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Bible Dictionaries
Epoch
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary
or a term in chronology signifying a fixed point of time, from which the succeeding years are numbered. Scaliger says it means "a stop," because "in epochs stop and terminate the measures of times." It now usually denotes a remarkable date; as, the epoch of the destruction of Troy, B.C. 1183, &c. The first epoch is the creation of the world, which, according to the Vulgate Bible, Archbishop Usher fixes in the year 710 of the Julian period, and 4004 years before Jesus Christ. The second is the deluge, which, according to the Hebrew text, happened in the year of the world 1656. Six other epochs are commonly reckoned in sacred history:
the building of the tower of Babel, which was, according to Dr. Hales, B.C. 2554; the calling of Abraham, B.C. 2153; the departure of the Israelites out of Egypt, B.C. 1648; the dedication of the temple, B.C. 1027; the end of the Babylonish captivity, B.C. 536; and the birth of Jesus Christ, A.D. 1. In profane history are reckoned five epochs: the founding of the Assyrian empire, B.C. 1267; the era of Nabonassar, or death of Sardanapalus, B.C. 747; the reign of Cyrus at Babylon, B.C. 556; the reign of Alexander the Great over the Persians, B.C. 330; and the beginning of the reign of Augustus, in which our Saviour was born, B.C. 44.
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Watson, Richard. Entry for 'Epoch'. Richard Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/wtd/e/epoch.html. 1831-2.
