J. A. Moorman - Pastor: Jack Moorman

CHAPTER 1: SEVEN CHRONOLOGIES COMPARED
Thus, according to Newton and Jones, with the sealing of Neh.10 taking place in 536 BC, the
question of excessive age applies only to Ezra and Nehemiah.
Few have followed Newton's attempt at a solution. A natural reading of Nehemiah seems clearly
to convey that chapters 10-12 follow rather than precede the building of the wall. And as the
reforms of Neh.13 take place in the 32nd year 10 of Artaxerxes (13:6), Nehemiah would be at
least 130 years old! 11 This is quite an age for a man who threatened to lay hands on the sabbath
breakers (13:21), who smote and plucked off the hair of men who married heathen wives (13:23-
27), and who chased away a son of the High Priest (13:28).
Yet this seems to be the best possible solution if both the Scripture and the dates of Ptolemy are
upheld. It is no wonder that many when dating this period have opted for ignoring the matter
altogether.
Regarding the times of the kings, Jones takes to task the chronology of Edwin Thiele. He
demonstrates a number of instances where Thiele contorts the text in order to make the parallel
reigns of Judah and Israel "fit". This results in Thiele removing 45 years from the divided
monarchy. 12
Whether or not we follow Floyd Jones on the two Great Divides, his work as a modern
refinement of Ussher is a standard in which the Bible believer can learn a great deal and also
test any alternative proposals.
Having mentioned Thiele a number of times, we now look briefly at his work.
3. EDWIN THIELE
Until the middle of the twentieth century, Ussher's dates generally remained the standard for
conservative students of the Bible. With the publication in 1951 of The Mysterious Numbers of
the Hebrew Kings by the Seventh Day Adventist scholar Edwin R. Thiele, a substantially
different chronological standard soon became accepted. Dealing with the period of the
monarchy, the new work seems to resolve problems experienced at different points by previous
chronologists in linking the reigns of the Northern and Southern kings.
The result was said to be:
19