Chronology of the Bible and the Book of Mormon
Many biblical events and persons are mentioned in the Book of Mormon. Biblical chronology is useful to Book of Mormon readers to provide a frame of reference for these events and persons. But creating an accurate biblical chronology has always been problematic. Virtually all chronological information in the Bible is given in terms of relative dates-without a fixed reference point. So while it is possible to reconstruct relative chronology, there is no fixed point from which to calculate the dates in order to locate them precisely in the BC/AD system.
In the last century much work has been done that has increased the precision of biblical chronology. For example, today it is possible to correlate the dates of biblical events and people with other contemporary sources from the ancient Near East. Many ancient Near Eastern records from Mesopotamia and from Egypt contain information about astronomical events, such as eclipses of the sun and the moon, that can be assigned with great precision to absolute dates. But though much progress has been made in the study of biblical chronology, several significant issues of chronology have not been completely resolved, such as the dates of the events of the universe's history in Genesis 1-11, the dates of the Patriarchs, and the exact dates of the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan.
The accompanying chronology reflects some of the most recent scholarship on these dates. However, all of these dates must be viewed with caution and be regarded as only approximate, particularly those of the universal history, those of the Patriarchs (Abraham through Joseph), and those dates connected to the Exodus.
For the chronology of the Jaredites, I have used John L. Sorenson's article, "The Years of the Jaredites" (BYU Today, September 1968, 18-24).
Events of the Universal History (Genesis 1-11)-Approximate dates
4004 BC Adam and Eve
2349 BC The Great Flood
2200 BC Tower of Babel
3100 BC (Sorenson) Tower of Babel, departure of Jaredites for Promised
Land
The Patriarchs (Genesis 12-50)
2000 BC Abraham
1900 BC Isaac
1800 BC Jacob
1750 BC Joseph
Exodus / Conquest of Canaan / Judges
1260 (?1440) BC Exodus
1220 (?1400) BC Crossing the Jordan
1220 - 1045 BC Judges
United Monarchy
1045 - 1014 BC Reign of Saul
1011 - 971 BC Reign of David
971 - 931 BC Reign of Solomon
931 BC Division of the Kingdom
Kingdom of Israel (931-722 BC) Kingdom of Judah (931-586 BC)
931-909 BC Jeroboam 931-913 BC Rehoboam
873-853 BC Ahab (Prophet Elijah)
841-813 BC Jehu (Prophet Elisha)
ca. 770 BC Isaiah born
ca. 760 BC Hosea
ca. 755 BC Amos 767-740 BC Uzziah
740 BC Isaiah receives his call
from the Lord
ca. 740-687 BC Micah
740-732 BC Pekah 740-735 BC Jotham
732-722 BC Hoshea 735-715 BC Ahaz
732-722 BC Israel conquered by
Assyria
715-687 BC Hezekiah
701 BC Assyrian siege of
Jerusalem
687-642 BC Manasseh
ca. 687 BC Isaiah is killed
642-640 BC Amon
640-609 BC Josiah
ca. 627-585 BC Jeremiah, Zephaniah,
Nahum
609 BC Jehoahaz
609-598 BC Jehoiakim
597 BC Jehoiachin (Prophet
Habakkuk)
597 BC Some exiled to Babylon
597-586 BC Zedekiah's Reign
597-586 BC Lehi's family departs
Jerusalem
586 BC Mulek departs Jerusalem
ca. 593-563 BC Ezekiel
586 BC Babylonian Captivity
580 BC the discovery of the
wounded
Coriantumr by the Mulekites
Exile and Return
539 BC Cyrus conquers Babylon
538 BC Some Jews return from Babylon
520-515 BC Temple rebuilt and dedicated (Prophets Haggai, Zechariah)
458 BC Ezra
445 BC Nehemiah
ca. 400 BC Malachi
Intertestamental Period
331 BC Alexander the Great conquers the Persian empire, including Judah
320 BC Judah under Ptolemaic rule
198 BC Judah shifts to Seleucid rule
175 BC Antiochus Epiphanes IV, Seleucid king, comes to throne and eventually outlaws Judaism
167-165 BC Maccabean Revolt against Seleucid rule resulted in cleansing and rededication of the temple
63 BC Pompey, Roman general, conquers Jerusalem
New Testament Period
March 21, 5 BC Birth of Jesus Christ
March 16, AD 29 Crucifixion of Jesus
AD 26-29 Christ's Ministry
March to May, AD 29 Jesus's Post-Resurrection Ministry
May AD 29 Day of Pentecost (Acts 2)
AD 29-46 Apostles' early missionary efforts to Jerualem, Judea, Samaria, Antioch, and elsewhere;
Stephen is stoned to death; conversion of Paul,Peter's decisive vision opening the gospel to Gentiles; early
ministries of Peter and Paul; Paul's first missionary
journey (Acts 3-14; Acts 13:1-14:26)
AD 31 Paul's conversion
AD 34 Paul's first trip to Jerusalem where he stayed 15 days.
Barnabas introduced him to Peter and James (Acts
9:26-30; Galatians 1:18-19). Being in danger, he
retired to Tarsus (Acts 9:29-30) and there remained
six or seven years, preaching in Syria ane Cilicia
AD 40 Herod Agrippa I: persecution of the Church; James killed;
Peter imprisoned and miraculously delivered (Acts 12)
AD 41 Barnabas took Paul to Antioch (Acts 11:26), and after one
year paid a visit to Jerusalem (Acts 11:29-30).
AD 44 Paul's first missionary journey with Barnabas and Mark (Acts
13:1 to 14:26)
AD 41-46 General epistle of James written by Jesus's half-brother.
AD 46 Jerusalem conference convened (Paul attended with other
apostles). Circumcision and Gentile conversions
discussed (Acts 15:1-33; Galatians 2:1-10). Paul then
returned to Antioch (Acts 15:35)
AD 48-50 Paul's second missionary journey (Acts 15:36 to 18:22),
lasted about 3 years. 1 and 2 Thessalonians written
by Paul from Corinth (Acts 15:40-18:22). This journey
ended with a visit to Jerusalem. After a short stay in
Antioch, Paul began his third journey.
AD 51-54 Paul's third missionary journey which lasted about 3 ½
years (Acts 18:23 to 21:15). 1 and 2 Corinthians
written by Paul from Ephesus and Macedonia;
Galatians written by Paul from Corinth. Romans
written by Paul from Corinth.
AD 54-56 On Paul's return to Jerusalem, he was arrested (Acts 21:17
to 23:35). Imprisoned for two years at Caesarea (Acts
24:1 to 26:32). Then sent to Rome for trial.
AD 57 Paul's sent for trial to Rome, suffering shipwreck on the way
(Acts 27:1 to 28:10). Remained in captivity in Rome
for 2 years (Acts 28:30). From captivity wrote
Colossians, Ephesians, Philemon, and Philippians.
He was then released from captivity
AD 59-64 Paul then appears to have visited Asia, Macedonia, Crete,
and perhaps Spain. Hebrews, 1 Timothy, and Titus
written during this period.
AD 64 Paul again taken prisoner to Rome. He wrote 2 Timothy
before his martyrdom, possibly from Rome. 1 and 2
Peter written by the apostle Peter before his
martyrdom, possibly from Rome
ca. AD 65 Paul martyred likely in the spring. Peter martyred.
AD 66-70 First Jewish revolt against Rome
AD 70 Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans;
apparent migration of Christians to Pella (according to
Eusebius), and transfer of Church headquarters, likely
to Ephesus
AD 70-100 Jude written; 1, 2, and 3 John and Revelation written by
John the Beloved (probably ca. AD 95), possibly from
Ephesus
AD 135 End of the Bar Kochba Revolt (second Jewish revolt)