Understanding Conservative vs. Critical Dates

The Accordance Bible Timeline distinguishes two basic dating systems: Conservative and Critical.

The Conservative system takes the Bible's account of history as essentially reliable and accurate in detail. Chronological statements are therefore usually taken at face value. In cases where chronological difficulties occur, or where the Bible does not seem to agree with other historical sources, the Bible is presumed "innocent until proven guilty," and every effort is made to reconcile such difficulties while maintaining the Bible's historical accuracy.

The Critical system takes the Bible's account of history as generally trustworthy, but not necessarily accurate in every detail. In cases where chronological difficulties occur, or where the Bible does not seem to agree with other historical sources, critical historians are sometimes willing to modify or depart from the biblical account.

It should be noted that critical dates for Biblical events can vary widely, and there are numerous dating schemes which might have been used. To a lesser extent, the same can be said for conservative systems of dating. Rather than trying to represent every possible system of chronology, we have chosen to follow specific works which are widely recognized and respected. We understand that some of our users may disagree with particular dates, or that they may subscribe to an entire system of chronology which is different from the ones we have chosen. The ability to create Custom Lists and User Items is intended to address this need.

The date of the Exodus is an example of the differences between these two systems:

The conservative date of the Exodus is based primarily on a literal reading of 1 Kings 6:1, which states that the fourth year of Solomon's reign was 480 years after the Exodus. Since the fourth year of Solomon's reign is generally placed at -966, the Exodus is seen as having occurred in -1446.

The critical date of the Exodus is placed around -1250, during the reign of Rameses II. This is based in part on the statement in Exodus 1:11 that the Hebrews built a store city called "Rameses." Accordingly, the chronological statement in 1 Kings 6:1 is either reinterpreted or deemed to be inaccurate.

The dates for the Accordance Bible Timeline are based on the following sources:

Conservative Dates

  • Old Testament: Eugene Merrill, Kingdom of Priests
  • Old Testament Writings: Gleason Archer, Survey of Old Testament Introduction
  • Intertestamental Period: Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Between the Testaments (by Harold Hoehner)
  • New Testament: Harold Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ Class notes.

Critical Dates

  • Old and New Testament Periods: Jack Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology (Revised Edition)
  • Old Testament Prophets and Writings: HarperCollins Bible Dictionary
  • Kümmel: Introduction to the New Testament

Other Dates

  • The chronology of the Hebrew kings was based on Edwin Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings. This chronology, which is substantially agreed upon by both Merrill and Finegan, was used for both the Conservative and the Critical dates for the period of the Divided Kingdom.
  • Extrabiblical dates, such as those for Egypt, Rome, and other regions are all based on the Cambridge Ancient History, 3rd Edition. Some extrabiblical period names were also derived from relevant articles in the Anchor Bible Dictionary (which is available as an Accordance moduleClosed Any Bible text, or other single tool that can be read in Accordance, including reference texts and articles; may also be referred to as content or resource).
  • The Critical dates for the kings of Aram were derived from Wayne Pitard’s article on Aram in the Anchor Bible Dictionary.
  • Conservative dates for this period were derived from Merrill.
  • Some extrabiblical writings and early church fathers were derived from the Anchor Bible Dictionary.