Augustus 31 b.c.–a.d. 14 Tiberius a.d. 14–37 Gaius Caligula a.d. 37–41 Claudius a.d. 41–54 Nero a.d. 54–68
Author: KEVOS
This simplified version of the Herodian family tree focuses on those most relevant to NT study. Dates indicate […]
334–330b.c. Alexander the Great (356–323 b.c.) sweeps through Asia Minor and conquers the Persian Empire, including Egypt and Mesopotamia […]
Date Roman Emperors Roman Prefects/Procurators of Judea and Samaria Roman Prefects/ Procurators of All Israel Herodian Dynasty (37b.c.–a.d.93) […]
Second Temple Judaism developed as political authority changed hands from the Persians to the Greeks, to the Jewish […]
The word “covenant” (Hb. berit) in the OT entails four essential components: (1) a relationship (2) with a nonrelative […]
Why does the title “Lord of hosts” appear more frequently in Malachi than in any other OT book, and […]
Disputation Reference Summary Focus Disputation 1 1:2–5 Malachi begins by defending the reality of God’s elective love for […]
Vision Passage Content Summary Zechariah’s Question(s) to the Messenger Promise/Outcome 1 1:7–17 Vision of horsemen who “patrol the […]
Reference Date 1:1 eighth month of the second year of Darius October/November 520b.c. 1:7 24th day of the […]
Zechariah Text Content Summary NT Passages 9:9 the king comes to Zion humble and riding a donkey Matt. […]
Oracle Reference Date First 1:1 1st day of 6th month (Aug. 29) Second 1:15 24th day of 6th […]
The Neo-Assyrian period (935–609 b.c.) brought renewed threats from the Assyrians. God used the Assyrians to chasten wayward Israel. […]
1:2 The Lord confronts Jonah with the evil of the city Nineveh. 1:7 The sailors decide to cast lots to […]
If chapter 1 … then chapter 2 … 1. describes an actual locust infestation … presents a heightened description of the same invasion. […]
Babylonian Empire (625–539 b.c.) Medo–Persian Empire(539–331b.c.) Greek Empire (331–63 b.c.) Roman Empire(63b.c.–a.d.476) Future Events Vision of Statue(ch. 2) head of gold (vv. […]
Babylon Nebuchadnezzar’s 1st year 605 b.c. ch. 1 Nebuchadnezzar’s 2nd year 604 ch. 2 Nebuchadnezzar’s reign 605–562 chs. 3–4 […]
Babylon Nebuchadnezzar 605–562 b.c. Nabonidus 556–539 Co-regent Belshazzar 550–539 Persia Cyrus 539–530 Darius I 522–486
Reference Year/month/day following exile of Jehoiachin Modern equivalent*/yearb.c. Situation 1:2 5th year / 4th month / 5th day […]
Jeremiah Lamentations I will make this house like Shiloh (chs. 7, 26) The Lord has scorned … his sanctuary […]
Jeremiah 52 Parallels in 2 Kings 24–25 Parallels in Jeremiah 39 vv. 1–11 24:18–25:7 vv. 4–11 vv. 1–7 vv. 12–27 […]
Date Event 628/627 b.c. Josiah’s cleansing of the temple (12th year of Josiah’s reign) 627 Jeremiah’s call (13th year […]
Dates Passage Under Josiah (627–609 b.c.) 1:1–19 3:6–6:30 Under Jehoahaz (609) and Jehoiakim (609–597) 7:1–34 25:1–38 26:1–24 35:1–19 36:1–32 […]
Isaiah 1–39 Isaiah 40–55 Isaiah 56–66 Date and Setting The eighth century b.c.(700s); the Assyrian threat Prophecies about the […]
Oracles against the Nations in the Prophets Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Nahum Zephaniah Zechariah* Ammon […]
Uzziah’s death; Isaiah’s call ch. 6 740 b.c. Days of Ahaz ch. 7 c. 735 Assyrian invasion chs. 36–38 […]
Isaiah prophesied “in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah” (1:1). Kings of Judah […]
Timeline King of Judah // Event Prophet to Judah Prophet to Israel King of Israel // Event 780 b.c. […]
Ps. 22:18 They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. And when they […]
Book 1 Psalms 1–41 Psalms 1–2 have no titles that attribute authorship (but see Acts 4:25 for Psalm 2); they provide an […]
Term Explanation Example Image A word or phrase that names a concrete action or thing; by extension, a […]
Psalm Incident References 3 David flees from and battles Absalom 2 Samuel 15–17 7 The words of Cush, […]
Category Hebrew Term Meaning general shir song tehillah prayer, song of praise zamir/zimrah song qinah lament, dirge, with […]
The events of Esther unfold over a period of 10 years. Reference Event Month Day Year of Ahasuerus’s […]
Event Month/Day Year Reference Hanani brings Nehemiah a report from Jerusalem (20th year of Artaxerxes I) 445–444 b.c. 1:1 […]
Ezra 7:6 The king granted Ezra all that he asked for the hand of the Lord his God […]
Cyrus 539–530 b.c. Darius I 522–486 Xerxes (Ahasuerus) 485–464 Artaxerxes I 464–423
Ezra 4:5 The people of the land hired counselors to work against the Israelites from the reigns of […]
Event Year Reference Cyrus king of Persia captures Babylon 539 b.c. Dan. 5:30–31 First year of King Cyrus; issues […]
Ezra 1–6 537–515 b.c. Ezra 7–Nehemiah 13 458–433 b.c.
Relationship of Ezra–Nehemiah to 1–2 Chronicles 1–2 Chronicles Ezra–Nehemiah Chronicles ends with the Cyrus Edict. Ezra begins with […]
In contrast to 1–2 Samuel and 1–2 Kings, the Chronicler focuses overwhelmingly on the religious significance of the […]
1 Chronicles 2 Samuel Genealogies 1:1–9:44 Death of Saul and sons 10:1–14 1 Sam. 31:1–2 Sam. 1:16 Lament […]
Events Dates Passages Foundation of the Davidic monarchy c. 1010–931b.c. 1 Chronicles 10–2 Chronicles 9 History of Judah […]
King Years of Reign Total Years Accession Year* Possible Co-Reigns References in 1–2 Kings** Notes Jeroboam I 931/930–911/910 […]
King Years of Reign Total Years Accession Year* Possible Co-Reigns References in 1–2 Kings** Notes Rehoboam 931/930–915/914 17 […]
Good Bad Mixture of good and bad Kings of Israel Kings of Judah Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:25–33) Rehoboam (1 Kings […]
Positives Negatives David’s chosen heir (ch. 1) Gained power in bloody coup (ch. 2) Nathan’s early support (ch. […]
David’s Rise (1 Samuel 16–2 Samuel 10) David’s Failures (2 Samuel 11–20) Eager holy warrior Remains in palace […]
Saul David Holy Spirit removed; evil spirit given (16:14–23) Anointed with Holy Spirit (16:1–13) Jealous and treacherous (ch. […]
1 Sam. 3:3 The Lord calls to Samuel who is sleeping in the tent of meeting, “where the […]
Decline of Eli’s Sons Rise of Samuel Wickedness of Eli’s sons (1 Sam. 2:12–17) Samuel approved by Eli […]
1 Samuel Incident Psalm 19:11 David’s house surrounded 59 21:10–11 David seized by Achish 56 21:12–22:1 David escapes […]
Micah and the Danite Migration (chs. 17–18) Gibeah’s Deed and Their Punishment (chs. 19–21) Religious Deterioration Moral Deterioration […]
Part 1: Three mentions of the “Spirit of the Lord” 1. The killing of the lion 14:5–9 “The Spirit […]
1. The Canaanites had superior arms and fortifications 1:19 2. Israel was disposed to make alliances with the […]
Pattern Outline Othniel Ehud Deborah Gideon Jephthah Samson Apostasy 2:11–13 3:7 3:12a 4:1 6:1a 10:6 13:1a Servitude 2:14–15 […]
God’s sending of judges to Israel repeatedly followed a fourfold cycle: apostasy: the Israelites do what is evil […]
Judge Reference Tribe Oppressor Period of Oppression Period of Rest Total Length of Time* Othniel 3:7–11 Judah Mesopotamians […]
Element Function Verses preamble introduces the suzerain (i.e., the sovereign) v. 2 historical prologue recounts the suzerain’s past […]
4:20 Gilgal a reminder of God’s faithfulness in bringing Israel safely across the Jordan into the Promised Land […]
Positive: Jericho (chs. 2–6) Negative: Ai (7:1–8:29) An assurance of victory (6:2) No assurance of victory (until 8:1) Ritual […]
Transjordan tribes assent to Joshua with same response as to Moses at Sinai. 1:12–18 “The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Today […]
“Table of Contents” Item: Corresponds To: “arise, go over this Jordan … into the land that I am giving … […]
1406 [or 1220] b.c. Moses’ death; Israel’s entry into Canaan under Joshua [See The Date of the Exodus] 1375 [or […]
Ancient Treaty Structure Deuteronomy Preamble 1:1–5 Historical Prologue 1:6–4:49 General Stipulations 5:1–11:32 Specific Stipulations 12:1–26:19 Blessings and Curses […]
Day Chief Tribe 1 Nahshon Judah 2 Nethanel Issachar 3 Eliab Zebulun 4 Elizur Reuben 5 Shelumiel Simeon […]
Occasion Bulls Rams Lambs Goats Every day (28:3–8) 2 Sabbath (28:9–10) 2 1st day of month (28:11–15) 2 […]
Reference Event Date* Event Reference Ex. 40:2 Tabernacle set up 1.1.2 Tabernacle set up Num. 7:1 Lev. 1:1 […]
Ex. 18:1 Advice from Moses’ father-in-law Advice from Moses’ father-in-law Num. 10:29 Ex. 15:22 Three-day journey to Sinai […]
The Sabbath principle permeates each of these feasts, which are intended to express the divine-human relationship. Each feast […]
Tolerated Punishable/Sinful Discharges (Leviticus 12; 16) Forgotten cleansing (Numbers 5–6; 19) Skin diseases (Leviticus 13–14) Idolatry, homicide, illicit […]
Holy Unclean Life Death Priests Physically impaired priests Clean non-priests Unclean non-priests Human corpses Sacrificial animals Blemished sacrificial […]
Name of Sacrifice Types of Animal Hand-laying Use of Blood Priestly Portions Lay Portions Burnt Cattle, sheep, goats, […]
Name Emphasis Focus is on the general procedure or reasons for the offerings Focus is on the proper […]
Exodus records the instructions and events of the plagues for the purpose of showing how the Lord revealed […]
Declarations Hardenings I [Yahweh] will harden Pharaoh’s heart. Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. […]
Moses’ Questions and Concerns Yahweh’s Responses and Signs Who am I that I should go? (3:11). I will […]
Location Age Reference Egypt 0–40 Ex. 2:11; Acts 7:23 Midian 41–80 Ex. 2:15; 7:7; Acts 7:29–30 The wilderness 81–120 Deut. […]
Adam (5:3–5) 130/930 Seth (5:6–8) 105/912 Enosh (5:9–11) 90/905 Kenan (5:12–14) 70/910 Mahalalel (5:15–17) 65/895 Jared (5:18–20) 162/962 […]
Action Purpose Desire They built a city .… … in order not to be dispersed over the face of […]
Event Age of Joseph Genesis Joseph’s father Jacob moves family from Haran to Canaan 6 31:17–21 Joseph sold […]
Event Age of Jacob Genesis Jacob’s grandfather Abraham dies 15 25:7 Jacob sent to Laban in Haran 77 […]
Event Age of Isaac Genesis Isaac’s mother Sarah dies 37 23:1 Isaac marries Rebekah 40 25:20 Isaac fathers […]
Offspring Explanation Examples Natural, physical offspring Physical descendants of Abraham Ishmael, Isaac, the sons of Keturah (and by […]
Event Age of Abraham Genesis Abram departs from Haran, enters Canaan 75 12:4–5 Abram fathers Ishmael with Hagar […]
Dates are in the form of month, day, and Noah’s year, as given in the text. Hence, 2/10/600 […]
Location Inhabitants 1. Light and dark 4. Lights of day and night 2. Sea and sky 5. Fish […]
Primeval History (1:1–11:26) Introduction General heading Specific heading Section introduced 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens […]
The Hebrew calendar was composed of 12 lunar months, each of which began when the thin crescent moon […]
The following dates (all b.c.) are close approximations based on correlating dates between the Bible and other ancient Near […]
(See Overview of the Bible, for a fuller explanation of the “History of Salvation.” The notes in this feature […]
Almost every book in the NT has something to say about false beliefs and those who advocate them. […]
The Bible and Contemporary Judaism Early History (c. 2100 b.c.–586 b.c.) Beginning with Abraham, the founding “rock” of the Jewish […]
Roman Catholicism Roman Catholicism and Protestantism have many beliefs in common, both adhering to the truths expressed in […]
As C. S. Lewis once observed, “one of the rewards of reading the Old Testament regularly” is that […]
The term Septuagint is commonly used today to refer to the Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures, the books that […]
Hebrew and Aramaic, and How They Work Introduction The main language of the OT is Classical Hebrew, but […]
Archaeology and the Reliability of the Old Testament Definition of Archaeology Archaeology may be defined as the systematic study […]
The Reliability of the Old Testament Manuscripts Introduction At the beginning of the twentieth century, textual criticism of […]
The Canon of the Old Testament The word “canon” (Gk. for “a rule”) is applied to the Bible […]
Reading the Bible Theologically To read the Bible “theologically” means to read the Bible “with a focus on […]
Interpreting the Bible: An Introduction The Bible contains 66 books, written in three languages over 1,500 years by […]
Biblical Ethics: An Introduction From the beginning of the Bible to the end, God gives people specific instructions […]
True Theology: Knowing and Loving God The study of theology is considered by many to be dry, boring, […]
A troubled jailer in the first century once asked two Christian leaders, “what must I do to be […]
Introduction and Timeline Knowing how to read the Epistles is very important, since they make up 21 of […]
The Gospels and Acts were designed to be read as full accounts, each in their own right, even […]
Scholars continue to debate the year and date of Jesus’ crucifixion. Several pieces of evidence, both inside and […]
New Testament theology as a discipline is a branch of what scholars call “biblical theology.” Systematic theology and […]
When Jesus began to proclaim the gospel, the Sadducees, Essenes, and Pharisees were also laying claim to Israel’s […]
The first-century Roman world of the NT lay culturally at the intersection of Hellenism (Greek language and culture) […]
Most of the writers of the NT grew up in the world of “Second Temple Judaism,” the time […]
Introduction Mesopotamian texts indicate that long before Israel entered Canaan, other countries had prophets. These texts from Israel’s […]
Poetry is pervasive in the Hebrew Bible—the only books in the OT without any poetry are Leviticus, Ruth, […]
The “Historical Books” of the OT, which come after the Pentateuch, tell the story of (1) Israel’s entry […]
The Name of the Pentateuch The Pentateuch (Gk. “five-volumed”) consists of the first five books of the Bible, […]
The following material summarises some of the arguments for an early date (1446 b.c.) and a later date […]
When it comes to describing “the theology of the Old Testament,” not everyone is convinced that there is […]