Simplified Bible Timeline

In our previous installment, we considered the approximate central date for the life-time of David, 1000 BC. Knowing that date, we can pinpoint the relative time for many incidents in the scripture, and the general lifetime of many Bible characters. In the Biblical accounts, the first king of Israel, Saul, is soon replaced by David, and then David's son Solomon. The period of their inclusive reigns is the only time that all of the tribes of Israel are united under one king. Almost immediately after Solomon's death, there is a struggle over who will reign in his place, and the kingdom becomes divided.

The tribes of Judah and Benjamin comprise what becomes known as the "House of Judah", and the rest of the tribes become known as the "House of Israel."

The land of Palestine is divided politically north from south. The "Southern Kingdom" of the House of Judah has as its capital Jerusalem. The "Northern Kingdom" of the House of Israel has as its capital Samaria.

A rivalry between the two kingdoms, sometimes violent, sometimes with an uneasy peace, continues for the next few hundred years. Thus all of the stories in the Bible that occur during the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon are included in the general time period between 1000 BC and our next time-line reference point, 500 BC. Such stories would include David's exploits, trials and foibles... David and Goliath, David and Bathsheba, David and the betrayal and death of his son Absalom. The description of the building and dedication of the magnificent temple in Jerusalem is included in this period, as well as the famous visit between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. And any stories about any of the kings of either Judah or Israel would also be in this time period after 1000 BC and before 500 BC.

The book of Psalms (written in large part by David), and the book of Proverbs (written in large part by Solomon) belong primarily to the early part of this period.

The books of 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, and 1&2 Chronicles cover this period. Biblical prophets active during this period include Isaiah, Elijah, and Jonah, among many others.

Around the latter part of the 700s BC, the northern kingdom of Israel was subjugated in war by the Assyrian empire, most of its population was taken captive and dispersed from the land of Israel, and it ceased to exist as a political entity from then on in history. Almost 100 years later, the southern kingdom of Judah was likewise subjugated in war by the Babylonian empire. Many of its citizens were taken captive to the land of Babylon, and it also ceased for a time to exist as a viable "nation". The Jerusalem temple was destroyed, much of the city itself left in ruins.

However, after several decades the Babylonians themselves were subjugated by another world empire, the Persians. And at that point some of the captives were allowed to return to the land of Israel and rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the temple. Although never again allowed full autonomy and political power in the way they had existed in the "Golden Age" of David and Solomon, they did once again have a national identity.

It is during that period of captivity in Babylon that the next individual on our time-line, the prophet Daniel, rises to prominence. Actually, Daniel himself was taken captive as a young man from Jerusalem to Babylon in about the year 600 BC (some historical sources pinpoint the year as 606 BC). Thus the events of his life lead up to the year 500BC on our time-line. As we noted in the beginning of these lessons, we do not intend the time-line dates to be exact, just general reference points which clarify the relative positions in time of the people and events of scripture. Thus the lifetime of David spanned both before and after 1000 BC, the lifetime of Daniel is just slightly before 500 BC.

Several very famous Bible stories are related to the life of Daniel. These would include Daniel and the lion's den; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace, and the incident of the "Handwriting on the wall". Thus all those events would be clustered near the current focal point on our timeline, 500 BC.

In our next lesson, we will summarize briefly those events we have previously covered in Old Testament times, before moving on the our final reference figure for our time-line... Jesus Christ.