Horn's Chronology

Siegfried Herbert Horn (1908–1993) was a Seventh-day Adventist biblical archaeology professor [1].

The key assumptions of his chronology [2, pp. 23–24] include:

• The Judean kings are reckoned on an accession year system.
• The kingdom of Judah used Tishri-to-Tishri years for both their own kings and foregin kings.

Timeline

Discussion

Battle of Megiddo

Horn dates the battle of Megiddo to the same month as the attack on Harran [2, p. 19]:

Those, however, who believe that a civil year beginning in autumn was used in Judah to reckon the regnal years of the kings, are forced to assume that Jehoahaz was not deposed until after Tishri I (Sept. 21), because data contained in the Babylonian Chronicles, not yet discussed, make it certain that Jehoiakim, the successor of Jehoahaz, began his first regnal year in 608, either in the spring or in the autumn, and that his first year cannot have started in the autumn of 609. According to this reasoning the Battle of Megiddo cannot have taken place earlier than in Tammuz, the same month in which the Assyrian and Egyptian armies crossed the Euphrates. In no other way could Jehoahaz have reigned for three months and still be deposed after Tishri I.

Regarding the movement of the Egyptian army he says [2, p. 17]:

The campaign against Haran by the Assyrians and Egyptians began with the crossing of the Euphrates in Tamrnuz (June 25 to July 23) and ended with their retreat in Elul (Aug. 23 to Sept. 20). This means that the campaign could have begun as early as the end of June or as late as the second half of July. The distance from Megiddo to Carchemish is approximately 340 miles and must have taken the Egyptian army nearly a month to cover. This leads to the conclusion that the Battle of Megiddo could hardly have ended later than the middle of June, if the advance toward Haran started in the latter part of Tammuz. It could have been earlier, if the crossing of the Euphrates took place in the early part of Tammuz.

Battle of Carchemish

Horn reads Jeremiah 25:1 literally [2, p. 26]:

In Jer 25:1, the 4th year of Jehoiakim of Judah is equated with the 1st year of Nebuchadnezzar. This was the autumn-to-autumn year 605/604.

But this leads to a discrepancy with Jeremiah 46:2 [2, p. 25]:

The only problem text seems to be Jer 46:2, 'which states that the Battle of Carchemish took place in the 4th year of Jehoiakim, which according to the Jewish calendar was the year 605/604, autumn-to-autumn. But we know now that the Battle of Carchemish took place in the spring of 605, before Nabopolassar's death. This difficulty can be explained only in one of two ways: (I) Either the passage of Jer 46:2 contains a scribal error made by the author, compiler or a copyist, or (2) the date refers not to the battle itself but rather to the time when the prophecy was issued. I therefore, venture to suggest that Jer 46:1-2 be read in the following way: "The word of Yahweh which came to Jeremiah the prophet, against the nations; about Egypt: against the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt (which had been at the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had defeated) in the 4th year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah." If the portion of the verse referring to the Battle of Carchemisch is considered a parenthetical clause, all chronological difficulties are removed, and this passage falls in line with the rest of the dated historical statements of Jeremiah mentioning Nebuchadnezzar.

In this case one has to assume that the parenthetical clause was inserted in the introduction to Jeremiah's message to point out that the prophetic oracle was pronounced over the Egyptian army which had been badly mauled several months before, perhaps as long ago as a year. It is true that in this way the passage shows an artificial and unnatural grammatical construction, for which reason this interpretation may not appeal to many scholars, but one should at least admit the possibiIity that the text can be interpreted in such a way that the chronological difficulties, which otherwise exist, can be removed. That translators from the LXX to our time have applied the date as referring to the battle is no proof that the traditional reading is correct. Since numerous parallels of similar parenthetical clauses have been recognized in many other Biblical passages, this one need not be rejected as an isolated case.

Subjugation of Judah

Horn does not appear to explain where the subjugation of Judah (2 Kings 24:1 and Daniel 1:1) would fit into his timeline.

Captures of Jehoiachin and Zedekiah

Jehoiachin's capture is explained in the context of Nisan vs Tishri years [2, p. 25]:

This double reckoning of Nebuchadnezzar's regnal years by the Babylonian and Jewish annalists accounts for the apparent discrepancy between the data with regard to the date of Jehoiachin's capture; for the Babylonian Chronicles place this event in the 7th year of Nebuchadnezzar, while 2 Ki 24:12 puts it in the 8th year. The 7th year of Nebuchadnezzar according to the Babylonian spring calendar lasted from March 27, 598 to April 12, 597, but according to the Jewish autumn calendar it had already ended in the autumn of 598, when Nebuchadnezzar's 8th year had begun. Hence, both documents, the Babylonian Chronicles as well as 2 Ki 24:12, contain accurate information in spite of their apparent contradictions.

Horn claims that the deportations in Jeremiah 52 refer to a separate event [2, p. 26]:

The fall and final destruction of Jerusalem is dated in 2 Ki 25:8 and in Jer 52:12 in the 19th year of Nebuchadnezzar, which coincided with the 11th year of Zedekiah of Judah (2 Ki 25:2; Jer 39:2; 52:5). That year was the autumn-to-autumn year 587/586, as has already been pointed out.

The two deportations of Jews recorded in Jer 52:28-30 which took place in the 7th and 18th years of Nebuchadnezzar must have been secondary and minor deportations, and cannot refer to deportations which took place after Jehoiachin's capture in 597 and after the fall and destruction of Jerusalem in 586, because of the small number of deportees. For the deportation of 597 our sources in 2 Ki 24:14 and 16 mention 10,000 and 8,000 deportees respectively. Therefore, the deportation of 3,023 according to Jer 52:28 in the preceding year (the 7th year of Nebuchadnezzar, 599/598, autumn-to-autumn) must have been in connection with the harassment of Jehoiakim by "bands of the Chaldeans" to which 2 Ki 24:2 refers.

References