by psyco 208 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Scholar
The missing 20 years is shown when one compares Bible Chronology with NB Chronology or secular Chronology. For example, using the calculated date for the Fall of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzer you can calculate two different dates: 586/7 BCE or 607 BCE depending on the different methodology.
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Can you provide further details of the missing 20 years?
70 was a number representing a lifespan. 7and 10 are also symbolic numbers used countless times. When Esarhaddon was moved to restore Babylon, after it was destroyed by his father, he references the belief that Marduke had decreed 70 years of desolation for their unfaithfulness, but due to his mercy he reduced it to 11 (70 upside down was 11 in their script). Interestingly enough even 11 wasn't literal either it seems he set to rebuilding it prior to that.
When in the reign of an earlier king there were ill omens, the city offended its gods and was destroyed at their command. It was me, Esarhaddon, whom they chose to restore everything to its rightful place, to calm their anger, to assuage their wrath. You, Marduk, entrusted the protection of the land of Assur to me. The Gods of Babylon meanwhile told me to rebuild their shrines and renew the proper religious observances of their palace, Esagila. I called up all my workmen and conscripted all the people of Babylonia. I set them to work, digging up the ground and carrying the earth away in baskets..."what was taken and plundered from Babylon, he has returned" and from Sippar to Bab-marrat the chiefs of the Chaldeans bless the king, saying, "(It is he) who resettled (the people) of Babylon"....Seventy years as the period of its desolation he (Marduk) wrote down (in the book of fate). But the merciful Marduk in a moment his heart was at rest (appeased) turned it (the book) upside down and for the eleventh year ordered its restoration.
The endless debates about what starting and ending points of a period that there is every reason to believe was a literary trope in lands controlled by Babylon just results in nothing but confusion and frustration.
Add to this the fact that Ezek 4:6 similarly uses the 40 year trope to indicate the same period.
Arguing about the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin comes to mind.
WT theology cannot make-up for the lost 20 years. There just isn't enough evidence.
Alethia
Can you provide further details of the missing 20 years?
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1. The astronomical diary VAT 4956 indicates that Bebuchadnezzer's 37th year was 568 BCE and the tablet Strm Kambys 400 indicates that Cambyses' 7th year was 523 BCE. This leaves only about 50 years for the Babylonian Exile of the Jews, whereas the Bible unambiguously says that Jerusalem was a desolate waste for 70 years. One or two of the sources must be wrong but which one(s)?
2. The conclusion drawn on the basis of a study of hundreds of cuneiform tablets is that the New Babylonian Empire should be expanded by twenty years. This means that Nebuchadnezzer II started to reign in 625 BCE and not in 605 BCE as is almost universally believed.
Will this suffice?
scholar JW
Beth Sarim, i agree.
It looks like pure speculation to me. We're supposed to believe a gap of 20 years happened just because they say it happened?
Its really up to them to provide the evidence. If not, then the whole concept is wrong.
Aletheia
t looks like pure speculation to me. We're supposed to believe a gap of 20 years happened just because they say it happened?
Its really up to them to provide the evidence. If not, then the whole concept is wrong.
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My last post provided the evidence.
scholar JW
607 BCE is inaccurate according to ....
"Archaeological evidence that exists to
show that the destruction of Jerusalem was in 587 B.C. is the
same evidence that the Society uses to prove 539 B.C. was the
destruction of Babylon.
Furthermore, the claim that 587
conflicts with Bible prophecy is not a relevant argument, as there
are historically acceptable ways to reconcile the prophecy, as shown
later.
Not surprisingly, since the Watchtower relies on
historical evidence to prove when Babylon fell, information presented
in the Watchtower's own journals can be used to show that 607 B.C. is
wrong.
Following is a simple calculation of when Jerusalem fell, taken solely from Watchtower literature. In viewing the calculation remember that everything goes backwards when calculating years B.C.
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Babylon fell |
"Babylon fell in 539 B.C." Babylon the Great Has Fallen - God's Kingdom Rules p.184 |
539 B.C. |
|
Plus Nabonidus |
"On the basis of cuneiform texts he is believed to have ruled some seventeen years(556-539 B.C.E.)." Aid to Bible Understanding - Nabonidus p.1195 |
17 years |
|
Plus Labashi-Marduk |
"Labashi-Marduk ... was a vicious boy, and within nine months he had his throat cut by an assassin." Babylon the Great Has Fallen - God's Kingdom Rules p.184 |
1 year |
|
Plus Neriglissar |
Neriglissar ... reigned four years Babylon the Great Has Fallen - God's Kingdom Rules p.184 |
4 years |
|
Plus Evil-Merodach |
"After reigning but two years King Evil-Merodach was murdered" Babylon the Great Has Fallen - God's Kingdom Rules p.184 |
2 years |
|
Plus Nebuchadnezzar |
"Nebuchadnezzar ruled as king for 43 years" Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 2 p.480 |
43 years |
|
Equals start of Nebuchadnezzar's reign |
Calculated by adding above figures |
606 B.C. |
|
Minus Nebuchadnezzar's 19th year |
2 Kings 25:8-9 "And in the ... nineteenth year of King Neb·u·chad·nez´zar ... the servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. And he proceeded to burn the house of Jehovah" |
19th year |
|
Date for Destruction |
Therefore calculated as: |
587 B.C. |
VAT 4856 was mentioned.
An English translation of it may be found here:
https://archive.org/details/EinAstronomischerBeobachtungstextAusDem37.JahreNebukadnezarsIi
WT theology is clearly on life support. It's own dichotomy and theology is like a house of cards built on the sands just on the verge of collapse.
