Deuteronomy written. Death of Moses.

• 1426. Joshua written. Death of Joshua.

Amarna Tablets

1400-1370 BC

• Discovered in 1887

• Origin ~Collection of letters of international correspondence (380 tablets)

• Reveals political/military situation during that period

• Include letters requesting for Egyptian assistance against the “Habiru” (=Hebrew?) invaders

Twelve Tribes of Israel

Ephraim

M a n a s s e h

G a d

Dan Benjamin

Jerusalem

Jo

rdan

R

iver

Jericho Mt.Nebo

NASA PHOTO

© EBibleTeacher.com

12 Tribes

of Israel

Judges 11:26 --Israel has

been living in Heshbon and

its nearby towns, in Aroer

and its nearby towns, and in

all the cities along the Arnon

for three hundred years! Why

did you not reclaim them

during that time?

14th-12th

Centuries

Judges

IRON AGE BEGINS

Mycenean Period

1400 ~ 1200 BC • Agamemnon

• Linear B script

• Conquered Minoans around 1400,

capital was Mycenae

• Trojan Wars (Iliad, Odyssey)

Lion’s Gate at Mycenae

Merneptah Stela

1210 BC

• Discovered in 1896

• Origin ~Poetic praises of king Merneptah of Egypt

• Mentions “Israel” by name

• Classifies Israel in same category as Hittites, implying by 1200 BC Israel was already an established power in the region equal to the Hittites

900 800 700 600 500 400 1000

300 200 100 0 100AD 200AD 400

David reigned

1010-970

Solomon reigned

970-930

Divided Kingdom

begins in 930

Amos

Isaiah

Micah

Hosea

Israel=North

Judah=South

722 Northern Kingdom

destroyed by Assyria

Jeremiah

Daniel

Ezekiel

Malachi

Ezra

Nehemiah

Babylonian

Exile

605-536

Habakkuk

Joel Zephaniah

Haggai

Zechariah

Obadiah Nahum

Jonah

Jesus

Entire New Testament

written between 40-100AD

Intertestamental Period

Timeline from Saul To Jesus

Israel

Jerusalem

Jo

rdan

R

iver

NASA PHOTO

© EBibleTeacher.com

Solomon’s

Israel

Shechem

Solomon’s Israel

• 1020 BC: Saul becomes

king of Israel

• 1000 BC: David becomes

king of Israel

• 1015. Death of David.

Solomon becomes king.

Psalms, Judges and Ruth

written by now.

• 1004. Solomon dedicates

the Temple. Proverbs,

Ecclesiastes, Song of

Songs written.

• 1000 BC ? Homer’s Iliad

11th Century

BC

10th Century BC • 966-950 BC Solomon, builds Temple in Jerusalem

• 1 Kings 6:1 In the four hundred and eightieth year after

the Israelites left Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s

reign over Israel, during the month Ziv (the second

month), he began building the Lord’s temple.

• Ark with books of law placed in temple with books from

Joshua through David and Solomon added

• 922. Jeroboam wrests 10 tribes of the North from

Rehoboam

• 920. First and Second Samuel written about now.

• 910. Elijah preaches against king Ahab in the North.

1 Kings 6:10

• There was nothing in the ark except the

two tablets which Moses put there at

Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant

with the sons of Israel, when they came

out of Egypt

Israel Ammon

Moab Judah

Jerusalem

Jo

rdan

R

iver

NASA PHOTO

© EBibleTeacher.com

Divided

Kingdom

Edom

Syria

Samaria

D i v i ded Kingdom of I srael

INDEX

• 855. Obadiah begins to

preach.

• 800. Joel begins to

preach (?)

9th

Century

BC

Esarhaddon 2 Ki 19:37

Assyria

Son of

Sennacherib Hezekiah

Isaiah

Nineveh

Capitol City Jonah

Zephaniah

Nahum

Amos Destroyed

Israel in 722BC

Micah

Jeremiah

Prophecy saved

Jeremiah’s life

Jer 26:18

Babylonian Exile

Daniel

Ezekiel

Hosea

1) Amos

2) Daniel

3) Ezekiel

4) Habakkuk

5) Haggai

6) Hosea

7) Isaiah

8) Jeremiah

9) Jonah

10) Micah

11) Nahum

12) Zephaniah

Return from Babylon

Haggai Habakkuk

The Age of the Prophets

8th Century BC • 785. Jonah begins to preach.

• 775 First Olympic Games

• 760. Amos begins to preach.

• 752. Rome Founded

• 750. Hosea begins to preach.

• 740. Isaiah begins to preach.

• 730. Micah begins to preach about now.

• 730 Greek Alphabet

• 726. Hezekiah becomes king of Judah, purges the land of idols.

• 722. Fall of the Northern kingdom to Assyrians. The 10 tribes taken into captivity.

7th Century BC • 681. Death of Isaiah.

• 630. Zephaniah begins to preach about now.

• 627. Jeremiah begins to preach.

• 621. Josiah purifies the Temple. Book of the Law discovered there.

• 615. Nahum begins to preach about now.

• 606. Habakkuk begins to preach about now.

• 605. Daniel begins to preach.

• 600. In 1979, words from Numbers 6:24-26 found in a silver amulet dating to time of Jeremiah

2 Kings 23:24

• Moreover, Josiah removed the mediums

and the spiritists and the teraphim and the

idols and all the abominations that were

seen in the land of Judah and in

Jerusalem, that he might confirm the

words of the law which were written in

the book that Hilkiah the priest found in

the house of the LORD.

6th Century BC • 593. Ezekiel begins to preach.

• 586. Southern half conquered by Babylonian Empire – Hebrews exiled to Babylon, Temple destroyed by Babylonian army of Nebuchadnezzar.

• 580. Thousands of Jews exiled. Lamentations written. Death of Jeremiah.

• 550. First and Second Kings written about now.

• 538. Capture of Babylon by Persian army of Cyrus.

• 536. First return of Jewish exiles to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel.

• 530. Death of Daniel.

• 520. Zechariah and Haggai begin to preach.

• 515. Temple rebuilt by now.

Nehemiah 8:1

• And all the people gathered as one man at

the square which was in front of the Water

Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to

bring the book of the law of Moses

which the LORD had given to Israel.

5th Century BC

• 480. Events of Book of Esther.

• 460. Esther written.

• 458. Return of Jewish exiles to Jerusalem with Ezra.

• 440. First and Second Chronicles and Ezra written. Malachi begins to preach.

• 432. Return of more Jewish exiles with Nehemiah. Samaritans establish rival temple. Nehemiah written.

• 424. Death of Persian king Artaxerxes I and succession of Darius II.

• 400. Death of Nehemiah.

• 50 years after the temple was rebuilt, Ezra collected “sacred writings” and added the major and minor prophets forming Canon

5th Century

Greek Persian Wars • 490 BC 2nd expedition

defeated by Athens at

Marathon

• 480 BC 3rd Persian

expedition destroys

Spartan Army at

Thermopylae, but Persian

navy is destroyed by

Athens at Salamis.

Athens Razed

Leonidas I of Sparta

5th Century

Classical Greece • Pericles

• Socrates

• Plato

• Aristotle

• Pythagoras

• Euripides

• Sophocles

• Aescylus

• Thucydides

• Herodotus

4th – 1st Centuries BC Hellenistic or Inter-testamental Period

327 Alexander the Great

260 BC: the Old Testament is translated from Hebrew

into Greek by scholars of Alexandria (the

"Septuagint")

100 BC: the Dead Sea Scrolls are composed

Rome • Legendary founding 753

B.C.

Controlled all Italy 268 B.C.

Punic Wars with Carthage: 264-241, 218-201, 149-146 B.C.

Hannibal, 218 B.C.

Caesar Assassinated 44 BC

Octavian vs Marc Antony & Cleopatra

Octavian