Wright - Rose Then and Now Bible Map Atlas

Everyone loves a good Bible story. Some stories, like David and Goliath, Jonah and the Whale, and the Birth of Jesus have entered the mainstream of popular culture. Others, such as Sisera's Encounter with Jael, Ahab's Battle at Ramoth-gilead, or Nehemiah's Nighttime Ride, though not as well known, are still a good read. Conflict, intrigue, resolution, local color, character, points of relevancethese and other aspects of storytelling energize the biblical narrative in ways that for centuries have prompted the hearts and minds of Bible readers to hear and respond to the touch of God in their lives.

Great stories are told of great people, and in one sense all of the people of the Bible were great people (some were great in their courage and faith; others in their rascality). The selection of people whose stories are traced here are typical of the whole, and touch on conditions common to all humanity. In this sense their stories transcend time and place. But they're are also grounded in time and place, and it is this aspect that gives them a tangible sense of reality. Abraham left his homes in Ur of the Chaldees and Haran, sophisticated places of opportunity and wealth, to go to Canaan, a rocky land with comparatively few natural resources and a marginal economy; understanding the where helps us to ponder the why . Ahab fought battles and forged alliances on all sides of his expanding kingdom; by mapping his policies on the historical landscape of the mid-ninth century B.C. we are better able to understand not only the realities that he faced but also the response of his contemporaries, people like Jehoshaphat, Elijah and Elisha. Let's listen to what Jesus said, but also to what he did:

Again Jesus began to teach by the sea, and a very large crowd gathered around him. So he got into a boat on the sea and sat down, while the whole crowd was on the shore facing the sea. He taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: "Listen! Consider the sower who went out to sow...."

(Luke 4:13)

The writers of the Bible knew the land in which God chose to reveal Himself well, for it was their home. They were intimately familiar with the rugged terrain of Judah, with cold winter rain and scorching desert heat, and they had experienced the relief offered by a small spring of water or the shelter of a crevasse in a mighty rock. They knew what it meant for the hills surrounding their city or village to be filled with enemy troops, or to lie down securely at night after a full harvest. Time and again the Bible's historians, prophets and poets infused the divine message they had to tell with geographical information. In fact, such information fills the biblical textand the biblical authors assumed that their readers knew even more.

This work focuses on aspects of history, geography, culture and personality, exploring ways that tangible realia such as these impacted the thoughts, decisions and actions of some of the great people of the Bible. The working assumption is that if we can learn to appreciate details of time and place, we can better see the contours of the characters that grace the pages of the Bible. Such factors of real life, as they can be known through literary, geographical and archaeological data, when reasonably combined with a common-sense approach based on observable patterns of behavior of people, groups and nation states in and around the Middle East today, yields a certain familiarityeven a kind of intimacywith the people of the Bible that is too often lacking otherwise. By so gazing into their eyes, we can not only begin to grasp the greatness of their stories and the messages that these stories contain, but begin to see ourselves lingering on the corners of the page or even ducking between the lines of the text. Herein lies the immediacy of the eternal truths that the Bible contains. The proof is in the tellingand in the living.

The Book of Genesis ends with Jacob and his family in Egypt, but casts just enough trajectories forward to pull the reader through the rest of the Bible. With an eye toward a future that was very different from both Egypt (the present) and the marginal steppe land that Abraham and his family had called home (the past), Jacob blessed his favorite son with the best that his yet unrealized homeland had to offer: "Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; its branches run over a wall...."

OLD TESTAMENT TIME LINE

Books of the Bible

The period for each book of the Bible shows its historical setting, not the date the book was written. Many dates listed are approximate and may vary according to different scholars.

Bible History

Kings listed by dates of reign, Minor Prophets listed by dates of ministry

Genesis begins

Abraham to the Sojourn in Egypt begins (~2165 BC )

Abraham c. 2166-1991

Some scholars place Abraham's birth at 1952 BC . In this case, biblical events through Joseph would slide to the right 214 years.

2100 BC

Abrahamic Covenant

Ishmael c. 2080-1943

Isaac c. 2066-1886

Job (date unknown)

Jacob (Israel) c. 2005-1859

2000 BC

Joseph c. 1914-1805

Joseph becomes and official in Egypt c. 1884

Jacob and his family move to Egypt c. 1876

1900 BC

Genesis ends (~1800 BC )

1800 BC

1700 BC

1600 BC

Slavery in Egypt (dates uncertain)

Aaron c. 1529-1407

Moses c. 1526-1406

Abraham to the Sojourn in Egypt ends (~1525 BC )

Exodus begins (~1525 BC )

Moses, Exodus & Wilderness begins (~1525 BC )

1500 BC

The Exodus c. 1446

The "high" date for the exodus is 1446 BC . For a "low" date of the exodus at 1290 BC , the events from the exodus to the beginning of the era of the Judges would slide to the right 156 years compressing the dates of the Judges.

Ten Commandments and other laws given

Tabernacle built

Wilderness Wanderings

Exodus ends (~1440 BC )

Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy begins (~1440 BC )

Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy begins (~1405 BC )

Moses, Exodus & Wilderness ends (~1405 BC )

Joshua leads the Israelites into Canaan

Conquest begins (~1405 BC )

Joshua begins (~1405 BC )

1400 BC

Joshua ends (~1350 BC )

Conquest ends (~1350 BC )

Era of Judges begins (~1350 BC )

Judges begins (~1350 BC )

1300 BC

Ruth marries Boaz (date unknown)

1200 BC

Judges ends (~1100 BC )

1 Samuel begins (~1100 BC )

1100 BC

Eli, Priest in Shiloh c. 1100-1060

Judge & Prophet Samuel c. 1060-1020

King Saul c. 1051-1011

Era of Judges ends (~1050 BC )

United Kingdom Era begins (~1050 BC )

King David c. 1011-971

1 Samuel ends (~1010 BC )

1 Chronicles begins (~1010 BC ) / 2 Samuel begins (~1010 BC )

Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes (dates uncertain)

1000 BC

King Solomon c. 971-931

1 Chronicles ends (~970 BC ) / 2 Samuel ends (~970 BC )

2 Chronicles begins (~970 BC ) /1 Kings begins (~970 BC )

Solomon's temple (first temple) completed 960

United Kingdom Era ends (~930 BC )

Kingdom divides into Northern Kingdom (Israel) and Southern Kingdom (Judah) 931

Divided Kingdom Era begins (~930 BC )

900 BC

Prophet Elijah c. 870-845

1 Kings ends (~855 BC ) / 2 Kings begins (~855 BC )

Prophet Elisha c. 845-800

800 BC

King Jeroboam II of Israel 793746