Time Line

Time Line, the Book of Daniel_

Year BC 609 BC	Exile Year	King of Babylon Nabopolassar	King of Judah Jehoahaz (reigned 3 months, at age 23)	Textual Reference	Event Jewish reckoning for years begins with the month of Nisan (Apr-Mar), this means some years shown here (reflecting Jan-Dec patterns) may differ slightly from other published times. After Josiah is killed in the battle with Neco against Assyria, Jehoahaz (though he is the younger brother of Jehoiachin) becomes king. He reigns for only three months. This is known as the Battle of Armageddon.	Scripture 2Chronicles 36:1-2
608			Eliakim [name changed to Jehoiakim] (reigned 11 years, age 25-36)	First year of the reign of Jehoiakim by Jewish reckoning. Babylonians would have referred to this as Jehoiakim's accession year.	Pharoah Neco removes Jehoahaz because of his anti-Egyptian views and takes him captive to Egypt. He appoints Eliakim his older brother as king, renaming him Jehoiakim.	2Chronicles 36:3-5 2Kings 23:34
607				First year of Jehoiakim by Babylonian reckoning
606					Second battle of Carchemish between Egypt and Babylon begins Sir Robert Anderson believes Nebuchadnezzar's first invasion of Jerusalem took place in 606 rather than 605, based on the reign of Jehoiakim being counted from 1 Nisan 608. This would make his third year run from 1 Nisan (April) 606 to the same time period in 605
605	1	Nebuchadnezzar		Fourth year of Jehoiakim by Jewish reckoning. The Babylonian approach would call this his third year. This was Nebuchadnezzar's accession year.	Nebuchadnezzar defeats Pharoah Neco and the Assyrians at Carchemish. Begins a short seige of Jerusalem. He defeats Jerusalem, takes prizes from the temple and nobles from Judah as hostages to keep the country in line. Daniel is included in this group of exiles. About this time, Nebuchadnezzar hears that his father has died. Daniel and his three friends begin their three-year training program.	2Kings 24:1 Jeremiah 25:1 Jeremiah 46:2 Daniel 1:1-2
604	2		Jehoiakim is reinstated and this is the first year of his new reign (year 5 of his 11 years).		Jehoiakim is fettered but then reinstated as king, becomes a Babylonian vassal king. Nebuchadnezzar returns to Babylon to deal with the aftermath of his father's death.
603	3			Second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonian reckoning)	Nebuchadnezzar has the dream about the statue of many metals which Daniel helps to interpret for him. This takes place sometime between April 603 and March 602. Daniel and his friends' official training program probably ends this year	Daniel 2:1
602	4
601	5
600	6				Jehoiakim rebels against Nebuchadnezzar in hopes of forming an alliance with Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar returns and lays siege to Jerusalem
599	7
598	8			11th year of Jehoiakim's entire reign (7th year after reinstatement)	Jehoiakim dies after 11 years as king.
597	9		Jehoiachin (reigned 3 months, at age 18 -- some manuscripts show his age as eight)	8th year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar (Jewish reckoning)	Jehoiakim's son Jehoiachin becomes king. He rules for just 3 months 10 days. He surrenders and is taken to Babylon.	2Kings 24:12 2Chronicles 36:8-10
597	9		Zedekiah [originally named Mattaniah] (reigned 11 years, age 21-32)		Nebuchadnezzar installs Jehoiachin's uncle Zedekiah as a vassal king, making him swear an oath of loyalty. 11,000 people are taken to Babylon as captives, including Ezekiel.	2Kings 24:17-18 2Chronicles 36:11
596	10
595	11
594	12			4th year of the reign of Zedekiah	Jeremiah sends a letter to the Jews in Babylon with a number of officials when king Zedekiah is summoned there by Nebuchadnezzar. It is possible that the king of Babylon was unsure of Zedekiah's support for him.	Jeremiah 51:59-60
593	13			5th year of Jehoiachin's exile	Ezekiel sees a prophecy while in the city of Babylon.	Ezekiel 1:1-3
592	14
591	15
590	16
589	17			9th year of Zedekiah's reign	Zedekiah rebels against his oath of loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar, who then comes up against Jerusalem and besieges the city for two and a half years.	2Kings 25:1-2
588	18			10th year of Zedekiah, 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar (by Jewish reckoning)	Zedekiah puts Jeremiah in prison to shut him up, but he is eventually rescued. The Babylonians briefly abandon their siege to deal with Hophra at the border of Judah.	Jeremiah 32:1-3 Jeremiah 34:21-22 Jeremiah 37:5
587	19			Zedekiah's 11th year, and the end of his reign; the 19th year of Nebuchadnezzar (by Jewish reckoning) 70-year exile of the city of Jerusalem begins (different from the exile of the nation, this also ends precisely on time)	Zedekiah tries to escape Jerusalem but is captured. At Riblah, Nebuchadnezzar kills all his sons before his eyes then gouges out his eyes and takes him to Babylon in bronze chains. Jerusalem is destroyed on Tisha B'Av (the 9th day of the month of Av). 4,600 Jews are taken captive.	2Kings 25:8-9 Jeremiah 1:3 Jeremiah 39:1-2
586	20		No king remains in Judah, as the nation is now part of the Babylonian empire. Gedaliah is installed as Governor.		God says that he will hand Egyptian pharoah Hophra over to his enemies.	Jeremiah 44:30
585 584	21 22
583	23			Some scholars believe this was the year Nebuchadnezzar had his vision of insanity.		Daniel 4:28-3
582	24

To be continued as I go. Lane

Note: Daniel uses the Babylonian form of dating, which begins with the start of the year after the ascension or appointment of a king. The year in which a king was appointed was called "the year he became king" and the next year was called "the first year of his reign." The Jews used a different method in which the year of accession was called the first year of his reign.

Note: There is much uncertainty about exact "secular" years because history at that time did not refer to years as we know them today. This chart does not take into account short reigns which may have begun in the winter of one year and ended at the start of the following year, though it does attempt to adjust for the short reignal periods. There are also many calculation issues related to exact dates of accessions as they relate to the Jewish calendar, and these have not been exhaustively explored here. Dates are shown here as a loose reference only.