The 480 years of 1 Kings 6:1

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

The Mysterious Number 480 in 1 Kings 6:1

There is a plausible option that 1 Kgs 6:1 and Judg 11:26 are parts of an ancient chronological scheme which was used in pre-exilic royal archives to connect the past history of Israel (the exodus and the settlement) to the chronology of the monarchy.

See Also: Guide to Biblical Chronology (Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2015).

By Antti Laato
Professor in Old Testament Exegetics with Judaic Studies
Åbo Akademi University, Turku Finland
April 2016

Many people have tried to make the chronology of the earlier part of the Deuteronomistic History work, even though it is both internally inconsistent and inconsistent with what we know of the chronology of the period from outside sources. I don't find any of these efforts very persuasive.