Timeline of the Bible

Historical Timeline of the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament

** PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION **

Time definitions, abbreviations

AD = anno domini, for "Year of our Lord"
BC = "Before Christ
- secular variations that
Other dating systems
- AM = "Anno Mundi" for "year in the world" or "world year)
  - Hebrew dating system developed in the 12th Century AD
Secular dating systems:
- BCE = "Before Common Era"
- CE = "Common Era"
  - these both are equivalent to BC and AD, but avoid the supposedly "religious" reference to Christ
  - ironically, they both affirm Christ's importance by recognizing the year of his birth as the end/start date between the ancient and modern eras

OLD TESTAMENT

Genesis

Biblical Period	Theoretical Historical Period	Dating of Scriptural Writing	Notes
Creation	13 billion years ago		Theory: God's Creation is the Big Bang. Note that the Catholic Church does not adhere to any particular theory or timeline of Creation. See the CCC 282 for "Catechesis on Creation")
	11,000-4,000 BC		Various calculations have been made, especially by fundamentalist Protestant Christians, of the "Young Earth" creation date of from 4,000 to 12,000 years BC these are based on literal readings of time from the Old Testament but may use different calculations of lifespans and what, exactly, constitutes a day during Creation
	approx 5,500 BC		calculated by early Christians using the Septuagint Bible the Byzantine calendar marks the date of Creation at September 1, 5509 BC
	approx. 4000 BC		Counting the week of creation as six days, this creationist dating based on the literal reading of years and lifespans in the Old Testament by ; 17th century Irish Bishop James Ussher said that the universe was created on October 22, 4004 BC (others agreed it was created during the Autumnal equinox but disagreed on the year) the 8th century monk Saint Bede had calculated Creation at 3952 BC Isaac Newton estimated it at 4,000 BC
	3,761 BC		1 Ano Mundi (AM^[1]) is the Hebrew year of creation, and its dating is based upon a similarly literal counting of lifespans and time periods as reported in the Old Testament

God Creates Adam & Eve
The Flood		5th Century BC	literal readings of the Bible place the Flood at around 4,990 BC, which nearly corresponds with theories of the Black Sea Deluge dating to 5,600 BC (some put the date at 6800 BC), when the ice-melt fed freshwater Black Sea broke over the land barrier and into the Mediterranean Sea, creating the Bosporus Strait; the Black Sea had been expanding rapidly since the end of the Ice Age as ice melt fed rivers which fed into the Sea. another hypothesis holds that a tremendous flood between 15,000-12,000 BC, near the end of the Ice Age, caused the Black Sea and other the oldest existing Sumerian flood narrative dates from 1600 BC, and is likely a copy of far older texts, going back to 3,000 BC
Birth of Abraham

	1948

Historical Books

Sources

When Was Each Book of the Bible Written? | Bible Gateway News & Knowledge


Biblical Period	Theoretical Historical Period	Dating of Scriptural Writing	Notes

Joshua	1400-1370 BC	written late 600s BC
Judges	1045-1000 BC	written late 600s BC
Ruth	11011-931 BC		likely time period of King David
Books of Samuel	930-722 BC		written during reign of Josiah
Books of Kings	560-540 BC
Chronicles	450-425 BC
Ezra	440-430 BC
Nehemiah	430-400 BC
Esther	c. 400 BC

↑ A 2nd century AD rabbi came up with the year 3761 BC. A 12th century AD rabbi formalized the dating system of Anno Mundi (AM). Ancient Jews counted by reference, as was typically done in the ancient world ("regnal years"), by the year of a king (the tenth year of Kind David"), noting every 50 years for Jubilees, or "Sabbatical years" of seven years. To calculate the Julian (modern) calendar year using the Hebrew calendar, add 3,760 to the current year before the Jewish new year in September (Rosh Hashanah takes place, depending on the year, somewhere between September 11 and October 4) or 3,761 after the Jewish new year (up to the Jewish new year).

[1] A 2nd century AD rabbi came up with the year 3761 BC. A 12th century AD rabbi formalized the dating system of Anno Mundi (AM). Ancient Jews counted by reference, as was typically done in the ancient world ("regnal years"), by the year of a king (the tenth year of Kind David"), noting every 50 years for Jubilees, or "Sabbatical years" of seven years. To calculate the Julian (modern) calendar year using the Hebrew calendar, add 3,760 to the current year before the Jewish new year in September (Rosh Hashanah takes place, depending on the year, somewhere between September 11 and October 4) or 3,761 after the Jewish new year (up to the Jewish new year).

[1]