Daniel 9:23-27

[Richard Amiel McGough]

Gematria in the Phoenician language,Aramaic,Arabic,Latin,Hebrew,Greek and English, all contain the "quadrivium" in the value of the letters/symbols.

What is "quadrivium"?

[browncone]

What is "quadrivium"?

The ancient liberal arts of Geometry,Cosmology,Music and the all is Number.

[browncone]

So what? Those are just trivial mathematical facts. Adding all permutations of a number of the form abc = 222 x (a + b + c). Your first two examples give the same number because 1 + 5 + 3 = 9 = 4 + 3 + 2.

1998 = 222 x 9 = 222 x (1 + 5 + 3) = 222 x (4 + 3 + 2)

Why would anyone think there was any "meaning" to these elementary arithmetic calculations?

[browncone]

So what? Those are just trivial mathematical facts. Adding all permutations of a number of the form abc = 222 x (a + b + c). Your first two examples give the same number because 1 + 5 + 3 = 9 = 4 + 3 + 2.

1998 = 222 x 9 = 222 x (1 + 5 + 3) = 222 x (4 + 3 + 2)

Why would anyone think there was any "meaning" to these elementary arithmetic calculations?

[Richard Amiel McGough]

The ancient liberal arts of Geometry,Cosmology,Music and the all is Number.

Ah yes, I should have remembered that. Thanks.

[browncone]

Numerology is based on the twin cognitive errors that are the root of most delusions, namely selection bias and confirmation bias. How do you know if you interpretations are correct if you can just make up whatever you want?

In other words, how would you know if your interpretation were wrong?

And what about Muslims who believe that their numerology proves absolutely that Allah encoded the Quran using the number 19?

The coefficient of 0.014x can be used to calculate this beautiful multi layered musical miracle of number. 1998-1984=14=(number of phalanges human hand and each foot)Three phalanges are present on each finger and toe, with the exception of the thumb and large toe, which possess only two. on the hand
2017-1984=33=number of years Jesus lived on earth,then died and was resurrected since.(I was USABF Champ in 1984!)

[Unregistered]

I don't know what happened to the full presentation, but here it is ...

Chronology of the Old Testament from Adam to Jesus Christ

Preliminary Considerations of Daniel?s 70 Weeks of Years

There is good reason to doubt the Ptolemaic list of Persian kings. Some have tried to get around this by saying that Cyrus' decree spoken of Daniel 9:24-27 only deals with the rebuilding of the Temple, not the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Those who hold to this view place a secondary decree of Artaxerxes as the fulfillment of this, because it speaks of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. However, as difficult as this might be to harmonize these dates, I am inclined to believe that the decree refers to Cyrus' decree.

Now, if you were to take 536 BC as the date of this decree, then 536 - 490 = 46 BC. This may be close enough to 29-32 AD, the probable year of Jesus' crucifixion, to be an actual fulfillment without being exact to the year. But I am convinced that it is meant to be an exact prophecy


But, let's begin with the Standard Approach to Daniel's 69 weeks

Based on the book "The Coming Prince", Sir Robert Anderson, Head of Scotland Yard, 1894, and gleaned from Chuck Missler's teaching on the book of Daniel:

Possible 4 decrees of Ezra-Nehemiah:

1. Cyrus, 537 BC (Ezra 1:2-4)

2. Darius (Ezra 6:1-5,8,12)

3. Artaxerxes, 458 BC (Ezra 7:11-26)

4. Artaxerxes, 445 BC (Neh 2:5-8,17,18) only one that says explicitly the city of Jerusalem


Daniel 9:25

"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times."

By our calendar, the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus was given Mar 14, 445 BC.

He noted that the Bible always deals in 360 day years in prophecy (Gen 7:24; 8:3,4; Dan 9:27; 12:6; Rev 11:2,3; 13:5).

And Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem occurred just before Passover, Zechariah 9:9,

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout , O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."

quoted in Luke 19:37-38,

"And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest."

Christ's ministry began in fall 28 AD.

- Tiberias appointed: 14 AD
- Augustus died August 19, 14 AD
- Jesus began His public ministry within the 15th year of Tiberias (Luke 3:1)
- 4th Passover: April 6, 32 AD (Sir Robert Anderson, 1894)

(other chronologies presume a Friday crucifixion, but Passover this year was not on a Friday, but Wednesday)

And the LXX was translated into Greek more than 2 centuries before Christ, as per Dead Sea Scrolls.

Date Range	Days
69 * 7 * 360	173,880
445 BC - 32 AD	173,740
Mar 14 - Apr 6	24
Leap Years	116
Total	173,880

If this is true, Gabriel's margin of error was 0 days.


But what is ignored here? Conveniently left out of the equation is the prophecy of Cyrus in Isaiah 44:28; 45:1-4,11-13,

?28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my
pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the
temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
THUS saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I
have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins
of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall
not be shut;
2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will
break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:
3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of
secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee
by thy name, am the God of Israel.
4 For Jacob my servant?s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even
called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not
known me.
11 Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask
me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work
of my hands command ye me.
12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands,
have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.
13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his
ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for
price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts.?

Once again, I will glean a few gems from Chuck Missler's video series on Daniel (even if I disagree with him in his Zionistic Dispensationalism, I will always give credit where credit is due):

"Time, Times, and 1/2 Time:"

"Times" = dual, later lost in Aramaic
1 + 2 + 1/2 = 3 1/2 (Dan 7:25; 12:7; Rev 12:4)

3 1/2 years (Dan 9:27; 12:7)

42 months (Rev 11:2; 13:5)

1260 days (Rev 11:3; Dan 12:6)

1/2 "week" (Dan 9:27)

Missler using Larkin's work on 490:

Abraham to the Exodus:

Promise Gen 12:4 = 75 years, Gal 3:17 = 430
75+430=505

Ishmael Gen 16:16; 21:5 = 15

505 - 15 = 490 years

Exodus to the Temple:

Begun 1 Kings 6-8 = 594 (1 Kings 6:1 says this was 480 years)
Completed ` Kings 6:38 =7
594+7=601

Servitudes in Judges
Mesopotamia 3:8 = 8
Moabites 3:12-14 = 18
Canaanites 4:2,3 = 20
Midianites 6:1 = 7
Ammonites 10:7,8 = 18
Philistines 13:1 = 40
8+18+20+7+18+40=111
601-111=490 (very questionable 490 year period)

(notice how Missler leaves out the 3 years usurpation of Abimilech Judges 9:1,2 which is part of 594. 111+3+480=594 ... later Anstey will present a better start date for the chronology)

The Temple to the Edict of Artaxerxes:

1 Kings 8:1-66 = 1005 BC (more likely 967 BC to 980 BC ... another questionable 490?)
Nehemiah 2:1 = 445 BC
1005-445=560

Babylonian Captivity = 70
560-70=490

Artaxerxes to the 2nd Coming of Christ:

Artaxerxes to the 1st Advent of Christ
"The 69 weeks" 69*7 = 483 (add 3 1/2 years of Jesus ministry ... another cooked 490?)

[Church Interval] = ?

The "70th week" = 7 (3 1/2 years, 1260 days, or 42 months in Revelation ... 1/2 week?)
483+7=490

(I can't see how Missler can subtract the Church Age from Israel like this, as it is the New Covenant, including both Jews and Gentiles. This is one of the main reasons I reject much of Missler's eschatology.)


It appears there is quite a bit of cooking the years here, but it is rather fascinating just the same, and you can't dismiss it all. You will also notice that Missler interprets Daniel's 70th week much differently than I would. He suggests that these repeated periods of 70 * 70, or 490, is how God is offering forgiveness to Israel, over the course of history.

Martin Anstey, in his book, The Romance of Bible Chronology, builds an overall chronology of the OT, from Adam to Jesus, which I believe is very accurate to the Scriptures, but it needs to be developed in stages. I am first interested in demonstrating the chronology and kings of the Persian era of Ezra-Nehemiah-Esther, and the Prophets, Haggai-Zechariah.


Main assertion to prove: Artaxerxes is the same person as Darius.

To begin with, Ezra and Nehemiah were one book in the Jewish Bible, where Ezra focuses on the rebuilding of the Temple, while Nehemiah focuses on the rebuilding of the wall.

In Nehemiah 10 we are given a list of the priests and Levites who signed the covenant renewal document prepared by Nehemiah (Neh 9:38). The names on this list are identical with those who returned to Jerusalem at the time of Cyrus? decree. If the long chronology were correct, there would be a 91 year gap between these two events, whereas, in the short chronology, there are only 34 years between the two events.

List of Priests in 1st year of Cyrus (Nehemiah 12:1-21)
vs
List of Priests in 20th year of Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 10:1-12)

Number	Priests in 1st year of Cyrus (Nehemiah 12:1-21)	Priests in 20th year of Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 10:1-12)
1.	Seraiah	Seraiah
2.	Jeremiah	Jeremiah
3.	Ezra	(Azariah)
4.	Amariah	Amariah
5.	Malluch	Malluch
6.	Hattush	Hattush
7.	Shechaniah (Shebaniah)	Shebaniah
8.	Rehum (Harim)
9.	Meremoth	Meremoth
10.	Iddo
11.	Ginnetho	Ginnethon
12.	Abijah	Abijah
13.	Miamin	Mijmin
14.	Maadiah	(Maaziah)
15.	Bilgah	Bilgai
16.	Shemiah	Shemiah
17.	Joiarib
18.	Jedaiah
19.	Sallu (Sallai)
20.	Amok
21.	Hilkiah
22.	Jedaiah	Jedaiah

List of Levites in 1st year of Cyrus (Nehemiah 12:1-21)
vs
List of Levites in 20th year of Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 10:1-12)

Number	Levites in 1st year of Cyrus (Nehemiah 12:1-21)	Levites in 20th year of Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 10:1-12)
1.	Jeshua	Jeshua
2.	Binnui	Binnui
3.	Kadmiel	Kadmiel
4.	Sherebiah	Shebaniah
5.	Judah	Hodijah cp. Ezra 2:40; 3:9)
6.	Mattaniah
7.	Bakbuldah
8.	Unni

It is quite natural that 20 out of 30 men would be alive 34 years later, but not so, 91 years later. Modern commentators get around this by saying the names in Nehemiah 10 are family names, not personal names, that is, they are the names of the priestly courses. Firstly, a number of the names in Nehemiah 10:1-27 are found in Nehemiah 3. Secondly, if the names in the two lists are meant to be priestly courses, then the two lists should be identical, which they are not.

Martin Anstey presents the following list of High Priests in his book, The Romance of Bible Chronology, volume 1, p 255:

The succession of the high priests was as follows (1 Chron. 6:3-15, Ezra 3:2, 7:1-5, Neh. 12:10-11) :
List of High Priests from Aaron to Jaddua:
1. Aaron.
2. Eleazer.
3. Phinehas.
4. Abishua.
5. Bukki.
6. Uzzi.
7. Zerahiah.
8. Meraioth.
9. Amariah I.
10. Ahitub I.
11. Zadok I.
12. Ahimaaz.
13. Azariah I.
14. Johanan.
15. Azariah II, contemporary with Solomon (1 Chron. 6:10) B.C. 1023-983.
16. Amariah II.
17. Ahitub II.
18. Zadok II.
19. Shallum.
20. Hilkiah, contemporary with Josiah (2 Chron. 34:9) B.C. 639-608.
21. Azariah III.
22. Seraiah. Slain by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 25:18-22) B.C. 586.
23. Jehozadak, went into captivity (1 Chron. 6:15) B.C. 586.
24. Joshua, returned with Zerubbabel (Ezra 3:2) B.C. 536.
25. Joiakim, contemp. with Nehemiah and Ezra (Neh. 12:26) B.C. 515-490.
26. Eliashib, allied to Tobiah (Neh. 13:4, 6:18) younger contemporary
of Nehemiah (Neh. 3:1, 13:4-5) B.C. 502-488.
27. Joiada.
28. Jonathan (Johanan).
29. Jaddua, contemporary with Darius, the last Persian King, who was
slain by Alexander the Great B.C. 330.

Note: Anstey uses Ptolemaic B.C. dates here, but he makes a case for 82 less years to account for Ptolemy's error in stating the chronology of the Persian kings. Jordan and many other conservative Christians also believe that modern chronologists have misrepresented all dates that precede the Persian kings by 82 years.

Anstey, p.247,

Two lists are given here. The first is identical with the list of the priests who returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel (Neh 12:1-7) except that we have here only 21 names instead of 22, the name of Hattush, No. 6, being omitted. The second list is the list of their eldest sons who succeeded them, either on their death, or on their becoming too aged to discharge the duties of their office in the days of Joiakim, i.e. immediately before, or else during the days of Ezra and Nehemiah (Neh. 12:26), which of course carries us on to the 20th, or possibly to the 32nd year of Artaxerxes, B.C. 502-490. This list contains only 20 names, the eldest son of Miniamin, No. 13, being omitted.

Anstey?s Priests who Returned with Zerubbabel and Jeshua
Neh 12:1-7; 12:12-21
vs
Eldest Sons: Priests in the Days of Joiakim the Son of Jeshua
Neh 12:12-21

Priests who Returned with Zerubbabel and Jeshua Neh 12:1-7; 12:12-21	Eldest Sons: Priests in the Days of Joiakim the Son of Jeshua Neh 12:12-21
1. Seriah	Meraiah
2. Jeremiah	Hananiah
3. Ezra	Meshullam
4. Amariah	Jehohanun
5. Melicu	Jonathan
6. Hattush (omitted Neh 12:12-27)
7. Shebaniah	Joseph
8. Harim	Adna
9. Meraioth	Helkai
11. Ginnethon	Meshullam
12. Abijah	Zichri
13.Miniamin
14. Moadiah	Piltai
15. Bilgai	Shammua
16. Shemaiah	Jehonathan
17. Joiarib	Mattenai
18. Jedaiah	Uzzi
19. Sallai	Kallai
20. Amok	Eber
21. Hilkiah	Hashabiah
22. Jedaiah	Nethaneel

James Jordan, a partial preterist, presents the following in his Biblical Chronology articles:

Old Jeshua died immediately after the Temple was dedicated, which means that his son Joiakim took over at the time Ezra arrived, a year later. Joiakim?s son was Eliashib (Neh 12:10) , who had two sons, Joiada (Neh 12:10) , who served first as high priest, and Johanan (Neh 12:23; Ezra 10:6) , who served with and after him.

Short chronology possible time-line:

Darius yr 6 ? Jeshua age 80, dies; Joiakim 60; Eliashib 40; Joiada 20; Johanan 18

Darius yr 7 ? Johanan 19, has room in Temple (Ezra 10:6)

Darius yr 14 ? Johanan 26, has title of high priest, according to Elephantine letters

Darius yr 17 ? Johanan 29, has title of high priest, according to Elephantine letters

Darius yr 20 ? Nehemiah arrives; Joiakim 74; Eliashib 54; Joiada 34; Johanan 32; Joiada?s unnamed son (Jonathan?) 14

Darius yr 33 ? Nehemiah?s 2nd visit (Neh 13:28); Eliashib 67; Joiada 47; Johanan 45; Joiada?s son (Jonathan?), married 27; Jaddua 2.


This would take Jaddua (who would have been in his 70's) right down to Alexander the Great, in 330 BC, which would now be an accurate historical date.

Because the present scholarly opinion is that Ezra and Nehemiah lived in the of Artaxerxes Longimanus, it is assumed that the Darius of the Elephantine papyri must be Darius II, who followed Longimanus. In terms of the short chronology, however, these letters should be understood as having been written in the time of Darius the Great.

Ezra was still alive when Nehemiah arrived in the 20th year of Darius? reign, and was alive at the dedication of the wall, however, it is erroneously believed by many that it was constructed in 52 days (Neh 6:15). But Nehemiah 5:14 says that he was in Jerusalem for 12 years. Before he left to rebuild the wall, Nehemiah told the King of Persia that he would return (Neh 2:6). And in Neh 6:1, it says, ?no breach remained in it [the wall] although at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates?. Then in 6:15, ?So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.?, suggesting that it took 12 years to complete the walls, followed by 52 days to install the gates. Then Nehemiah returned to Persia, having completed his task.

Jordan continues:

(Although adjusted revisionist dates will be presented later after the underlying argument is secured, for now, traditional BC dates continue to be used)


Cyrus was succeeded by his son Cambyses in 529 BC, Cambyses put his brother Smerdis to death in order to secure the throne. But, upon Cambyses? death, a pseudo-Smerdis claimed the throne (thought to be a Magian priest named Gomates or Gaumata).

Darius reigned 36 years (521 ? 486 BC) , and was followed by Xerxes, who reigned 21 years (485-465 BC), followed by Artaxerxes Longimanus ?the Long Handed?, who reigned for 40 years (464 ? 423 BC) . Secular sources say his successors were, Darius II, Artaxerxes II, Artaxerxes III, Arogus, and Darius II.

Darius = The Doer of Good
Xerxes = Hero Among Kings
Artaxerxes = King of Justice
Ahaseurus = King of Rulers

It is interesting to note that the inscription of Xerxes at Persepolis reads: ?I am Xerxes ? [who] made this portal ? says Darius the King?. This proves that these Persian kings were called by different names.


Remember, quoting Anderson, Missler says:

Possible 4 decrees of Ezra-Nehemiah:

1. Cyrus, 537 BC (Ezra 1:2-4)

2. Darius (Ezra 6:1-5,8,12)

3. Artaxerxes, 458 BC (Ezra 7:11-26)

4. Artaxerxes, 445 BC (Neh 2:5-8,17,18) only one that says explicitly the city of Jerusalem

But Ezra 6:14,

?And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded , and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.?

cannot be referring to a future Artaxerxes, based on the context here in the life of Darius. The problem with this verse is that the only decree of Artaxerxes mentioned in Ezra to this point is in 4:7-23, which was a decree to stop building the Temple! Further, if the Artaxerxes of Ezra 6:14 is Longimanus, the rest of Ezra says nothing of any decree of his to build the Temple. True, Nehemiah was joined to Ezra in one book, and it could be said this is referring to the rebuilding of the wall, but then, why is it mentioned in 6:14 here?

The connective, ? and ?, in 6:14 could also be translated ? even ?, or ? to wit ?. For example, Isaiah 17:8 says, ?Nor will he look to that which his fingers have made, to wit : the Asherim and incense stands.? Or, Nehemiah 8:13, ?And on the second day were gathered together the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe , even [or, to wit] to understand the words of the law.?

The Bible often uses names meaningfully, such that,

Ezra 6 would use Darius, to suggest the king was doing good, whereas Ezra 7 speaks of justice, suggesting the use of Artaxerxes.

As an aside, Jordan also believes that Esther was married to Darius the Great, and that the name, Ahaseurus, means chief of rulers, as he was shown to rule over 127 other lands (Esther 1:1). He does so, believing that Mordecai was active already in the days of Jeshua and Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:2)

Consider Ezra 4:4-7,

?Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.?

Jordan suggests, that the Ahaseurus of Ezra 4:6 and the Artaxerxes of 4:7 are both Darius, and that the ?and? of 4:7, should be translated ?to wit? . This means that the phrase, ?until the reign of Darius? applies to Darius-Artaxerxes, and the letter sent to Artaxerxes in 4:7 is the same as the one sent to Ahasheurus in 4:6 . It also means that Ezra 4:5,6 is in chronological order, with suggested translation:

To wit: ?They hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius (do-good) king of Persia. To wit, in the reign of Ahaseurus (Chief of Rulers, Darius-Artaxerxes), in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. To wit, in the days of Artaxerxes (King of Justice, Darius), Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his colleagues, wrote to Artaxerxes, king of Persia; and the text of the letter was written in Aramaic, and translated from Aramaic?.

But, if the wall was not built until Nehemiah came in the 20th year of Darius, why were letters sent complaining about the wall at the beginning of Darius? reign. The answer is seen in Ezra 9:9, which says that the Jews had begun building the wall before Nehemiah, and indeed had erected some kind of wall by the time Ezra had arrived in Jerusalem.

Summarising :

Jeshua, Zerubbabel and their associates returned to Jerusalem in the first year of Cyrus. They built the altar and began building the Temple (Ezra 3). Soon, however, they encountered opposition, which ?discouraged the people of Judah and frightened them from building (Ezra 4:4)?. The people left off working on the Temple and devoted themselves and working on the wall (Haggai 1). God in His mercy raised up adversaries, not having finished the Temple first (Haggai 1). No longer able to work on walls and houses, the people devoted themselves to rebuilding the Temple. This aroused more questions, and another letter was sent to Darius asking about the Temple (Ezra 5). Darius gave permission to rebuild the Temple, which was completed in the 6th year of Darius (Ezra 6). The next year, Ezra arrived, and noted that both the Temple and a rudimentary wall had been completed. This scenario does better justice to texts of Ezra-Nehemiah and Haggai, and does not require that Ezra 4 be yanked out of historical context.

Daniel?s 70 Weeks :

Calvin and other older Bible expositors may well have been right to challenge the Ptolemaic chronology and the existing system of BC dates. It is entirely possible that Daniel?s 70 weeks are weeks of real chronological years, beginning with Cyrus? decree and ending with Jesus? crucifixion.

Daniel 9:25,

?Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. ?

The 7 weeks, or 49 years of Daniel?s prophecy in 9:25, extend from the decree of Cyrus until the 34th year of Darius-Artaxerxes, which takes us down to the end of the book of Nehemiah. (7 years for Cyrus, 8 for Cambyses and pseudo-Smerdis, 34 for Darius) . During those 49 years, the city was indeed rebuilt, and in times of distress.

If the 49 years (7 weeks) prove to be literal years, as we have seen they likely are, then the remaining 63 weeks would also be literal years. In that case, the entire BC system of dating is off, and a great deal of revisionist labour lies before us.


Main assumption: If we assume that the 70 7?s of Daniel 9:24-27 are in fact weeks of years, and that they begin with the decree of Cyrus, then we are forced to move the decree of Cyrus from 536 BC to around 457 BC, with room for variation depending on our precise interpretation of the prophecy. This shift completely wrecks the currently-accepted system of BC dating, which is regarded as inviolable in scholarly circles.


The Artaxerxes View (see Chuck Missler/Robert Anderson, earlier in post)

Some have supposed that there is another decree in the 20th year of Artaxerxes I (Artaxerxes Longimanus) and place the starting point for the 490 year prophecy around 444 BC (Anderson: 445 BC) . This would enable a literal interpretation without changing existing BC dates. The problem is that there is no foundation for the notion of a decree in the reign of Artaxerxes. Nehemiah 2:8,9 records Artaxerxes? letters granting Nehemiah support in his endeavour, but this is not really a decree. By way of contrast, Cyrus? decree is highlighted consistently in the text as the great turning point in the affairs of the Jews (Ezra 1:24; 2 Chron 36:21-23; Jer 29:10; Isa 44:28; 45:13) .

But, as was shown earlier, there is a good possibility that the Artaxerxes of Nehemiah is in fact Darius, not the ruler called Artaxerxes I in literature, in which case the letters mentioned in Nehemiah 2:8,9 were written about 500 BC (current BC dates).

The Symbolic View

The 70 7?s are not years, but simply a prophetic figure, and thus make no prediction of events. In context, however, Daniel has been praying about the literal 70 years of captivity (Daniel 9:2), so it is most likely that the 70 7?s are years. Still, perhaps they are some kind of ?prophetic years?, and are not to be taken so chronologically literal any more than Ezekiel?s Temple, which represented the estate of the Jews after the exile, was to be taken literally.

The Revisionist View

One of the problems with any non-literal or non-consecutive approach to this prophecy is that the NT seems to be against it. And when Jesus was born, people were actually expecting a Messiah, as people knowledgeable of the OT were looking for it, at least suggesting that they were aware of the prophecy of Daniel, as they added up the numbers of his prediction of the coming Messiah.

Jordan, summarising Anstey, says,

One of the main areas suspect in the BC chronology is in the latter years of the Persian kings, before the conquest of Alexander the Great (fixed at 330-331 BC). If the 70 7?s of Daniel are literal years initialized from the decree of Cyrus, 82 years need to be removed. Cyrus to Alexander the Great according to a literal interpretation of Daniel, is 123 years, whereas the Ptolemaic list of kings is 205 years. We need to question 3 things:
1. The reliability of the Greeks as historians of Persian affairs;
2. The reliability of Ptolemy?s King list, and;
3. The reliability of eclipse data.

First, the history of this period, which is known by us almost completely by the Greeks, scholars of the Persian history admit that little is known about the later period of the Persian Empire, except for a few scattered events discussed by Greek writers.

Second, the chronology for this period was originally based almost solely on the King list of Ptolemy (150 AD), a list appended to his Almagest, a book on astronomy. He simply lists the kings of Assyria, Persia, Macedonia, and Rome, with years for each one.

The Protestant Reformers, took biblical chronologies very seriously, and they were very suspicious of the Ptolemaic dates. Calvin says, ?Ecolampadius rightly and prudently admonishes us, that we ought to make the computation from the beginning of the world. For until the ruin of the Temple and the destruction of the city, we can gather with certainty the number of years that have elapsed from the creation of the world; here there is no room for error. The series is plain enough in the Scriptures.?

Calvin then discusses the problem of accounting for these years, noting controversies of his own day: ?After Cyrus had transferred to the Persians the power of the East ? some enumerate about 200 years, others 125 years, and some between the two, 140 years.?

Calvin continues: ?We must how our ignorance springs chiefly from the Persian custom: whoever undertook a warlike expedition appointed his son his viceroy. Thus, Cambyses reigned, according to some, 20 years, and to others, only 7; because the crown was placed on his head during his father?s lifetime ? [Herodotus asserts] ? when fathers saw the potential danger of their sons destroying each other, they usually created one of them a king; and if they wished to prefer the younger brother to the elder, they called him king, with the concurrence of their council. Hence, the years of their reigns became intermingled, without any fixed method of reckoning them.?

Jordan summarises the 2nd point: In other words, Ptolemy might have the years right as regards each individual king, but we can not simply add them up because they may overlap. Since the Bible indicates a continuity of reign in the years of Darius, and possibly Xerxes and Artaxerxes I as well, the overlapping reigns must be toward the end of the Persian period.

Third, Jordan says, we have to call into question the reliability of eclipse data. In brief, the earth undergoes slight shifts in motion called ?accelerations?, relative to earth, moon, and sun. This is caused by tidal forces and magnetic fluxes under the earth, etc. He refers to the various studies by astronomer, Robert R Newton of Johns Hopkins University. He provided data on the solar system, based on these studies, to NASA. Therefore, eclipse data may turn out to be of little or no use in the study of ancient history.

Daniel 11:2-3, says that three more kings will arise in Persia after Cyrus. They were Cambyses, Darius the Great, and Xerxes. Then would come a fourth, who would become very rich and would stir up the realm of Greece. This was Artaxerxes Longimanus. Usually, though, this is referred to as Xerxes, as the pseudo-Smerdis is considered the second, as Xerxes did accumulate great wealth and attacked Greece.

Jordan suggests, if I am right ? we can now look at the end of the Artaxerxes? reign, 424 BC, subtract 80 years, and get 344 BC. And Alexander, the ?mighty king? of Daniel 11:3 conquered Persia 13 years later in 331 BC. By 344 BC, Philip of Macedon had already become dominant in Greece; he ascended the throne in 359 and conquered Greece by 338. Alexander came to the throne in 336 BC. Thus, if this date revision were accurate, Greece was ascending in power when Longimanus? reign came to an end.

The wars between Greece and Persia between the reigns of Darius the Great and Xerxes, are, however, also attested in Greek history and chronology. This data makes it doubtful if 80 years can be filtered out of that history. Still, more recent scholars have put into question all of Greek history before Alexander, including the reliability of Olympiad dating (see Peter James, Centuries of Darkness).

Jordan?s Conclusion is agnostic. Certainly, everything in Daniel 9, including the grammar, points to 490 consecutive years between Cyrus and Christ. The matter is not, however, so absolutely certain as to exclude any possibility of the 70 weeks being a symbolic construct. More work is required to work out an alternative.

Jordan?s reference chart:

Event	Current BC	Revisionist BC	Revisionist AM
Cyrus? decree	536	457	3476
Cambyses	528	449	3484
Darius	521	442	3491
Xerxes	485	406	3526
.. Artaxerxes I	464	overlapping
.. Darius II	423	reigns,
.. Artaxerxes II	404	so detailed
.. Artaxerxes III	358	chronology
.. Arogus	307	not
.. Darius II	335	possible
Alexander conquers	331	331	3601
ZERO AD
Crucifixion of Christ, middle of 70th week	AD 30	AD 30	3962
Abomination of Temple: Christians depart finally			4000
Destruction of Jerusalem	AD 70	AD 70	4002

Martin Anstey, The Romance of Bible Chronology, p 117 says,
(btw his dates are from Adam, what he calls ad hominus, AH):

The 400 years of Gen. 15:13 and Acts 7:6.

Gen. 15:13.

"And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs,
(and shall serve them;
and they shall afflict them);
four hundred years."

Acts 7:6. Stephen's speech -

" And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land
(and they should bring them into bondage;
and entreat them evil);
four hundred years."


Abraham's seed here means Abraham's posterity, viz. Isaac from the time that he was weaned, and became Abraham's heir (Gal. 3:29-4:5) and Isaac's descendants.

1. They were strangers and sojourners in Canaan (a land not theirs).
From the weaning of Isaac and the casting out of Ishmael (Gen. 21:10) =2113 [AH]
To the going down into Egypt (Gen. 47:9) = 2298 [AH]

2298 - 2113 = 185 years

2. They were in favour in Egypt (a land not theirs)
From the going down into Egypt (Gen. 47:9) = 2298 [AH]
To the death of Joseph (Gen. 50:26) = 2369 [AH]

2369 - 2298 = 71 years

3. They were brought into bondage and affliction in Egypt,
From the death of Joseph Gen. 50:26 = 2369 [AH]
To the Exodus (Ex. 12:40,41 ) = 2513 [AH]

2513 - 2369 = 144 years

144 + 71 = 215 years

185 + 215 = 400 years.

The structure of Gen. 15:13 and Acts 7:6 shows that the first line corresponds with the fourth line, the second and third lines being a parenthesis, so that the term " 400 years " refers to the whole period of the sojourning in Canaan as well as in Egypt, and not to the sojourning in Egypt alone.

The 430 years of Ex. 12:40 is 30 years longer than the 400 years of Gen. 15:13, because it includes the sojourning of Abraham himself as well as that of his SEED. By a figure of speech the term " children of Israel " is made to include Abraham himself. So Milton speaks of " Eve the fairest of all her daughters."


Anstey, The Romance of Bible Chronology, p. 147,

ISRAEL UNDER THE JUDGES
From the 1st Servitude, under Cushan to the Election of Saul
(Paul, Acts 13: 19,20)

PERIODS	Servi- tudes	Rest	Usur- pation	Judge- ship
1st Servitude, under Cushan (Jud 3:8)	8
Rest by Othniel (Jud 3:11)		40
2nd Servitude, under Eglon (Jud 3:14)	18
Rest by Ehud (Jud 3:30)		80
Judgeship of Shamgar (Jud 3:31) included in 3rd Servitude under Jabin (Jud 5:6,7)
3rd Servitude, under Jabin (Jud 4:3)	20
Rest by Barak (Jud 5:31)		40
4th Servitude, under Midian (Jud 6:1)	7
Rest by Gideon (Jud 8:28)		40
Usurpation of Abimelech (Jud 9:22)			3
Judgeship of Tola (Jud 10:2)				23
Judgeship of Jair (Jud 10:3)				22
5th Servitude, under Ammon (Jud 10:8)	18
Judgeship of Jephthah (Jud 12:7)				6
Judgeship of Ibzan (Jud 12:11)				7
Judgeship of Elon (Jud 12:11)				10
Judgeship of Abdon (Jud 12:14)				8
6th Servitude, under Philistines (Jud 13:1)	40
Judgeship of Samson, 20 years, concurrent with, and included in the 40 years of the 6th Servitude under the Philistines (Jud 15:20)
Judgeship of Eli: from end of 6th Servitude under the Philistines (Jud 13:1), to death of Eli (1 Sam 4:18)				40
Judgeship of Samuel: from the death of Eli (1 Sam 4:18) to the election of Saul (1 Sam 7:2): N.B. 1 Sam 7:12-17 is a review, not a continuation of the narrative				20
Subtotals (Jud 13:1)	111	200	3	136

THE WHOLE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES

PERIODS	Years
Servitude	111
Rest	200
Usurpation	3
Judgeship	136
Total	450

Acts 13: 19-20,

"And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot. And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet."

Anstey?s 300 years of Jephthah (from Heshbon), 450 years of Paul (from Cushan),
480 years of 1 Kg 6:1 (from the Exodus)

Description of the Date Range	300	450	480
Wilderness period, Exodus to Kadesh, 1 year (Num 10:11-12; 13:17-20); Kadesh to Zered, 38 years (Deut 2:14); Zered to entry, 1 year (conquest of Heshbon) (Deut 2:7; Josh 4:19; 5:6)	1	-	40
7 year?s war of Conquest of Canaan: From entry into Canaan (Num 10:11-12; 13:17-20) to division of land (Josh 13:7-10) Exodus= AM 2513, @spies Caleb = 40 (Josh 14:7) Caleb = 85 at division of Land = AM 2560 Therefore the Conquest of the Land = 2560 ? 2513 = 7	7	-	7
Joshua-Judges Connection from division of Land to 1st Servitude under Cushan: from 300 years of Judges 11:35 and 480 years of 1 Kg 6:1 1+7+8+40+18+80+20+40+7+40+3+23 = 287 300 ? 287 = 13	13	-	13
1st Servitude, under Cushan (Jud 38) Not included in the reckoning of 1 Kg 6:1	8	8	-
Rest by Othniel (Jud 3:11)	40	40	40
2nd Servitude, under Eglon (Jud 3:14) Not included in the reckoning of 1 Kg 6:l	18	18	-
Rest by Ehud (Jud 3:30)	80	80	80
Judgeship of Shamgar (Jud 3:31), concurrent with, and included in, the 20 years of the 3rd Servitude, under Jabin (Jud 5:6,7)	-	-	-
3rd Servitude, under Jabin (Jud 4:3) Not included in the reckoning of 1 Kg 6:1	20	20	-
Rest by Barak (Jud 5:31)	40	40	40
4th Servitude, under Midian (Jud 6:1) Not included in the reckoning of 1 Kg 6:1	7	7	-
Rest by Gideon (Jud 8:28)	40	40	40
Usurpation of Abimelech (Jud 9:22) Not included in the reckoning of 1 Kg 6:1	3	3	-
Judgcship of Tola (Jud 10:2)	23	23	23
Judgeship of Jair (Jud 10:3) Not included in Jephthah's 300 years, because "in that year" (Jair's 1st year ? Jud 10:8) Ammon recenquered Heshbon	-	22	22
5th Servitude, under Ammon (Jud 10:8) Not included in Jephthah's 300 years (Jud 11:26), because during these 18 years Israel was not in possession of the lands in dispute. Also not included in the reckoning of 1 Kg 6:1	-	18	-
The 300 years of Jephthah (Jud 11:26), from the Conquest of Heshbon (Num 21; Deut 2)	300
Judgeship of Jephthah (Jud 12:7)		6	6
Judgeship of Elon (Jud 12:11)		10	10
Judgeship of Abdon (Jud 12:14)		8	8
6th Servitude, under the Philistines (Jud 13:1) Not included in the reckoning of 1 Kg 6:1		40	-
Judgeship of Samson, 20 years (Jud 16:31), concurrent with, and included in, the 40 years of the 6th Servitude, under the Philistines (Jud 15:20)		-	-
Judgeship of Eli: from end of the 6th Servitude, under the Philistines (Jud 13:1) to death of Eli (1 Sam 4:18)		40	40
Judgeship of Samuel from the death of Eli (1 Sam 4:18) to the election of Saul (1 Sam 7:2). N.B.: 1 Sam. 7:l2-17 is a review, not a continuation of the narrative		20	20
The 450 years of Paul (Acts 13:20) being the exact sum of all the periods between the division of the land and the election of Saul (Jud 2:6 to 1 Sam 8:5; Acts 13:19-21)		450
Reign of Saul (Acts 13:21)			40
Reign of David (2 Sam 5:4,5)			40
Reign of Solomon : at the building of the Temple in the 4th year of his reign (1 Kg 6:1)			4
The 480 years of 1 Kg 6:1 being the sum of the periods, omitting the 6 servitudes, the usurpation, and the two concurrent judgeships			480
Total: 480 years of Israel governed by God + 114 years of servitude and usurpation = 594 years

The important thing is that Martin Anstey, in his books on Bible Chronology has demonstrated how all the dates do corroborate each other for the three different date schemes chosen for the time of the Judges. This is another reason, why I have confidence that Daniel 9:24-27 really does correct the rather poor historic remains for the Persian era, and another reason why I do trust the text of the Bible. If the chronology is air-tight through the remainder of the OT, then I can be patient and trust that Daniel's is correct too. This also is a reason why I don't throw out the baby with the bath water, when some minor difficulty arises with OT Messianic prophecies fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and recorded in the NT.

If we were to compare some of the tables in Anstey?s companion volume 2 of The Romance of Bible Chronology, p. 2, he lists a few explanatory notes:

1. AN. HOM. = Anno Hominis = The year of the Era of Man, reckoning from the year of the Creation of Adam onward.
2. B.C. = The year of the Era before Christ, reckoning from the year B.C. I backward.
3. Bible Dates = The years of the dated events of the Old Testament according to the testimony of the Hebrew Text.
4. Ptolemaic Dates = The years of the dated events of past history, according to the Received Chronology, based on Ptolemy's Canon.
5. In Tables I and II, the Ptolemaic Dates are, in the opinion of the Author, 82 years higher than the truth, the real equivalent for the year AN. HOM. I being, not B.C. 4124 as given in Table I, but B.C. 4042.
6. In Table III, the Ptolemaic dates do not represent the view of the Author. For the period between the Old and the New Testament Records they represent the Received Chronology adopted by Clinton and modern Chronologers generally. For the period of the New Testament Records they represent the Chronology adopted by Andrews in his Life of our Lord.
7. The Author does not determine the date of the birth of our Lord, but he regards the Crucifixion or the Cutting off of the Messiah as having taken place, in accordance with the prophecy of Daniel, 483 years after "the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem " in the first year of Cyrus, AN. HOM. 3589. Hence the Bible Date for the Crucifixion will be the year AN. HOM. 4071, and if our Lord began His ministry at the age of 30 and was crucified at the age of 33, the Bible Date for the birth of our Lord will be the year AN. HOM. 4O38.

Following, is a table combining all of the chronology of Anstey, from Adam to the crucifixion of Christ, with one exception. Considering Daniel?s Messianic prophecy in chapter 9, I have chosen to date the crucifixion of Christ in the middle of Daniel?s 70th week, whereas, Anstey dates it at the end of Daniel?s 69th week. This comes from my personal conviction that it was the coming Messiah who would cause the sacrificial system to be discontinued in the middle of the 70th week, and not some future antichrist.

The Scriptural basis for my chronological efforts is found in Daniel 9:24-27:

?Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. ?

This revised table now includes the period of the Judges, and the Kings of Israel and Judah in its chronology from Adam to Christ.

The key to understanding Anstey?s approach to the reigning dates of the Kings of Israel and Judah, is given by Willis J. Beecher, in an article on " The Kings of Israel and Judah, " in the American Presbyterian Review for April, 1880:

" In recording dates, " he says, " these narratives follow a simple and consistent system. The following rules are obeyed with entire uniformity, in all the dates of the period under consideration :?

" Rule 1. All the years mentioned are current years of a consecutive system. The first year of a King is not a year's time beginning with the month and day of his accession, but a year's time beginning (1) the preceding, or (2) the following New Year's Day?the New Moon before the Passover, Nisan 1st.

" Rule 2. When a reign closes and another begins during a year, that year is counted to the previous reign (Judaite mode).

" Rule 3. Regularly in the case of the earlier Kings of Israel, and occasionally in other cases, the broken year is counted to the following reign as well as to the previous reign (Israelite mode).

" Rule 4. When we use the ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) which date the beginning or the end of a reign to check the cardinal numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.), which denote its duration, we must count both sets as designating complete calendar years. That is, we must count the date given in the ordinal as being either the opening or the close of the year designated by the ordinal.
Otherwise the units represented by the two sets of numbers are of different sorts, and cannot be numerically compared.

OLD TESTAMENT CHRONOLOGY
Using Martin Anstey?s Chronology and Jordan?s 70th Week

Birth	Name	Death	Description	A.M.	B.C.
0	Adam	930		0	4046
130	Seth	912		130	3916
105	Enos	905		235	3811
90	Cainan	910		325	3721
70	Mahaleel	895	10 Generations (Genesis 5)	395	3651
65	Jared	962		460	3586
162	Enoch	365		622	3424
65	Methuselah	969		687	3359
187	Lamech	777		874	3172
182	Noah	950	at 500, Shem, Ham, and Japheth	1056	2990
500	Shem	600		1556	2490
			Flood: (0 + 1556 + 100 = 1656)	1656	2390
100	Arphaxad	438		1658	2388
35	Salah	433		1693	2353
30	Eber	464		1723	2323
34	Peleg	239		1757	2289
			Babel: In Peleg?s Lifetime From	1757	2289
			To	1996	2050
30	Reu	239	10 Generations (Genesis 11)	1787	2259
32	Serug	230		1819	2227
30	Nahor	148		1849	2197
29	Terah	205	Terah dies in Haran	1878	2168
130	Abram	175	at 175, Abram, Terah, Haran	2008	2038
75	Abraham		Leaves Haran (Gen 11:31-32; 12:4)	2083	1963
25	Isaac	180		2108	1938
60	Jacob	147		2168	1901
91	Joseph	110		2259	1787
			130: Jacob goes to Egypt	2298	1748
			147: Jacob dies	2315	1731
			110: Joseph dies	2369	1677
			Moses born	2433	1613
			Exodus	2513	1533
			594 years from Exodus to Temple begun (see Martin Anstey, The Romance of Bible Chronology, p. 154)	+594	-594
			All years elapsed for Judges and Kings will now be placed in Birth column
40			The Wilderness Period: Ex 11.5 m + Lev 1 m + Num 38 y 9 m + Dt 2.5 m = 40 years	2513	1533
7			The Seven Year?s War	2553	1493
13			The Joshua-Judges Connection	2560	1486
8			1st Servitude of Cushan	2573	1473
40			Rest by Othniel	2581	1465
18			2nd Servitude of Eglon	2621	1425
80			Rest by Ehud	2639	1407
			Judgeship of Shamgar included in 3rd Servitude of Jabin
20			3rd Servitude of Jabin	2719	1327
40			Rest by Barak	2739	1307
7			4th Servitude of Midian	2779	1267
40			Rest by Gideon	2786	1260
3			Usurpation of Abimelech	2826	1220
23			Judgeship of Tola	2829	1217
22			Judgeship of Jair	2852	1194
18			5th Servitude of Ammon	2874	1172
6			Judgeship of Jephthah	2892	1156
7			Judgeship of Ibzan	2898	1150
10			Judgeship of Elon	2905	1143
8			Judgeship of Abdon	2915	1133
40			6th Servitude of the Philistines	2923	1125
			Judgeship of Samson included in 6th Servitude of the Philistines
40			Judgeship of Eli	2963	1085
20			Eli-Saul Connection = Judgeship of Samuel	3003	1045
40			Reign of Saul	3023	1023
40			Reign of David	3163	983
4			Reign of Solomon to 4th year	3103	943
			Temple begun: 4th year of Solomon?s reign (1 Kings 6:1)	3107	939
			Temple completed: 11th year of Solomon?s reign (1 Kings 6:38)	3114	932
			Kings of Judah Kings of Israel
17	Rehoboam		(1 Kg 11:43; 14:21)	3143	903
21	Jeroboam		(1 Kg 12:20; 14:20)	3143	903
3	Abijam		(1 Kg 15:1,2)	3160	886
41	Asa		(1 Kg 15:9,10)	3163	883
1	Nadab		(1 Kg 15:25)	3164	882
23	Baasha		(1 Kg 15:28-33)	3165	881
1	Elah		(1 Kg 16:8)	3188	858
11	Omri		(1 Kg 16:22,23)	3189	857
20	Ahab		(1 Kg 16:29)	3200	846
25	Jehoshaphat		(1 Kg 22:41,42)	3204	842
1	Ahaziah		(1 Kg 22:51)	3220	826
12	Jehoram		(2 Kg 1:17; 3:1)	3221	825
3	Jehoram		(1 Kg 22:50; 2 Kg 1:17; 3:1; 8:16,17)	3229	817
1	Ahaziah		(2 Kg 8:25,26; 9:29)	3232	814
6	Athaliah		(2 Kg 11:1,3,4,16)	3233	813
28	Jehu		(2 Kg 9:13,24,27,33; 10:36)	3233	813
40	Joash		(2 Kg 12:1)	3239	807
17	Jehoahaz		(2 Kg 10:35; 13:1)	3261	785
15	Jehoash		(2 Kg 13:10-16)	3278	768
29	Amaziah		(2 Kg 12:21; 14:1,2,17-22)	3279	767
41	Jeroboam II		(2 Kg 14:16,23)	3293	753
11			Interregnum	3308	738
52	Uzziah		(2 Kg 14:21; 15:1,2)	3319	727
22			Interregnum	3334	712
1	Zechariah		(2 Kg 14:29; 15:8)	3356	690
1	Shallum		(2 Kg 15:10,13)	3357	689
10	Menahem		(2 Kg 15:14,17)	3358	688
2	Pekahiah		(2 Kg 15:23,24)	3368	678
20	Pekah		(2 Kg 15:25-27)	3370	676
16	Jotham		(2 Kg 15:32,33)	3371	675
16	Ahaz		(2 Kg 15:38; 16:1,2)	3387	659
8			Interregnum	3390	656
8	Hoshea		(2 Kg 17:1)	3398	648
27	Hezekiah		(2 Kg 16:20; 18:1,2)	3403	643
			Fall of Israel	3406	640
55	Manasseh		(2 Kg 20:21; 21:1)	3430	616
2	Amon		(2 Kg 21:18,19)	3485	561
30	Josiah		(2 Kg 21:23,26; 22:1)	3487	559
1	Jehoahaz		(2 Kg 21:30,31)	3517	529
10	Jehoiakim		(2 Kg 23:36)	3518	528
1	Jehoiachim		(2 Kg 24:6-8)	3528	518
10	Zedekiah		(2 Kg 24:17,18; 25:1-21)	3529	517
			Fall of Jerusalem	3539	505
			Decree of Cyrus (Isaiah 44:28-45:13; Dan 9:25)	3589	457
			69.5 weeks of years = 486.5 years = 487 -1 yrs adj = 486	+486	-486
			Messiah ?Cut Off? after 486.5 years Middle of week 70 (Dan 9:24-27)	4075	AD 29
			Messiah ?actually born? calendar date	4042	BC 5
			Commencement of the Christian Era	4046	BC 1
			Destruction of the Temple	4116	AD 70

Anstey has quite a bit to say about Josephus in The Romance of Bible Chronology, volume 1, beginning at p. 263.

?Josephus' history of the period of the captivity is contained in his Antiquities, Book x, Chapters 10, 11. It is derived partly from Scripture and partly from Berosus' History of Chaldea ? Josephus' history of the period of the return is contained in his Antiquities, Book xi, which brings his narrative down to the time of Alexander the Great ? Josephus says that in the 70th year from the day that the Jews were removed out of their own Land, Cyrus, in the first year of his reign, gave them leave to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their city and the Temple of God. This was done in consequence of his reading the passage in the Book of Isaiah (44:29-45:13) in which he is mentioned by name.

Josephus follows Herodotus in making Cyrus die in the war against the Massageta?, not Xenophon, who says he died a peaceful death in his own bed. Josephus identifies the Artaxerxes of Ezra 4:23 with Cambyses, after whom he says the Magi attained the government of Persia for one year. Zerubbabel came from Jerusalem and obtained from Darius, the next King, permission
to rebuild the Temple, and " all that Cyrus intended to do before him, relating to the restoration of Jerusalem, Darius also ordained should be done accordingly." Amongst the number of the distinguished men who returned with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:2, Neh. 7:7), he mentions the name of the Mordecai of the Book of Esther.

It is very difficult to give an account of Josephus' view of the history of the Persian period. It is just the kind of history that would remain, if that of the Books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther were " emended," " corrected " and interpolated by some later copyist or editor with a view to bringing it into accord with some other version of the history. The result is just such a mixture of Scriptural events attributed to wrong persons as would follow from incorrect identifications of the persons named in the narrative. This may be due to Josephus himself, or more probably to some later hand ?

Josephus tells us that on the death of Darius, " Xerxes his son " took the Kingdom. Perhaps this sentence is a late interpolation, and the name Xerxes throughout the succeding narrative may be a " correction " by some late editor, supplanting the name Artaxerxes. For by Xerxes, Josephus always means the Artaxerxes of Ezra and Nehemiah. According to Josephus, it is this " Xerxes " who gives to Ezra the letter of Ezra 71 2 beginning, " Xerxes King of Kings, unto Ezra the priest." On the 12th day of the 1st month of the 7th year of this " Xerxes " they set out to go to Jerusalem (cp. Ezra 8:31; 7:9). Then follow the rest of the events contained in Ezra 9 and 10.

Nehemiah is described as cupbearer to this " Xerxes." Nehemiah goes up to Jerusalem in the 25th year of this " Xerxes " and builds the walls in spite of the opposition of the Samaritans. The walls are completed in the 28th year of this " Xerxes," and the chapter concludes with the words " now this was done in the days of " Xerxes.".

But the "Xerxes " of Ptolemy's Canon, the son of Darius, reigned only 20 years, and all the events ascribed to the reign of the " Xerxes " of Josephus, are attributed to the reign of " Artaxerxes " in Scripture.

Hence, we are compelled to say that either (1) Josephus used the word " Xerxes " as another name for the Artaxerxes whom modern scholars identify with Longimanus, in which case the words which make him the " son of Darius " are a late interpolation, or a mistake of Josephus himself; or else (2) Josephus is really referring under the name of " Xerxes " to Darius Hystaspes, and the opening sentence of the Antiquities, Book xi, Chap, v, which describes this " Xerxes " as a " son of Darius " is a late interpolation. In no case do the events which Josephus attributes to the reign of this " Xerxes " belong to Xerxes the " son of Darius," the Xerxes of Thermopylae and Salamis.

The confusion deepens as we pass into chapter 6. " After the death of Xerxes the Kingdom was transferred to his son Cyrus, whom the Greeks called Artaxerxes." The relationship here indicated points to Artaxerxes Longimanus (B.C. 464-424), but the sentence is probably either a late
interpolation or an indication of Josephus' inability to understand the true meaning of the Ezra-Nehemiah-Esther narrative. For this " Artaxerxes " is immediately identified with the Ahasuerus of Esther, whom modern scholars identify with the " Xerxes " of Ptolemy's Canon. He reigns over 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia. In his 3rd year he makes a costly feast at Shushan. He divorces Vashti, and marries Esther the niece of Mordecai. Haman plots against the Jews, is accused by Esther and hanged, and his office is given to Mordecai. The massacre takes place on the appointed 13th day of Adar, but the Jews defend themselves, and the feast of Purim is iinstituted.

Here again we are compelled to say that either (1) Josephus used the word " Artaxerxes " as another name for Ahasuerus, whom modern scholars identify with the Xerxes of Ptolemy's Canon, in which case the words " Xerxes' son Cyrus, whom the Greeks called Artaxerxes," are a late interpolation, or a mistake of Josephus himself; or else (2) Josephus is really referring,
under the name of " Artaxerxes," to Darius Hystaspes, and the opening sentence of the Antiquities, Book xi, Chap, vi, which describes this "Cyrus whom the Greeks called Artaxerxes " as a " son of Xerxes," is a late interpolation. In no case do the events which Josephus attributes to the reign of this " Artaxerxes the son of Xerxes " belong to Artaxerxes Longimanus.

In chapter 7 we are introduced to Bagoses, the general of " another " Artaxerxes. This is said to indicate Artaxerxes II Mnemon (B.C. 404-359), the reign of Darius II Nothus (B.C. 424-404), being altogether omitted. But the word " another " is not in Josephus at all. The true reading is " Bagoses the general of the people of Artaxerxes ". Vossius " emends " the text by what is really a pure conjecture to " Bagoses the general of another (or the other) Artaxerxes " in order to manufacture another Persian King. He pleads Ruffinus's Latin Version of Josephus. But (1) the translation will not bear the construction put upon it, and (2) a long received reading of an ancient author ought not to be varied from, without the authority of some good manuscript to justify the emendation, and in this case there is none alleged.

The next King to this " Cyrus whom the Greeks call Artaxerxes " is " Darius the last King of Persia." He is mentioned in the following paragraph, and is described as a contemporary of Sanballat, the contemporary of Nehemiah on the one hand and Alexander the Great on the other. Josephus tells us that " about this time," Alexander the Great crossed the Hellespont, defeated the generals of Darius at Granicus (B.C. 334) and Issus (B.C. 333), took Tyre and Gaza (B.C. 332), and marched upon Jerusalem.

Jaddua the high priest was in an agony, but warned of God in a dream he went out to meet Alexander the Great as he reached Sapha, from which place there is a good view of Jerusalem and the Temple. When Alexander the Great saw the multitude in white garments, the priests in fine linen, and the high priest in purple and scarlet, with his mitre on his head, having the golden plate whereon the name of God was engraved, he fell down and adored the Name and saluted the high priest. With the date of this visit of Alexander to Jerusalem, in B.C. 332, Josephus connects the death of Sanballat.

The following reigns are all entirely omitted from Josephus :
Darius II Nothus 423-404
Artaxerxes II Mnemon 404-358
Artaxerxes III Ochus 358-327
Arogus or Arses 337-335

This fact is not explained by Vossius and Dr. Hudson when they say Josephus was writing the history of the Jews, and only touched upon those Kings of Persia who had to do with the Jews.

As a matter of fact Josephus, or perhaps we should say his late revisers, represent Sanballat, the contemporary of Nehemiah in B.C. 445, as contemporary with Jaddua in B.C. 332, after an interval of 113 years, and transform the son of Joiada (Neh. 13 28) into his grandson. Modern advocates of the Ptolemaic dates endeavour to save the Chronology by inventing a second Sanballat.

A closer inspection of Josephus will show that, as in the case of the cuneiform Inscriptions, his works contain no authentic materials for any history of Persia for more than one or two generations beyond the end of the Old Testament Record, in the 34th year of Darius Hystaspes, B.C. 488. Josephus confirms the Daniel Chronology, which abridges the duration of
the Persian Empire by 82 years.

His " Xerxes" is not the Xerxes of Ptolemy's Canon, but the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7 and Nehemiah, the Darius Hystaspes of Ptolemy's Canon. His " Artaxerxes " is not Artaxerxes Longimanus, and it is incorrect to say that, according to Josephus, Esther was married to Artaxerxes Longimanus.
According to Josephus, the Artaxerxes who married Esther was simply Artaxerxes, and that was a name borne by several Persian monarchs, and certainly by Darius Hystaspes.

True he does say that this Artaxerxes who married Esther was the son of " Xerxes," but by " Xerxes " he means quite positively the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7 and Nehemiah, who is identified by modern scholars with Artaxerxes Longimanus, but who is really Darius Hystaspes.

According to Josephus, Darius Hystaspes is succeeded by " Xerxes." To him is attributed the whole of the events of Ezra 7-Nehemiah 13. This " Xerxes " is succeeded by " Artaxerxes." To his reign is attributed the whole of the events of the Book of Esther, and nothing but those events,
and they occurred for the most part in one and the same year. Beyond this, Josephus gives us information of no other Persian Kings except the Darius who was slain by Alexander the Great.?

Anstey writes of three different periods of 70 years in the Restoration Period of Ezra-Nehemiah-Esther that can help in determining its chronology, volume 1, pp 234-237:

1. The 70 years' servitude, from the 3rd year of Jehoiakim to the 1st year of Cyrus, B.C. 605-536.

Jeremiah 25:11-12,

?And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the King of Babylon 70 years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that
I will punish the King of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and will make it perpetual desolations.?

Daniel 9:1-2,

?In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.?

2. The 70 years' indignation from the 9th year of Jehoiachin's captivity to the 2nd year of Darius, B.C. 589-520.

This period begins with the boiling cauldron described by Ezekiel 24:1-14, dating from the 10th day of the 10th month of the 9th year of the captivity of Jehoiachin, on which day the Lord said to him:

Ezekiel 24:2,

?Son of man, write thee the name of this day, even of this same day?

This period of 70 years is referred to in

Zechariah 1:7-12,

?Upon the 24th day of the 11th month . . . in the 2nd year of Darius . . . the angel of the Lord answered and said . . . how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these 70 years ??

To which, the Lord answers in 7:16:

?I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies, my house shall be built in it.?

3. The 70 years of the fasts, from the fall of Jerusalem to the 5th year of Darius, B.C. 586-517.

This period occurs 2 years later in Zechariah 5. The foundation of the house of the Lord had been laid on the 24th day of the 9th month of the 2nd year of Darius (Hag. 2: 10,15,18,20). About two years later, on the 4th day of the 9th month of the 4th year of Darius (Zech. 7:1), Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem-melech to enquire whether they should continue to fast on certain days now that the foundation of the House had been laid. In his answer to these men, Zechariah first asks:

Zech. 7:5,

?When ye fasted and mourned in the 5th and 7th month, even these 70 years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me ??

These 70 years are not quite the same as the 70 years of the indignation referred to in Zech. 1:12 . They begin with the fall of the city of Jerusalem in the 11th year of Zedekiah, B.C. 586, and they end with the 5th year of Darius. Zechariah answers his enquirers:

Zech 8:19,

?The fast of the 4th month (commemorating the city smitten on the 9th day of the 4th month of the 11th year of Zedekiah), and the fast of the 5th month (commemorating the burning of the Temple on the 7th day of the 5th month of the 11th year of Zedekiah), and the fast of the 7th month (commemorating the slaying of Gedaliah in the 7th month of the 11th year of Zedekiah), and the fast of the 10th month (commemorating the siege of the city on the 10th day of the 10th month of the 9th year of Zedekiah), shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness and cheerful feasts?

p. 237,

?The first period of the 70 years' servitude enables us to bridge the gulf between the 1st year of Evil-merodach and the 1st year of Cyrus. Here we have the names of some of the monarchs who reigned during these years, Evilmerodach, Darius the Mede and Belshazzar, but not the number of the years they reigned, and consequently no connected, continuous Chronology. The Chronology, is however, given in the Babylonian clay tablets, the true interpretation of which is in entire agreement with the Chronology of the Old Testament.

The second period of the 70 years' indignation enables us to bridge the gulf between the 3rd year of Cyrus and the 2nd year of Darius.

The third period of the 70 years of the fasts duplicates and corroborates the Chronology of the second period of 70 years. Here again we have the names of the monarchs who reigned during these years, Cyrus, Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes, but not the number of the years they reigned, and consequently no continuous, connected Chronology.?

p. 238,

?From Ez. 5:16 we learn that this same Sheshbazzar did actually lay the foundation of the House, and since the foundation of the House was laid by the hands of Zerubbabel (Zech. 4:9), this identifies Sheshbazzar with Zerubbabel, whilst the date of the foundation laying - the 24th day of the 9th month of the 2nd year of Darius - is given in Haggai 2:10,15,18,20.?

Anstey?s Dated Events of the Reign of
Darius Hystaspes = Artaxerxes = Ahasheurus

Day	Month	Year	King	Scripture	Event
24	11	2	Darius	Zech 1:7	70 years? indignation completed
1	6	2	Darius	Hag 1:1	Zerubbabel, Pekah in Judah
24	6	2	Darius	Hag 1:15	Zerubbabel bestirred himself
21	7	2	Darius	Hag 2:1	The glory of the latter house
	8	2	Darius	Zech 1:1	Zechariah appeals for repentance
24	9	2	Darius	Hag 2:10	Foundation of the house laid
		3	Ahaseurus	Est 1:1-5	Ahaseurus' feast: Vashti deposed
4	9	4	Darius	Zech 7:1	Zechariah on 70 years' fasts
		6	Ahaseurus	Est 2:8-16	Esther brought to Shushan
3	12	6	Darius	Ezra 6:15	Temple finished
14	1		Darius	Ezra 6:19	Passover observed at Jerusalem
	10	7	Ahaseurus	Est 2:16-18	Esther's marriage and feast
1	1	7	Artaxerxes	Ezra 7:9	Ezra left Babylon
9	1	7	Artaxerxes	Ezra 8:15-21	Ezra halted 3 days at Ahava
12	1	7	Artaxerxes	Ezra 8:31	Ezra left river of Ahava
1	5	7	Artaxerxes	Ezra 7:9	Ezra arrived at Jerusalem
4	5	7	Artaxerxes	Ezra 8:33	Vessels weighed in Temple
20	9		Artaxerxes	Ezra 10:9	All Judah at Jerusalem
1	10		Artaxerxes	Ezra 10:16	Assize (heathen wives) begun
1	1		Artaxerxes	Ezra 10:17	Assize (heathen wives) ended
	1	12	Ahaseurus	Est 3:7	Haman casts lots for massacre
13	1		Ahaseurus	Est 3:12	Haman's posts went out
15	1		Ahaseurus	Est 5:1-8	Esther touches golden scepter
16	1		Ahaseurus	Est 5:8	Esther's banquet
23	3		Ahaseurus	Est 8:9-14	Mordecai's posts went out
13	12		Ahaseurus	Est 9:1-12	Massacre day, 500 + 75,000 slain
14	12		Ahaseurus	Est 9:15-27	300 slain, 14th Adar, 2nd Purim
	9	20	Artaxerxes	Neh 1:1	Hanani's report
	1	20	Artaxerxes	Neh 2:1	Nehemiah sent to Jerusalem
25	6		Artaxerxes	Neh 6:15	Wall finished in 52 days
1	7		Artaxerxes	Neh 8:2	Ezra reads the Law
2	7		Artaxerxes	Neh 8:13	They read of dwelling in booths
13	7		Artaxerxes	Neh 8:14-18	1st day of Feast of Tabernacles
21	7		Artaxerxes	Neh 8:18	7th day of Feast of Tabernacles
22	7		Artaxerxes	Neh 8:18	Day of Solemn Assembly
24	7		Artaxerxes	Neh 9:1,2	Heathen wives put away
		32	Artaxerxes	Neh 5:14; 13:6	Nehemiah returned to Babylon

Anstey?s seven proofs that Darius Hystaspes = Artaxerxes of Ezra 7 and Nehemiah, pp. 269-272,

1. The Continuity of the Narrative.
The Book of Ezra-Nehemiah is one Book, and the narrative is continuous
throughout, except that in Ezra 3:10-13 we have an anticipatory reference
to the laying of the foundation of the Temple, introduced by the word when,
indicating that the foundation of the Temple was not laid then (in the 2nd
year of Cyrus), but as Haggai says, in the 2nd year of Darius (Hag. 2:10,15,18,20). Compare the following passages:
Ezra 4:24, 2nd year of Darius - Temple begun.
Ezra 6:15, 6th year of Darius - Temple finished.
Ezra 7:8,9, 7th year of Artaxerxes - Ezra comes to Jerusalem.
Neh 1:1, 20th year of Artaxerxes - Hanani's Report.
Neh 2:1, 20th year of Artaxerxes - Nehemiah goes to Jerusalem.
Neh 5:14; 13:6, 32nd year of Artaxerxes - Nehemiah returns to Babylon.
The transition is made in Ezra 6:14 in which we are told that Artaxerxes
was another name for Darius, " Darius even Artaxerxes."

2. The age of Ezra.
If the Artaxerxes of Ezra was Artaxerxes Longimanus (B.C. 464-424), then Ezra would be 128 years old when he came from Babylon in his 7th year (to be present at the dedication of the Temple). For, as pointed out by Lumen in the Prince of Judah, Ezra was the brother
of Jehozadak.

Genealogy of Jehozadak 1 Chron 6:3-15	Genealogy of Ezra Ezra 7:1-5
1. Aaron	Aaron
2. Eleazar	Eleazar
3. Phinehas	Phinehas
4. Abishua	Abishua
5. Bukki	Bukki
6. Uzzi	Uzzi[
7. Zerahiah	Zerahiah
8. Meraioth	Meraioth
9. Amariah I
10. Ahitub I
11. Zadok I
12. Ahimaaz
13. Azariah I
14. Johanan
15. Azariah II	Azariah
16. Amariah II	Amariah
17. Ahitub II	Ahitub
18. Zadok II	Zadok
19. Shallum	Shallum
20. Hilkiah	Hilkiah
21. Azariah III	Azariah
22. Seraiah	Seraiah
JEHOZADAK	EZRA

In Ezra 7 the genealogy is abridged, but it is sufficient for the purpose for which it is thus quoted. In 1 Chronicles it is given in full. Seraiah, the father of Jehozadak and Ezra, was slain by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah in his 19th year, B.C. 586 (2 Kings 25:8,18-21). Therefore Ezra must have been born about or before B.C. 586. But the 7th year of Artaxerxes Longimanus was B.C. 458. Therefore, if the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7 was Artaxerxes Longimanus, Ezra must have been at least 128 years old when he came to Jerusalem in the 7th year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, and at least 141 when he walked in procession at the dedication of the wall with Nehemiah, in the 20th year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, which is absurd.

But the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7 is really Darius Hystaspes, whose 7th year
was B.C. 515, in which year Ezra was (at least) 71 years old, and possibly more.

3. Twenty out of the thirty priests and Levites who returned with Zerubbabel in the ist year of Cyrus, B.C. 536 (Neh. 12:1-9), signed the covenant with Nehemiah (Neh 10:2-10) in the 20th year of the Artaxerxes of Nehemiah. But the 20th year of Artaxerxes Longimanus was B.C. 445. Therefore, if the Artaxerxes of Nehemiah was Artaxerxes Longimanus, then twenty out of these thirty men were still alive 91 years after they came to Jerusalem, although they were all heads of their families then, which is absurd. But the Artaxerxes of Nehemiah was really Darius Hystaspes, and the interval between the return with Zerubbabel, B.C. 536, and the 20th year of Darius Hystaspes, B.C. 502, is only 34 years, during which time 10 of these 30 heads of families had died.

4. The Age of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah returned with Zerubbabel (B.C. 536), Ezra 2:2, Neh. 7:7. His name stands first on the list after Zerubbabel and Joshua. But the 32nd year of Artaxerxes Longimanus was B.C. 433. Therefore, if the Artaxerxes of Nehemiah was Artaxerxes Longimanus, Nehemiah must have been 103 years older when he returned to Babylon in the 32nd year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, than he was when he came to Jerusalem in the ist year of Cyrus as one of the leaders of the people. But the Artaxerxes of Nehemiah is really Darius Hystaspes, and in the 32nd year of his reign (B.C. 490), Nehemiah was only 46 years older than he was when he came to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel in the 1st year of Cyrus.

5. The Artaxerxes of Nehemiah reigned 32 years.
Since the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7 and Nehemiah was not Artaxerxes Longimanus, and a fortiori not any Persian King who reigned after Artaxerxes Longimanus, he must have been Darius Hystaspes, for he reigned at least 32 years (Neh. 5:14, 13:6) which is what no other Persian King before
Artaxerxes Longimanus except Darius Hystaspes did.

6. The Testimony of Josephus, the Old Testament Apocrypha, and the Jewish Tract, Sedar Olani.
Josephus identifies the Artaxerxexs of Ezra 7 with a Persian King (whom he calls Xerxes) who reigned at least 28 years. This cannot be the Xerxes of Ptolemy's Canon, for he only reigned 21 years. It must be Darius Hystaspes, and Josephus (or his late editors) must be in error in describing him as the " Son of Darius "(Hystaspes).
In i ESDRAS the Ahasuerus of Esther is identified with Darius Hystaspes, and in the REST OF ESTHER Ahasuerus is called " Artaxerxes " throughout. Jewish Tradition, as represented in the Jewish Tract Sedar Olam, also identifies the Artaxerxes of Nehemiah with Darius Hystaspes.

7. Corroborative Evidences.
The mention of the " King's sons " in Ezra 7 corroborates the identification of the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7 with Darius Hystaspes, for he had several sons before he became King, who disputed the succession with his sons by his second wife Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus, one of whom Darius Hystaspes appointed to succeed him, viz. Xerxes.
The parenthetic sentence in Neh. 2:6, " the queen also sitting by him," is probably a reference to Esther, with whom Nehemiah may have had communications respecting the state of affairs at Jerusalem, and who may have encouraged him and influenced the King in his favour. But this King reigned at least 32 years (Neh. 13:6), and could not have been Xerxes, who only reigned 21 years, nor any other but Darius Hystaspes, who is frequently called both Artaxerxes and Ahasuerus in the Apocryphal literature and Josephus.
In Ezra 10:44 we read " All these had taken strange wives, and some of them had wives by whom they had children." This corroborates the identification of the Artaxerxes to whose 7th year the remark applies, with some King of Persia, who lived nearer to the time of the return under Zerubbabel than Artaxerxes Longimanus.
The genealogical lists given in Ezra and Nehemiah corroborate the identification of the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7, and Nehemiah with Darius Hystaspes. The contrary view necessitates the hypothesis of two Ezras, two Nehemiahs, two Mordecais, two Sanballats, and so on. On all these grounds we regard the identification of the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7 and Nehemiah with Darius Hystaspes as correct.

Anstey?s five proofs that Darius Hystaspes = Ahasuerus of Esther
pp. 272-274,

The Book of Esther is an appendix containing the record of an episode which took place in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. The narrative itself occupies the space of one year, the 12th year of Ahasuerus, but there are also brief introductory references to his 3rd, 6th and 7th years. It is not a continuation of the Book of Ezra-Nehemiah, but an illustration of the times in which Ezra and Nehemiah lived.

1. The Age of Mordecai.
Scaliger first suggested the identification of the Ahasuerus of Esther with the Xerxes of Ptolemy's Canon, and in this he has been followed by modern scholars almost universally. But Mordecai " was carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah King of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon carried away." B.C. 597 (Est. 2:5,6). It is only by a forced construction that this sentence can be applied to his great grandfather Kish. Mordecai was Ahasuerus' premier in the 12th year of his reign. Therefore, if Ahasuerus was Xerxes, in his 12th year, B.C. 474, Mordecai would be at least 123 years old, at which rate Esther also must have been " an aged beauty ! "

2. Testimony of Josephus and the Old Testament Apocrypha.
Josephus tells the story of Esther at great length, but instead of speaking of Ahasuerus, it is " Artaxerxes " throughout. Now Artaxerxes was one of the names of Darius Hystaspes, as well as of several other Persian monarchs. True, Josephus speaks of this Artaxerxes as " Cyrus the son of Xerxes, whom the Greeks called Artaxerxes," but if the reference be to Artaxerxes Longimanus, that would raise the age of Mordecai to 143.
In 1 ESDRAS 3:1-2 the Ahasuerus of Esther is identified with Darius Hystaspes, and in the REST OF ESTHER he is called "Artaxerxes " throughout.

3. Ahasuerus " reigned from India to Ethiopia, over 127 Provinces" (Est. 1:1).
Darius Hystaspes conquered India in B.C. 506. Herodotus says he " established 20 governments of the kind which the Persians call Satrapies, assigning to each its governor, and fixing the tribute which was to be paid him by the several nations " (iii, 89). These he proceeds to enumerate, a long list embracing nearly all the nations of the East - Asia Minor, Phoenicia, Syria, Cyprus, Egypt, Libya, Cyrene, Susa, Babylon, Assyria, Media, Armenia, Parthia - these are all enumerated, with the amount of the tribute paid by each nation (iii, 90-94). " The Indians, who were more numerous than any other nation with which we are acquainted, paid a tribute exceeding that of any other people, to wit 360 talents of gold dust. This was the twentieth Satrapy" (iii, 95).
" The Ethiopians paid no settled tribute, but brought gifts to the King. Every third year the inhabitants of Egypt and Nubia brought 2 quarts of virgin gold, 200 logs of ebony, 5 Ethiopian boys, and 20 elephants' tusks " (iii, 97).
Darius the Mede set 120 Princes over his Kingdom (B.C. 538), Dan. 6:1. By the time of Darius Hystaspes (B.C. 521-485), the Empire had grown to 127 provinces, which he divided up into 20 Satrapies as stated above.

4. Ahasuerus " laid a tribute upon the land and upon the Isles of the Sea." {Est. 10:1).
After enumerating the 20 satrapies of the Empire and the amount of tribute paid by each satrapy, Herodotus concludes : " such was the revenue which Darius derived from Asia, and a small part of Libya. Later in his reign the sum was increased by the tribute of the Islands and of the nations of Europe as far as Thessaly " (Herodotus, Book iii, 96).
Thucydides says, " The Ionians had attained great prosperity when Cyrus and the Persians, having overthrown Crcesus, and subdued the countries between them and the river Halys and the sea, made war against them and enslaved the cities of the mainland. Some time afterwards, Darius, strong in the possession of the Phoenician fleet, conquered the Islands also."
Herodotus (iii, 96), Thucydides (Book i), and Plato (Menexenus), all tell us that Darius Hystaspes subdued all the Islands of the iEgean sea, and Diodorus Siculus (Book xii) tells us that they were all lost again, by his son Xerxes, before the 12th year of his reign, (B.C. 474), which we can well believe after the humiliating defeat of his vast host of warriors by land and sea at Thermopylae, Salamis and Platea, B.C. 480. The later Kings of Persia held none of these Islands except Clazomene and Cyprus (Xenophon, Hellenica, Book v). This is conclusive, both for the identification of the Ahasuerus of Esther with Darius Hystaspes, and against his identification with Xerxes, or with any later occupant of the Persian throne.

5. The dates and the events recorded in Esther, fit in exactly with the dates and the events of the reign of Darius Hystaspes.
Ahasuerus made his feast in the third year of his reign (B.C. 510,) - Darius Hystaspes was occupied during the first two years of his reign in overthrowing Gomates and the other pretenders to the throne of Persia. Babylon revolted twice from Darius, once in the first year of his reign and again in the fourth. On this second occasion the siege was a tedious affair, lasting nearly 2 years (Herodotus iii, 151). This brings us down to the 6th year of Darius, and explains how it was that although Vashti was divorced in his third year, he was not married to Esther until his 7th year (Est. 1:3, 2:16).
The chief argument relied upon by those who identify the Ahasuerus of Esther with Xerxes, is the congruity of the character of Ahasuerus with that of Xerxes as depicted by Herodotus, and other classic writers. But there is nothing in the character of Ahasuerus which does not agree equally well with all that we know from classic literature of Darius Hystaspes ; in fact the reference to the money matters, to the postal service, and above all the friendly disposition of Ahasuerus toward the Jews, agrees exactly with what we know of Darius the " huckster," the organizer of the Empire, and the " Darius even Artaxerxes " who issued the decrees of Ezra 6:6-12 and Ezra 7:12-26 for the rebuilding of the Temple, and the support of its services. The argument for the identification of Ahasuerus with Xerxes from the similarity between the old Persian name Khshayarsha, the Hebrew Achashverosh, and the Greek Xerxes, is of no force, for the word in any form, and however spelt, is simply the word " Shah," and might be applied to any monarch who sat upon the throne of Persia.
[/B]

[dpenn]

It appears my complete presentation of Daniel 9:23-24 has disappeared ? so here it is:

Chronology of the Old Testament from Adam to Jesus Christ

Preliminary Considerations of Daniel?s 70 Weeks of Years

There is good reason to doubt the Ptolemaic list of Persian kings. Some have tried to get around this by saying that Cyrus' decree spoken of Daniel 9:24-27 only deals with the rebuilding of the Temple, not the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Those who hold to this view place a secondary decree of Artaxerxes as the fulfillment of this, because it speaks of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. However, as difficult as this might be to harmonize these dates, I am inclined to believe that the decree refers to Cyrus' decree.

Now, if you were to take 536 BC as the date of this decree, then 536 - 490 = 46 BC. This may be close enough to 29-32 AD, the probable year of Jesus' crucifixion, to be an actual fulfillment without being exact to the year. But I am convinced that it is meant to be an exact prophecy


But, let's begin with the Standard Approach to Daniel's 69 weeks

Based on the book "The Coming Prince", Sir Robert Anderson, Head of Scotland Yard, 1894, and gleaned from Chuck Missler's teaching on the book of Daniel:

Possible 4 decrees of Ezra-Nehemiah:

1. Cyrus, 537 BC (Ezra 1:2-4)

2. Darius (Ezra 6:1-5,8,12)

3. Artaxerxes, 458 BC (Ezra 7:11-26)

4. Artaxerxes, 445 BC (Neh 2:5-8,17,18) only one that says explicitly the city of Jerusalem


Daniel 9:25

"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times."

By our calendar, the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus was given Mar 14, 445 BC.

He noted that the Bible always deals in 360 day years in prophecy (Gen 7:24; 8:3,4; Dan 9:27; 12:6; Rev 11:2,3; 13:5).

And Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem occurred just before Passover, Zechariah 9:9,

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout , O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."

quoted in Luke 19:37-38,

"And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest."

Christ's ministry began in fall 28 AD.

- Tiberias appointed: 14 AD
- Augustus died August 19, 14 AD
- Jesus began His public ministry within the 15th year of Tiberias (Luke 3:1)
- 4th Passover: April 6, 32 AD (Sir Robert Anderson, 1894)

(other chronologies presume a Friday crucifixion, but Passover this year was not on a Friday, but Wednesday)

And the LXX was translated into Greek more than 2 centuries before Christ, as per Dead Sea Scrolls.

Date Range	Days
69 * 7 * 360	173,880
445 BC - 32 AD	173,740
Mar 14 - Apr 6	24
Leap Years	116
Total	173,880

If this is true, Gabriel's margin of error was 0 days.


But what is ignored here? Conveniently left out of the equation is the prophecy of Cyrus in Isaiah 44:28; 45:1-4,11-13,

?28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my
pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the
temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
THUS saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I
have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins
of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall
not be shut;
2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will
break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:
3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of
secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee
by thy name, am the God of Israel.
4 For Jacob my servant?s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even
called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not
known me.
11 Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask
me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work
of my hands command ye me.
12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands,
have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.
13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his
ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for
price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts.?

Once again, I will glean a few gems from Chuck Missler's video series on Daniel (even if I disagree with him in his Zionistic Dispensationalism, I will always give credit where credit is due):

"Time, Times, and 1/2 Time:"

"Times" = dual, later lost in Aramaic
1 + 2 + 1/2 = 3 1/2 (Dan 7:25; 12:7; Rev 12:4)

3 1/2 years (Dan 9:27; 12:7)

42 months (Rev 11:2; 13:5)

1260 days (Rev 11:3; Dan 12:6)

1/2 "week" (Dan 9:27)

Missler using Larkin's work on 490:

Abraham to the Exodus:

Promise Gen 12:4 = 75 years, Gal 3:17 = 430
75+430=505

Ishmael Gen 16:16; 21:5 = 15

505 - 15 = 490 years

Exodus to the Temple:

Begun 1 Kings 6-8 = 594 (1 Kings 6:1 says this was 480 years)
Completed ` Kings 6:38 =7
594+7=601

Servitudes in Judges
Mesopotamia 3:8 = 8
Moabites 3:12-14 = 18
Canaanites 4:2,3 = 20
Midianites 6:1 = 7
Ammonites 10:7,8 = 18
Philistines 13:1 = 40
8+18+20+7+18+40=111
601-111=490 (very questionable 490 year period)

(notice how Missler leaves out the 3 years usurpation of Abimilech Judges 9:1,2 which is part of 594. 111+3+480=594 ... later Anstey will present a better start date for the chronology)

The Temple to the Edict of Artaxerxes:

1 Kings 8:1-66 = 1005 BC (more likely 967 BC to 980 BC ... another questionable 490?)
Nehemiah 2:1 = 445 BC
1005-445=560

Babylonian Captivity = 70
560-70=490

Artaxerxes to the 2nd Coming of Christ:

Artaxerxes to the 1st Advent of Christ
"The 69 weeks" 69*7 = 483 (add 3 1/2 years of Jesus ministry ... another cooked 490?)

[Church Interval] = ?

The "70th week" = 7 (3 1/2 years, 1260 days, or 42 months in Revelation ... 1/2 week?)
483+7=490

(I can't see how Missler can subtract the Church Age from Israel like this, as it is the New Covenant, including both Jews and Gentiles. This is one of the main reasons I reject much of Missler's eschatology.)


It appears there is quite a bit of cooking the years here, but it is rather fascinating just the same, and you can't dismiss it all. You will also notice that Missler interprets Daniel's 70th week much differently than I would. He suggests that these repeated periods of 70 * 70, or 490, is how God is offering forgiveness to Israel, over the course of history.

Martin Anstey, in his book, The Romance of Bible Chronology, builds an overall chronology of the OT, from Adam to Jesus, which I believe is very accurate to the Scriptures, but it needs to be developed in stages. I am first interested in demonstrating the chronology and kings of the Persian era of Ezra-Nehemiah-Esther, and the Prophets, Haggai-Zechariah.


Main assertion to prove: Artaxerxes is the same person as Darius.

To begin with, Ezra and Nehemiah were one book in the Jewish Bible, where Ezra focuses on the rebuilding of the Temple, while Nehemiah focuses on the rebuilding of the wall.

In Nehemiah 10 we are given a list of the priests and Levites who signed the covenant renewal document prepared by Nehemiah (Neh 9:38). The names on this list are identical with those who returned to Jerusalem at the time of Cyrus? decree. If the long chronology were correct, there would be a 91 year gap between these two events, whereas, in the short chronology, there are only 34 years between the two events.

List of Priests in 1st year of Cyrus (Nehemiah 12:1-21)
vs
List of Priests in 20th year of Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 10:1-12)

Number	Priests in 1st year of Cyrus (Nehemiah 12:1-21)	Priests in 20th year of Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 10:1-12)
1.	Seraiah	Seraiah
2.	Jeremiah	Jeremiah
3.	Ezra	(Azariah)
4.	Amariah	Amariah
5.	Malluch	Malluch
6.	Hattush	Hattush
7.	Shechaniah (Shebaniah)	Shebaniah
8.	Rehum (Harim)
9.	Meremoth	Meremoth
10.	Iddo
11.	Ginnetho	Ginnethon
12.	Abijah	Abijah
13.	Miamin	Mijmin
14.	Maadiah	(Maaziah)
15.	Bilgah	Bilgai
16.	Shemiah	Shemiah
17.	Joiarib
18.	Jedaiah
19.	Sallu (Sallai)
20.	Amok
21.	Hilkiah
22.	Jedaiah	Jedaiah

List of Levites in 1st year of Cyrus (Nehemiah 12:1-21)
vs
List of Levites in 20th year of Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 10:1-12)

Number	Levites in 1st year of Cyrus (Nehemiah 12:1-21)	Levites in 20th year of Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 10:1-12)
1.	Jeshua	Jeshua
2.	Binnui	Binnui
3.	Kadmiel	Kadmiel
4.	Sherebiah	Shebaniah
5.	Judah	Hodijah cp. Ezra 2:40; 3:9)
6.	Mattaniah
7.	Bakbuldah
8.	Unni

It is quite natural that 20 out of 30 men would be alive 34 years later, but not so, 91 years later. Modern commentators get around this by saying the names in Nehemiah 10 are family names, not personal names, that is, they are the names of the priestly courses. Firstly, a number of the names in Nehemiah 10:1-27 are found in Nehemiah 3. Secondly, if the names in the two lists are meant to be priestly courses, then the two lists should be identical, which they are not.

Martin Anstey presents the following list of High Priests in his book, The Romance of Bible Chronology, volume 1, p 255:

The succession of the high priests was as follows (1 Chron. 6:3-15, Ezra 3:2, 7:1-5, Neh. 12:10-11) :
List of High Priests from Aaron to Jaddua:
1. Aaron.
2. Eleazer.
3. Phinehas.
4. Abishua.
5. Bukki.
6. Uzzi.
7. Zerahiah.
8. Meraioth.
9. Amariah I.
10. Ahitub I.
11. Zadok I.
12. Ahimaaz.
13. Azariah I.
14. Johanan.
15. Azariah II, contemporary with Solomon (1 Chron. 6:10) B.C. 1023-983.
16. Amariah II.
17. Ahitub II.
18. Zadok II.
19. Shallum.
20. Hilkiah, contemporary with Josiah (2 Chron. 34:9) B.C. 639-608.
21. Azariah III.
22. Seraiah. Slain by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 25:18-22) B.C. 586.
23. Jehozadak, went into captivity (1 Chron. 6:15) B.C. 586.
24. Joshua, returned with Zerubbabel (Ezra 3:2) B.C. 536.
25. Joiakim, contemp. with Nehemiah and Ezra (Neh. 12:26) B.C. 515-490.
26. Eliashib, allied to Tobiah (Neh. 13:4, 6:18) younger contemporary
of Nehemiah (Neh. 3:1, 13:4-5) B.C. 502-488.
27. Joiada.
28. Jonathan (Johanan).
29. Jaddua, contemporary with Darius, the last Persian King, who was
slain by Alexander the Great B.C. 330.

Note: Anstey uses Ptolemaic B.C. dates here, but he makes a case for 82 less years to account for Ptolemy's error in stating the chronology of the Persian kings. Jordan and many other conservative Christians also believe that modern chronologists have misrepresented all dates that precede the Persian kings by 82 years.

Anstey, p.247,

Two lists are given here. The first is identical with the list of the priests who returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel (Neh 12:1-7) except that we have here only 21 names instead of 22, the name of Hattush, No. 6, being omitted. The second list is the list of their eldest sons who succeeded them, either on their death, or on their becoming too aged to discharge the duties of their office in the days of Joiakim, i.e. immediately before, or else during the days of Ezra and Nehemiah (Neh. 12:26), which of course carries us on to the 20th, or possibly to the 32nd year of Artaxerxes, B.C. 502-490. This list contains only 20 names, the eldest son of Miniamin, No. 13, being omitted.

Anstey?s Priests who Returned with Zerubbabel and Jeshua
Neh 12:1-7; 12:12-21
vs
Eldest Sons: Priests in the Days of Joiakim the Son of Jeshua
Neh 12:12-21

Priests who Returned with Zerubbabel and Jeshua Neh 12:1-7; 12:12-21	Eldest Sons: Priests in the Days of Joiakim the Son of Jeshua Neh 12:12-21
1. Seriah	Meraiah
2. Jeremiah	Hananiah
3. Ezra	Meshullam
4. Amariah	Jehohanun
5. Melicu	Jonathan
6. Hattush (omitted Neh 12:12-27)
7. Shebaniah	Joseph
8. Harim	Adna
9. Meraioth	Helkai
11. Ginnethon	Meshullam
12. Abijah	Zichri
13.Miniamin
14. Moadiah	Piltai
15. Bilgai	Shammua
16. Shemaiah	Jehonathan
17. Joiarib	Mattenai
18. Jedaiah	Uzzi
19. Sallai	Kallai
20. Amok	Eber
21. Hilkiah	Hashabiah
22. Jedaiah	Nethaneel

James Jordan, a partial preterist, presents the following in his Biblical Chronology articles:

Old Jeshua died immediately after the Temple was dedicated, which means that his son Joiakim took over at the time Ezra arrived, a year later. Joiakim?s son was Eliashib (Neh 12:10) , who had two sons, Joiada (Neh 12:10) , who served first as high priest, and Johanan (Neh 12:23; Ezra 10:6) , who served with and after him.

Short chronology possible time-line:

Darius yr 6 ? Jeshua age 80, dies; Joiakim 60; Eliashib 40; Joiada 20; Johanan 18

Darius yr 7 ? Johanan 19, has room in Temple (Ezra 10:6)

Darius yr 14 ? Johanan 26, has title of high priest, according to Elephantine letters

Darius yr 17 ? Johanan 29, has title of high priest, according to Elephantine letters

Darius yr 20 ? Nehemiah arrives; Joiakim 74; Eliashib 54; Joiada 34; Johanan 32; Joiada?s unnamed son (Jonathan?) 14

Darius yr 33 ? Nehemiah?s 2nd visit (Neh 13:28); Eliashib 67; Joiada 47; Johanan 45; Joiada?s son (Jonathan?), married 27; Jaddua 2.


This would take Jaddua (who would have been in his 70's) right down to Alexander the Great, in 330 BC, which would now be an accurate historical date.

Because the present scholarly opinion is that Ezra and Nehemiah lived in the of Artaxerxes Longimanus, it is assumed that the Darius of the Elephantine papyri must be Darius II, who followed Longimanus. In terms of the short chronology, however, these letters should be understood as having been written in the time of Darius the Great.

Ezra was still alive when Nehemiah arrived in the 20th year of Darius? reign, and was alive at the dedication of the wall, however, it is erroneously believed by many that it was constructed in 52 days (Neh 6:15). But Nehemiah 5:14 says that he was in Jerusalem for 12 years. Before he left to rebuild the wall, Nehemiah told the King of Persia that he would return (Neh 2:6). And in Neh 6:1, it says, ?no breach remained in it [the wall] although at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates?. Then in 6:15, ?So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.?, suggesting that it took 12 years to complete the walls, followed by 52 days to install the gates. Then Nehemiah returned to Persia, having completed his task.

Jordan continues:

(Although adjusted revisionist dates will be presented later after the underlying argument is secured, for now, traditional BC dates continue to be used)


Cyrus was succeeded by his son Cambyses in 529 BC, Cambyses put his brother Smerdis to death in order to secure the throne. But, upon Cambyses? death, a pseudo-Smerdis claimed the throne (thought to be a Magian priest named Gomates or Gaumata).

Darius reigned 36 years (521 ? 486 BC) , and was followed by Xerxes, who reigned 21 years (485-465 BC), followed by Artaxerxes Longimanus ?the Long Handed?, who reigned for 40 years (464 ? 423 BC) . Secular sources say his successors were, Darius II, Artaxerxes II, Artaxerxes III, Arogus, and Darius II.

Darius = The Doer of Good
Xerxes = Hero Among Kings
Artaxerxes = King of Justice
Ahaseurus = King of Rulers

It is interesting to note that the inscription of Xerxes at Persepolis reads: ?I am Xerxes ? [who] made this portal ? says Darius the King?. This proves that these Persian kings were called by different names.


Remember, quoting Anderson, Missler says:

Possible 4 decrees of Ezra-Nehemiah:

1. Cyrus, 537 BC (Ezra 1:2-4)

2. Darius (Ezra 6:1-5,8,12)

3. Artaxerxes, 458 BC (Ezra 7:11-26)

4. Artaxerxes, 445 BC (Neh 2:5-8,17,18) only one that says explicitly the city of Jerusalem

But Ezra 6:14,

?And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded , and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.?

cannot be referring to a future Artaxerxes, based on the context here in the life of Darius. The problem with this verse is that the only decree of Artaxerxes mentioned in Ezra to this point is in 4:7-23, which was a decree to stop building the Temple! Further, if the Artaxerxes of Ezra 6:14 is Longimanus, the rest of Ezra says nothing of any decree of his to build the Temple. True, Nehemiah was joined to Ezra in one book, and it could be said this is referring to the rebuilding of the wall, but then, why is it mentioned in 6:14 here?

The connective, ? and ?, in 6:14 could also be translated ? even ?, or ? to wit ?. For example, Isaiah 17:8 says, ?Nor will he look to that which his fingers have made, to wit : the Asherim and incense stands.? Or, Nehemiah 8:13, ?And on the second day were gathered together the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe , even [or, to wit] to understand the words of the law.?

The Bible often uses names meaningfully, such that,

Ezra 6 would use Darius, to suggest the king was doing good, whereas Ezra 7 speaks of justice, suggesting the use of Artaxerxes.

As an aside, Jordan also believes that Esther was married to Darius the Great, and that the name, Ahaseurus, means chief of rulers, as he was shown to rule over 127 other lands (Esther 1:1). He does so, believing that Mordecai was active already in the days of Jeshua and Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:2)

Consider Ezra 4:4-7,

?Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.?

Jordan suggests, that the Ahaseurus of Ezra 4:6 and the Artaxerxes of 4:7 are both Darius, and that the ?and? of 4:7, should be translated ?to wit? . This means that the phrase, ?until the reign of Darius? applies to Darius-Artaxerxes, and the letter sent to Artaxerxes in 4:7 is the same as the one sent to Ahasheurus in 4:6 . It also means that Ezra 4:5,6 is in chronological order, with suggested translation:

To wit: ?They hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius (do-good) king of Persia. To wit, in the reign of Ahaseurus (Chief of Rulers, Darius-Artaxerxes), in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. To wit, in the days of Artaxerxes (King of Justice, Darius), Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his colleagues, wrote to Artaxerxes, king of Persia; and the text of the letter was written in Aramaic, and translated from Aramaic?.

But, if the wall was not built until Nehemiah came in the 20th year of Darius, why were letters sent complaining about the wall at the beginning of Darius? reign. The answer is seen in Ezra 9:9, which says that the Jews had begun building the wall before Nehemiah, and indeed had erected some kind of wall by the time Ezra had arrived in Jerusalem.

Summarising :

Jeshua, Zerubbabel and their associates returned to Jerusalem in the first year of Cyrus. They built the altar and began building the Temple (Ezra 3). Soon, however, they encountered opposition, which ?discouraged the people of Judah and frightened them from building (Ezra 4:4)?. The people left off working on the Temple and devoted themselves and working on the wall (Haggai 1). God in His mercy raised up adversaries, not having finished the Temple first (Haggai 1). No longer able to work on walls and houses, the people devoted themselves to rebuilding the Temple. This aroused more questions, and another letter was sent to Darius asking about the Temple (Ezra 5). Darius gave permission to rebuild the Temple, which was completed in the 6th year of Darius (Ezra 6). The next year, Ezra arrived, and noted that both the Temple and a rudimentary wall had been completed. This scenario does better justice to texts of Ezra-Nehemiah and Haggai, and does not require that Ezra 4 be yanked out of historical context.

Daniel?s 70 Weeks :

Calvin and other older Bible expositors may well have been right to challenge the Ptolemaic chronology and the existing system of BC dates. It is entirely possible that Daniel?s 70 weeks are weeks of real chronological years, beginning with Cyrus? decree and ending with Jesus? crucifixion.

Daniel 9:25,

?Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. ?

The 7 weeks, or 49 years of Daniel?s prophecy in 9:25, extend from the decree of Cyrus until the 34th year of Darius-Artaxerxes, which takes us down to the end of the book of Nehemiah. (7 years for Cyrus, 8 for Cambyses and pseudo-Smerdis, 34 for Darius) . During those 49 years, the city was indeed rebuilt, and in times of distress.

If the 49 years (7 weeks) prove to be literal years, as we have seen they likely are, then the remaining 63 weeks would also be literal years. In that case, the entire BC system of dating is off, and a great deal of revisionist labour lies before us.


Main assumption: If we assume that the 70 7?s of Daniel 9:24-27 are in fact weeks of years, and that they begin with the decree of Cyrus, then we are forced to move the decree of Cyrus from 536 BC to around 457 BC, with room for variation depending on our precise interpretation of the prophecy. This shift completely wrecks the currently-accepted system of BC dating, which is regarded as inviolable in scholarly circles.


The Artaxerxes View (see Chuck Missler/Robert Anderson, earlier in post)

Some have supposed that there is another decree in the 20th year of Artaxerxes I (Artaxerxes Longimanus) and place the starting point for the 490 year prophecy around 444 BC (Anderson: 445 BC) . This would enable a literal interpretation without changing existing BC dates. The problem is that there is no foundation for the notion of a decree in the reign of Artaxerxes. Nehemiah 2:8,9 records Artaxerxes? letters granting Nehemiah support in his endeavour, but this is not really a decree. By way of contrast, Cyrus? decree is highlighted consistently in the text as the great turning point in the affairs of the Jews (Ezra 1:24; 2 Chron 36:21-23; Jer 29:10; Isa 44:28; 45:13) .

But, as was shown earlier, there is a good possibility that the Artaxerxes of Nehemiah is in fact Darius, not the ruler called Artaxerxes I in literature, in which case the letters mentioned in Nehemiah 2:8,9 were written about 500 BC (current BC dates).

The Symbolic View

The 70 7?s are not years, but simply a prophetic figure, and thus make no prediction of events. In context, however, Daniel has been praying about the literal 70 years of captivity (Daniel 9:2), so it is most likely that the 70 7?s are years. Still, perhaps they are some kind of ?prophetic years?, and are not to be taken so chronologically literal any more than Ezekiel?s Temple, which represented the estate of the Jews after the exile, was to be taken literally.

The Revisionist View

One of the problems with any non-literal or non-consecutive approach to this prophecy is that the NT seems to be against it. And when Jesus was born, people were actually expecting a Messiah, as people knowledgeable of the OT were looking for it, at least suggesting that they were aware of the prophecy of Daniel, as they added up the numbers of his prediction of the coming Messiah.

Jordan, summarising Anstey, says,

One of the main areas suspect in the BC chronology is in the latter years of the Persian kings, before the conquest of Alexander the Great (fixed at 330-331 BC). If the 70 7?s of Daniel are literal years initialized from the decree of Cyrus, 82 years need to be removed. Cyrus to Alexander the Great according to a literal interpretation of Daniel, is 123 years, whereas the Ptolemaic list of kings is 205 years. We need to question 3 things:
1. The reliability of the Greeks as historians of Persian affairs;
2. The reliability of Ptolemy?s King list, and;
3. The reliability of eclipse data.

First, the history of this period, which is known by us almost completely by the Greeks, scholars of the Persian history admit that little is known about the later period of the Persian Empire, except for a few scattered events discussed by Greek writers.

Second, the chronology for this period was originally based almost solely on the King list of Ptolemy (150 AD), a list appended to his Almagest, a book on astronomy. He simply lists the kings of Assyria, Persia, Macedonia, and Rome, with years for each one.

The Protestant Reformers, took biblical chronologies very seriously, and they were very suspicious of the Ptolemaic dates. Calvin says, ?Ecolampadius rightly and prudently admonishes us, that we ought to make the computation from the beginning of the world. For until the ruin of the Temple and the destruction of the city, we can gather with certainty the number of years that have elapsed from the creation of the world; here there is no room for error. The series is plain enough in the Scriptures.?

Calvin then discusses the problem of accounting for these years, noting controversies of his own day: ?After Cyrus had transferred to the Persians the power of the East ? some enumerate about 200 years, others 125 years, and some between the two, 140 years.?

Calvin continues: ?We must how our ignorance springs chiefly from the Persian custom: whoever undertook a warlike expedition appointed his son his viceroy. Thus, Cambyses reigned, according to some, 20 years, and to others, only 7; because the crown was placed on his head during his father?s lifetime ? [Herodotus asserts] ? when fathers saw the potential danger of their sons destroying each other, they usually created one of them a king; and if they wished to prefer the younger brother to the elder, they called him king, with the concurrence of their council. Hence, the years of their reigns became intermingled, without any fixed method of reckoning them.?

Jordan summarises the 2nd point: In other words, Ptolemy might have the years right as regards each individual king, but we can not simply add them up because they may overlap. Since the Bible indicates a continuity of reign in the years of Darius, and possibly Xerxes and Artaxerxes I as well, the overlapping reigns must be toward the end of the Persian period.

Third, Jordan says, we have to call into question the reliability of eclipse data. In brief, the earth undergoes slight shifts in motion called ?accelerations?, relative to earth, moon, and sun. This is caused by tidal forces and magnetic fluxes under the earth, etc. He refers to the various studies by astronomer, Robert R Newton of Johns Hopkins University. He provided data on the solar system, based on these studies, to NASA. Therefore, eclipse data may turn out to be of little or no use in the study of ancient history.

Daniel 11:2-3, says that three more kings will arise in Persia after Cyrus. They were Cambyses, Darius the Great, and Xerxes. Then would come a fourth, who would become very rich and would stir up the realm of Greece. This was Artaxerxes Longimanus. Usually, though, this is referred to as Xerxes, as the pseudo-Smerdis is considered the second, as Xerxes did accumulate great wealth and attacked Greece.

Jordan suggests, if I am right ? we can now look at the end of the Artaxerxes? reign, 424 BC, subtract 80 years, and get 344 BC. And Alexander, the ?mighty king? of Daniel 11:3 conquered Persia 13 years later in 331 BC. By 344 BC, Philip of Macedon had already become dominant in Greece; he ascended the throne in 359 and conquered Greece by 338. Alexander came to the throne in 336 BC. Thus, if this date revision were accurate, Greece was ascending in power when Longimanus? reign came to an end.

The wars between Greece and Persia between the reigns of Darius the Great and Xerxes, are, however, also attested in Greek history and chronology. This data makes it doubtful if 80 years can be filtered out of that history. Still, more recent scholars have put into question all of Greek history before Alexander, including the reliability of Olympiad dating (see Peter James, Centuries of Darkness).

Jordan?s Conclusion is agnostic. Certainly, everything in Daniel 9, including the grammar, points to 490 consecutive years between Cyrus and Christ. The matter is not, however, so absolutely certain as to exclude any possibility of the 70 weeks being a symbolic construct. More work is required to work out an alternative.

Jordan?s reference chart:

Event	Current BC	Revisionist BC	Revisionist AM
Cyrus? decree	536	457	3476
Cambyses	528	449	3484
Darius	521	442	3491
Xerxes	485	406	3526
.. Artaxerxes I	464	overlapping
.. Darius II	423	reigns,
.. Artaxerxes II	404	so detailed
.. Artaxerxes III	358	chronology
.. Arogus	307	not
.. Darius II	335	possible
Alexander conquers	331	331	3601
ZERO AD
Crucifixion of Christ, middle of 70th week	AD 30	AD 30	3962
Abomination of Temple: Christians depart finally			4000
Destruction of Jerusalem	AD 70	AD 70	4002

Martin Anstey, The Romance of Bible Chronology, p 117 says,
(btw his dates are from Adam, what he calls ad hominus, AH):

The 400 years of Gen. 15:13 and Acts 7:6.

Gen. 15:13.

"And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs,
(and shall serve them;
and they shall afflict them);
four hundred years."

Acts 7:6. Stephen's speech -

" And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land
(and they should bring them into bondage;
and entreat them evil);
four hundred years."


Abraham's seed here means Abraham's posterity, viz. Isaac from the time that he was weaned, and became Abraham's heir (Gal. 3:29-4:5) and Isaac's descendants.

1. They were strangers and sojourners in Canaan (a land not theirs).
From the weaning of Isaac and the casting out of Ishmael (Gen. 21:10) =2113 [AH]
To the going down into Egypt (Gen. 47:9) = 2298 [AH]

2298 - 2113 = 185 years

2. They were in favour in Egypt (a land not theirs)
From the going down into Egypt (Gen. 47:9) = 2298 [AH]
To the death of Joseph (Gen. 50:26) = 2369 [AH]

2369 - 2298 = 71 years

3. They were brought into bondage and affliction in Egypt,
From the death of Joseph Gen. 50:26 = 2369 [AH]
To the Exodus (Ex. 12:40,41 ) = 2513 [AH]

2513 - 2369 = 144 years

144 + 71 = 215 years

185 + 215 = 400 years.

The structure of Gen. 15:13 and Acts 7:6 shows that the first line corresponds with the fourth line, the second and third lines being a parenthesis, so that the term " 400 years " refers to the whole period of the sojourning in Canaan as well as in Egypt, and not to the sojourning in Egypt alone.

The 430 years of Ex. 12:40 is 30 years longer than the 400 years of Gen. 15:13, because it includes the sojourning of Abraham himself as well as that of his SEED. By a figure of speech the term " children of Israel " is made to include Abraham himself. So Milton speaks of " Eve the fairest of all her daughters."


Anstey, The Romance of Bible Chronology, p. 147,

ISRAEL UNDER THE JUDGES
From the 1st Servitude, under Cushan to the Election of Saul
(Paul, Acts 13: 19,20)

PERIODS	Servi- tudes	Rest	Usur- pation	Judge- ship
1st Servitude, under Cushan (Jud 3:8)	8
Rest by Othniel (Jud 3:11)		40
2nd Servitude, under Eglon (Jud 3:14)	18
Rest by Ehud (Jud 3:30)		80
Judgeship of Shamgar (Jud 3:31) included in 3rd Servitude under Jabin (Jud 5:6,7)
3rd Servitude, under Jabin (Jud 4:3)	20
Rest by Barak (Jud 5:31)		40
4th Servitude, under Midian (Jud 6:1)	7
Rest by Gideon (Jud 8:28)		40
Usurpation of Abimelech (Jud 9:22)			3
Judgeship of Tola (Jud 10:2)				23
Judgeship of Jair (Jud 10:3)				22
5th Servitude, under Ammon (Jud 10:8)	18
Judgeship of Jephthah (Jud 12:7)				6
Judgeship of Ibzan (Jud 12:11)				7
Judgeship of Elon (Jud 12:11)				10
Judgeship of Abdon (Jud 12:14)				8
6th Servitude, under Philistines (Jud 13:1)	40
Judgeship of Samson, 20 years, concurrent with, and included in the 40 years of the 6th Servitude under the Philistines (Jud 15:20)
Judgeship of Eli: from end of 6th Servitude under the Philistines (Jud 13:1), to death of Eli (1 Sam 4:18)				40
Judgeship of Samuel: from the death of Eli (1 Sam 4:18) to the election of Saul (1 Sam 7:2): N.B. 1 Sam 7:12-17 is a review, not a continuation of the narrative				20
Subtotals (Jud 13:1)	111	200	3	136

THE WHOLE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES

PERIODS	Years
Servitude	111
Rest	200
Usurpation	3
Judgeship	136
Total	450

Acts 13: 19-20,

"And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot. And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet."

Anstey?s 300 years of Jephthah (from Heshbon), 450 years of Paul (from Cushan),
480 years of 1 Kg 6:1 (from the Exodus)

Description of the Date Range	300	450	480
Wilderness period, Exodus to Kadesh, 1 year (Num 10:11-12; 13:17-20); Kadesh to Zered, 38 years (Deut 2:14); Zered to entry, 1 year (conquest of Heshbon) (Deut 2:7; Josh 4:19; 5:6)	1	-	40
7 year?s war of Conquest of Canaan: From entry into Canaan (Num 10:11-12; 13:17-20) to division of land (Josh 13:7-10) Exodus= AM 2513, @spies Caleb = 40 (Josh 14:7) Caleb = 85 at division of Land = AM 2560 Therefore the Conquest of the Land = 2560 ? 2513 = 7	7	-	7
Joshua-Judges Connection from division of Land to 1st Servitude under Cushan: from 300 years of Judges 11:35 and 480 years of 1 Kg 6:1 1+7+8+40+18+80+20+40+7+40+3+23 = 287 300 ? 287 = 13	13	-	13
1st Servitude, under Cushan (Jud 38) Not included in the reckoning of 1 Kg 6:1	8	8	-
Rest by Othniel (Jud 3:11)	40	40	40
2nd Servitude, under Eglon (Jud 3:14) Not included in the reckoning of 1 Kg 6:l	18	18	-
Rest by Ehud (Jud 3:30)	80	80	80
Judgeship of Shamgar (Jud 3:31), concurrent with, and included in, the 20 years of the 3rd Servitude, under Jabin (Jud 5:6,7)	-	-	-
3rd Servitude, under Jabin (Jud 4:3) Not included in the reckoning of 1 Kg 6:1	20	20	-
Rest by Barak (Jud 5:31)	40	40	40
4th Servitude, under Midian (Jud 6:1) Not included in the reckoning of 1 Kg 6:1	7	7	-
Rest by Gideon (Jud 8:28)	40	40	40
Usurpation of Abimelech (Jud 9:22) Not included in the reckoning of 1 Kg 6:1	3	3	-
Judgcship of Tola (Jud 10:2)	23	23	23
Judgeship of Jair (Jud 10:3) Not included in Jephthah's 300 years, because "in that year" (Jair's 1st year ? Jud 10:8) Ammon recenquered Heshbon	-	22	22
5th Servitude, under Ammon (Jud 10:8) Not included in Jephthah's 300 years (Jud 11:26), because during these 18 years Israel was not in possession of the lands in dispute. Also not included in the reckoning of 1 Kg 6:1	-	18	-
The 300 years of Jephthah (Jud 11:26), from the Conquest of Heshbon (Num 21; Deut 2)	300
Judgeship of Jephthah (Jud 12:7)		6	6
Judgeship of Elon (Jud 12:11)		10	10
Judgeship of Abdon (Jud 12:14)		8	8
6th Servitude, under the Philistines (Jud 13:1) Not included in the reckoning of 1 Kg 6:1		40	-
Judgeship of Samson, 20 years (Jud 16:31), concurrent with, and included in, the 40 years of the 6th Servitude, under the Philistines (Jud 15:20)		-	-
Judgeship of Eli: from end of the 6th Servitude, under the Philistines (Jud 13:1) to death of Eli (1 Sam 4:18)		40	40
Judgeship of Samuel from the death of Eli (1 Sam 4:18) to the election of Saul (1 Sam 7:2). N.B.: 1 Sam. 7:l2-17 is a review, not a continuation of the narrative		20	20
The 450 years of Paul (Acts 13:20) being the exact sum of all the periods between the division of the land and the election of Saul (Jud 2:6 to 1 Sam 8:5; Acts 13:19-21)		450
Reign of Saul (Acts 13:21)			40
Reign of David (2 Sam 5:4,5)			40
Reign of Solomon : at the building of the Temple in the 4th year of his reign (1 Kg 6:1)			4
The 480 years of 1 Kg 6:1 being the sum of the periods, omitting the 6 servitudes, the usurpation, and the two concurrent judgeships			480
Total: 480 years of Israel governed by God + 114 years of servitude and usurpation = 594 years

The important thing is that Martin Anstey, in his books on Bible Chronology has demonstrated how all the dates do corroborate each other for the three different date schemes chosen for the time of the Judges. This is another reason, why I have confidence that Daniel 9:24-27 really does correct the rather poor historic remains for the Persian era, and another reason why I do trust the text of the Bible. If the chronology is air-tight through the remainder of the OT, then I can be patient and trust that Daniel's is correct too. This also is a reason why I don't throw out the baby with the bath water, when some minor difficulty arises with OT Messianic prophecies fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and recorded in the NT.

If we were to compare some of the tables in Anstey?s companion volume 2 of The Romance of Bible Chronology, p. 2, he lists a few explanatory notes:

1. AN. HOM. = Anno Hominis = The year of the Era of Man, reckoning from the year of the Creation of Adam onward.
2. B.C. = The year of the Era before Christ, reckoning from the year B.C. I backward.
3. Bible Dates = The years of the dated events of the Old Testament according to the testimony of the Hebrew Text.
4. Ptolemaic Dates = The years of the dated events of past history, according to the Received Chronology, based on Ptolemy's Canon.
5. In Tables I and II, the Ptolemaic Dates are, in the opinion of the Author, 82 years higher than the truth, the real equivalent for the year AN. HOM. I being, not B.C. 4124 as given in Table I, but B.C. 4042.
6. In Table III, the Ptolemaic dates do not represent the view of the Author. For the period between the Old and the New Testament Records they represent the Received Chronology adopted by Clinton and modern Chronologers generally. For the period of the New Testament Records they represent the Chronology adopted by Andrews in his Life of our Lord.
7. The Author does not determine the date of the birth of our Lord, but he regards the Crucifixion or the Cutting off of the Messiah as having taken place, in accordance with the prophecy of Daniel, 483 years after "the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem " in the first year of Cyrus, AN. HOM. 3589. Hence the Bible Date for the Crucifixion will be the year AN. HOM. 4071, and if our Lord began His ministry at the age of 30 and was crucified at the age of 33, the Bible Date for the birth of our Lord will be the year AN. HOM. 4O38.

Following, is a table combining all of the chronology of Anstey, from Adam to the crucifixion of Christ, with one exception. Considering Daniel?s Messianic prophecy in chapter 9, I have chosen to date the crucifixion of Christ in the middle of Daniel?s 70th week, whereas, Anstey dates it at the end of Daniel?s 69th week. This comes from my personal conviction that it was the coming Messiah who would cause the sacrificial system to be discontinued in the middle of the 70th week, and not some future antichrist.

The Scriptural basis for my chronological efforts is found in Daniel 9:24-27:

?Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. ?

This revised table now includes the period of the Judges, and the Kings of Israel and Judah in its chronology from Adam to Christ.

The key to understanding Anstey?s approach to the reigning dates of the Kings of Israel and Judah, is given by Willis J. Beecher, in an article on " The Kings of Israel and Judah, " in the American Presbyterian Review for April, 1880:

" In recording dates, " he says, " these narratives follow a simple and consistent system. The following rules are obeyed with entire uniformity, in all the dates of the period under consideration :?

" Rule 1. All the years mentioned are current years of a consecutive system. The first year of a King is not a year's time beginning with the month and day of his accession, but a year's time beginning (1) the preceding, or (2) the following New Year's Day?the New Moon before the Passover, Nisan 1st.

" Rule 2. When a reign closes and another begins during a year, that year is counted to the previous reign (Judaite mode).

" Rule 3. Regularly in the case of the earlier Kings of Israel, and occasionally in other cases, the broken year is counted to the following reign as well as to the previous reign (Israelite mode).

" Rule 4. When we use the ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) which date the beginning or the end of a reign to check the cardinal numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.), which denote its duration, we must count both sets as designating complete calendar years. That is, we must count the date given in the ordinal as being either the opening or the close of the year designated by the ordinal.
Otherwise the units represented by the two sets of numbers are of different sorts, and cannot be numerically compared.

OLD TESTAMENT CHRONOLOGY
Using Martin Anstey?s Chronology and Jordan?s 70th Week

Birth	Name	Death	Description	A.M.	B.C.
0	Adam	930		0	4046
130	Seth	912		130	3916
105	Enos	905		235	3811
90	Cainan	910		325	3721
70	Mahaleel	895	10 Generations (Genesis 5)	395	3651
65	Jared	962		460	3586
162	Enoch	365		622	3424
65	Methuselah	969		687	3359
187	Lamech	777		874	3172
182	Noah	950	at 500, Shem, Ham, and Japheth	1056	2990
500	Shem	600		1556	2490
			Flood: (0 + 1556 + 100 = 1656)	1656	2390
100	Arphaxad	438		1658	2388
35	Salah	433		1693	2353
30	Eber	464		1723	2323
34	Peleg	239		1757	2289
			Babel: In Peleg?s Lifetime From	1757	2289
			To	1996	2050
30	Reu	239	10 Generations (Genesis 11)	1787	2259
32	Serug	230		1819	2227
30	Nahor	148		1849	2197
29	Terah	205	Terah dies in Haran	1878	2168
130	Abram	175	at 175, Abram, Terah, Haran	2008	2038
75	Abraham		Leaves Haran (Gen 11:31-32; 12:4)	2083	1963
25	Isaac	180		2108	1938
60	Jacob	147		2168	1901
91	Joseph	110		2259	1787
			130: Jacob goes to Egypt	2298	1748
			147: Jacob dies	2315	1731
			110: Joseph dies	2369	1677
			Moses born	2433	1613
			Exodus	2513	1533
			594 years from Exodus to Temple begun (see Martin Anstey, The Romance of Bible Chronology, p. 154)	+594	-594
			All years elapsed for Judges and Kings will now be placed in Birth column
40			The Wilderness Period: Ex 11.5 m + Lev 1 m + Num 38 y 9 m + Dt 2.5 m = 40 years	2513	1533
7			The Seven Year?s War	2553	1493
13			The Joshua-Judges Connection	2560	1486
8			1st Servitude of Cushan	2573	1473
40			Rest by Othniel	2581	1465
18			2nd Servitude of Eglon	2621	1425
80			Rest by Ehud	2639	1407
			Judgeship of Shamgar included in 3rd Servitude of Jabin
20			3rd Servitude of Jabin	2719	1327
40			Rest by Barak	2739	1307
7			4th Servitude of Midian	2779	1267
40			Rest by Gideon	2786	1260
3			Usurpation of Abimelech	2826	1220
23			Judgeship of Tola	2829	1217
22			Judgeship of Jair	2852	1194
18			5th Servitude of Ammon	2874	1172
6			Judgeship of Jephthah	2892	1156
7			Judgeship of Ibzan	2898	1150
10			Judgeship of Elon	2905	1143
8			Judgeship of Abdon	2915	1133
40			6th Servitude of the Philistines	2923	1125
			Judgeship of Samson included in 6th Servitude of the Philistines
40			Judgeship of Eli	2963	1085
20			Eli-Saul Connection = Judgeship of Samuel	3003	1045
40			Reign of Saul	3023	1023
40			Reign of David	3163	983
4			Reign of Solomon to 4th year	3103	943
			Temple begun: 4th year of Solomon?s reign (1 Kings 6:1)	3107	939
			Temple completed: 11th year of Solomon?s reign (1 Kings 6:38)	3114	932
			Kings of Judah Kings of Israel
17	Rehoboam		(1 Kg 11:43; 14:21)	3143	903
21	Jeroboam		(1 Kg 12:20; 14:20)	3143	903
3	Abijam		(1 Kg 15:1,2)	3160	886
41	Asa		(1 Kg 15:9,10)	3163	883
1	Nadab		(1 Kg 15:25)	3164	882
23	Baasha		(1 Kg 15:28-33)	3165	881
1	Elah		(1 Kg 16:8)	3188	858
11	Omri		(1 Kg 16:22,23)	3189	857
20	Ahab		(1 Kg 16:29)	3200	846
25	Jehoshaphat		(1 Kg 22:41,42)	3204	842
1	Ahaziah		(1 Kg 22:51)	3220	826
12	Jehoram		(2 Kg 1:17; 3:1)	3221	825
3	Jehoram		(1 Kg 22:50; 2 Kg 1:17; 3:1; 8:16,17)	3229	817
1	Ahaziah		(2 Kg 8:25,26; 9:29)	3232	814
6	Athaliah		(2 Kg 11:1,3,4,16)	3233	813
28	Jehu		(2 Kg 9:13,24,27,33; 10:36)	3233	813
40	Joash		(2 Kg 12:1)	3239	807
17	Jehoahaz		(2 Kg 10:35; 13:1)	3261	785
15	Jehoash		(2 Kg 13:10-16)	3278	768
29	Amaziah		(2 Kg 12:21; 14:1,2,17-22)	3279	767
41	Jeroboam II		(2 Kg 14:16,23)	3293	753
11			Interregnum	3308	738
52	Uzziah		(2 Kg 14:21; 15:1,2)	3319	727
22			Interregnum	3334	712
1	Zechariah		(2 Kg 14:29; 15:8)	3356	690
1	Shallum		(2 Kg 15:10,13)	3357	689
10	Menahem		(2 Kg 15:14,17)	3358	688
2	Pekahiah		(2 Kg 15:23,24)	3368	678
20	Pekah		(2 Kg 15:25-27)	3370	676
16	Jotham		(2 Kg 15:32,33)	3371	675
16	Ahaz		(2 Kg 15:38; 16:1,2)	3387	659
8			Interregnum	3390	656
8	Hoshea		(2 Kg 17:1)	3398	648
27	Hezekiah		(2 Kg 16:20; 18:1,2)	3403	643
			Fall of Israel	3406	640
55	Manasseh		(2 Kg 20:21; 21:1)	3430	616
2	Amon		(2 Kg 21:18,19)	3485	561
30	Josiah		(2 Kg 21:23,26; 22:1)	3487	559
1	Jehoahaz		(2 Kg 21:30,31)	3517	529
10	Jehoiakim		(2 Kg 23:36)	3518	528
1	Jehoiachim		(2 Kg 24:6-8)	3528	518
10	Zedekiah		(2 Kg 24:17,18; 25:1-21)	3529	517
			Fall of Jerusalem	3539	505
			Decree of Cyrus (Isaiah 44:28-45:13; Dan 9:25)	3589	457
			69.5 weeks of years = 486.5 years = 487 -1 yrs adj = 486	+486	-486
			Messiah ?Cut Off? after 486.5 years Middle of week 70 (Dan 9:24-27)	4075	AD 29
			Messiah ?actually born? calendar date	4042	BC 5
			Commencement of the Christian Era	4046	BC 1
			Destruction of the Temple	4116	AD 70

Anstey has quite a bit to say about Josephus in The Romance of Bible Chronology, volume 1, beginning at p. 263.

?Josephus' history of the period of the captivity is contained in his Antiquities, Book x, Chapters 10, 11. It is derived partly from Scripture and partly from Berosus' History of Chaldea ? Josephus' history of the period of the return is contained in his Antiquities, Book xi, which brings his narrative down to the time of Alexander the Great ? Josephus says that in the 70th year from the day that the Jews were removed out of their own Land, Cyrus, in the first year of his reign, gave them leave to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their city and the Temple of God. This was done in consequence of his reading the passage in the Book of Isaiah (44:29-45:13) in which he is mentioned by name.

Josephus follows Herodotus in making Cyrus die in the war against the Massageta?, not Xenophon, who says he died a peaceful death in his own bed. Josephus identifies the Artaxerxes of Ezra 4:23 with Cambyses, after whom he says the Magi attained the government of Persia for one year. Zerubbabel came from Jerusalem and obtained from Darius, the next King, permission
to rebuild the Temple, and " all that Cyrus intended to do before him, relating to the restoration of Jerusalem, Darius also ordained should be done accordingly." Amongst the number of the distinguished men who returned with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:2, Neh. 7:7), he mentions the name of the Mordecai of the Book of Esther.

It is very difficult to give an account of Josephus' view of the history of the Persian period. It is just the kind of history that would remain, if that of the Books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther were " emended," " corrected " and interpolated by some later copyist or editor with a view to bringing it into accord with some other version of the history. The result is just such a mixture of Scriptural events attributed to wrong persons as would follow from incorrect identifications of the persons named in the narrative. This may be due to Josephus himself, or more probably to some later hand ?

Josephus tells us that on the death of Darius, " Xerxes his son " took the Kingdom. Perhaps this sentence is a late interpolation, and the name Xerxes throughout the succeding narrative may be a " correction " by some late editor, supplanting the name Artaxerxes. For by Xerxes, Josephus always means the Artaxerxes of Ezra and Nehemiah. According to Josephus, it is this " Xerxes " who gives to Ezra the letter of Ezra 71 2 beginning, " Xerxes King of Kings, unto Ezra the priest." On the 12th day of the 1st month of the 7th year of this " Xerxes " they set out to go to Jerusalem (cp. Ezra 8:31; 7:9). Then follow the rest of the events contained in Ezra 9 and 10.

Nehemiah is described as cupbearer to this " Xerxes." Nehemiah goes up to Jerusalem in the 25th year of this " Xerxes " and builds the walls in spite of the opposition of the Samaritans. The walls are completed in the 28th year of this " Xerxes," and the chapter concludes with the words " now this was done in the days of " Xerxes.".

But the "Xerxes " of Ptolemy's Canon, the son of Darius, reigned only 20 years, and all the events ascribed to the reign of the " Xerxes " of Josephus, are attributed to the reign of " Artaxerxes " in Scripture.

Hence, we are compelled to say that either (1) Josephus used the word " Xerxes " as another name for the Artaxerxes whom modern scholars identify with Longimanus, in which case the words which make him the " son of Darius " are a late interpolation, or a mistake of Josephus himself; or else (2) Josephus is really referring under the name of " Xerxes " to Darius Hystaspes, and the opening sentence of the Antiquities, Book xi, Chap, v, which describes this " Xerxes " as a " son of Darius " is a late interpolation. In no case do the events which Josephus attributes to the reign of this " Xerxes " belong to Xerxes the " son of Darius," the Xerxes of Thermopylae and Salamis.

The confusion deepens as we pass into chapter 6. " After the death of Xerxes the Kingdom was transferred to his son Cyrus, whom the Greeks called Artaxerxes." The relationship here indicated points to Artaxerxes Longimanus (B.C. 464-424), but the sentence is probably either a late
interpolation or an indication of Josephus' inability to understand the true meaning of the Ezra-Nehemiah-Esther narrative. For this " Artaxerxes " is immediately identified with the Ahasuerus of Esther, whom modern scholars identify with the " Xerxes " of Ptolemy's Canon. He reigns over 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia. In his 3rd year he makes a costly feast at Shushan. He divorces Vashti, and marries Esther the niece of Mordecai. Haman plots against the Jews, is accused by Esther and hanged, and his office is given to Mordecai. The massacre takes place on the appointed 13th day of Adar, but the Jews defend themselves, and the feast of Purim is iinstituted.

Here again we are compelled to say that either (1) Josephus used the word " Artaxerxes " as another name for Ahasuerus, whom modern scholars identify with the Xerxes of Ptolemy's Canon, in which case the words " Xerxes' son Cyrus, whom the Greeks called Artaxerxes," are a late interpolation, or a mistake of Josephus himself; or else (2) Josephus is really referring,
under the name of " Artaxerxes," to Darius Hystaspes, and the opening sentence of the Antiquities, Book xi, Chap, vi, which describes this "Cyrus whom the Greeks called Artaxerxes " as a " son of Xerxes," is a late interpolation. In no case do the events which Josephus attributes to the reign of this " Artaxerxes the son of Xerxes " belong to Artaxerxes Longimanus.

In chapter 7 we are introduced to Bagoses, the general of " another " Artaxerxes. This is said to indicate Artaxerxes II Mnemon (B.C. 404-359), the reign of Darius II Nothus (B.C. 424-404), being altogether omitted. But the word " another " is not in Josephus at all. The true reading is " Bagoses the general of the people of Artaxerxes ". Vossius " emends " the text by what is really a pure conjecture to " Bagoses the general of another (or the other) Artaxerxes " in order to manufacture another Persian King. He pleads Ruffinus's Latin Version of Josephus. But (1) the translation will not bear the construction put upon it, and (2) a long received reading of an ancient author ought not to be varied from, without the authority of some good manuscript to justify the emendation, and in this case there is none alleged.

The next King to this " Cyrus whom the Greeks call Artaxerxes " is " Darius the last King of Persia." He is mentioned in the following paragraph, and is described as a contemporary of Sanballat, the contemporary of Nehemiah on the one hand and Alexander the Great on the other. Josephus tells us that " about this time," Alexander the Great crossed the Hellespont, defeated the generals of Darius at Granicus (B.C. 334) and Issus (B.C. 333), took Tyre and Gaza (B.C. 332), and marched upon Jerusalem.

Jaddua the high priest was in an agony, but warned of God in a dream he went out to meet Alexander the Great as he reached Sapha, from which place there is a good view of Jerusalem and the Temple. When Alexander the Great saw the multitude in white garments, the priests in fine linen, and the high priest in purple and scarlet, with his mitre on his head, having the golden plate whereon the name of God was engraved, he fell down and adored the Name and saluted the high priest. With the date of this visit of Alexander to Jerusalem, in B.C. 332, Josephus connects the death of Sanballat.

The following reigns are all entirely omitted from Josephus :
Darius II Nothus 423-404
Artaxerxes II Mnemon 404-358
Artaxerxes III Ochus 358-327
Arogus or Arses 337-335

This fact is not explained by Vossius and Dr. Hudson when they say Josephus was writing the history of the Jews, and only touched upon those Kings of Persia who had to do with the Jews.

As a matter of fact Josephus, or perhaps we should say his late revisers, represent Sanballat, the contemporary of Nehemiah in B.C. 445, as contemporary with Jaddua in B.C. 332, after an interval of 113 years, and transform the son of Joiada (Neh. 13 28) into his grandson. Modern advocates of the Ptolemaic dates endeavour to save the Chronology by inventing a second Sanballat.

A closer inspection of Josephus will show that, as in the case of the cuneiform Inscriptions, his works contain no authentic materials for any history of Persia for more than one or two generations beyond the end of the Old Testament Record, in the 34th year of Darius Hystaspes, B.C. 488. Josephus confirms the Daniel Chronology, which abridges the duration of
the Persian Empire by 82 years.

His " Xerxes" is not the Xerxes of Ptolemy's Canon, but the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7 and Nehemiah, the Darius Hystaspes of Ptolemy's Canon. His " Artaxerxes " is not Artaxerxes Longimanus, and it is incorrect to say that, according to Josephus, Esther was married to Artaxerxes Longimanus.
According to Josephus, the Artaxerxes who married Esther was simply Artaxerxes, and that was a name borne by several Persian monarchs, and certainly by Darius Hystaspes.

True he does say that this Artaxerxes who married Esther was the son of " Xerxes," but by " Xerxes " he means quite positively the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7 and Nehemiah, who is identified by modern scholars with Artaxerxes Longimanus, but who is really Darius Hystaspes.

According to Josephus, Darius Hystaspes is succeeded by " Xerxes." To him is attributed the whole of the events of Ezra 7-Nehemiah 13. This " Xerxes " is succeeded by " Artaxerxes." To his reign is attributed the whole of the events of the Book of Esther, and nothing but those events,
and they occurred for the most part in one and the same year. Beyond this, Josephus gives us information of no other Persian Kings except the Darius who was slain by Alexander the Great.?

Anstey writes of three different periods of 70 years in the Restoration Period of Ezra-Nehemiah-Esther that can help in determining its chronology, volume 1, pp 234-237:

1. The 70 years' servitude, from the 3rd year of Jehoiakim to the 1st year of Cyrus, B.C. 605-536.

Jeremiah 25:11-12,

?And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the King of Babylon 70 years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that
I will punish the King of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and will make it perpetual desolations.?

Daniel 9:1-2,

?In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.?

2. The 70 years' indignation from the 9th year of Jehoiachin's captivity to the 2nd year of Darius, B.C. 589-520.

This period begins with the boiling cauldron described by Ezekiel 24:1-14, dating from the 10th day of the 10th month of the 9th year of the captivity of Jehoiachin, on which day the Lord said to him:

Ezekiel 24:2,

?Son of man, write thee the name of this day, even of this same day?

This period of 70 years is referred to in

Zechariah 1:7-12,

?Upon the 24th day of the 11th month . . . in the 2nd year of Darius . . . the angel of the Lord answered and said . . . how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these 70 years ??

To which, the Lord answers in 7:16:

?I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies, my house shall be built in it.?

3. The 70 years of the fasts, from the fall of Jerusalem to the 5th year of Darius, B.C. 586-517.

This period occurs 2 years later in Zechariah 5. The foundation of the house of the Lord had been laid on the 24th day of the 9th month of the 2nd year of Darius (Hag. 2: 10,15,18,20). About two years later, on the 4th day of the 9th month of the 4th year of Darius (Zech. 7:1), Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem-melech to enquire whether they should continue to fast on certain days now that the foundation of the House had been laid. In his answer to these men, Zechariah first asks:

Zech. 7:5,

?When ye fasted and mourned in the 5th and 7th month, even these 70 years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me ??

These 70 years are not quite the same as the 70 years of the indignation referred to in Zech. 1:12 . They begin with the fall of the city of Jerusalem in the 11th year of Zedekiah, B.C. 586, and they end with the 5th year of Darius. Zechariah answers his enquirers:

Zech 8:19,

?The fast of the 4th month (commemorating the city smitten on the 9th day of the 4th month of the 11th year of Zedekiah), and the fast of the 5th month (commemorating the burning of the Temple on the 7th day of the 5th month of the 11th year of Zedekiah), and the fast of the 7th month (commemorating the slaying of Gedaliah in the 7th month of the 11th year of Zedekiah), and the fast of the 10th month (commemorating the siege of the city on the 10th day of the 10th month of the 9th year of Zedekiah), shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness and cheerful feasts?

p. 237,

?The first period of the 70 years' servitude enables us to bridge the gulf between the 1st year of Evil-merodach and the 1st year of Cyrus. Here we have the names of some of the monarchs who reigned during these years, Evilmerodach, Darius the Mede and Belshazzar, but not the number of the years they reigned, and consequently no connected, continuous Chronology. The Chronology, is however, given in the Babylonian clay tablets, the true interpretation of which is in entire agreement with the Chronology of the Old Testament.

The second period of the 70 years' indignation enables us to bridge the gulf between the 3rd year of Cyrus and the 2nd year of Darius.

The third period of the 70 years of the fasts duplicates and corroborates the Chronology of the second period of 70 years. Here again we have the names of the monarchs who reigned during these years, Cyrus, Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes, but not the number of the years they reigned, and consequently no continuous, connected Chronology.?

p. 238,

?From Ez. 5:16 we learn that this same Sheshbazzar did actually lay the foundation of the House, and since the foundation of the House was laid by the hands of Zerubbabel (Zech. 4:9), this identifies Sheshbazzar with Zerubbabel, whilst the date of the foundation laying - the 24th day of the 9th month of the 2nd year of Darius - is given in Haggai 2:10,15,18,20.?

Anstey?s Dated Events of the Reign of
Darius Hystaspes = Artaxerxes = Ahasheurus

Day	Month	Year	King	Scripture	Event
24	11	2	Darius	Zech 1:7	70 years? indignation completed
1	6	2	Darius	Hag 1:1	Zerubbabel, Pekah in Judah
24	6	2	Darius	Hag 1:15	Zerubbabel bestirred himself
21	7	2	Darius	Hag 2:1	The glory of the latter house
	8	2	Darius	Zech 1:1	Zechariah appeals for repentance
24	9	2	Darius	Hag 2:10	Foundation of the house laid
		3	Ahaseurus	Est 1:1-5	Ahaseurus' feast: Vashti deposed
4	9	4	Darius	Zech 7:1	Zechariah on 70 years' fasts
		6	Ahaseurus	Est 2:8-16	Esther brought to Shushan
3	12	6	Darius	Ezra 6:15	Temple finished
14	1		Darius	Ezra 6:19	Passover observed at Jerusalem
	10	7	Ahaseurus	Est 2:16-18	Esther's marriage and feast
1	1	7	Artaxerxes	Ezra 7:9	Ezra left Babylon
9	1	7	Artaxerxes	Ezra 8:15-21	Ezra halted 3 days at Ahava
12	1	7	Artaxerxes	Ezra 8:31	Ezra left river of Ahava
1	5	7	Artaxerxes	Ezra 7:9	Ezra arrived at Jerusalem
4	5	7	Artaxerxes	Ezra 8:33	Vessels weighed in Temple
20	9		Artaxerxes	Ezra 10:9	All Judah at Jerusalem
1	10		Artaxerxes	Ezra 10:16	Assize (heathen wives) begun
1	1		Artaxerxes	Ezra 10:17	Assize (heathen wives) ended
	1	12	Ahaseurus	Est 3:7	Haman casts lots for massacre
13	1		Ahaseurus	Est 3:12	Haman's posts went out
15	1		Ahaseurus	Est 5:1-8	Esther touches golden scepter
16	1		Ahaseurus	Est 5:8	Esther's banquet
23	3		Ahaseurus	Est 8:9-14	Mordecai's posts went out
13	12		Ahaseurus	Est 9:1-12	Massacre day, 500 + 75,000 slain
14	12		Ahaseurus	Est 9:15-27	300 slain, 14th Adar, 2nd Purim
	9	20	Artaxerxes	Neh 1:1	Hanani's report
	1	20	Artaxerxes	Neh 2:1	Nehemiah sent to Jerusalem
25	6		Artaxerxes	Neh 6:15	Wall finished in 52 days
1	7		Artaxerxes	Neh 8:2	Ezra reads the Law
2	7		Artaxerxes	Neh 8:13	They read of dwelling in booths
13	7		Artaxerxes	Neh 8:14-18	1st day of Feast of Tabernacles
21	7		Artaxerxes	Neh 8:18	7th day of Feast of Tabernacles
22	7		Artaxerxes	Neh 8:18	Day of Solemn Assembly
24	7		Artaxerxes	Neh 9:1,2	Heathen wives put away
		32	Artaxerxes	Neh 5:14; 13:6	Nehemiah returned to Babylon

Anstey?s seven proofs that Darius Hystaspes = Artaxerxes of Ezra 7 and Nehemiah, pp. 269-272,

1. The Continuity of the Narrative.
The Book of Ezra-Nehemiah is one Book, and the narrative is continuous
throughout, except that in Ezra 3:10-13 we have an anticipatory reference
to the laying of the foundation of the Temple, introduced by the word when,
indicating that the foundation of the Temple was not laid then (in the 2nd
year of Cyrus), but as Haggai says, in the 2nd year of Darius (Hag. 2:10,15,18,20). Compare the following passages:
Ezra 4:24, 2nd year of Darius - Temple begun.
Ezra 6:15, 6th year of Darius - Temple finished.
Ezra 7:8,9, 7th year of Artaxerxes - Ezra comes to Jerusalem.
Neh 1:1, 20th year of Artaxerxes - Hanani's Report.
Neh 2:1, 20th year of Artaxerxes - Nehemiah goes to Jerusalem.
Neh 5:14; 13:6, 32nd year of Artaxerxes - Nehemiah returns to Babylon.
The transition is made in Ezra 6:14 in which we are told that Artaxerxes
was another name for Darius, " Darius even Artaxerxes."

2. The age of Ezra.
If the Artaxerxes of Ezra was Artaxerxes Longimanus (B.C. 464-424), then Ezra would be 128 years old when he came from Babylon in his 7th year (to be present at the dedication of the Temple). For, as pointed out by Lumen in the Prince of Judah, Ezra was the brother
of Jehozadak.

Genealogy of Jehozadak 1 Chron 6:3-15	Genealogy of Ezra Ezra 7:1-5
1. Aaron	Aaron
2. Eleazar	Eleazar
3. Phinehas	Phinehas
4. Abishua	Abishua
5. Bukki	Bukki
6. Uzzi	Uzzi[
7. Zerahiah	Zerahiah
8. Meraioth	Meraioth
9. Amariah I
10. Ahitub I
11. Zadok I
12. Ahimaaz
13. Azariah I
14. Johanan
15. Azariah II	Azariah
16. Amariah II	Amariah
17. Ahitub II	Ahitub
18. Zadok II	Zadok
19. Shallum	Shallum
20. Hilkiah	Hilkiah
21. Azariah III	Azariah
22. Seraiah	Seraiah
JEHOZADAK	EZRA

In Ezra 7 the genealogy is abridged, but it is sufficient for the purpose for which it is thus quoted. In 1 Chronicles it is given in full. Seraiah, the father of Jehozadak and Ezra, was slain by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah in his 19th year, B.C. 586 (2 Kings 25:8,18-21). Therefore Ezra must have been born about or before B.C. 586. But the 7th year of Artaxerxes Longimanus was B.C. 458. Therefore, if the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7 was Artaxerxes Longimanus, Ezra must have been at least 128 years old when he came to Jerusalem in the 7th year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, and at least 141 when he walked in procession at the dedication of the wall with Nehemiah, in the 20th year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, which is absurd.

But the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7 is really Darius Hystaspes, whose 7th year
was B.C. 515, in which year Ezra was (at least) 71 years old, and possibly more.

3. Twenty out of the thirty priests and Levites who returned with Zerubbabel in the ist year of Cyrus, B.C. 536 (Neh. 12:1-9), signed the covenant with Nehemiah (Neh 10:2-10) in the 20th year of the Artaxerxes of Nehemiah. But the 20th year of Artaxerxes Longimanus was B.C. 445. Therefore, if the Artaxerxes of Nehemiah was Artaxerxes Longimanus, then twenty out of these thirty men were still alive 91 years after they came to Jerusalem, although they were all heads of their families then, which is absurd. But the Artaxerxes of Nehemiah was really Darius Hystaspes, and the interval between the return with Zerubbabel, B.C. 536, and the 20th year of Darius Hystaspes, B.C. 502, is only 34 years, during which time 10 of these 30 heads of families had died.

4. The Age of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah returned with Zerubbabel (B.C. 536), Ezra 2:2, Neh. 7:7. His name stands first on the list after Zerubbabel and Joshua. But the 32nd year of Artaxerxes Longimanus was B.C. 433. Therefore, if the Artaxerxes of Nehemiah was Artaxerxes Longimanus, Nehemiah must have been 103 years older when he returned to Babylon in the 32nd year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, than he was when he came to Jerusalem in the ist year of Cyrus as one of the leaders of the people. But the Artaxerxes of Nehemiah is really Darius Hystaspes, and in the 32nd year of his reign (B.C. 490), Nehemiah was only 46 years older than he was when he came to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel in the 1st year of Cyrus.

5. The Artaxerxes of Nehemiah reigned 32 years.
Since the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7 and Nehemiah was not Artaxerxes Longimanus, and a fortiori not any Persian King who reigned after Artaxerxes Longimanus, he must have been Darius Hystaspes, for he reigned at least 32 years (Neh. 5:14, 13:6) which is what no other Persian King before
Artaxerxes Longimanus except Darius Hystaspes did.

6. The Testimony of Josephus, the Old Testament Apocrypha, and the Jewish Tract, Sedar Olani.
Josephus identifies the Artaxerxexs of Ezra 7 with a Persian King (whom he calls Xerxes) who reigned at least 28 years. This cannot be the Xerxes of Ptolemy's Canon, for he only reigned 21 years. It must be Darius Hystaspes, and Josephus (or his late editors) must be in error in describing him as the " Son of Darius "(Hystaspes).
In i ESDRAS the Ahasuerus of Esther is identified with Darius Hystaspes, and in the REST OF ESTHER Ahasuerus is called " Artaxerxes " throughout. Jewish Tradition, as represented in the Jewish Tract Sedar Olam, also identifies the Artaxerxes of Nehemiah with Darius Hystaspes.

7. Corroborative Evidences.
The mention of the " King's sons " in Ezra 7 corroborates the identification of the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7 with Darius Hystaspes, for he had several sons before he became King, who disputed the succession with his sons by his second wife Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus, one of whom Darius Hystaspes appointed to succeed him, viz. Xerxes.
The parenthetic sentence in Neh. 2:6, " the queen also sitting by him," is probably a reference to Esther, with whom Nehemiah may have had communications respecting the state of affairs at Jerusalem, and who may have encouraged him and influenced the King in his favour. But this King reigned at least 32 years (Neh. 13:6), and could not have been Xerxes, who only reigned 21 years, nor any other but Darius Hystaspes, who is frequently called both Artaxerxes and Ahasuerus in the Apocryphal literature and Josephus.
In Ezra 10:44 we read " All these had taken strange wives, and some of them had wives by whom they had children." This corroborates the identification of the Artaxerxes to whose 7th year the remark applies, with some King of Persia, who lived nearer to the time of the return under Zerubbabel than Artaxerxes Longimanus.
The genealogical lists given in Ezra and Nehemiah corroborate the identification of the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7, and Nehemiah with Darius Hystaspes. The contrary view necessitates the hypothesis of two Ezras, two Nehemiahs, two Mordecais, two Sanballats, and so on. On all these grounds we regard the identification of the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7 and Nehemiah with Darius Hystaspes as correct.

Anstey?s five proofs that Darius Hystaspes = Ahasuerus of Esther
pp. 272-274,

The Book of Esther is an appendix containing the record of an episode which took place in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. The narrative itself occupies the space of one year, the 12th year of Ahasuerus, but there are also brief introductory references to his 3rd, 6th and 7th years. It is not a continuation of the Book of Ezra-Nehemiah, but an illustration of the times in which Ezra and Nehemiah lived.

1. The Age of Mordecai.
Scaliger first suggested the identification of the Ahasuerus of Esther with the Xerxes of Ptolemy's Canon, and in this he has been followed by modern scholars almost universally. But Mordecai " was carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah King of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon carried away." B.C. 597 (Est. 2:5,6). It is only by a forced construction that this sentence can be applied to his great grandfather Kish. Mordecai was Ahasuerus' premier in the 12th year of his reign. Therefore, if Ahasuerus was Xerxes, in his 12th year, B.C. 474, Mordecai would be at least 123 years old, at which rate Esther also must have been " an aged beauty ! "

2. Testimony of Josephus and the Old Testament Apocrypha.
Josephus tells the story of Esther at great length, but instead of speaking of Ahasuerus, it is " Artaxerxes " throughout. Now Artaxerxes was one of the names of Darius Hystaspes, as well as of several other Persian monarchs. True, Josephus speaks of this Artaxerxes as " Cyrus the son of Xerxes, whom the Greeks called Artaxerxes," but if the reference be to Artaxerxes Longimanus, that would raise the age of Mordecai to 143.
In 1 ESDRAS 3:1-2 the Ahasuerus of Esther is identified with Darius Hystaspes, and in the REST OF ESTHER he is called "Artaxerxes " throughout.

3. Ahasuerus " reigned from India to Ethiopia, over 127 Provinces" (Est. 1:1).
Darius Hystaspes conquered India in B.C. 506. Herodotus says he " established 20 governments of the kind which the Persians call Satrapies, assigning to each its governor, and fixing the tribute which was to be paid him by the several nations " (iii, 89). These he proceeds to enumerate, a long list embracing nearly all the nations of the East - Asia Minor, Phoenicia, Syria, Cyprus, Egypt, Libya, Cyrene, Susa, Babylon, Assyria, Media, Armenia, Parthia - these are all enumerated, with the amount of the tribute paid by each nation (iii, 90-94). " The Indians, who were more numerous than any other nation with which we are acquainted, paid a tribute exceeding that of any other people, to wit 360 talents of gold dust. This was the twentieth Satrapy" (iii, 95).
" The Ethiopians paid no settled tribute, but brought gifts to the King. Every third year the inhabitants of Egypt and Nubia brought 2 quarts of virgin gold, 200 logs of ebony, 5 Ethiopian boys, and 20 elephants' tusks " (iii, 97).
Darius the Mede set 120 Princes over his Kingdom (B.C. 538), Dan. 6:1. By the time of Darius Hystaspes (B.C. 521-485), the Empire had grown to 127 provinces, which he divided up into 20 Satrapies as stated above.

4. Ahasuerus " laid a tribute upon the land and upon the Isles of the Sea." {Est. 10:1).
After enumerating the 20 satrapies of the Empire and the amount of tribute paid by each satrapy, Herodotus concludes : " such was the revenue which Darius derived from Asia, and a small part of Libya. Later in his reign the sum was increased by the tribute of the Islands and of the nations of Europe as far as Thessaly " (Herodotus, Book iii, 96).
Thucydides says, " The Ionians had attained great prosperity when Cyrus and the Persians, having overthrown Crcesus, and subdued the countries between them and the river Halys and the sea, made war against them and enslaved the cities of the mainland. Some time afterwards, Darius, strong in the possession of the Phoenician fleet, conquered the Islands also."
Herodotus (iii, 96), Thucydides (Book i), and Plato (Menexenus), all tell us that Darius Hystaspes subdued all the Islands of the iEgean sea, and Diodorus Siculus (Book xii) tells us that they were all lost again, by his son Xerxes, before the 12th year of his reign, (B.C. 474), which we can well believe after the humiliating defeat of his vast host of warriors by land and sea at Thermopylae, Salamis and Platea, B.C. 480. The later Kings of Persia held none of these Islands except Clazomene and Cyprus (Xenophon, Hellenica, Book v). This is conclusive, both for the identification of the Ahasuerus of Esther with Darius Hystaspes, and against his identification with Xerxes, or with any later occupant of the Persian throne.

5. The dates and the events recorded in Esther, fit in exactly with the dates and the events of the reign of Darius Hystaspes.
Ahasuerus made his feast in the third year of his reign (B.C. 510,) - Darius Hystaspes was occupied during the first two years of his reign in overthrowing Gomates and the other pretenders to the throne of Persia. Babylon revolted twice from Darius, once in the first year of his reign and again in the fourth. On this second occasion the siege was a tedious affair, lasting nearly 2 years (Herodotus iii, 151). This brings us down to the 6th year of Darius, and explains how it was that although Vashti was divorced in his third year, he was not married to Esther until his 7th year (Est. 1:3, 2:16).
The chief argument relied upon by those who identify the Ahasuerus of Esther with Xerxes, is the congruity of the character of Ahasuerus with that of Xerxes as depicted by Herodotus, and other classic writers. But there is nothing in the character of Ahasuerus which does not agree equally well with all that we know from classic literature of Darius Hystaspes ; in fact the reference to the money matters, to the postal service, and above all the friendly disposition of Ahasuerus toward the Jews, agrees exactly with what we know of Darius the " huckster," the organizer of the Empire, and the " Darius even Artaxerxes " who issued the decrees of Ezra 6:6-12 and Ezra 7:12-26 for the rebuilding of the Temple, and the support of its services. The argument for the identification of Ahasuerus with Xerxes from the similarity between the old Persian name Khshayarsha, the Hebrew Achashverosh, and the Greek Xerxes, is of no force, for the word in any form, and however spelt, is simply the word " Shah," and might be applied to any monarch who sat upon the throne of Persia.
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