THE ATHEIST'S COMPLAINT:
Acts 13:16-22 numbers the years from when the Hebrews left Egypt to the beginning of David's reign as 40 (wilderness) + 450 (Judges) + 40 (Saul) = 530 years. According to 1 Chronicles 29:27, David reigned 40 years, so Solomon became king 530 + 40 (David's reign) = 570 years. However, 1 Kings 6:1 states Solomon's 4th year of rule (when he began the building of the Temple) was 480 years after the Hebrews left Egypt (ie. he began his rule 476 years after the Hebrews left). In summary, there is a contradiction of 94 years.

RESPONSE:
The apostle Paul, who is the speaker in Acts 13:16-22, in another place said not to "...give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which causes disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith." (1 Timothy 1:4) Again, he wrote, "...avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless." (Titus 3:9).

That there is a difference in the number of years spoken of by the apostle in Acts 13 and that which is determined in 1 Kings 6 is evident. I do not propose to reconcile the difference, nor to spend a great deal of time in looking at chronology/genealogies, but will put forth a possible explanation for the difference.

Whether we are talking about Bible or secular writings, dealing with the chronology of ancient facts is complicated. Though the facts of history do not change, the knowledge of it can and does change over time. It may be that Paul, in keeping with his own advice to Titus and Timothy, as given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, used the chronology which was commonly used among the Jews in his day. His purpose was not to correct the people on their understanding of chronology and genealogies. Interestingly, he did not even speak in definite terms. Notice, "...for a time of ABOUT forty years..." (v 18) and again, "...for ABOUT four hundred and fifty years..." (v 20).

The chronology which Paul uses is comparable to that which is recorded by the Jewish historial Josephus, a contemporary of the apostle. In his Antiquities of the Jews (vii.iii.i), Josephus says that Solomon "began to build the temple in the fourth year of his reign, five hundred and ninety-two years after the Exodus out of Egypt." This would comprise 40 years in the wilderness, 450 years for the time of the judges, 40 years for the reign of Saul, and 40 years for the reign of David; leaving 22 additional years, which we might allocate to the time when Joshua led the people (after the wilderness wanderings and before the institution of the judges) and the short period of unrest just prior to the reign of Saul.

With such an explanation, we have not removed the 94 years of contradiction which the questioner mentions, but we have sufficiently demonstrated why such a variation exists.

There is no contradiction.

This article is a response to Skeptic's Annotated Bible, but original article is no longer listed

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