Bible Encyclopedias
Chronology of the Kings

A. From Assyrian Inscriptions.--

(1) 854 B.C.. Salmanasar II, in the summer of his sixth year, vanquishes Benadad of Syria (1 Kings 20:1), the predecessor of Hazael, with other kings, among them Achab of Israel, in the battle of Karkar.
(2) 842 B.C. Salmanasar II, in his eighteenth year, receives tribute from Jehu.
(3) 738 B.C. Theglathphalasar III (Phul, 2 Kings 15:19) receives, in his eighth year, tribute from Manahem.
(4) 733-2 B.C. War between Theglathphalasar and Rasin of Syria; siege of Damascus. "Joachaz of Juda", i.e. Achz, brings presents from Theglathphalasar. Conquest of Israelitish territory by Theglathphalasar.
(5) 731-0 (?) B.C. "Pakacha", i.e. Phacee (Hebr. Pekach), is killed, and "Ausi", i.e. Osee, is set over Israel by Theglathphalasar.
(6) 722-1 B.C. Samaria is taken possession of, in the early part of Sargon's reign, by the Assyrians.

B. From Scripture.--

(1) Towards the end of Solomon's reign, Jeroboam I fled into Egypt to Sesac. In the fifth year of the reign of Roboam, Jerusalem was plundered by the same Sesac (1 Kings 11:40; 14:25). Sesac I probably reigned about 940-19 B.C.
(2) In, or shortly before, the fifteenth year of Asa's reign, "Zara the Ethiopian" (Hebr. Zerach) declared war against Asa (2 Chronicles 14:9; cf. 15:10 ff.]. Some commentators think that Zara was a king of Egypt, namely, Osorkon I or II. The first was the successor of Sesac I. The second cannot be placed chronologically.
(3) Benadad II (1 Kings 20:1), the contemporary of Salmanasar II, was contemporary with Achab and Joram of Israel. Joram died during the reign of Benadad's successor, Hazael. According to Assyrian sources. Benadad was, in 846, still King of Syria.
(4) Hazael, who, according to Assyrian inscriptions, was already ruling in 842, was contemporary with Jehu, Joas of Juda, and Joachaz of Israel (2 Kings 13:22). In 803, Ramman-nirari III conquered Damascus under the Syrian King Mari, who was possibly the Biblical Benadad (III), contemporary of Joas of Israel (ibid., v, 25).
(5) Manahem honours Phul, King of the Assyrians, with presents (2 Kings 15:19-20). That Phul is identical with Theglathphalasar III is apparent enough from the fact that, in the year 729, according to Assyrian inscriptions, Tukultiapalisarra, and Babylonian inscriptions Pulu, becomes King of Babylon, and that this same king, according to the same sources, died in 727.
(6) Phacee and Rasin, King of Syria, besiege Achaz at Jerusalem (2 Kings 16:5). Achaz calls Theglathphalasar to his assistance (ibid., v. 8).
(7) Damascus is taken by Theglathphalasar, and Rasin is killed (2 Kings 16:9). Achaz visits Theglathphalasar at Damascus (ibid., v, 10).
(8) Theglathphalasar, during the reign of Phacee, takes possession of Israel's territory. Phacee is conspired against and slain by Osee, and the latter becomes king (2 Kings 15:29, 30).
(9) Salmanasar beleaguers Samaria, which, in the third year of the siege, the sixth of Ezechias, and the ninth of Osee, is taken by the Assyrians (2 Kings 17:5, 6; 18:10, 11). Salmanasar reigned from January, 726, to January, 721. Sua (or Seve), mentioned in 2 Kings 17:4, as "king of Egypt", is not identified with certainty. Some think him to be Sabaka, whose chronology, as also that of Theraca (2 Kings 19:9), has not been determined. Under Sargon of Assyria is mentioned, in the year 707, one Sib'u, or Sib'e, as "prince [turtan, or sultan] of Musri".
(10) Ezechias received, in or shortly after his fourteenth year, an embassy from Merodach-Baladan (D. V. Berodach Baladan), who was King of Babylon from 721 to 710, and again, for 9 months, in 703. See 2 Kings 20:1, 6, 12.
(11) Sennacherib of Assyria besieged Ezechias at Jerusalem. The date given for this event, "in the fourteenth year of King Ezechias" (2 Kings 18:13; and Isaiah 36:1) is either misplaced or incorrect. The event took place, according to 2 Kings 20:6, after the recovery of Ezechias in his fourteenth year (i.e. fifteen years before his death), and after the arrival of the Babylonian embassy.
(12) Death of Josias in a combat with Nechao, King of Egypt (2 Kings 23:29). Nechao (Necho II) ascended the throne in 610.
(13) Battle near Carchemish (Charcamis, Karchemis) between Nechao and Nabuchodonosor of Babylon in the fourth year of Joakim (Jeremiah 46:2; cf. 25:1; and 2 Kings 24:1). According to the account of Berosus in Flavius Josephus, Nabuchodonosor, after having slaughtered the Egyptian army near Carchemish, marched on to Syria and Palestine in order to invade Egypt. Arrived at the confines of this country, he received the news of the death of his father, Nabopolassar. Returning to Babel to assume his administration, he confided the Jewish, Phoenician, and Syrian prisoners of war to the chiefs of his army. In consequence of this Juda also rose in revolt against him (cf. 2 Chronicles 36:6; and Daniel 1:1). Nabopolassar died in the beginning of the summer of 605 B.C. The fourth year of Joakim is in Jeremiah 25:1, designated as the first year of Nabuchodonosor, and, according to v. 3 of the same, was the twenth-third after the thirteenth year of Josias.
(14) Nabuchodonosor takes Joachin (Jechonias) as a prisoner to Babylon, according to Jeremiah 52:28, in the seventh, according to 2 Kings 24:12, in the eighth year of his reign. Chapter lii, 28-34, in Jeremias, follows the Babylonian manner of dating (post-dating), whereas the other texts count the initial year of any reign as the first. According to Babylonian dating, the first year of Nabuchodonosor was 604, but, according to Israelitish dating, it was 605. Jeremiah 52:31, "In the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Joachin, king of Juda, in the twelfth month, the five and twentieth day of the month, Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign (i.e. 562 B.C.), lifted up the head of Joachin, king of Juda, and brought him forth out of prison" (incorporated in 2 Kings 25:27), evidently follows the Babylonian dating. All these datings point to 598 as the year when Joachin was carried away.
(15) In his eighth year, or the beginning of his ninth year, Sedecias revolted against Nabuchodonosor and called to his assistance Egypt, namely, the newly elevated Pharao Hophra (D. V. Ephree), who ascended the throne in 589 (probably the first half of the year) — 2 Kings 24:20 (cf. 2 Kings 25:1); Jeremiah 37:4 and 44:30; Ezekiel 17:15.
(16) The siege of Jerusalem began in the tenth month of the ninth year of Sedecias (2 Kings 25:1; Jeremiah 34:1; 52:4). According to Jeremiah 32:1, the tenth year of Sedecias coincides with the eighteenth of Nabuchodonosor. Jerusalem was taken in the eleventh year of Sedecias, the nineteenth year of Nabuchodonosor, in the fourth month (2 Kings 25:8; Jeremiah 52:12). According to Babylonian chronology, this was the eighteenth year of Nabuchodonosor (Jeremiah 52:29).
(17) The fourth month of the eleventh year of Sedecias falls in the nineteenth year (Israelitish chronology) of Nabuchodonosor. From this it appears that the fourth month (Thammuz) of the first year of Sedecias falls in the ninth year of Nabuchodonosor. As Joachin's abduction took place in the eighth year of Nabuchodonosor, it is very probable that Sedecias became king in this, the eighth year.