During his reign the temple in Jerusalem was rebuilt after the first [temple] was burned down by the Babylonians.
5 Xerxes, son of Darius 20 years
6 Artaxerxes, who was called Longimanus 41 years
During his reign Ezra and Nehemiah were recognized as leaders of the Hebrews [g104].
7 Darius 7 years
8 Artaxerxes 40 years
7 Ochus 26 years
8 Arses 4 years
8 Darius 7 years
[Darius] was slain by Alexander, son of Philip, who ruled over both Persian and Assyrian states for 12 years. After [Alexander] , Macedonians ruled for 295 years until the death of a certain woman named Cleopatra, who ruled in the 187th Olympiad [32-29 B.C.]. During her reign, Augustus ruled over the Romans. [Augustus] was called Sebastos which translates "adorable" [g105]. [Cleopatra died] in the 15th year of Augustus' reign. Fifty-two years elapsed from that time until the 202nd Olympiad [29-32 A.D.], and the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar. From then until the 20th anniversary of Constantine, there are 300 years. Thus far, this much. Let us now turn to the chronology of the Hebrews.
[22] How the Hebrews transmitted [their] chronology.
We shall set out the chronology of the Hebrews, taken from the writings of Moses and later Hebrew authors, from The Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus and the chronologies of Africanus.
How the Hebrews chronicled [their history].
In the preceding sections we have recorded the events and kings of the Chaldeans, Assyrians, Medes and Persians [g106]. The fact that the Hebrew people derived from the Chaldeans was clearly demonstrated, since Abraham was Chaldean and his ancestors inhabited that land. Moreover, the Mosaic writings confirm this [in the following passage [Genesis 11.31]]: "Terah took Abraham his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarah his daughter-in-law, his son Abraham's wife, and they went forth together from the land of the Chaldeans."
Thus it is fitting that the history of Hebrew antiquities follow our exposition of Chaldean history. The story they relate about the flood is quite different from the Greek legendary tale which places the flood during the time of Deucalion [g107], [an event which occurred] long before Ogyges and the great flood which the Greeks say occurred in his time. The flood [recounted in Genesis] took place some 1,200 years before Ogyges' flood, which in turn preceded Deucalion's flood by 250 years.
There are not a few similarities between the Assyrian and Hebrew writings about the flood. [For example] they [both] say that there were ten successive generations before the flood.
After the flood, the human race throughout the entire world was fathered by [only] three men. All Europe [g108], from Mt. Amanus to the western ocean, descended from Japheth. [The people of] Egypt, the land of Libya, and all points westward descended from Ham. The third brother, Shem, fathered [the inhabitants of] Assyria and all points eastward.
Hebrew scriptures regard Nimrod as the first builder of Babylon, describing [the matter] in this way [in Genesis 10.8-11]: "Cush became the father of Nimrod". Cush was an Ethiopian who was considered the father of Nimrod, about whom scripture says: "He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, 'Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord'. The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, and Accad, all of them in the land of Shinar. From that land [g109] he went into Assyria and built Nineveh." Nineveh, which is called Ninus [in Greek], was the first royal city of the Assyrians. It was built by Asshur, one of the sons of Shem, who, as we said held all the eastern areas.
They say that the sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Aram, and Lud. The Elamites, the first nation of the Persians, descended from Elam, who also built the city of Elymais. the Assyrians descended from Asshur who also built the Assyrian city, Ninus, which was called Nineveh. The Arphaxadians descended from Arphaxad also called Chaldeans. The Aramaeans, also called Syrians (Asorik'), descended from Aram. The Lydians descended from Lud. Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, who was the father of Eber, from whom the name and nation of the Hebrews derives. Abraham, the patriarch of the Hebrew nation, was the sixth generation descendant of Eber, in the tenth generation after the flood. This much should be sufficient to demonstrate in summary fashion that the ancestry of the Chaldeans and Assyrians is mixed with that of the Hebrews. Consequently it is appropriate to begin their [Hebrew] chronology close to those others.
[23] Their chronology commences with an account of the fall from grace of our human race. This occurred [g110] during the time of Adam, the first patriarch, whose name is synonymous with human kind, since in the Hebrew language "Adam" means, generally, "man." The period of his life after his expulsion from Paradise has been recorded by Moses, through the agency of the Holy Spirit. Moses then lists [Adam's] descendants and their ages through successive generations [Genesis 5.1-32]. Because of this we can set down a chronology of the Hebrews from him. But no one can determine when it was that [Adam] dwelled in that Paradise described in the Bible. It seems to me that the marvelous Moses alludes to a goodly, godly existence then in a world better than our own, a place called Paradise where the first man dwelled. [Moses] refers to all of humanity when he describes Adam's sweet and desirable existence in Paradise [g111].
Our chronicle will not provide accounts about that existence [in Paradise] nor about how the Almighty established heaven and earth. This is how some [chroniclers] have thought [to begin]. Rather, we shall begin from the time that our human race experienced mortality and from [the time of] our first ancestor who set out on that path. [That ancestor] was the man named Adam, whose dying, mortal span of years was calculated in Hebrew literature, for it was from this point that Hebrew chronology began. Indeed, the Book of Moses [Genesis 3.23] describes it as follows:
"The Lord God sent him (that is, the first man) forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. And he drove Adam out and made him live outside the comforts of Paradise." Further on it says [Genesis 4.1]: "Now Adam knew Eve [g112] his wife and she conceived and bore Cain." Our present chronology will begin at this point. The history of earlier, unknowable times will be set aside here, because it should be kept distinct from subsequent [verifiable] history.
There is considerable disagreement among the Hebrews about their own chronology, so it will be good to commence by examining their differing accounts. By evaluating and comparing all of them, the truth will be arrived at. The five books of Moses describe the creation of the world, life before the flood, the history of the ancients after the flood, the generations of the Hebrews, and the passing of Moses. The Jews [g113] and the Samaritans, who were foreigners who came to live among the Jews, have differing versions of the books of the law. The characters of the Hebrew alphabet used by the Jews differ from those used by the Samaritans. The correct and original [alphabet] is not the one used by the [contemporary] Jews, because their descendants corrupted it. Yet there was no conflict between them [the Hebrews and the Samaritans] until the alteration of the letters. Furthermore there are numerous disagreements between the two with respect to chronology, as will become clear in the comparison below.
The Greek translation [of the Bible] also differs from the Hebrew, though not so much from the Samaritan [version]. There is disagreement [in chronology in the versions] up to the flood, but thereafter, until the time of Abraham, the versions are in harmony. The text we use was translated collectively by seventy Hebrew men [g114] from their language into Greek during the reign of Ptolemaeus Philadelphus. [Their translation] was placed in the library in the city of Alexandria, where it was carefully preserved. Now we shall set forth historical information from each of the versions, one after the other, so that it will be easy to distinguish the discrepancies. We shall begin with the translation of the seventy men [the Greek Septuagint] [g115] and see how it treats the chronology of the period from Adam to the birth of Abraham.
[24] The Septuagint