How do you reconcile the years in Acts 13:18-22 with 1 Ki 6:1?
You have to account for the overlap in years.
In 1 Ki 6:1, the time between the Exodus and the fourth year of Solomons reign is 480 years. The cumulative time in Acts 13:18-22 totals 570 years for this period not including the four years for the beginning of Solomons reign (40 years for the wilderness journey, 450 years for the judges, 40 years for Saul and 40 years for David). Theres a big discrepancy here.
Is this an error? No. Pauls time of the judges accounts for both the time of each judge including the peace resulting from his rule and the time of foreign oppression by a foreign adversary. These times actually overlap. In the table below, you see the 450 years of all the judges, the periods of rest and the years of foreign oppression. When you deduct the years of foreign oppression (marked in bold italics) you get a net of 336 years, since each judge is actually delivering Israel while the adversary is oppressing them.
| Reference | Event | Sub-total Years | Total Years |
|
Acts 13:18 |
Wilderness journey |
40 |
|
|
Jud 3:8 |
Chushanrishathaim |
8
|
|
|
Jud 3:11 |
Rest - Othniel |
40 |
|
|
Jud 3:14 |
Eglon |
18
|
|
|
Jud 3:30 |
Rest - Ehud |
80 |
|
|
Jud 4:3 |
Sisera |
20
|
|
|
Jud 5:31 |
Rest Deborah/Barak |
40 |
|
|
Jud 6:1 |
Midian |
7
|
|
|
Jud 8:28 |
Quietness - Gideon |
40 |
|
|
Jud 9:22 |
Abimelech |
3
|
|
|
Jud 10:2 |
Tola |
23 |
|
|
Jud 10:3 |
Jair |
22 |
|
|
Jud 10:8 |
Philistines/Ammonites |
18
|
|
|
Jud 12:7 |
Jephthah |
6 |
|
|
Jud 12:9 |
Ibzan |
7 |
|
|
Jud 12:11 |
Elon |
10 |
|
|
Jud 12:14 |
Abdon |
8 |
|
|
Jud 13:1 |
Philistines |
40
|
|
|
Jud 15:20 |
Samson |
20 |
|
|
1 Sam 4:18 |
Eli |
40 |
|
|
Acts 13:20 |
Total time of the Judges |
450 |
|
|
Net years of the judges |
450-114 |
336 |
|
|
1 Sam 7:2 |
Ark in Kirjathjearim |
20 |
|
|
Acts 13:21 |
Saul |
40 |
|
|
2 Sam 5:4 |
David |
40 |
|
|
1 Ki 6:1 |
Solomons 4th year |
4 |
|
|
1 Ki 6:1 |
Exodus to Beginning Temple |
Total Net Years |
480 |
This gives us the reconciliation between I Ki 6 and Acts 13. As you can see, there are no errors in your King James Bible.
To cross-check these dates though, we should do one other thing. It is typically thought that the Exodus took place in 1491 BC. If thats so, then the temple construction began in 1011 BC, 480 years later (1 Ki 6:1).
The table below then dates the major events from the Exodus to the splitting of the 10 northern tribes from the 2 southern tribes at the beginning of Rehoboams reign.
| Event | Years | Years BC |
|
Exodus |
1491 |
|
|
Wilderness Journey to Canaan |
40 |
1491-1451 |
|
Judges in the book of Judges |
296 |
1451-1155 |
|
Elis Judgeship |
40 |
1155-1115 |
|
Ark in Kirjathjearim |
20 |
1115-1095 |
|
Sauls Reign |
40 |
1095-1055 |
|
Davids Reign |
40 |
1055-1015 |
|
Solomons Reign to the 4th year |
4 |
1015-1011 |
|
Solomons Remaining Reign |
36 |
1011-975 |
|
Split Kingdom |
975 |
These dates will reconcile perfectly then with the dates of the events that precede the Exodus and the well-established dates of the events that follow the split kingdom. For instance, this reconciliation puts the first attack of Nebuchadnezzar on Jerusalem in the reign of Jehoiakim in 606 BC and his final attack in 586 BC during the reign of Zedekiah. Any other date for the split kingdom throws the dates of the attacks off.
Hope this helps,
Pastor Welder
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