Solution to the Chronology of the Book of Judges!

The Chronology of Judges solved!

Maps of Judges, Timeline of Judges
Sermons and Outlines of Judges
Archeological evidences of Judges


Old Testament Chronology and Timelines
Chronology of the Flood outline	Chronology of Egypt outline	Chronology of the Exodus outline	Chronology of Judges outline	Chronology of Ruth outline	Chronology Eli-Solomon outline	Chronology of Kings outline
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Judges Sermon Outlines
Conquest	Othniel, Ehud, Ruth	Deborah	Gideon	Jephthah	Samson	Eli, Samuel, Saul, David
1400-1393	1350-1204	1204-1144	1191-1144	1118-1094	1118-1078	1128-1004
Josh 1-15	Judges 3, 17-21, Ruth	Judges 4-5	Judges 6-9	Judges 10-12	Judges 13-16	1 Samuel 1-31
Canaanites	Mesopotamia, Edom	Hazorites	Ishmaelites, Midianites	Ammonites	Philistines	Philistines, Ammonites, Amalekites

Outline	Outline	Outline	Outline	Outline	Outline	Outline

The Chronology of Judges solved!

Other related outlines:

1. Harmony of Othneil, Ehud, Judges 17-18, Judges 19-21 and Ruth

2. Book of Ruth: Ruth and Boaz lived in the time of Ehud: 1300 BC

3. Chronology of the book of Judges solved

Introduction:

The chronology of the book of Judges has been a problem because when you add up all the numbers and dates given in the book of Judges, the sum of years is about 100 years more than what it should be.
The key in using the period of the Judges to determine the exodus date of 1440 BC, is that it must be more than 300 years (Judges 11:26-28) and less than 410 years. Either way it clearly refutes an exodus of 1250 BC and that is all we are concerned about in this section on the Judges.
The first Judge arose only after Joshua died in 1350 BC. The last judge died the year David began to reign in 1004 BC: Judges 1:1. The formal period of the Judges is from 1350 - 1004 BC for a total of 346 years. 1 Samuel tell us that Eli and Samuel were the two last judges, even though he is not mentioned in the book of Judges.
Joshua lived 1460 - 1350 BC: Joshua is described as a young man, a youth and was about 20 years old when Israel left Egypt in 1440 BC: (Ex 33:11; Num 11:28). Joseph was called "a youth" at age 17: Genesis 37:2. Joshua was chosen by Moses to fight Amalek at (Exodus 17:9) Rephidim. It is truly remarkable that a 20 year old was given the responsibility of leading the armies of Moses. Since the exodus was 1440 BC and Joshua lived to be 110 years old. (Joshua 24:29) This means Joshua was born about 1460 BC and died 1350 BC. This means that Joshua began serving Moses at age 20, and served Moses for 40 years in the wilderness and then 50 years in Canaan after crossing the Jordan.
Samuel and Saul died the same year David became king in Hebron in 1004 BC. So the Judgeship of Samuel completely overlapped the reign of Saul. While we often view the period of the judges ending with the day Saul became king, the Bible says that Samuel Judged Israel all the days of his life. Saul died within a year after Samuel's death. So the last judge was Samuel and the first king was David. So it is important to remember that the period of the Kings began with the anointing of Saul and the period of the Judges ended with the death of Samuel.
When can use Jephthah's statement in Judges 11:26, that he lived 300 years (1100 BC) after Israel crossed the Jordan, as an anchor to adjust the chronology of the book of Judges into real time. We accept that when Jephthah said it had been 300 years since Israel crossed the Jordan, it was likely a rounded figure. However it is clear that the literal period of time when Jephthah said 300 years, must have been somewhere between 275 - 300 years. For the purposes of chronology, we really have not choice but to use 300 years as the time Jephthah made this statement and this is what we have done.
The chronology found in the book of Judges begins with Othneil and ends with Abdon who died about the same time as Eli. Samson lived at the same time as Jephthah so Abdon judged after him in chronological terms) This literal period of time that the book of Judges deals with therefore, is 281 years from the death of Joshua in 1350 BC to the death of Abdon in 1069 BC. (Eli died in 1088 BC).
We know that Shamgar judged at the same time as Deborah because both of their judgeships are described as "after Ehud".

A. The Chronology of Judges Master Table:

Oppressor: years	A	Area of Israel affected	Judge: years	Tribes involved in fighting	B	A+B	Date BC	Indivisible units
Aram-naharaim: (3:8) served 8	8	-	Othneil: (3:11) land had rest 40	-	40	48	1350 - 1302	Unit 1: 1350 - 1144 (206 years)
Moabites: (3:14) served 18	18	Central	Ehud: (3:30) land undisturbed 80 Ruth & Boaz lived at this time.	Benjamin	80	98	1302 - 1204
Philistines: (3:31)	-	Southern	After Ehud came Shamgar: (3:31)	-	-	-	1200
after Ehud died, served Canaanites: (4:3) 20	20	Northern, Mt. Tabor	Deborah: (5:31) land undisturbed 40	Zebulun, Naphtali	40	60	1204 - 1144
Midianites, Amalekites: (6:1) in hand of 7	7	Central to transjordan Starts in Jezreel Valley and moves transjordan	Gideon: (8:28) land undisturbed 40	Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali	40	47	1191-1144	Unit 2: 1191 - 1096 (95 years)
-	-	-	Abimelech: (9:22) After Gideon 3	-	3	3	1144 - 1141
-	-	-	Tola: (10:2) after Abimelech died 23	-	23	23	1141 - 1118
-	-	-	Jair: (10:3) after Tola 22	-	22	22	1118 - 1096
Ammonites: (10:8) crushed Israel 18	18	transjordan	Jephthah: (12:7) 6	Gileadites	6	24	1118 - 1094	Unit 3: 1118 - 1070 (48 years)
-	-	-	Ibzan: (12:8) after Jephthah judged 7	-	7	7	1094 - 1087
-	-	-	Elon: (12:9) after Ibzan judged 10	-	10	10	1087 - 1077
-	-	-	Abdon: (12:14) after Elon judged 7	-	7	7	1077 - 1070
Philistines: (13:1) into hands 40	40	South, Gaza	Samson: (16:31) judged 20	None	20	40 (not 60: see notes)	1118 - 1078	Unit 4: 1118 - 1078 (40 years)

B. Indivisible Units of Chronology:

"Indivisible Units of Chronology" are connected strings of dates of several Judges that must be taken as a unit. For example, when the Bible says that "after Jephthah then Ibzan became Judge, and after Ibzan then Elon became Judge, and after Elon then Abdon became judge", there is no way to suggest that these Judges ruled at the same time. We have identified 5 different "Indivisible Units of Chronology". Each unit is a fixed block of time. We cannot shorten the time for each block, but we can overlap one block with another. If we arrange each of the five blocks end to end like a train, the sum total of time is 489 years from Othneil to the death of Samuel in 1004 BC. However, if we overlap the 5 "Indivisible Units of Chronology" on top of each other, the sum total of time is 346 years. This harmonizes perfectly with Jephthah's statement that he lived 300 years after Israel crossed the Jordan in 1400 BC: Judges 11:26.
The period of time from the death of Joshua to the time of Jephthah in Judges 11:26 was 250 years. Yet the numbers in the book of judges add up to 301 years for this same period of time. This means that the chronology of Othneil to Jephthah (301 years), taken at face value, has about 50 years too many to harmonize with Judges 11:26. Our solution to this is simple. We have broken the chronology down into 5 "indivisible units of chronology" as follows: Unit 1: Othneil to Deborah: 206 years. Unit 2: Gideon to Jair: 95 years. Unit 3: Jephthah to Abdon: 48 years. Unit 4: Samson: 60 years. Unit 5: Eli to Samuel: 120 years. So the only way to reduce the total time from 409 years (excluding Eli - Samuel) to about 250 years is to overlap these "indivisible units of chronology". We can also reduce Samson from 60 to 40 years because his judgeship ended at the same time as the oppression ended.
Unit 1: Othneil to Deborah: 1350 - 1144 (206 years)
Unit 2: Gideon to Jair: 1191 - 1096 (95 years)
Unit 3: Jephthah to Abdon: 1118 - 1070 (48 years)
Unit 4: Samson: 1118 - 1078 (40 years)
Unit 5: Eli to Samuel: 1128 - 1008 (120 years).


NOTE 1:	The reason we call them "indivisible units of chronology" is because there is no way to suggest the time is shorter than in the sequence of dates given within that period. Let's now examine each of these units.

C. Indivisible Unit 1: Othneil, Ehud, Ruth to Deborah: 1350 - 1144 (206 years)

The unit consists of periods of oppression and peace that are mutually exclusive. In other words, you cannot overlap a times of war and times of peace. While it is possible that in this first Unit, the times of war and peace are in different regions of Israel, we consider this unlikely given the natural reading of the text. It is also unnecessary.
You have 8 years of oppression, followed by 40 years when the "land had rest", followed by 18 years of oppression, followed by 80 years when the "land had rest". There simply is no way to shorten this time by overlapping periods of oppression and peace within the unit.
But a secondary factor comes into play within unit 1. It says "after Ehud died came both Shamgar and Deborah". We know therefore, that both Shamgar and Deborah judged within the same period of chronological time side by side, and it is quite interesting that no dates are given for Shamgar. All we know is that Shamgar followed Ehud, as did Deborah who judged 40 years. So we can rightly ignore Shamgar in terms of the chronology since we know he judged during the same "post Ehud" period as Deborah, for whom we know the specific dates of her judgeship.
The book of Ruth coincides with Ehud's liberation of Eglon, king of Moab and the story of Benjamin's sodomy of Judges 19-21.
See harmony of Judges and Ruth

D. Indivisible Unit 2: Gideon to Jair: 1191 - 1096 (95 years)

Scripture gives a sequential narrative of one judge after the other in a train like string.
When you splice the different verses together you get this meaning: "First Gideon and the land was undisturbed 40 years (8:28). After Gideon came Abimelech who judged for 3 years (9:22). After Abimelech died Tola judged for 23 years (10:2). After Tola came Jair who judged for 22 years (10:3)".
It is obvious then that you cannot shorten the 95 years because each Judged after the prior one died.
Abimelech must be included in the chronology. Those who remove Abimelech from the chronology simply because he was not appointed by God are violating the context of the chronology given. It matters not if Abimelech was approved by God or not, the fact remains that he judged for three years after Gideon in Shechem (9:22). What difference does three years really make anyway?

E. Indivisible Unit 3: Jephthah to Abdon: 1118 - 1070 (48 years)

Like unit two, unit 3 has a sequential narrative of one judge after the other: "First Jephthah judged 6 years (12:7). After Jephthah then Ibzan judged 7 years (12:8). After Ibzan then Elon judged 10 years (12:9). After Elon then Abdon judged 7 years (12:14)".
Each of these judges ruled one after the other like a train with four cars in a row.
Like Unit 2, there is no way to reduce 48 years of Unit 3 because it is clear the judges did not rule at the same time.

F. Indivisible Unit 4: Samson: 1118 - 1078 (40 years)

Now it is important to notice that there were 40 years of oppression by the Philistines and Samson judged 20. However the oppression of the Philistines continued right through to the death of Samson. In other words, Samson did not succeed in defeating the Philistines until the day he died. So we do not add the 20 years of Samson on top of the 40 years of Philistine oppression, because both ended at the same time.
So a total of 40 years, not 60 are to counted because Samson judged during the last 20 years of the 40 year Philistine oppression.
Whether 40 or 60 years, it doesn't make any difference in the chronology of Judges because we can fit either in easily.

G. Indivisible Unit 5: Eli to Samuel: 1128 – 1008 (120 years).


NOTE 2:	We have now defined each of the 5 "Indivisible Units". Let's now examine how one unit can be overlapped with another in order to reduce the time from 489 years to 346 years.

H. Splicing Units 1 and 2 together:

We can prove that Deborah and Gideon judged at the same time. After each Judge the narrative tells us there were two periods of 40 years where the land had rest. Most view these as two different sets of 40 years which they add up to 80 chronological years. However, these two periods of 40 years of rest are in fact the same period and amount to a total of only 40 chronological years. Therefore we match the 40 years of rest of Gideon (8:28) with the 40 years of rest of Deborah (5:31) and it creates a close harmony with the 300 years of Jephthah in Judges 11:26.
By lining up the two 40 years of peace, we very nicely splice the end of "indivisible unit 1", with the beginning of "indivisible unit 2".
This shows us that Israel was being oppressed in the north by the Canaanites at the same time the Midianites were crossing the Jordan and raiding the crops of central Israel, then returning transjordan.
Deborah's battle was at Mt. Tabor and involved 10,000 men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun: "the God of Israel, has commanded, 'Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun." Judges 4:6.
Gideon's battle started in the valley of Jezreel, then moved transjordan far east of the Jordan and involved a specialized army of 300 from Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali: "the Midianites and Amalekites and the sons of the east ... camped in the valley of Jezreel. ... Gideon ... called together to follow him: Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet them." Judges 6:33-35.
The critical link between Deborah and Gideon is in the tribes who fought and the tribes who refused to fight. Deborah started judging 13 years before Gideon and chastised the region of Gilead, and the tribes of Dan and Asher because they would not join in the battle: "Gilead remained across the Jordan; And why did Dan stay in ships? Asher sat at the seashore, And remained by its landings." Judges 5:17. She praises Zebulun and Naphtali for joining the battle: ""Zebulun was a people who despised their lives even to death, And Naphtali also, on the high places of the field." Judges 5:18
When Gideon (from the tribe of Manasseh) started judging 13 years later, the same tribes fight and the same tribes refused! Gideon comes to two towns in Gilead (‍Succoth and Penuel) and asks the leaders for food to feed his army of 300 and they both refuse. (8:5-8) Gilead had previously refused Deborah's request for help at Mt. Tabor: "Gilead remained across the Jordan" Judges 5:17. So this was the second time Gilead had refused to fight for their brethren. After Gideon destroys Midian, he returns and destroys the town leaders of Gilead (‍Succoth and Penuel). A kind of "two strikes and you're out" policy with God. Later Gilead would redeem themselves under Jephthah, who himself was a Gileadite who saved themselves from the Ammonite oppression. Perhaps still not that noble, since they were merely defending their own home turf from the invasion of the king of Ammon. Good thing the Gileadites had no French genes in them, or else they would have just surrounded to the Ammonites and expected the other tribes to liberate an fight for them!
So we can prove that Deborah and Gideon Judged at the same time because they same two tribes (Zebulun and Naphtali) willingly supplied valiant warriors and the Gilead refused both of them to fight. This is an enormous key to unlocking the chronology of Judges!
Since Deborah and Gideon judged at the same time, then the 40 years of peace that followed both are identical and should be laid upon one another in chronological terms.

I. Splicing Units 3 and 4 together:

Samson and Jephthah were two judges that arose in different parts of the country at the same time. We can place Jephthah at 1100 BC (Judges 11:26) but we are unsure exactly where to place Samson.
Judges 10:6-8 is a transitional text in the book of Judges that acts as an introduction to the next two Judges: Jephthah who defeated the Ammonites, and Samson who defeated the Philistines: "The anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the sons of Ammon." Judges 10:7. This also proves that Jephthah and Samson judged at the same time because God sold them into the hands of two nations during a single period of his anger. Nothing could be clearer than this.
Remember that Samson did not stop the 40 year oppression of the Philistines until the day he died. This means we include his 20 year judgeship inside the 40 years of Philistine oppression. The oppression and judgeship ended at the same time. Samson judged for 20 years, but the Philistine oppression of 40 years ran concurrently with his judgeship, because the Philistines were not routed until Samson died! This means that adding 20 years of judgeship time to 40 years of oppression time for a total time span of 60 is wrong. In fact from Samson, we can see that there were 20 years of oppression before Samson started judging. Then Samson judged 20 years during the final 20 years of Philistine oppression. Most make the mistake of viewing a period of 40 years of oppression that ended when Samson started judging and that the land had peace for the next 20 years.
Also take note that Saul and David fought the Philistine Goliath in 1021 BC. So the battles with the Philistines was an ongoing matter.
Since we are told that Jephthah lived in 1100 BC, we will use "Indivisible unit 3": Jephthah - Abdon (48 years), from 1100 BC forward and basically ignore Samson. Samson should be placed directly on top of the Jephthah - Abdon chronology, although we cannot be sure exactly what dates are involved.
We need to also remember that when Jephthah said it had been 300 years, this was after the Ammonites had already crushed Israel for 18 years from 1118 - 1100 BC. (10:8). So we know that the "300 years" dates from the first year he was judge and the last year of the Ammonite oppression when he defeated them. This also means that Jair judged during the entire time of the Ammonite oppression and died in the fourth year that Jephthah was judge in 1096 BC.
It is clear that the oppression of the Ammonites was isolated to the transjordan region of Gilead alone. Samson's judgeship centered around the Philistines at the modern Gaza strip area in the far south west. So Jair was judge in the central and northern sections of Canaan. These three distinct geographic areas make it clear how Jair, Samson and Jephthah could be judges at the same time.

J. Splicing Unit 5 together: Eli and Samuel: 124 years.

Eli and Samuel are rather simple to synchronize.
Eli lived to be 98 years old and "judged Israel forty years." 1 Samuel 4:15-18.
Samuel was brought to Eli by Hanna after the boy was weaned at about age 5: "And his mother would make him a little robe and bring it to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice." 1 Samuel 2:19
The narrative seems to have Samuel living with Eli for about 5 before God spoke to him at night and revealed that Eli and his sons would soon die. So Samuel was called to be a prophet when he was 10.
The bible says that "Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life." 1 Samuel 7:15.
So Both Eli and Samuel judges even though they are never mentioned in the book of Judges. Samuel was the last Judge.
Samuel was also confirmed to be a prophet at age 10 and Eli died that same year.
Samuel was described as an old man (52 years old) when he anointed Saul as the first "king" around 1046 BC and reigned 42 years: 1 Samuel 13:1
Samuel anointed David as a "youth" (15 years old) about the time he killed Goliath. "Then Saul said to David, you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth." 1 Samuel 17:33. David killed Goliath in 1021 BC, which was the 27nd year of Saul's 42 year reign.
Samuel dies about 1008 BC and Saul died in 1004 BC. Samuel had died and Saul consulted the witch of Endor where Samuel told Saul he would die the following day: 1 Samuel 28:19.
The witch described Samuel as "an old man is coming up" 1 Samuel 28:14. So Samuel was an old man when he died.
Although the bible does not tell us how old Samuel was when he died, we grant Samuel 90 years, even though he could have lived to be 120 and it would really make no difference in calculating the overall Chronology of the Judges. This means he lived 1098 -1008 BC. Although the dates for Eli are dependent on the age that Samuel was when he died, it doesn't really change much. If Samuel lived to be 100 or 120 years, it just pushes back the year Eli died earlier. Nothing else is affected.
Since we granted Samuel 90 years, we need to subtract the 10 overlapping years between the time Samuel was born and when Eli died.
Therefore the Eli to Samuel unit is calculates this way: 40 years Eli judged + 90 years of Samuel when he died - 10 overlap years + 4 years between the time Samuel dies and Saul dies when David is king.= 124 years. So for chronological purposes, Unit 5 has 124 years from the time of Eli judging to Saul’s death.
Saul died the same year David started reigning as king in Hebron in 1004 BC. So the period of the Judges he judged really didn't end until Samuel died in 1008 BC.

K. The reigns of David and Solomon:

It is clear that the Exodus took place in 1440 BC. Those who believe the 1250 BC Exodus date must deny the inspiration of the scriptures.
There is almost universal agreement from scholars and archeologists that Solomon ruled from 964-924 BC
Five unknowns: We know Samuel died in 1004, but not his age then. The age David was anointed is unknown. Solomon was born when David was 40 - 41 years old. We know Solomon became king in 964 BC, but not his age when he became king. We know Solomon died in 924, but not his age then.
David was 30 years old when he became king and reigned a total of 40 years: 7.5 in Hebron and 33 in Jerusalem. (2 Samuel 5:4-5).
We can get a basic idea of when Solomon as born by examining what David did first arriving in Jerusalem included:
a) building his palace and Millo (2 Samuel 5:9-11), and immediate wars with philistines (end of year one)
b) war with Ammonites and adultery with Bathsheba (end of year 2)
c) the death of first child (10 months), birth of Solomon (9 months) (end of year 4)
Using this calculation method, Solomon was born in the 4th - 5th year of the reign of David's reign at Jerusalem and who was age 40-41 at the time. Since David died at age 70, that means that Solomon began reigning when he was 30-31 years old.
David described Solomon as "young and inexperienced" just before he became king: 1 Chronicles 22:5; 29:1. Solomon describes himself when he became king: "I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in." 1 Kings 3:7.
We will use 40 as the age of David when Solomon was born and 30 as the age of Solomon when he ascended the throne since God likes to use the round numbers of 30 and 40 so often in describing the events of the kings!
The Eli - Solomon Timeline:

L. The Exodus Timeline:

The Pharaoh of the Exodus was Tuthmosis III: 1479 - 1425 BC
Here is a detailed study of the Exodus Chronology Timeline.

Conclusion:

1. The chronology of the Judges fits almost perfectly from Othneil, the first Judge, down to Jephthah in 1100 BC.

2. The chronology of the Judges from Jephthah down to Solomon also fits almost perfectly within 6 years.

3. In proving the exodus of 1400 BC, we can use the Jephthah to Solomon Chronology in this way: According to Judges 11:26-28, Jephthah lived 300 years after Israel crossed the Jordan which is 1100 BC. Solomon's 4th year as king was 480 years after Israel left Egypt and 140 years after Jephthah. The period of the Judges ended when David became king in 1004 BC, since Samuel judged till he died in 1008 BC. If we take the raw chronological numbers from the book of Judges we get this: Jephthah 6 years + Ibzan 7 years + Elon 10 years + Abdon 7 years + Eli 40 years + Samuel 80 years (who died in 1008 BC) + 4 years till Saul died and David became king in Hebron + 40 years of David + 4 years of Solomon = 198 years. Unadjusted it is only 58 years too long. (Remember the Bible tells us plainly that Samson judged at the same time as Jephthah, so we don't count Samson or the oppression that preceded him.) But we also know that Eli judged from 1128 - 1088 BC which was before Jephthah! So we can actually ignore 28 of the 40 years Eli judged. (1100-1128 = 28. 40-28 = 12) Adjusted we can subtract 28 years from 58 years and arrive at a net difference of only 30 years. That’s amazing! Who said you can’t make sense of the Chronology in the book of Judges?

4. Now if we add Jephthah's 300 years back to the crossing of the Jordan and add 40 years in the wilderness and add the 134 years forward from Jephthah to the 4th year of Solomon, we get 474 years. 1 Kings 6:1 says the actual period was 480 years. Using the Judges Chronology, the difference is only 6 years! This is a stunning confirmation of the statement in 1 Kings 6:1 that the exodus happened 480 years before the 4th year of Solomon. It clearly refutes the 1250 BC exodus.

5. All this makes it utterly impossible for the Bible believer to teach the exodus took place in 1250 BC. Trust your Bible, not Bible trashing archeologists who teach a 1250 BC exodus.

6. The Exodus took place in 1440 BC.

7. Trust Bible. It is the inspired word of God!

By Steve Rudd: Contact the author for comments, input or corrections.

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