The Line from Noah to Jesus

The biblical chronology, on the reckoning the text itself supplies.

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The Line

BEFORE THE FLOOD THE NATIONS THE PATRIARCHS EGYPT THE JUDGES ONE KINGDOM TWO KINGDOMS JUDAH ALONE EXILE RETURN AND AFTER 3000 BC 2500 BC 2000 BC 1500 BC 1000 BC 500 BC AD 1 1 2948 BC Noah born 4 2346 BC Arphaxad born to Shem 6 2126 BC Terah born 7 1996 BC Abram born 11 1897 BC Isaac born 15 1836 BC 16 1821 BC Abraham dies 17 1804 BC Jacob takes the blessing 18 1796 BC The twelve… 20 1745 BC Joseph sold into… 23 1689 BC Jacob dies 24 1635 BC Joseph dies 42 1095 BC 44 1055 BC 45 1015 BC 47 975 BC Rehoboam 50 958 BC Abijah 51 955 BC Asa 58 914 BC 62 889 BC Jehoram 63 885 BC Ahaziah 64 884 BC Athaliah 66 878 BC 67 839 BC Amaziah 70 810 BC Uzziah (Azariah) 79 758 BC Jotham 80 742 BC Ahaz 82 726 BC Hezekiah 84 697 BC Manasseh 85 642 BC 86 640 BC Josiah 88 609 BC Jehoahaz 89 609 BC Jehoiakim 91 598 BC Jehoiachin 92 597 BC Zedekiah 95 536 BC Zerubbabel 103 c. 4 BC Jesus born 48 975 BC Jeroboam I 52 954 BC 53 953 BC Baasha 54 930 BC 55 929 BC Zimri 56 929 BC Omri 57 918 BC 60 896 BC Joram 65 884 BC Jehu 68 839 BC Jehoash 69 825 BC Jeroboam II 73 773 BC Zechariah 74 772 BC Shallum 75 772 BC Menahem 76 761 BC Pekahiah 78 759 BC Pekah 81 730 BC Hoshea 26 1571 BC 27 1531 BC Moses flees to Midian 31 1451 BC Moses dies 32 c. 1425 BC Joshua 33 c. 1400 BC Othniel 34 c. 1340 BC 35 c. 1300 BC Shamgar 36 c. 1250 BC Deborah… 37 c. 1200 BC Gideon 38 c. 1180 BC Abimelech 39 c. 1150 BC Jephthah 40 c. 1120 BC 41 c. 1100 BC Eli 43 c. 1080 BC Samuel 59 c. 910 BC Elijah 61 c. 896 BC Elisha 71 c. 800 BC 72 c. 787 BC Amos and Hosea 77 c. 760 BC Isaiah 87 c. 630 BC 90 605 BC Daniel 93 597 BC Ezekiel 97 520 BC Haggai… 99 c. 480 BC 100 457 BC Ezra 101 445 BC Nehemiah 102 c. 430 BC Malachi 3 2347 BC The table of nations 9 1913 BC Lot separates 10 1910 BC Ishmael born 14 1856 BC Ishmael’s twelve sons 19 1760 BC Esau becomes Edom 2 2348 BC THE FLOOD 5 c. 2242 BC Babel 8 1921 BC THE CALL 12 1897 BC Sodom 13 1871 BC The binding of Isaac 21 1706 BC Jacob goes down to Egypt 22 1706 BC Seventy souls into Egypt 25 c. 1635 BC A new king who knew not Joseph 28 1491 BC THE EXODUS 29 1491 BC The plagues and the passover 30 1491 BC Sinai 46 1012 BC 49 975 BC THE KINGDOM SPLITS 83 721 BC Israel taken by Assyria 94 586 BC Judah taken by… 96 536 BC The return 98 515 BC The second Temple
The line — the covenant descent and the kings of Judah Israel — the nineteen kings of the north Judges, priests and prophets The other lines — Ishmael, Esau, Lot, the nations Events

Which chronology. These dates are the Masoretic reckoning as calculated by Ussher in 1650 and printed in the margins of the King James Bible. They are the text’s own internal arithmetic, not an archaeological result. The three surviving text traditions disagree substantially. From Adam to Abraham the Masoretic Text totals 2,008 years, the Samaritan Pentateuch 2,249, and the Septuagint 3,394 — 1,386 years more. On the Flood that is 2348 BC against about 3298 BC for the same event in the same book. Where the traditions diverge, the register records it. Where the biblical date and the scholarly date differ — the exodus, the division of the kingdom — the register records that too. The regnal years follow the same traditional reckoning. Thiele’s widely used chronology of the kings runs about forty years later than Ussher through the divided monarchy and converges with him by the exile; the sequence of reigns is the same in both.

The Register

Every entry carries its chapter and its attestation grade. One amber dot means a single text channel with no external corroboration — which is the grade for everything before the fall of Samaria. Three green means a contemporary inscription. Where the grades change is part of what this page shows.

#DateLaneEventAtt.Reference
12948 BCTHE LINENoah born. Tenth from Adam. Genesis gives him 500 years before Shem, Ham and Japheth.
Variant: LXX places this c. 3900 BC		Genesis 5:28–32
22348 BCEVENTTHE FLOOD. Noah is 600. The line narrows to eight people. Every nation in the table that follows descends from his three sons.
Variant: LXX c. 3298 BC — 950 years earlier		Genesis 7–8
32347 BCNATIONSThe table of nations. Seventy nations from Japheth, Ham and Shem — the text’s account of where every people came from. Canaan, Egypt, Assyria and Philistia are placed here.Genesis 10
42346 BCTHE LINEArphaxad born to Shem. Two years after the flood. The covenant line runs through Shem, not through Ham or Japheth.Genesis 11:10
5c. 2242 BCEVENTBabel. One language becomes many and the nations scatter. Dated in the days of Peleg, in whose time the earth was divided.Genesis 11:1–9; 10:25
62126 BCTHE LINETerah born. Ninth from Shem. The line has run Arphaxad, Salah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor to Terah.Genesis 11:24
71996 BCTHE LINEAbram born. At Ur of the Chaldees. Terah takes the household to Harran.
Variant: LXX c. 3312 BC		Genesis 11:26–31
81921 BCEVENTTHE CALL. Abram leaves Harran for Canaan at 75, with the promise of land and descendants. The covenant begins here.Genesis 12:1–5
91913 BCNATIONSLot separates. Lot takes the plain of Jordan and settles toward Sodom. His two sons by his daughters become Moab and Ammon — two of the neighbours.Genesis 13; 19:36–38
101910 BCNATIONSIshmael born. To Hagar, when Abram is 86. Twelve princes are promised of him. The Arab genealogies trace to this line.Genesis 16; 17:20
111897 BCTHE LINEIsaac born. To Sarah, when Abraham is 100. The covenant is placed in this son and not in the elder.Genesis 21:1–5
121897 BCEVENTSodom. The cities of the plain destroyed. Lot’s wife is lost; his daughters bear Moab and Ben-Ammi.Genesis 19
131871 BCEVENTThe binding of Isaac. On a mountain in the land of Moriah. The covenant is confirmed by oath after it.Genesis 22
141856 BCNATIONSIshmael’s twelve sons. Named as princes by their nations: Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel and the rest, dwelling from Havilah to Shur.Genesis 25:12–18
151836 BCTHE LINEJacob and Esau born. Twins to Isaac and Rebekah. Two nations are in the womb, and the elder shall serve the younger.Genesis 25:21–26
161821 BCTHE LINEAbraham dies. At 175. Buried by Isaac and Ishmael together in the cave at Machpelah.Genesis 25:7–9
171804 BCTHE LINEJacob takes the blessing. The birthright and the blessing pass to the younger son. Jacob flees to Harran.Genesis 27
181796 BCTHE LINEThe twelve sons. Born to Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah over twenty years in Harran. Judah is the fourth.Genesis 29–30
191760 BCNATIONSEsau becomes Edom. Esau settles in Seir. The dukes of Edom are listed and the nation is founded — the people who become the Idumaeans.Genesis 36
201745 BCTHE LINEJoseph sold into Egypt. By his brothers, at seventeen. The line that will hold the birthright goes down first as a slave.Genesis 37
211706 BCEVENTJacob goes down to Egypt. Seventy souls. Jacob is 130 and stands before Pharaoh. The family is now in Egypt and will not leave for four centuries.Genesis 46–47
221706 BCEVENTSeventy souls into Egypt. Jacob’s household settles in Goshen under Joseph’s protection.Genesis 46:27
231689 BCTHE LINEJacob dies. The blessings are given son by son. Judah receives the sceptre — the verse the royal claim rests on.Genesis 49:8–10
241635 BCTHE LINEJoseph dies. At 110, in Egypt, with the oath that his bones be carried up.Genesis 50:22–26
25c. 1635 BCEVENTA new king who knew not Joseph. The oppression begins; the store cities Pithom and Raamses are built.Exodus 1:8–14
261571 BCWITNESSMoses born. Hidden three months, drawn from the river, raised in Pharaoh’s house.Exodus 2:1–10
271531 BCWITNESSMoses flees to Midian. Forty years in Midian before the bush.Exodus 2:11–22; Acts 7:23–30
281491 BCEVENTTHE EXODUS. Four hundred and thirty years after the promise. The nation leaves Egypt.
Variant: Scholarly dates: 1446 BC (early) or c. 1250 BC (late)		Exodus 12:40–41
291491 BCEVENTThe plagues and the passover. Ten plagues; the firstborn; the departure by night.Exodus 7–12
301491 BCEVENTSinai. The law given in the third month. The nation is constituted around it.Exodus 19–20
311451 BCWITNESSMoses dies. On Nebo, at 120, having seen the land and not entered it.Deuteronomy 34
32c. 1425 BCWITNESSJoshua. Leads the conquest and divides the land by lot. Dies at 110.Joshua 1–24
33c. 1400 BCWITNESSOthniel. First judge. Caleb’s nephew; forty years’ rest.Judges 3:7–11
34c. 1340 BCWITNESSEhud. Kills Eglon of Moab; eighty years’ rest — the longest in the book.Judges 3:12–30
35c. 1300 BCWITNESSShamgar. Six hundred Philistines with an ox goad. One verse.Judges 3:31
36c. 1250 BCWITNESSDeborah and Barak. The only woman to judge Israel. Sisera defeated at the Kishon.Judges 4–5
37c. 1200 BCWITNESSGideon. Three hundred men against Midian. Refuses the kingship offered to him.Judges 6–8
38c. 1180 BCWITNESSAbimelech. Gideon’s son kills seventy brothers and makes himself king at Shechem for three years.Judges 9
39c. 1150 BCWITNESSJephthah. The Gileadite; defeats Ammon and makes the vow concerning his daughter.Judges 11–12
40c. 1120 BCWITNESSSamson. Twenty years against the Philistines. Dies at Gaza.Judges 13–16
41c. 1100 BCWITNESSEli. Priest and judge at Shiloh forty years. The ark is lost in his lifetime.1 Samuel 1–4
421095 BCTHE LINESaul anointed. The first king, of Benjamin, not of Judah.1 Samuel 9–10
43c. 1080 BCWITNESSSamuel. Last judge, first of the prophets. Anoints both Saul and David.1 Samuel 3–16
441055 BCTHE LINEDavid king. Of the tribe of Judah, at Hebron. The line the promise of Genesis 49 runs to.2 Samuel 2; 5
451015 BCTHE LINESolomon. The kingdom at its height, and the last king to hold all twelve tribes.1 Kings 1–11
461012 BCEVENTThe Temple begun. In the 480th year after the exodus — the verse that anchors the whole chronology to a countable span.1 Kings 6:1
47975 BCTHE LINERehoboam. Solomon’s son. Refuses to lighten the burden and loses ten tribes.1 Kings 12; 14:21–31
48975 BCISRAELJeroboam I. Twenty-two years. Sets up calves at Bethel and Dan so the people need not go to Jerusalem.1 Kings 12:25–33
49975 BCEVENTTHE KINGDOM SPLITS. Ten tribes to Jeroboam, Judah and Benjamin to Rehoboam. The line of promise keeps the smaller half.
Variant: Modern dating: c. 931 BC		1 Kings 12
50958 BCTHE LINEAbijah. Three years. War with Jeroboam.1 Kings 15:1–8
51955 BCTHE LINEAsa. Forty-one years. Removes the idols; the first reforming king.1 Kings 15:9–24
52954 BCISRAELNadab. Two years. Killed by Baasha.1 Kings 15:25–28
53953 BCISRAELBaasha. Twenty-four years. Destroys the house of Jeroboam.1 Kings 15:27–16:7
54930 BCISRAELElah. Two years. Killed while drunk.1 Kings 16:8–10
55929 BCISRAELZimri. Seven days. Burns the palace over himself.1 Kings 16:15–20
56929 BCISRAELOmri. Buys the hill of Samaria and builds the capital. Named on the Mesha Stele; Assyria calls Israel ‘the house of Omri’ for a century.1 Kings 16:23–28; Mesha Stele
57918 BCISRAELAhab. Twenty-two years. Marries Jezebel of Sidon. Named on the Kurkh Monolith with two thousand chariots at Qarqar.1 Kings 16:29–22:40; Kurkh Monolith
58914 BCTHE LINEJehoshaphat. Twenty-five years. Allies with Ahab by marriage — the alliance that nearly ends the line.1 Kings 22
59c. 910 BCWITNESSElijah. Confronts Ahab and the prophets of Baal at Carmel. Taken up in a whirlwind.1 Kings 17–2 Kings 2
60896 BCISRAELJoram. Twelve years. Killed by Jehu.2 Kings 3; 9:14–26
61c. 896 BCWITNESSElisha. Succeeds Elijah; serves through six reigns of the north.2 Kings 2–13
62889 BCTHE LINEJehoram. Marries Athaliah, daughter of Ahab. Kills his six brothers.2 Kings 8:16–24; 2 Chronicles 21
63885 BCTHE LINEAhaziah. One year. Killed by Jehu.2 Kings 8:25–29; 9:27
64884 BCTHE LINEAthaliah. Destroys all the royal seed and reigns six years. One infant, Joash, is hidden in the Temple — the line survives by a single child.2 Kings 11:1–3
65884 BCISRAELJehu. Destroys the house of Ahab. Shown prostrate before Shalmaneser III on the Black Obelisk — the only contemporary image of a named Israelite king.2 Kings 9–10; Black Obelisk
66878 BCTHE LINEJoash. Crowned at seven. Repairs the Temple; later murdered by his servants.2 Kings 11–12
67839 BCTHE LINEAmaziah. Twenty-nine years. Defeated by Israel; Jerusalem’s wall broken down.2 Kings 14:1–20
68839 BCISRAELJehoash. Sixteen years. Defeats Judah and breaks Jerusalem’s wall.2 Kings 13:10–14:16
69825 BCISRAELJeroboam II. Forty-one years. The north at its largest and richest; Amos and Hosea preach against it.2 Kings 14:23–29
70810 BCTHE LINEUzziah (Azariah). Fifty-two years. Struck with leprosy for burning incense in the Temple.2 Kings 15:1–7; 2 Chronicles 26
71c. 800 BCWITNESSJonah. Sent to Nineveh, the Assyrian capital — to the enemy.Jonah; 2 Kings 14:25
72c. 787 BCWITNESSAmos and Hosea. Against the prosperity of Jeroboam II’s north, a generation before it falls.Amos; Hosea
73773 BCISRAELZechariah. Six months. The last of Jehu’s house.2 Kings 15:8–12
74772 BCISRAELShallum. One month.2 Kings 15:13–15
75772 BCISRAELMenahem. Ten years. Pays Tiglath-Pileser a thousand talents; named in the Assyrian annals.2 Kings 15:16–22
76761 BCISRAELPekahiah. Two years.2 Kings 15:23–26
77c. 760 BCWITNESSIsaiah. Called in the year Uzziah died. Serves four kings of Judah through the Assyrian crisis.Isaiah 1:1; 6:1
78759 BCISRAELPekah. Twenty years. Loses Galilee and Gilead to Assyria.2 Kings 15:27–31
79758 BCTHE LINEJotham. Sixteen years.2 Kings 15:32–38
80742 BCTHE LINEAhaz. Sends the Temple treasure to Assyria as tribute and copies its altar.2 Kings 16
81730 BCISRAELHoshea. The last king of Israel. Samaria falls in his ninth year.2 Kings 17:1–6
82726 BCTHE LINEHezekiah. Twenty-nine years. Survives Sennacherib’s siege; his tunnel and its inscription survive.2 Kings 18–20; Siloam Inscription
83721 BCEVENTIsrael taken by Assyria. Samaria falls; the ten tribes are deported and do not return as tribes. Sargon II records it in his own annals.
Variant: Modern dating: 722 BC		2 Kings 17; Sargon II, Khorsabad Annals
84697 BCTHE LINEManasseh. Fifty-five years, the longest reign. Named in Esarhaddon’s tribute list.2 Kings 21:1–18; Esarhaddon prism
85642 BCTHE LINEAmon. Two years. Murdered by his servants.2 Kings 21:19–26
86640 BCTHE LINEJosiah. Crowned at eight. The book of the law is found; the last reform. Killed at Megiddo.2 Kings 22–23
87c. 630 BCWITNESSJeremiah. From Josiah’s reform to the fall of the city, and after it into Egypt.Jeremiah 1:1–3
88609 BCTHE LINEJehoahaz. Three months. Taken to Egypt by Pharaoh Necho.2 Kings 23:31–34
89609 BCTHE LINEJehoiakim. Eleven years. Burns Jeremiah’s scroll.2 Kings 23:36–24:7; Jeremiah 36
90605 BCWITNESSDaniel. Taken as a youth to serve in the palace at Babylon; serves under Babylonian and Persian kings.Daniel 1
91598 BCTHE LINEJehoiachin. Three months. Deported to Babylon; his rations are recorded on Babylonian tablets.2 Kings 24:8–16; Jehoiachin ration tablets
92597 BCTHE LINEZedekiah. The last king. Blinded at Riblah after seeing his sons killed.2 Kings 24:17–25:7
93597 BCWITNESSEzekiel. A priest, taken in the first deportation, prophesying by the river Chebar in Babylon.Ezekiel 1:1–3
94586 BCEVENTJudah taken by Babylon. Jerusalem and the Temple destroyed, the line carried into exile. The Babylonian Chronicle records the campaign.2 Kings 25; Babylonian Chronicle BM 21946
95536 BCTHE LINEZerubbabel. Of the house of David, leads the first return and lays the second Temple’s foundation. He is in both New Testament genealogies.Ezra 2–3; Haggai 2:23
96536 BCEVENTThe return. Cyrus permits the return and the rebuilding. The line comes back through Zerubbabel, of the house of David.Ezra 1–2; Cyrus Cylinder
97520 BCWITNESSHaggai and Zechariah. Prophesy the Temple to completion.Haggai; Zechariah 1–8
98515 BCEVENTThe second Temple. Finished in the sixth year of Darius. It stands until Herod rebuilds it.Ezra 6:15
99c. 480 BCWITNESSEsther and Mordecai. In the Persian court under Ahasuerus. The one book that never names God.Esther
100457 BCWITNESSEzra. Brings the law back from Babylon and reads it to the assembly.Ezra 7; Nehemiah 8
101445 BCWITNESSNehemiah. Rebuilds the wall in fifty-two days under the Persian commission.Nehemiah 1–6
102c. 430 BCWITNESSMalachi. The last prophet of the Hebrew canon. Four centuries follow with no prophetic voice recorded.Malachi
103c. 4 BCTHE LINEJesus born. Matthew traces the descent from Abraham through David and Judah; Luke traces it back to Adam. The two genealogies do not agree and the text does not reconcile them.
Variant: The two lists differ from David onward		Matthew 1:1–17; Luke 3:23–38