Reigned

Years From Creation:

Year BC

11

3401

610BC

Jehoiakim began his reign 3401 years after creation at the age of 25 years old, and ended his reign with his capture and execution by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon eleven years later, 3412 years after creation, or 599BC.

2 Kings 23:36
“Jehoiakim was twenty five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.”

Jehoiakim did evil in the sight of the Lord (2 Kings 23:37).

Josephus the Roman historian records that in the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar became King of Babylon. The Bible does not tell us how old Jehoiakim was, nor how many years he reigned before Nebuchadnezzar became King of Babylon, but it does tell us that Jehoiachin (Jehoiakim’s son and successor) was captured by king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon after reigning for three months, and Nebuchadnezzar was in the eighth year of his reign in Babylon (2 Kings 24:12).
 

2 Kings 24:12
“And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and servants and his captains and his officials. So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign.”

The prophet Jeremiah confirms this in Jeremiah 25:1.
 

Jeremiah 25:1
“The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),”

Therefore, if Jehoiakim was in his fourth year when Nebuchadnezzar became King and he reigned for 11 years on the throne of Judah, then we can conclude that Jehoiakim had completed 3 complete years. Thus, 11 – 3 = 8.

Now we know that King Nebuchadnezzar had been ruling for around 8 years when Jehoiakim was taken into captivity in Babylon. As Jehoiakim was in his fourth year when Nebuchadnezzar became King, then we can conclude that Nebuchadnezzar had not completed his eighth year at Jehoiakim’s capture.

When Jehoiakim was taken captive to Babylon (2 Kings 24:6) and killed, his son Jehoiachin succeeded him on the throne of Judah. However he only reigned for 3 months before Nebuchadnezzar’s army attacked Judah a second time taking Jehoiachin and his family and many citizens of Judah captive to Babylon (See notes on Jehoiachin). As Nebuchadnezzar was in his eighth year when Jehoiakim was taken captive and killed, we can reasonably assume that he was still in his eighth year 3 months later when Jehoiachin was captured.

We also know from Daniel Chapter 1, that Nebuchadnezzar attacked Judah in the third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign. At first glance this would seem to contradict our earlier comments, if Nebuchadnezzar attacks the Kingdom of Judah in the third year of Jehoiakim’s reign over Judah, then he would be in his ninth year as King of Babylon when he takes Jehoiachin the son of Jehoiakim, captive to Babylon. This would seem to contradict 2 Kings 24:12.

I searched the Internet and history books looking for a logical explanation, and sure enough I found one. History records that Nebuchadnezzar attacked and defeated the Kingdom of Judah in the third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign, just as Daniel 1:1 says, but at this time Nebuchadnezzar was not King of Babylon. His father Nabopolassar was King of Babylon, when Nebuchadnezzar defeated Judah and forced Jehoiakim to serve the King of Babylon (2 Kings 24:1). Note Jehoiakim rebelled and refused to serve the King of Babylon after 3 years.

Soon after Nebuchadnezzar defeated Jehoiakim King of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar’s father Nabopolassar became ill and Nebuchadnezzar was forced to return to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar’s father succumbed to his illness and Nebuchadnezzar was crowned King of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign.

Nebuchadnezzar’s attack and defeat of Judah started the first wave of captives that would be carried off to Babylon. Over the next few years Nebuchadnezzar made more attacks on the Kingdom of Judah. After two of those attacks, captives were carried off to Babylon.

The captivity of Judah happened in 3 stages. Daniel the prophet was among the first captives to be taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar’s army in the third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign of Judah (Daniel 1:1).

3412

599BC

Name

Reigned

Years From Creation:

Year BC

3 Months

3412

599BC

Jehoiachin began his reign 3412 years after creation at the age of 18 years old, and ended his reign with his capture 3 months later, 3412 years after creation.

2 Kings 24:8
“Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Nahushta the daughter of El-nathan of Jerusalem.”

2 Chronicles 36:9 tells us that Jehoiachin reigned three months and ten days, but there seems to be some confusion between 2 Kings 24:8 and 2 Chronicles 36:9 as to Jehoiachin’s age when he began his reign. Most versions say he was 18 years old in 2 Kings 24:8; and eight years old in 2 Chronicles 36:9.

Even though there is a difference between 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles on this issue, it makes no difference to the overall historical facts surrounding this King, nor does it affect our timeline as we are interested in how long he reigned on the throne of Judah, and not how old he was when he began to reign.

Jehoiachin did evil in the sight of God (2 Kings 24:9, 2 Chronicles 36:9).
Josephus the Roman historian writes that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was worried Jehoiachin would lead Judah into a revolt against Babylon, as he had put his father Jehoiakim to death 3 months earlier.

Nebuchadnezzar attacked and took King Jehoiachin and his family to Babylon where he was imprisoned. We could conclude that this is the end of his story, as Jehoiachin’s father was taken to Babylon and executed, but the Bible gives us some more information that will enable us to calculate how long King Nebuchadnezzar reigned in Babylon.

2 Kings 25:27 tells us that Evil-merodach, King Nebuchadnezzar’s successor released Jehoiachin from prison and allowed him to dine with the royal family of Babylon.
 

2 Kings 25:27
“Now it came about in the thirty seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty seventh day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison;”

We know from this passage of scripture that Jehoiachin had been held prisoner in Babylon for around 37 years: he was in his thirty seventh year of exile. We also know that Nebuchadnezzar is no longer King of Babylon. He has been succeeded by Evil-merodach, and Evil-merodach is in the first year of his reign as King of Babylon. With this information we can calculate the length of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign.

From our earlier calculations we know that King Jehoiakim of Judah reigned 11 years and that Nebuchadnezzar became King of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign over Judah. Thus, 11 – 4 = 7, this calculation allows us to account for the first 7 years of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon. We also know that King Jehoiakim of Judah was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin, who ruled for 3 months and 10 days, then was carried away to Babylon and imprisoned.

Using the information given in 2 Kings 25:27 we now know that Jehoiachin spent 36 years in prison and was in his thirty seventh year when he was released from prison, by King Evil-merodach of Babylon, who was in his first year.
Thus, 37 + 7 = 44 years reign.

When I was researching this, I noticed some historians and Bible commentators calculate King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign as 43 years, and they could be right. King Jehoiakim of Judah was in the fourth year of his reign when Nebuchadnezzar became King of Babylon. Was he at the beginning of his fourth year, the middle, or the end when Nebuchadnezzar became King? We are not told.

We are also told that, King Jehoiachin of Judah was in the thirty seventh year of his imprisonment in Babylon. Was he in the beginning, middle, or end of his thirty seventh year of imprisonment? Again we are not told. These two variables could alter our calculation; most scholars agree that this would only alter the length of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign by 1 year.

On the other hand, some historians calculate the length of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign as 45 years, because his first attack on Judah and therefore the first captivity was in the third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign over Judah. Daniel 1:1 states that it was King Nebuchadnezzar who attacked Judah in the third year of Jehoiakim’s reign. The book of Daniel was written some years later during Daniels long stay in Babylon, when Nebuchadnezzar was now King of Babylon, Daniel would naturally refer to him as King Nebuchadnezzar, after all that was his title.

The Bible also refers to Jehoiachin when he was released from prison in Babylon as the King of Judah. Was he the King of Judah? No, another had ruled after him, technically he was the deposed King of Judah, but King of Judah was his title not his position at this time.
 

3412

599BC

Name

Reigned

Years From Creation:

Year BC

11

3412

599BC

Zedekiah began his reign 3412 years after creation, and ended his reign with his capture and execution 11 years later, 3423 years after creation or 588BC.

2 Kings 24:18
“Zedekiah was twenty one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.”

There are several things worth noting about Zedekiah;
(1) Zedekiah was the uncle of King Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:17).

(2) Zedekiah’s name was Mattaniah, King Nebuchadnezzar changed his name (2 Kings 24:17).

(3) Zedekiah was appointed King by Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon (2 Kings 24:17).

(4) Zedekiah was the last King of the Kingdom of Judah. The next King of Judah will rule the world, and His throne will be eternal.

(5) Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became King (2 Kings 24:18).

(6) Zedekiah reigned for 11 years (2 Kings 24:18).

(7) Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the Lord (2 Kings 24:19).

(8) Zedekiah rebelled against the King of Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar) (2 Kings 24:20).

Because Zedekiah rebelled against him, Nebuchadnezzar brought his army from Babylon and encamped around Jerusalem in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign over Judah (2 Kings 25:1). Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Jerusalem lasted until the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign when the Bible records that the famine in Jerusalem was so severe (2 Kings 25:3) that the people had no food. Zedekiah was eventually chased and captured by Nebuchadnezzar’s troops, and then sentenced to death for his rebellion against Babylon (2 Kings 25:6-7).

This was the third and final captivity of Judah. The Bible records that in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard went to Jerusalem and burned the temple, the Kings house, and all the houses in Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:8-9, Jeremiah 52:12-13).

Jeremiah 52:12-13
“(v12) Now on the tenth day of the fifth month, which was nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who was in the service of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. (v13) And he burned the house of the Lord, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every large house he burned.”

The temple was destroyed, Jerusalem was burned, the walls demolished, and God’s chosen people carried away to serve another King and Kingdom. All because God’s people rebelled against Him, worshiped other gods, and forsook the commandments God had given them.

This should be a lesson to the Church today, compare the state of the Church in general today to the state of Judah. The Church is asleep or lukewarm, Judah is in captivity; the Church today is in ruins, the temple of God has been destroyed and in ruins. The Bible teaches us that in the Church age, we are the temple of God, if the Church is in ruins, then the temple of God in our age is in ruins. The comparison is frightening, as I write this I am wondering how God will deal with us, as we have forsaken his commandments, and laid aside all that He has given us. A sobering thought!
 

Zedekiah ended his reign with his capture and execution 3423 years after creation.

3423

588BC

Reigned

Years From Creation:

Year BC

44

3404

607BC

Nebuchadnezzar began his reign as King of Babylon in the fourth year of King Jehoiakim’s (King of Judah) reign. Jehoiakim began his reign 3401 years after creation. When he was in the forth year of his reign it would have been sometime in the 3405th year after creation, which means the year is 3404 years after creation.

3448

563BC

King Jehoiakim of Judah ended his reign with his death after ruling 11 years, 3412 years after creation (599BC). We know from our earlier studies that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was in the eighth year of his reign. Nebuchadnezzar took King Jehoiachin, King Jehoiakim’s successor, captive to Babylon after reigning 3 months; we are told King Nebuchadnezzar was still in the eighth year of his reign. King Jehoiachin spent between 36 years and 37 years in a Babylonian prison (2 Kings 25:27), thus 8 + 37 = 45. At this time King Nebuchadnezzar was now dead and his successor Evil- merodach was in the first year of his reign as king of Babylon. Thus, 45 – 1 = 44 years.

Also, the prophet Jeremiah records the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign in Jeremiah 25:1.
“The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),”
 

3405

606BC

Daniel 2:1
“Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him.”

Daniel Chapter 2 goes on to tell the story of how Daniel sought God for the interpretation of the King’s dream, and how God answered Daniels prayer. Daniel then requested to be taken before the King to give him the interpretation. Notice that King Nebuchadnezzar ordered that his wise men tell him: first, what the dream was; and then, its interpretation so that these wise men of Babylon could not make up just any interpretation for his dream.

Daniel is taken before the King, and he tells Nebuchadnezzar what his dream is, then its interpretation. Daniel gave God the glory, by telling Nebuchadnezzar that God is the God who can reveal mysteries (Daniel 2:28:45).

When Daniel finished interpreting the King’s vision, Nebuchadnezzar rewarded Daniel and declared “Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery.” (Daniel 2:47).

Name

Reigned

Years From Creation:

Year BC

2

2334

563BC

The Bible does not tell us how long Evil- merodach reigned over Babylon for, or how long he lived. History tells us that Evil- merodach was the son of King Nebuchadnezzar; most historians seem to believe he reigned 1 to 2 years, before Neriglissar overthrows his throne by killing him.

As far as our timeline is concerned it does not really matter as we can use a verse from the book of Daniel to align everything back to our timeline.
 

3450

561BC

Remember, we know when Evil- merodach began his reign as King of Babylon from the calculation we did earlier to calculate the death of King Nebuchadnezzar. 2 Kings 25:27 tells us that King Jehoiachin was in his thirty seventh year of his imprisonment when he was released by Evil- merodach who was in the first year of his reign as King of Babylon (see the calculations for King Nebuchadnezzar).

History records that Evil- merodach was killed by his successor Neriglissar who conspired against him and killed him, taking his throne for himself.

During my research I found several renderings of Evil-merodach’s name, I have used this one as it seems to be used most often, but here are some of the other alternative names I came across, Ewil- merodach, Amel-merodach, Amel-marduck.

Evil- merodach was succeeded by Neriglissar.
 

Name

Reigned

Years From Creation:

Year BC

4

3450

561BC

Neriglissar became King of Babylon after conspiring against and killing Evil- merodach, Nebuchadnezzar’s son, history records that he reined in Babylon for 4 years.

3454

557BC

At this stage in Babylonian history there seems to be a break in the Kings of Babylon, I spent some time searching the history books and the Internet and found that the opinions among historians differed greatly. So I have decided to document my findings and conclusions and let you make up your own mind.

Our problems are bigger than they appear, so I will list them for you.

(1) At first glance there are not seventy years from the first captivity to the fall of Babylon. The traditional calculation shows there are definitely 67 years. If you add on 1 year, to account for Nebuchadnezzar’s first captivity of Judah in the third year King Jehoiakim’s reign (Nebuchadnezzar became King of Babylon in the fourth year of King Jehoiakim’s reign), then we get 68 years. I have adjusted my timeline to account for seventy years, as I believe if God said 70 years then he meant 70 years, no less, and no more.

Just because we do not understand or can not determine where the 70 years begins and ends, does not mean that there are not 70 years. We may have to accept that we no longer have enough surviving information to accurately determine where the seventy years begins and ends, so we are left with plain simple faith. If God said it was seventy years then that’s good enough for me.

(2) Using the traditional lengths of the reigns of the Kings of Babylon, it is difficult to show that the exile of Judah ended at the fall of Babylon, the numbers just do not add up. Some have suggested that the 70 years finished in the early years of Darius / Cyrus. It should be noted that Daniel refers to Darius, the general who led the Persian troops; the book of Ezra refers to Cyrus the King of Persia, and history refers to Cyrus the great, also the King of Persia. Darius became the Governor of Babylon, until Cyrus the King arrived.

But this would be inconsistent with scripture, Jeremiah 25:11-12 prophesies the length of the captivity and when it will end, as well as the future of the Babylonian Empire.
 

Jeremiah 25:11-12
“(v11) And this whole land shall be a desolation and a horror, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. (v12) ‘Then it will be when seventy years are complete I will punish the king of Babylon and the nation’, declares the Lord, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation.’”

Babylon today is located in Iraq; most of the land surrounding the ancient city is desert. Apparently, it will continue to be deserted and desolate for eternity.

Clearly God states through His prophet, that Judah was to serve the Kings of Babylon seventy years, and then God would bring judgment on Babylon for its own wickedness. No mention is made about part of the seventy years being served under another Empire. Also, this prophecy implies that the 70 year term ended with the fall of the Babylonian Empire.

Some have suggested that there is a gap in the lineage of the Kings of Babylon; most agree that Babylon goes through a period where rivals are conspiring to oust one king, in order to gain the throne for themselves. This is not the most popular view, but it does have some credibility. This could explain why we have no documentation from this period, pointing to the reign of a King of Babylon, which is what we find with all the other documentation from the period. Perhaps there wasn’t a king.

This seems a logical explanation which covers all the circumstances, but I am sure there will be some who will dispute this. Even if my conclusions are incorrect it will only introduce a 2 to 3 year error into our timeline. If a 2 to 3 error is all I have to deal with over the four thousand or so years to Christ, I think I can live with that. (Note: further research shows that my timeline differs from history by around 2 years for most the popular historical dates prior to Babylon as a result of adding in the 2 year gap in the timeline for the kings of Babylon.  Taking out the 2 years will mean that Judah did not spend 70 years in Babylon, as a result I have decided to leave the 2 years in my timeline.)

The successor to Neriglissar was Labashi-Marduk, historians seem to be undecided as to how long he reigned. The numbers I found vary from 3 months to 9 months, but everyone is agreed that his reign over Babylon was short.

Labashi-Marduk probably ruled just before Nabonidus his successor. One historian suggested that Nabonidus ousted Labashi-Marduk as he was quite young: given the jostling for power during this time of Babylonian history, this is quite likely.
 

Name

Reigned

Years From Creation:

Year BC

9 Months

3455

556BC

It seems we know very little about Labashi-Marduk, his reign was short, and he was probably killed by Nabonidus his successor. He may have only reigned 3 months; the exact length of his reign over Babylon seems to be unclear.

3455 to 3456

555 to 556BC

Labashi-Marduk was succeeded by Nabonidus.

Name

Reigned

Years From Creation:

Year BC

17

3456

555BC

Some historians say Nabonidus reigned 16 years and some say he reigned 17 years, and of course he may have reigned somewhere in between. He became the king of Babylon 3456 years after creation.

Unlike other Babylonian Kings he ruled from the oasis Tema in the Arabian Desert, perhaps after the recent conspiracies and executions in Babylon, he was worried that the same fate may befall him.

Six years later he appointed his son as a co-ruler, who reigned in Babylon. His son has more biblical significance as his name was Belshazzar. Belshazzar was significant in the Bible because it was during his final party, that God’s hand appeared and wrote a message on the wall: that night Babylon was to be invaded and Belshazzar would die in his bed, ending the rule of the Babylonian Empire. History records that events proceeded as prophesied, and Nabonidus his father, later surrendered to Cyrus King of Persia.
 

3473

538BC

Name

Reigned

Years From Creation:

Year BC

11

3462

549BC

Belshazzar was the son of King Nabonidus; he became co-regent with his father 3462 years after creation. His father Nabonidus had been reigning for 6 years and would have been in the seventh year of his reign.

Nabonidus had moved to Tema, an oasis in the Arabian Desert, and ruled the Babylonian Kingdom from there, perhaps due to recent conspiracies against previous Babylonian Kings. After all he probably came to power by overthrowing his predecessor!

The Bible does not tell us much about Belshazzar until the last day of his life. Daniel Chapter 5 starts by describing the feast Belshazzar gave.
 

Daniel 5:1
“Belshazzar the king held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand.”

Daniel tells us he ordered the gold and silver vessels, which King Nebuchadnezzar captured years earlier, to be bought (Daniel 5:2). He drank the wine from the temple vessels (Daniel 5:3), and began to praise any and every god on earth except the one true God (Daniel 5:4). In fact, his actions and behaviour mocked God, and challenged His very existence. In short he had no respect or fear of God.

As the feast proceeded its mood took a grim turn, when a finger suddenly appeared and wrote a message on the wall of the King’s palace (Daniel 5:5). The King called for the wise men of Babylon to interpret or translate the message, but they were unable to decipher it (Daniel 5:8).

Daniel goes on to say that at this time the Queen entered the banquet hall (Daniel 5:10). She told of Daniel’s ability interpret the dreams of King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 5:11). The King sent for Daniel to be brought before him (Daniel 5:13). Daniel was asked to translate the inscription. With the power of the Holy Spirit, Daniel translated the words “MENE, MENE, TEKEL UPHARSIN”.

This is an epitaph you do not want written on your tomb stone, Daniel 5:26-28 records the interpretation.

Daniel 5:26-28
“(v26) This is the interpretation of the message: ‘MENE’ – God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. (v27) ‘TEKEL’ – you have been weighted on the scales and found deficient. (v28) ‘PERES’ – your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and the Persians.”

Daniel was made third ruler in the Kingdom (Daniel 5:29), and that same night Belshazzar was slain (Daniel 5:30). The Babylonian Kingdom fell into the hands of Darius the Mede, who was 62 years old (Daniel 5:31).
 

3473

538BC

Name

Reigned

Years From Creation:

Year BC

3462

549BC

Daniel 7:1
“In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel saw a dream and visions in his mind as he lay on his bed; then he wrote the dream down and related the following summary of it.”
 

3464

547BC

Daniel 8:1
“In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king a vision appeared to me, Daniel, subsequent to the one which appeared to me previously.”
 

The fall of Babylon concluded the first part of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, the statue with the head of gold, see Daniel 2:38. It also signalled the end of the 70 years captivity or exile. Jeremiah 25:12 tells us that after the completion of the seventy year period, God would punish the King of Babylon, and the nation.

Jeremiah 25:11-12
“‘Then it will be when seventy years are complete I will punish the king of Babylon and the nation’, declares the Lord, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation.’”

Daniel the prophet was probably a young man or in his late teens when Nebuchadnezzar’s troops invaded his home land, he was amongst the first wave of captives taken to Babylon. Now as an old man reading the Torah (our Old Testament), he observed that the seventy years were more or less completed.

Daniel 9:2
“(v1) In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans – (v2) in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.”

Seventy years in captivity.
As I researched this, I found several web sites on the internet dedicated to explaining why there are not seventy years from the first captivity of Judah to the fall of Babylon. They do have a point, as you can see from the diagram below; there is a gap in the succession of the Babylonian Kings.

As I mentioned earlier, there could be several explanations for this, all of these have their arguments fore and against. No matter how you try to explain this problem away, there is always someone who will find a reason why you are wrong; this is because we just do not know.

I put together this timeline based on the best information I could find. I have put the best information from many sources together to show a timeline that meets most of the facts that are available to us.

In the timeline below, I have allowed seventy years from the time the first captives of Judah are taken to Babylon to the fall of Babylon. Historically this seems difficult to prove, but as the Bible is the base for my study, I have made one assumption. If God said Judah would serve the Kings of Babylon for seventy years, then I believe He meant seventy years and not sixty seven, or seventy one.

I found some historians who believe there is a gap in the succession of the Babylonian Kings; this seems to fit most of the facts available to us. Other explanations leave us with conclusions that are not consistent with the Bible or other areas of history. As a result of this difficulty, this part of the timeline has a maximum error of plus or minus two years.