Chart the Timeline of Tenach (jewish Bible)

There is debate concerning who are the actual author/authors of the Tenach. There seems to be different opinions regarding this matter including both orthodox and non-Jewish scholars. Orthodox Jews believe in the work of the Seder Olam, which follows the order of the Bible itself, as well as including explanation as to why there is not a consistent chronological order. However, Philip Biberfeld, a scholar who wrote Universal Jewish History, cross examines the stories and tales in the Tenach with other historical and archaeological studies and findings. Orthodox Jews find the Bible to be their most important document, something that they live through and define their lives from. Therefore, it is clear that they would not need tangible evidence to prove what is written is in fact the truth. But, other scholars accept their belief that the stories contained within the Bible are both moral and inspiring, and that is simply all that they are – stories.

There are several difficulties incurred through trying to date biblical events. The first, is the lack of written evidence including that other nations living in the same geographical position as the Jews cease to exist and therefore cannot portray their side of the story or order of events. Cuneiform tablets (an ancient form a written expression) have been found but barely including any mention of Biblical events. As the Israelites live in a damp area, this itself has prevented the survival of scrolls and documents from those days.

A second difficulty is that many Jewish traditions have been passed down through the generations orally; even though these were eventually written down, the concern is that they may have been altered whilst being taught again. As well as this, it has been identified that teachers and mentors have combined different events for the sake of their lessons. This ultimately renders those tales as fiction as those nothing happened exactly according to these edited parables.

Third difficulty encountered is that there is historical bias as Biblical events were written according to the sole views of its author. This would clearly impact on the recollection of what in fact took place. However, it should be stated that orthodox scholars feel that this is untrue as the Tenach was written through Divine inspiration.

Lastly, the Bible was not written for the intended purpose of becoming a history textbook. Its purpose is to teach principles of Judaism, the nature of G-d and what is the correct path in life to follow. Therefore, chronological ordering was not the most important so if something can be mentioned at a different point in time to be able to teach a lesson, it will.

For all who completely believe that the Bible is word of G-d, they accept that it is possible to trace the sequence of events and find a relative timeline for the majority of events and people. As mentioned previously, the Seder Olam depicts this and outlines the series of