Ancient History Timeline

Person

Samson

Nazirite of Dan, son of Manoah; judged Israel twenty years "in the days of the Philistines" and died pulling down the house of Dagon (Judg 13–16).

Sort year1151 BC
Tier 3 · Ussher–Jones (Floyd Nolen Jones)

Tier 3: Ussher-Jones (F. N. Jones): 1151 BC (no higher-tier year available). Jordan (secondary display) never sets the sort.

Description

Added with the judges-period records from James B. Jordan's chronology (secondary display).

Scripture

Family

Father
Not recorded

Birth

birth of Samson, CFAH first
ChronologyDate as statedYear (BC / AM)Citation & note
CFAH Not yet established — —
pending CFAH reference
Ussher-Jones "PROBABLE BIRTH 1151 BC" ("MAXIMUM YEARS FOR SAMSON = 68: 1169 BC")
Precision: approximate
 1151 BC Jones, Chart No. 4 "Judges to the First 3 Kings" (© 1993 Floyd Jones; chart text revised "As of 2007"), Samson life-line
Jones, 15th ed. (2002), ch. V p. 86: birth "near the end of the 18 year Philistine and Ammonite oppression"; "1140 is a viable alternative".
Sets sort year
Ussher 2849b AM, 1155 BC ("As foretold by the angel, Samson the Nazarite was born at Zorah")
Precision: year
 1155 BC
AM 2849		 Ussher, Annals of the World, Fourth Age §380 (paragraph numbering of the modern transcription)
Differs from sort year by 4 yrs
Jordan secondary "2861 - ... Likely births of Samson, Samuel, Obed, and Jephthah's daughter."
Precision: conjectural
 AM 2861 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
2001 revision. Jordan's 1991 list (BC 3:8) has an earlier year; see the second Jordan entry. p. 40: "The Philistine oppression lasted 40 years (Judges 13:1). Samson was born about this time." Judges (1985) p. 237: Samson conceived "About the time the Philistine bondage began" (no year). Judges (1985), ch. "Samson the Nazirite", pp. 237-238: "About the time the Philistine bondage began, God appeared to the mother of Samson, and she conceived"; "When Samson was about 20 years old, God began to stir him up ... about the time of the battle of Aphek". Intervals only; that book states "it is not possible to construct a strict chronology for the book of Judges" (p. 55).
Jordan secondary "2835 - ... Births of Samson and Samuel."
Precision: conjectural
 AM 2835 Jordan, "Chronology and Kings (II)," Biblical Chronology 3:8 (August 1991), section "The Judges", summary list
1991 scheme, superseded by Jordan himself in 2001 (Studies in Biblical Chronology No. 2 dates the whole judges sequence 26 years later because he there ends the 300 years of Judg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).
Jordan (compilation) secondary 40 year opp. of Philistines in the South; birth of Samson and possibly Samuel
Precision: year
 AM 2861 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)"
Agrees with Jordan's own published AM 2861.

Disagreements & open questions

  • Chronologies disagree BC years differ: 1155 BC (Ussher); 1151 BC (Ussher-Jones).
  • Chronologies disagree Anno Mundi figures differ: AM 2835 (Jordan); AM 2849 (Ussher); AM 2861 (Jordan, Jordan (compilation)).

Flags are generated from the figures stored in the data. The master timeline still sorts by the CFAH-weighted sort year.

Death

death of Samson, CFAH first
ChronologyDate as statedYear (BC / AM)Citation & note
CFAH Not yet established — —
pending CFAH reference
Ussher-Jones "BC 1121 – 20 = 1101 BC (Year Samson died & Samuel succeeded him)"
Precision: year
 1101 BC Jones, Chronology of the Old Testament (15th ed., 2002), ch. V "Chart Four", p. 86
Samson's 20-year judgeship 1121–1101 BC (Chart No. 4: "SAMSON ... HE JUDGED 20 YEARS DURING THE 40 YEAR PHILISTINE DOMINION").
Ussher 2887c AM, 1117 BC (dies in the temple of Dagon, "when he had judged Israel for 20 years")
Precision: year
 1117 BC
AM 2887		 Ussher, Annals of the World, Fourth Age §384 (paragraph numbering of the modern transcription)
Jordan secondary "2901 - Death of Samson, battle of Mizpah, deliverance from Philistine oppression."
Precision: year
 AM 2901 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
2001 revision. Jordan's 1991 list (BC 3:8) has an earlier year; see the second Jordan entry. Samson's judgeship begins 2881 ("Death of Eli, beginning of ... Samson's judgeship in the South"). p. 40: "his 40 years seem to be the same as those of the Philistine oppression."
Jordan secondary "2875 - Death of Samson, battle of Mizpah ..."
Precision: year
 AM 2875 Jordan, "Chronology and Kings (II)," Biblical Chronology 3:8 (August 1991), section "The Judges", summary list
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).
Jordan (compilation) secondary Death of Samson, at 40 yrs old. ... 2901 AM
Precision: year
 AM 2901 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)"
Agrees with Jordan's own published AM 2901.

Disagreements & open questions

  • Chronologies disagree BC years differ: 1117 BC (Ussher); 1101 BC (Ussher-Jones).
  • Chronologies disagree Anno Mundi figures differ: AM 2875 (Jordan); AM 2887 (Ussher); AM 2901 (Jordan, Jordan (compilation)).

Flags are generated from the figures stored in the data. The master timeline still sorts by the CFAH-weighted sort year.

Events

Related

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Copyrighted works (CFAH papers, F. N. Jones) are linked, not reproduced.