Bible Timeline

28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918

Nebuchadnezzar took the throne in 624 B.C.E. During his 43-year reign, he built an empire that embraced territories once occupied by Assyria, and he extended his domain into Syria and Palestine down to the border of Egypt.

c. 550-529 Cyrus the Great Cyrus Ezra 1:1; 4:5

521-486 Darius I Darius Ezra 4:5, 24;
6:1-15

begins ruling 474 (or 475 bc?)

Other sources: 465 BCE to 424 BCE

Both The Encyclopedia Americana and the Great Soviet Encyclopedia agree that Artaxerxes’ reign ended in 424 B.C.E. When did it begin? In 474 B.C.E. In support of this, one archaeological inscription is dated in Artaxerxes’ 50th year; another indicates that he was succeeded in his 51st year. Counting back 50 complete years from 424 B.C.E., we come to the date 474 B.C.E. as the start of his reign. Therefore, Artaxerxes’ 20th year, when the command was given, would be 19 complete years into his reign, that is, 455 B.C.E. For further details, see Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 2, page 616, published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.

*** si pp. 282-283 pars. 28-29 Study Number 2��"Time and the Holy Scriptures ***Pivotal Date for the Hebrew Scriptures. A prominent event recorded both in the Bible and in secular history is the overthrow of the city of Babylon by the Medes and Persians under Cyrus. The Bible records this event at Daniel 5:30. Various historical sources (including Diodorus, Africanus, Eusebius, Ptolemy, and the Babylonian tablets) support 539 B.C.E. as the year for the overthrow of Babylon by Cyrus. The Nabonidus Chronicle gives the month and day of the city's fall (the year is missing). Secular chronologers have thus set the date for the fall of Babylon as October 11, 539 B.C.E., according to the Julian calendar, or October 5 by the Gregorian calendar.29 Following the overthrow of Babylon, and during his first year as ruler of conquered Babylon, Cyrus issued his famous decree permitting the Jews to return to Jerusalem. In view of the Bible record, the decree was likely made late in 538 B.C.E. or toward the spring of 537 B.C.E. This would give ample opportunity for the Jews to resettle in their homeland and to come up to Jerusalem to restore the worship of Jehovah in "the seventh month," Tishri, or about October 1, 537 B.C.E.��"Ezra 1:1-4; 3:1-6.

*** si p. 283 par. 30 Study Number 2�"Time and the Holy Scriptures ***Pivotal Date for the Christian Greek Scriptures. A pivotal date for the Christian Greek Scriptures is determined by the date that Tiberius Caesar succeeded Emperor Augustus. Augustus died on August 17, 14 C.E. (Gregorian calendar); Tiberius was named emperor by the Roman Senate on September 15, 14 C.E. It is stated at Luke 3:1, 3 that John the Baptizer began his ministry in the 15th year of Tiberius' reign. If the years were counted from the death of Augustus, the 15th year ran from August of 28 C.E. to August of 29 C.E. If counted from when Tiberius was named emperor by the Senate, the year ran from September of 28 C.E. to September of 29 C.E. Soon after this, Jesus, who was about six months younger than John the Baptizer, came to be baptized, when he was "about thirty years old." (Luke 3:2, 21-23; 1:34-38) This agrees with the prophecy at Daniel 9:25 that 69 "weeks" (prophetic weeks of 7 years each, thus totaling 483 years) would elapse from "the going forth of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem" and its wall until the appearance of Messiah. (Dan. 9:24, footnote) That "word" was authorized by Artaxerxes (Longimanus) in 455 B.C.E. and was put into effect by Nehemiah in Jerusalem in the latter part of that year. And 483 years later, in the latter part of 29 C.E., when he was baptized by John, Jesus was also anointed by holy spirit from God, thus becoming the Messiah, or Anointed One. That Jesus was baptized and began his ministry in the latter part of the year also agrees with the prophecy that he was to be cut off "at the half of the week" of years (or after three and a half years). (Dan. 9:27) Since he died in the spring, his ministry of three and a half years must have begun toward the fall of 29 C.E. Incidentally, these two lines of evidence also prove that Jesus was born in the autumn of 2 B.C.E., since Luke 3:23 shows that Jesus was about 30 years of age when he commenced his work.