Catholic Bible Dictionary - Appendix 2
A ppendix 2
Chronology of the Kings of Israel and Judah
It is a challenging task to ascertain the dates
of the biblical kings. There are several reasons
for this. For one, fathers and sons sometimes
reigned at the same time during overlapping
periods of co‑regency. For another, the king-
doms of Israel and Judah used different meth-
ods of calculation at different times in their
history. Two different methods were adopted
from the systems in use in the empires of the
ancient Near East. One was the accession-­year
system of ancient Egypt, in which the year of
the king’s coronation was counted as a full year
in the final calculation of his reign. The sec-
Northern Kingdom of Israel
kings dates b . c .
1. Jeroboam I 930–­910
2. Nadab 910–­909
3. Baasha 909–­886
4. Elah 886–­885
5. Zimri 885
6. Omri 885–­874
7. Ahab 874–­853
8. Ahaziah 853–­852
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Edited by Scott Hahn
ond was the nonaccession-­year system of an-
cient Mesopotamia, in which only the first full
year of a king’s reign was counted as his first
year on the throne. Despite these irregulari-
ties, which make synchronizing the dates of
the biblical kings a painstaking task, the over-
all picture is fairly secure: Solomon’s kingdom
split apart about 930 b.c., and the rival king-
doms set up in the north and south fell to for-
eign invaders in 722 b.c. (Assyrian conquest of
Israel) and 586 b.c. (Babylonian conquest of
Judah). Both kingdoms saw the rise and fall
of nineteen kings in succession.
Southern Kingdom of Judah
kings dates b . c .
1. Rehoboam 930–­913
2. Abijam 913–­911
3. Asa 911–­870
4. Jehoshaphat 873–­848
5. Jehoram 848–­841
6. Ahaziah 841
—— (Athaliah) 841–­835
7. Joash 835–­796
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Catholic Bible Dictionary - Appendix 2 Edited by Scott Hahn

Northern Kingdom of Israel (cont’d) Southern Kingdom of Judah (cont’d)

KINGS DATES B . C . KINGS DATES B . C .

9. Jehoram 852–841 8. Amaziah 796–767

10. Jehu 841–814 9. Azariah/Uzziah 792–740
11. Jehoahaz 814–798 10. Jotham 750–731
12. Joash 798–782 11. Ahaz 735–715
13. Jeroboam II 793–753 12. Hezekiah 729–686
14. Zechariah 753 13. Manasseh 696–642
15. Shallum 752 14. Amon 642–640
16. Menahem 752–742 15. Josiah 640–609
17. Pekahiah 742–740 16. Jehoahaz 609
18. Pekah 740–732 17. Jehoiakim 609–598
19. Hoshea 732–722 18. Jehoiachin 598–597
19. Zedekiah 597–586

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