Chronology of the Judges
The reason that biblical chronology is not understood by Christians or Jews correctly boils down to two exact reasons, rejection of Torah, or rejection of Messiah Yeshua. Both camps have rearranged their entire interpretation of the chronology around denying one or the other of these two points.
The attempts are aimed at either ignoring Torah timings of the crucifixion and resurrection of Messiah Yeshua, so that it does not witness to Torah, or in reinterpreting Daniel 9 into a narrative that will not prove Yeshua to be the Messiah.
In many cases, the revisions are collusive. That is the revision serves both the purpose of denying the Torah and denying Messiah Yeshua.
But we must understand that these big lies cannot be easily detected when so much of the material is reinterpreted so that circularity enters the argument. Most often, in a chronological matter, a mistake or fabrication in one theologically important part of the chronology may only be detected by projecting its errant result by calculating the rest of the boring chronology.
To make this point more clear. If a lie or tradition has rearranged all the material about an important point, then the lie can only be exposed by examining the far off consequences of the changes the narrative wants to make. So it works to examine the boring parts.
You have to understand that religious liars who reinterpret everything do so with regard to only the immediate truth they are trying to deny. They do not examine the far reaching chronological consequences of their crime. But over the centuries, those adopting their traditions have worked very hard to make the far reaching contradictions go away.
The apologetical response to this, by which we may prove the lie is a lie, and establish what the truth is, will be to construct the whole chronology accorinding to sound principles of interpretation based on norms and scripture interpreting scripture.
The first thing we should notice about the book of Judges is in Judges 2:11. When a judge arose to deliver Israel, then Israel was delivered all the days of that judge. This rule obviously prevents the overlapping of the days of a Judge with the days of a servitude or enslavement by another nation. Yes, the loudest and most vocal teachers of chronology in the Church are doing just this. Their whole chronology is predicated on a massive overlap of judges and oppressions.
The reason for this reduction is not just a misunderstanding of 1 Kings 6:1. The tradition also destroys the whole timing of the sabbatical year and jubilee year cycles, as well as the 390 years of Ezekiel 4. The correct chronology is a powerful apologetic for these institutions of Torah.
There are, and have been numerous attempts to establish the sabbatical and jubilee year system for biblical chronology, but they are all frauds except for the solution found on this site, or sites that cite me. Besides being based on a heap of speculative interpretations, the frauds serve to "bruise the fruit." That is they exhaust and burn out the desire of anyone who is trying to find the truth, because these frauds when examined critically only serve to frustrate people until they give up, realizing the arrogance of the claims are only supported by speculative interpretations and circular reasoning. The very existence of such a heap of frauds should clue us in to the raging war that surrounds this subject. The devil does not even want Christians to lay eyes on the solution lest they should reconsider their ways.
Ok, so now we need to looks at the boring bits.
Exodus 1632 BC
Wilderness 40 years Num 14:33; Josh 5:6
Conquest x years
Elders y years
Cushan Servitude 8 years Jud 3:8
Judge Othniel 40 years Jud 3:11
Moab Servitude 18 years Jud 3:14
Judge Ehud/rest 80 years Jud 3:30
Servitude to Hazor 20 years Jud 4:3
Judge Deborah 40 years Jud 5:31
Midianite Servitude 7 years Jud 6:1
Judge Gideon 40 years Jud 8:28
Abimelech Oppression 3 years Jud 9:22
Judge Tola 23 years Jud 10:1-2
Judge Jair 22 years Jud 10:3
Ammonite Servitude 18 years Jud 10:8
Judge Jepthah 6 years Jud 12:7
Judge Ibzan 7 years Jud 12:8
Judge Elon 10 years Jud 12:11
Judge Abdon 8 years Jud 12:13
Philistine I Servitude 40 years Jud 13:1
Eli 40 years 1 Sam 4:18
Philistine II Servitude 20 years 1 Sam 7:2
Judge Samuel z years
King Saul 40 years Acts 13:21; 2 Sam. 2:10
King David 40 years 1 Kings 2:11
King Solomon 4 years 1 Kings 6:1
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Total 574 + x + y + z
The value of x, the conquest wars across the Jordan is six years. The value of y, the elders years is twenty. And the length of Samuel's judgeship was 14 years. So the grand total is 614 years. The first variable, x, is fairly easy to compute using statements by Caleb in the book of Joshua, and I leave the reader to examine the charts for proof of it.
Since x = 6, we now have 580 + y + z.
The "going out from the house of slaves" (figuratively, Egypt) years are:
Wilderness 40 years Num 14:33; Josh 5:6
Conquest x years
Elders y years
Judge Othniel 40 years Jud 3:11
Judge Ehud/rest 80 years Jud 3:30
Judge Deborah 40 years Jud 5:31
Judge Gideon 40 years Jud 8:28
Judge Tola 23 years Jud 10:1-2
Judge Jair 22 years Jud 10:3
Judge Jepthah 6 years Jud 12:7
Judge Ibzan 7 years Jud 12:8
Judge Elon 10 years Jud 12:11
Judge Abdon 8 years Jud 12:13
Eli 40 years 1 Sam 4:18
Judge Samuel z years
King Saul 40 years Acts 13:21; 2 Sam. 2:10
King David 40 years 1 Kings 2:11
King Solomon 4 years 1 Kings 6:1
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Total 440 + x + y + z
Solve 440 + x + y + z = 480.
x + y + z = 40
since x = 6, then: y + z = 34
They were 480 years out of the house of slaves (cf. 1 Kings 6:1). So our two unknowns y and z equal 34 years. These are split up between the elders and Samuel. The exact split is y = 20 and z = 14; The solution to the split depends upon finding 70 sabbath years in the periods of servitude down to the Babylonian exile, which is a complex calculation, and selecting the longer solution of y = 20, because the elders must have time to be gathered to their fathers, and a rejected solution is too short. As I said, this calculation is complex and I will not go into it here. But it does suffice to say the combined total y + z = 34 is easy to calculate.
And the servitudes:
Cushan Servitude 8 years Jud 3:8
Moab Servitude 18 years Jud 3:14
Servitude to Hazor 20 years Jud 4:3
Midianite Servitude 7 years Jud 6:1
Abimelech Oppression 3 years Jud 9:22
Ammonite Servitude 18 years Jud 10:8
Philistine I Servitude 40 years Jud 13:1
Philistine II Servitude 20 years 1 Sam 7:2
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Total 134 years
Adding the 134 years to the 480 results in 614 years total. In 614 years 480 years are counted for going out of the house of slaves, or Egypt by figurative metonymy.
The 134 years are the exact number needed to contrubute to a grand total of 390 years for the sin of Israel.
The above equation: 440 + x + y + z reveals the origin of the 440 years in the LXX. The LXX is counting all the non oppression years in 1 Kings 6:1 (LXX) while omitting the sum of the periods which are not explicitly stated, x, y, and z. This reveals that the LXX translators agreed that in principle it was non-oppression years, going out of the house of slaves, that should form the basis of the number in 1 Kings 6:1. Rather than trusting the 480 handed down they only give the number of non-opression years that can be added up, which is 440, omitting x, y, and z.
Furthermore, this reveals that anyone making the mistake of thinking 440 or 480 years was the total number of years, will have to overlap almost 100% of the oppression years with the days during which the judges were supposed to deliver them, contradicting Judges 2:11.
There is one more cross check available in the text, and this is in the charts on the 2nd year of Saul. In 1 Samuel 13:1, it says, "A son of a year Saul [be] in his reigning, and two years he has reigned over Israel." This text has been thought to be a scribal error, but it is not. It is simply a way point in Saul's reign, and is carefully noted for a very important reason. It is in fact stated two ways so that we are clear about exactly when in his reign the text is talking about. "A son of a year" means one complete year has elapsed and the second year is in progress. And the "two years" is an inclusive count of those two years.
The Jubilee cycle began its counting in the 41st year after the Exodus on the first day of the 7th month, the day of trumpets. The first year of the cycle reduces to 1592.T/1591.T, and the first Jubilee is 1543.T/1542.T.
The Jubilee is caculated the same as an agricultural year, that is Tishri to Tishri. But the era years were calculated from the spring equinox up until when Shiloh was destroyed at the end of Eli's days. At this time the era years begin to be counted from the autumn. The ark is taken in the Fall and returned in the spring. So the Second Philistine servitude begins at the autumnal epoch. Then it lasts 20 years, and ends when the people repent and Samuel becomes their judge. The victory at Mitspah comes with a water libation that is fixed at the time of Tabernacles, and so the twenty years ends with the autumn. Era's, including regnal years are calculated from Tishri 1 from this point onward.
Having noticed this shift, the 2nd year of Saul comes to 1102.T/1101.T., which is exactly the 491st year from the beginning of the cycles.
1592.T/1591.T = 1 -490 -490 +490 ____________________ 1102.T/1101.T = 491
This makes this year a Jubilee year. Now in 1 Sam. 13:3 says, "And Saul had blown on the Shofar in all the land." This text alludes to the Jubilee legislaton in Lev. 25. Therefore, if anyone is in doubt of the 480 years or the total number of years at 614, one can see that Saul's blowing of the trumpet was in an actual year of Jubilee.
Or in fact, the sum of y and z can be deduced to be 34 using the Jubilee alone.
On top of this, we must notice that due to the epochal shift to a Tishri year, that this moment is just when Saul has completed his first year, now being a son of a year, and is inclusively counting right at the beginning of the second year. This is right when the Jubilee Trumpet will be blown, on the 10th day of the 7th month, just ten days into his second year.