Malamat's Chronology

Abraham Malamat (1922–2010) was a professor of Jewish history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem [1].

The key assumptions of his chronology include [2, p. 124]:

• The Judean kings are reckoned on an accession year system.
• A Tishri-to-Tishri year was used for regnal years in Judah (although the months of the year are still counted from Nisan).

Timeline

Discussion

Battle of Megiddo

Malamat argues that the battle of Megiddo took place in month III, just before the attack on Harran [3, p. 139] [2, p. 125]:

Josiah evidently died in Sivan or possibly at the start of Tammuz, as indicated by correlating the biblical account (2 Kings 23:29; 2 Chron. 35:20-23) with that of the Babylonian Chronicle of Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar. The Bible relates that Necho, when intercepted by Josiah at Megiddo, was in great haste northward ('for God commanded me to make haste'; 2 Chron. 35:21), while the Babylonian source records that 'a large Egyptian army', on its way to aid the allied Assyrians against the Babylonian forces, had already crossed the Euphrates in Tammuz. Assuming that the Egyptian army marched at the considerable rate of 35 km a day, or even more (remembering that this took place during the long summer days), it could have covered the distance between Megiddo and Carchemish (over 500 km) in about two weeks. Thus, the Battle of Megiddo probably occurred sometime between early Sivan and early Tammuz.

But note now that the Egyptians required almost a month, rather than two weeks, to cover the distance to the river (which they crossed in Tammuz 609 B.C.), for the actual distance between Megiddo and Carchemish is about 650 km, and the advance of the rushing Egyptian army should be estimated at about 25-30 km per diem.

The length of the march, and therefore timing of the battle of Megiddo is significant because it has an impact on the likelihood of a Tishri-to-Tishri year in Judah, as explained by Clines [4, p. 29]:

In determining the date of his [Jehoiakim's] accession, the events which must be brought into relationship are:
1. Battle of Megiddo, death of Josiah, accession of Jehoahaz.
2. March of Egyptians from Megiddo to Euphrates.
3. Egyptian crossing of Euphrates for attack on Harran.
4. Capture of Jehoahaz and accession of Jehoiakim.

The chronological data are twofold:
a. No. 3 occurred in Tammuz (25 June-23 July), 609 (BM 21901, Rev. 66-67).
b. 'Three months' intervened between No. 1 and No. 4 (2 Kings 23:31; 2 Chr. 36:2).

Clines argues against Malamat's scheme for Jehoiakim's reign, claiming it was more likely that Josiah's death, Jehoahaz' 3 months rule, and Jehoiakim's accession all occurred before Tishri, rather than after it [4, p. 32].

Battle of Carchemish

In Malamat's chronology the battle of Carchemish took place in Jehoiakim's 3rd year, rather than his 4th as described in Jeremiah 46:2 [2, p. 127]:

On the Babylonian source, see CCK, pp. 66ff. (BM 21946). Jer. 46:2 places the Battle of Carchemish in Jehoiakim's fourth regnal year, the only substantial instance of a date conflicting with our Tishri reckoning, which would put this battle in his third year (cf. the Chronological Table). See IEJ XVIII 1968, p. 147, n. 21, where we have also cited HORN's suggestion to reconcile the difficulty here by attributing this date to the time of the oracular utterance rather than to the battle itself. Although problematic, this might find support in Jer. 36:1-2, where the date of the Prophet's first scroll, which recorded inter alia Oracles on the Nations, is fixed in Jehoiakim's fourth regnal year. The chronological notation at the head of the Oracles on the Nations in Jer. 46:2 thus may well have been harmonized with this. WEIPPERT (Edom, p. 653, n. 1238) assumes that the Battle of Carchemish and the subsequent Babylonian campaign, which latter took place in the winter of 605/604 B.C., after the enthronement of Nebuchadnezzar. were regarded in Judah as one continuous military episode, which thus would have fallen already in Jehoiakim's fourth regnal year; but Jeremiah's prophecy specifically deals with the defeat of "the army of Pharaoh Necho" which no longer took part in events half a year after the Battle of Carchemish.

Subjugation of Judah

Malamat does not offer a definitive date for Nebuchadnezzar's subjugation of Judah, but offers a number of suggestions [2, p. 129]:

The Babylonian subjugation of Judah was not long in coming. The exact date is still a matter of controversy, and even Nebuchadnezzar's Chronicle is indefinite. Military campaigns to the West are recorded for each of the years between 605 and 601 B.C., but no specific names of subjected states are mentioned (except Ashkelon).

The first proposal, corresponding to BM 21946, Obv. 8 matches the 3rd year of Jehoiakim in Daniel 1:1 [2, p. 129]:

a) Judah was conquered immediately after the Egypdan defeat at the Battle of Carchemish. This is supported by the opening of the Book of Daniel (1:1-4) relating the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in the third year of Jehoiakim (see Chronological Table), the looting of "vessels of the house of God", and the exiling of certain Judeans. Further the last datum is in accord with a tradition related by Josephus (Ant. X; 11, 1; Contra Apionem I, 19), that Judean captives; amongst others, were carried off to Babylon after the victory at Carchemish. In another passage (Ant. X, 6, 1), Josephus even specifies that at this same time Nebuchadnezzar conquered all the lands of the West as far as Pelusium on the border of Egypt—but he explicitely adds: "except the land of Judah"; It is difficult, however, to rely upon the chronological accuracy of these traditions (which apparently refer to events occurring several years later). Though Josephus's data largely agree with those of the Babylonian Chronicle, the Chronicle itself does not bear out any widespread conquests in the West while Nebuchadnezzar was still Crown Prince. Immediately after the victory at Carchemish, as we now know, Nebuchadnezzar conquered only the "entire land of Ha[ma]th", and not the "entire land of Hatti" (that is, Syria-Palestine), as formerly read.

Issues

Nebuchadnezzar did not become king until later in that year, so Daniel 1:1 would have to be read proleptically as suggested by Mercer [5, p. 183] and Clines [4, p. 23].

Clines questions whether there was enough time between the battle of Carchemish and Nebuchadnezzar's return to Babylon following Nabopolassar's death for this to be possible [4, p. 24] [5, p. 187]:

It involves the interposition of a Babylonian march to Jerusalem from Hamath (no place further south is mentioned in the Babylonian Chronicle) and a siege of the city in the short interval between May-June (Carchemish) and c. August 25 (news of Nabopolassar's death). Very little time, if any, would be available for the siege itself, when the days spent in marching are reckoned up (see below, under II.2). We do not know where Nebuchadrezzar was when he received news of his father's death, but it must be recalled that only 3 weeks elapsed between Nabopolassar's death and Nebuchadrazzar's arrival in Babylon.

Alternatives

Alternatively Malamat suggests the 1st year of Nebuchadnezzar (Obv. 15-17) [2, p. 130]:

b) Judah submitted a year later, when Nebuchadnezzar devastated Ashkelon, in Kislev of his first regnal year (December 604 B.C.). This date corresponds exactly with the ninth month of the fifth regnal year of Jehoiakim, when a general day of fasting was proclaimed in Jerusalem (Jer. 36:9 ff.; see the Chronological Table). Jeremiah's foreboding words, brought before an emergency council of ministers on the fastday, warned of the impending national calamity— the full drama of which we can trace today by means of the Babylonian Chronicle. But Jehoiakim, belittling Jeremiah's warning "that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land" (Jer. 36:29), burned the Prophet's scroll of doom, which leads to the conclusion that Judah at this time was still not subdued.

Or in his 2nd year (Obv. 21-23)

c) The submission of Judah may have occurred only in the autumn or winter of 603 B.C., during Nebuchadnezzar's campaign in his second regnal year. Unfortunately, the broken state of the Babylonian tablet here does not enable us to confirm this. In this campaign, which was certainly to the West, the Babylonian king set out in the month of Iyyar with a "mighty army" supported by siege machines, indicating that strong opposition was anticipated. Nebuchadnezzar was most probably seeking to subdue all Philistia and gain control of Judah—all as a prelude to his ultimate goal—the conquest of Egypt, his arch-rival. If this be the case, the lacuna here is to be restored with the conquest of a specific city in Philistia, such as Ashdod, Ekron or more probably Gaza (cf. Jer. 25:20; 47:5; Zeph. 2:4); the subsequent missing section of the tablet might then relate to the submission of Jehoiakim (cf. II Chron. 36:6-7; Dan. 1:1-2—both apparently relating to this event).

These would be in the 5th or 6th year of Jehoiakim [3, p. 142]:

In Dan. 1:1, with the slight emendation of 'In the third year' to 'In the sixth year' (שש < שלוש) of the reign of Jehoiakim, the date of Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Jerusalem would correspond with that suggested above for the subjugation of Judah, i.e. the autumn or winter of 603 B.C.

Captures of Jehoiachin and Zedekiah

Malamat attempts to reconcile the differing dates and numbers of exiles between Jeremiah 52 and 2 Kings 24-25, by treating them as separate events [2, p. 133]:

The biblical sources on the exile of Jehoiachin are in outward contradiction, in both the extent of the exile and its exact date. According to II Kings 24, the exile encompassed 10,000 (vs. 14) or 7,000 (vs. 16) persons, mostly military, to either of which we must add a thousand armourers and sappers. This mass exile, headed by Jehoiachin and his entourage, occurred according to this source in the eight year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign (vs. 12), the year beginning on 1 Nisan 597 B.C.—at least a month after the surrender of Jerusalem. Moreover, II Chronicles 34:10 also implies that Jehoiachin was exiled around the time of the civil new year, and that Nebuchadnezzar had already returned to his capital, surely for the annual festivities. But according to the list of exiles in Jeremiah 52 (based undoubtedly on some official source), a mere 3,023 "Jews" were exiled—in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign (vs 28). These have generally been regarded as contradicting traditions on one and the same matter, or it has been thought that different chronological systems were employed in the Book of Kings and in Jeremiah 52, respectively —though even then the numbers for the deportees disagree. The discrepancies between the two sources can be reconciled, however, by proposing that the exile evolved in two successive deportations:

a) The first phase (already intimated in Jer. 13:18-19) was a limited deportation prior to or upon the surrender of Jerusalem —still in Nebuchadnezzar's seventh year (Jer. 52:28). The particular appellative here, "Jews"—implying the provincial element of Judah—is brought into perspective by the designation "from Jerusalem", applied to the exiles deported during the final siege, in Nebuchadnezzar's 18th year (vs. 29; and see the Chronological Table). Several years after the destruction of Jerusalem, in Nebuchadnezzar's 23rd year, the deportees are once again, and quite appropriately, called "Jews" (vs. 30).

b) The second, principal phase of the exile, described in the Book of Kings, comprised the cream of Jerusalem and thousands of her defenders, including the armourers and sappers specifically mentioned as exiled from the capital (Jer. 24:1; 29:2). The organization of this mass exile surely necessitated several weeks from the time of the surrender of the city, on 2 Adar, and thus it would have fallen only in Nebuchadnezzar's eighth regnal year, by which time he had already left the country.

References