Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Steve Miller" <smille10 AT sbcglobal.net>]

> From: Seth Knorr Thursday, September 14, 2006 5:02 PM
> 
> One common problem with figuring out Daniel 9:24-27 is that of chronology.
> The main problem is that modern chronology has been influenced greatly by
> the LXX, which changed the ages of different persons that where crucial
> for determining a valid chronology. A good book written on this topic is
> Martin Anstey's "Romance of Bible Chronology." Unfortunately this book was
> written around the 1920's and therefore is out of print.

 [Steve Miller] You can download Anstey's chronology tables from
http://www.amen.org.uk/eh/biblical/anstey/
I have compared Anstey's chronology to Darby's (which is what Scofield
used), and I agree with you and Anstey, that Daniel's 70 weeks start with
Cyrus' decree. 
However, in other places where apparent Biblical contradictions are
resolved, I think Anstey did not have good judgment. For example, Anstey
takes all the years in Judges as sequential with no overlap. That
contradicts 1 Kings 6:1 which specifies 480 years from the Exodus to
Solomon's 4th year. Anstey explains this by saying that the 480 years only
count those years in which Israel was under the ruling of God. I would never
agree to that interpretation.

> 
> The main point made in the book is when following the Tanakh as opposed to
> the LXX you will find a different chronology of dates, which are more
> accurate. For those that are dispensational, it is of interesting note
> that Scofield in his book "What Do The Prophets Say?" agreed with Anstey's
> work; although the chronology in his reference bible was never updated,
> and still shows the chronology of Ptolemy.
> 
> Anstey shows that due to errors in modern chronology it is possible that
> Cyrus could have given the decree without doing gymnastics with the
> numbers. Although the attempts made by Anderson, et all, are very
> fanciful, when reading the whole book he wrote you will see that he shows
> that G-d also worked in cycles of 365 and 360. The whole point of his book
> is to show that G-d works in 360 day cycles, then showing that G-d worked
> in a 365 day cycle basically goes against the point he was trying to
> prove.
> 
> >From looking at scripture, it seems very evident that Cyrus gave the
> decree. (cf. Isaiah 44:28 & 45, Ezra 1, Ezra 6:14)
> 
> All other commands seem to be a re-statement of the original decree made
> by Cyrus.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Seth Knorr
>