Abimelech, 3 years
Tola, 23 years
Jair, 22 years
foreigners and Jephthah the judge, 6 years
Ibzan, 7 years
Abdon, 8 years
foreigners and Samson, 20 years. In his time, the Trojan war was fought.
Eli, 40 years
Samuel and Saul, 40 years
David, 40 years
Solomon (until the building of the temple), 4 years [g169]
From Moses' exodus from Egypt until the building of the temple, a total of 480 years elapsed.
Concerning Joshua, Moses' successor, the book which bears his name mentions only that he died at the age of 110. The Hebrews consider that he was their leader for 27 years, thus he was 43 years old when Moses left Egypt.
[35] As regards Samuel, since the book [which bears his name] says nothing about his duration, I consider that what the blessed Apostle said concerning Saul should be taken to include both Saul and Samuel. For it appears that Samuel was the leader of the people for many years, while Saul ruled for but two years. The first book of Kings [1 Samuel 13.1] describes it this way: "Saul was the son of a year in his reign; and he ruled over Israel for two years more." Symmachus clarifies [g170] this in his translation: "Saul resembled a one-year-old child in his reigning," which means that at the beginning of his reign Saul was sincere and good, and stayed that way for two years. But then he became corrupted and was rejected by God and was strangled by a demon in punishment. Thus the remaining years have been assigned to Samuel and 40 years is the combined total for Samuel and Saul. It is clear that Saul ruled for this period not solely based on the testimony of the Apostle, but through a careful reading of Scripture.
It is written [in 2 Samuel 2.10] that following Saul's death, "Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, was 40 years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David." The Ish-bosheth mentioned here must have been born [g171] after Saul became king, because when describing events from the beginning of Saul's reign [1 Samuel 14.49], mention is made of three sons of Saul, but not this one. Thus we believe that [Ish-bosheth] was born late, and that the length of Saul's reign was approximately the same as the age of his son following his death.
Thus, the third book of Kings [1 Kings 6.1] states that 480 years elapsed from the exodus out of Egypt until Solomon and the building of the temple; 505 years elapsed from Abraham until Moses and the exodus; 942 years elapsed from the flood until the first year of Abraham; and 2,242 years elapsed from Adam until the flood. Altogether 4,170 years elapsed from Adam until Solomon and the building of the temple.
The historian Josephus in the first book of his Jewish Antiquities when describing the time of Solomon and the construction of the temple includes the testimony of some Phoenician men. The evidence of these men seems valuable to me. In that book [ Against Apion 1.17], [Josephus] writes [g172]:
[36] The evidence of the Phoenicians about the temple at Jerusalem, from Josephus
I will now, therefore, pass from these records, and come to those that belong to the Phoenicians, and concern our nation, and shall produce attestations to what I have said out of them. There are then records among the Tyrians that take in the history of many years, and these are public writings, and are kept with great exactness, and include accounts of the facts done among them, and such as concern their transactions with other nations also, those I mean which were worth remembering. Therein it was recorded that the temple was built by king Solomon at Jerusalem, one hundred forty-three years and eight months before the Tyrians built Carthage [g173].
In their annals the building of our temple is related; for Hirom, the king of Tyre, was the friend of Solomon our king, and had such friendship transmitted down to him from his forefathers. He thereupon was ambitious to contribute to the splendor of this edifice of Solomon, and made him a present of one hundred and twenty talents of gold. He also cut down the most excellent timber out of that mountain which is called Libanus, and sent it to him for adorning its roof. Solomon also not only made him many other presents, by way of requital, but gave him a country in Galilee also, that was called Chabulon. But there was another passion, a philosophic inclination [g174] of theirs, which cemented the friendship that was betwixt them; for they sent mutual problems to one another, with a desire to have them unriddled by each other; wherein Solomon was superior to Hirom, as he was wiser than him in other respects: and many of the epistles that passed between them are still preserved among the Tyrians. Now, that this may not depend on my bare word, I will produce for a witness Dius, one that is believed to have written the Phoenician History after an accurate manner. This Dius, therefore, writes thus, in his Histories of the Phoenicians:
Upon the death of Abibalus, his son Hirom took the kingdom. This king raised banks at the eastern parts of the city, and enlarged it [g175]; he also joined the temple of Jupiter Olympius (Aramazd), which stood before in an island by itself, to the city, by raising a causeway between them, and adorned that temple with donations of gold. He moreover went up to Libanus, and had timber cut down for the building of temples. They say further, that Solomon, when he was king of Jerusalem, sent problems to Hirom to be solved, and desired he would send others back for him to solve, and that he who could not solve the problems proposed to him should pay money to him that solved them. And when Hirom had agreed to the proposals, but was not able to solve the problems, he was obliged to pay a great deal of money, as a penalty for the same [g176]. As also they relate, that one Abdemon, a man of Tyre, did solve the problems, and proposed others which Solomon could not solve, upon which he was obliged to repay a great deal of money to Hirom.
[37] These things are attested to by Dius, and confirm what we have said upon the same subjects before. And now I shall add Menander the Ephesian, as an additional witness. This Menander wrote the Acts that were done both by the Greeks and Barbarians, under every one of the Tyrian kings, and had taken much pains to learn their history out of their own records. Now when he was writing about those kings that had reigned at Tyre, he came to Hirom, and says thus:
Upon the death of Abibalus, his son Hirom took the kingdom; he lived fifty-three years [g177], and reigned thirty-four. He raised a bank on that called the Broad Place, and dedicated that golden pillar which is in Jupiter's (Aramazd's) temple; he also went and cut down timber from the mountain called Libanus, and got timber of cedar for the roofs of the temples. He also pulled down the old temples, and built new ones; besides this, he consecrated the temples of Hercules and of Astarte. He first built Hercules's temple in the month Peritus, and that of Astarte when he made his expedition against the Tityans, who would not pay him their tribute; and when he had subdued them to himself [g178], he returned home. Under this king there was a younger son of Abdemon, who mastered the problems which Solomon, king of Jerusalem, had recommended to be solved. Now the time from this king to the building of Carthage is thus calculated:
Upon the death of Hirom, Baleazarus his son took the kingdom; he lived forty-three years, and reigned seven years: after him succeeded his son Abdastartus; he lived twenty-nine years, and reigned nine years. Now four sons of his nurse plotted against him and slew him, the eldest of whom reigned [twelve years]: after them [g179] came Astartus, the son of Deleastartus; he lived fifty-four years, and reigned twelve years: after him came his brother Aserymus; he lived fifty-four years, and reigned nine years: he was slain by his brother Pheles, who took the kingdom and reigned but eight months, though he lived fifty years: he was slain by Ithobalus, the priest of Astarte, who reigned thirty-two years, and lived sixty-eight years: he was succeeded by his son Badezorus, who lived forty-five years, and reigned six years: he was succeeded by Matgenus his son; he lived thirty-two years [g180], and reigned nine years: Pygmalion succeeded him; he lived fifty-six years, and reigned forty-seven years. Now in the seventh year of his reign, his sister fled away from him, and built the city Carthage in Libya. So the whole time from the reign of Hirom, till the building of Carthage, amounts to the sum of one hundred fifty-five years and eight months. Since then the temple was built at Jerusalem in the twelfth year of the reign of Hirom, there were from the building of the temple, until the building of Carthage, one hundred forty-three years and eight months.
Wherefore, what occasion is there for alleging any more testimonies out of the Phoenician histories [on the behalf of our nation], since what I have said is so thoroughly confirmed already? and to be sure our ancestors came into this country long before the building of the temple [g181]; for it was not till we had gotten possession of the whole land by war that we built our temple. And this is the point that I have clearly proved out of our sacred writings in my Antiquities .