Event
Battle of Aphek: the Ark Captured and Eli Dies
The Philistines defeat Israel at Ebenezer/Aphek, capture the Ark and kill Hophni and Phinehas; Eli, aged 98, falls and dies after judging Israel forty years (1 Sam 4).
Sort year1122 BC
Tier 3 · Ussher–Jones (Floyd Nolen Jones)
Tier 3: Ussher-Jones (F. N. Jones): 1122 BC (no higher-tier year available). Jordan (secondary display) never sets the sort.
Description
Judges-period record added from James B. Jordan's chronology (secondary display) with Ussher, Jones and, where available, CFAH-1 Table 1 dates for sorting. Jordan treats the judgeships as partly overlapping regional sequences (North / Centre / South) fitted to the 480 years of 1 Kgs 6:1 and the 300 years of Judg 11:26.
Scripture
Chronologies
| Chronology | Date as stated | Year (BC / AM) | Citation & note |
|---|---|---|---|
| CFAH | Not yet established | — | — pending CFAH reference |
| Ussher-Jones | Eli's death on hearing of the Ark's capture "must have taken place around November or December of the previous year (1122 BC)" Precision: year |
1122 BC | Jones, Chronology of the Old Testament (15th ed., 2002), ch. V "Chart Four", p. 87 (opens in a new tab) Chart No. 4: "1122 BC ELI DIES UPON HEARING THE CAPTURE OF THE ARK AGE 98"; Ark returned 1121 BC after 7 months. Sets sort year |
| Ussher | 2888d AM, 1116 BC (Ark taken at Ebenezer; Hophni and Phinehas slain; Eli dies) Precision: year |
1116 BC AM 2888 |
Ussher, Annals of the World, Fourth Age §386 (paragraph numbering of the modern transcription) (opens in a new tab) §385 under the same year. §365: Eli "died at the age of 98 years ... in the year of the world 2888". Differs from sort year by 6 yrs |
| Jordan secondary | "2881 - Death of Eli, beginning of Samuel's judgeship at Tabernacle and Samson's judgeship in the South. Likely birth of Jesse." Precision: year |
AM 2881 | Jordan, From Creation to Solomon (Studies in Biblical Chronology No. 2, Biblical Horizons, Oct. 2001), ch. 11 "The Era of the Judges and the Reign of Saul", p. 52 (opens in a new tab) 2001 revision. Jordan's 1991 list (BC 3:8) has an earlier year; see the second Jordan entry. Judges (1985), "Samson, Samuel, and Obed", p. 237: the battle of Mizpah "happened 20 years after the battle of Aphek (1 Sam. 7:2)"; Samson was "about 20 years old" at about the time of Aphek, when "Eli died and Samuel began his public ministry" (intervals only, no year). |
| Jordan secondary | "2855 - Death of Eli, beginning of Samuel's judgeship at Tabernacle and Samson's judgeship in the South." Precision: year |
AM 2855 | Jordan, "Chronology and Kings (II)," Biblical Chronology 3:8 (August 1991), section "The Judges", summary list (opens in a new tab) 1991 scheme, superseded by Jordan himself in 2001 (Studies in Biblical Chronology No. 2 dates the whole judges sequence 26 years later because he there ends the 300 years of Judg 11:26 when Ammon took the villages, AM 2860, not at Jephthah's victory). BC 5:2: "In the following year, 2855, the Ark was taken into captivity." |
| Jordan (compilation) secondary | Battle of Aphek, Eli dies. ... 2881 AM Precision: year |
AM 2881 | Anno Mundi Chronology Studies (unnamed compiler; a compilation of James B. Jordan's system), p. 8, chart "Year of the World: From the Judges to King Saul (Chronology from James Jordan)" (opens in a new tab) Agrees with Jordan's own published AM 2881. |
| Biblical statements (direct Scripture data) | Eli 98 years old; judged Israel 40 years Precision: unknown |
— | 1Sam 4:15, 4:18 (opens in a new tab) |
Disagreements & open questions
- Chronologies disagree BC years differ: 1122 BC (Ussher-Jones); 1116 BC (Ussher).
- Chronologies disagree Anno Mundi figures differ: AM 2855 (Jordan); AM 2881 (Jordan, Jordan (compilation)); AM 2888 (Ussher).
Flags are generated from the figures stored in the data. The master timeline still sorts by the CFAH-weighted sort year.
Related
Free sources
- The King James Version of the Bible (opens in a new tab) — 1Sam.4.1-1Sam.4.22 ; 1Sam.7.2 public-domain
- Chronology of the Old Testament: A Return to the Basics (15th ed.) (opens in a new tab) free-to-read
- Chronology and Kings (II) (Biblical Chronology 3:8, August 1991) (opens in a new tab) free-to-read
- From Creation to Solomon (Studies in Biblical Chronology No. 2) (opens in a new tab) free-to-read
- The Annals of the World, Deduced from the Origin of Time (1658 English edition), Part One: 4004–176 BC (opens in a new tab) public-domain
- Anno Mundi Chronology Studies (A.M. chronology charts and A.M./B.C. table) (opens in a new tab) private-copy
Copyrighted works (CFAH papers, F. N. Jones) are linked, not reproduced.