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156

The second biblical chronology

by T. W. M. van Berkel

   

   This essay is an revised version of my essay about the second biblical chronology, published on this site in June 2003, and replaces all previous versions.

Features of the second biblical chronology

   The second biblical chronology precedes a series of predictions which run from 1606 to 1792. Next comes a series of predictions which run from 1792 to the (undated) beginning of the seventh millennium, with the remark that the course of history will go much further. Closing, there is an (undated) series of predictions. This series of predictions might fall back to the persecution of the Church, about which is predicted that this will start in 1606, and this series runs until the (undated) end of the biblical Kingdom of 1000 years, without mentioning the seventh millennium.

   By means of biblical persons and biblical events, the second biblical chronology covers the period between the creation of the world and the birth of Jesus.

   According to the Epistle to Henry II, the second biblical chronology is based upon the Bible and (in the case of the period Temple - Jesus) on calculations by bible scientists. The chronology starts with the creation of the world and ends with the birth of Jesus. Because of “the diversity of sects”, the period after the birth of Jesus is not described.

   At the beginning of the second biblical chronology, it is discussed if solar years were applied, lunar years or a mixed type of year. This discussion is closed with the remark that it is assumed that in the Bible has been counted with solar years.

   The second biblical chronology closes with the remark that it covers a time span of about 4173 years and 8 months (rounded: 4174 years). The time span which results from the time data of this chronology, is smaller: 4092 years and 2 months.

   In the second biblical chronology, the time span of all periods is given without any restriction, except for the time span of the complete chronology, which has the restriction “more or less”. In table 1, this restriction is marked with the symbol ±.

Table 1. Second biblical chronology
(Epistle to Henry II)

Period Years
Creation - Noah 1506
Noah - Ark 600
Deluge (rounded) 1
End of Deluge - Abraham 295
Abraham - Isaac 100
Isaac - Jacob 60
Egypt - Exodus 130
Egypt - Exodus 430
Exodus - Temple 480
Temple - Jesus 490
Total (calculated and rounded) ± 4092
Total (according to the text and rounded) ± 4174

Printer’s errors and deviations

   In the second biblical chronology, it reads that the length of the periods is borrowed from the Bible, except for the length of the period Temple - Jesus, which is borrowed from scholar’s calculations. In the investigation upon which Nostradamus, astrology and the Bible is founded, the time spans of these periods were compared with relevant time data in the Roman-catholic Dutch Willibrord translation of the Bible (1978). Calculations by means of time data in the Bible can also be found in Eusebius’ Chronicorum.1

a. The period Creation - Noah

   …comptans les ans depuis la creation du monde, jusques à la naissance de Noë, sont passez mil cinq cens et six ans…

   The time span of 1506 years is verified with time data in Genesis 5 regarding the age of the Patriarchs at the time they fathered their oldest son.

   According to Genesis 1,31, Adam was created at the sixth day of the creation process. In the second biblical chronology, these days are not included.

   According to the time data in Genesis 5, the period Creation - Noah did not last 1506 years, but 1056 years. In this part of the chronology, the numerals mil cinq cens et six are printed (1506), not the numerals mil cinquante et six (1056). The numerals mil cinq cens et six seem to be the result of a printer’s error.2 Brind’Amour (Nostradamus astrophile, 1993) and Wöllner (Das Mysterium des Nostradamus, 1926) also observed this.3

Table 2. Period Adam - Noah
(Van Berkel, 2005)

Genesis Patriarchs Years
Genesis 5,3 Adam - Seth 130
Genesis 5,6 Seth - Enos 105
Genesis 5,9 Enos - Kenan 90
Genesis 5,12 Kenan - Mahalalel 70
Genesis 5,15 Mahalalel - Jered 65
Genesis 5,18 Jered - Henoch 162
Genesis 5,21 Henoch - Metusalach 65
Genesis 5,25 Metusalach - Lamech 187
Genesis 5,28 Lamech - Noah 182
Total 1056

b. The period Noah - Ark and the Deluge

   …depuis la naissance de Noë iusques à la parfaicte fabrication de l’arche, approchent de l’universelle inondation passerent six cens ans…

   …et à la fin d’iceux six cens ans Noë entra dans l’arche pour estre sauvé du deluge, & fut iceluy deluge universel sus la terre, & dura un an et deux mois…

   In the second biblical chronology, it reads that there were 600 years between Noah’s birth and the completion of the building of the Ark. In Genesis 7,6, a time span of 600 years is given. From the preceding and following verses, it can be derived that this time span can be related to the period between Noah’s birth and the completion of the building of the Ark.

   The time data in the Bible are not always suitable for the compilation of a precise chronology of persons and events. Sometimes, time data in one bible verse are in conflict with time data in another bible verse. Sometimes, a time date can be explained in several ways.

   The age of Noah at the time of the outbreak of the Deluge is an example of the confusion, caused by conflicting time data. According to Genesis 7,6, Noah was 600 years old at the time of the outbreak of the Deluge. According to Genesis 7,11, the Deluge began in Noah’s 600th year of life, which means that he was 599 years old at the time of the outbreak. In Genesis 8,13, it reads that the Deluge came to an end in the 601st year of. This points to an age of 600 years. In Genesis 9,28-29, it reads that after the Deluge, Noah lived 350 years more and died at the age of 950. The words “after the Deluge” mean: “after the end of the Deluge”. If these words are explained as “after the beginning of the Deluge”, there is an arithmetic correspondence with Genesis 7,6.

   In Genesis 11,10, it reads that Sem, Noah’s son, fathered Arpaksad at the age of 100, two years after the Deluge. In Genesis 5,32, however, it reads that at the time of fathering Sem, Noah’s age was 500 years, which means that by the time the Deluge began, Sem was already 100 years old. Basing myself upon Genesis 5,32 and 7,6, I assume that the age of Noah at the time of the outbreak of the Deluge was 600 years.

c. The period End Deluge - Abraham

   …et depuis la fin du deluge iusques à la nativité d’Abraham, passa le nombre des ans de deux cens nonante cinq…

   The time span of the period End Deluge - Abraham which can be derived from Genesis 11, is 292 years, three years less than the time span of 295 years, mentioned in the second biblical chronology.

   Regarding the fathering of Arpaksad, the time data in Genesis contain a calculation error. In Genesis 11,10, it reads that Sem was 100 years old when he fathered Arpaksad, followed by the remark: “two years after the flood”. According to Genesis 5,32, Noah was 500 years old when he fathered Sem. A hundred years later, the Deluge began, which means that at the time of its outbreak, Sem was already 100 years old. Therefore, the words "two years after the flood" must be interpreted as “two years after the end of the Deluge”, which lasted 1 year and 10 days, according to Genesis 7,11 and 8,13-14.

Table 3. Period End Deluge - Abraham
(Van Berkel, 2005)

Genesis Period Years
Genesis 11,10 End Deluge - Arpaksad 2
Genesis 11,13 Arpaksad - Selach 35
Genesis 11,14 Selach - Eber 30
Genesis 11,16 Eber - Peleg 34
Genesis 11,18 Peleg - Reü 30
Genesis 11,20 Reü - Serug 32
Genesis 11,22 Serug - Nachor 30
Genesis 11,24 Nachor - Terach 29
Genesis 11,26 Terach - Abraham 70
Total 292

d. The period Abraham - Isaac - Jacob

   …et depuis la nativité d’Abraham iusques à la nativité d’Isaac, passerent cent ans. Et depuis Isaac iusques à Iacob, soixante ans…

   These time data of the second biblical chronology correspond with Genesis 21,5, in which it reads that Abraham’s age was 100 years at the time of fathering Isaac, and Genesis 25,26, in which it reads that Isaac’s age at the time of fathering Jacob was 60 years.

e. The period Jacob - Egypt - Exodus

   …des l’heure qu’il entra dans Egypte, iusques en l’yssue d’iceluy passerent cent trente ans. Et depuis l’entrée de Iacob en Egypte iusques à l’yssue d’iceluy passerent quatre cens trente ans…

   The figures in this part of the second biblical chronology correspond with the figures, mentioned in Genesis 47,9 and Exodus 12,40. However, Genesis 47,9 is quoted incorrect, whereas the quotation of Exodus 12,40 is correct. In Genesis 47,9, it reads that Jacob was 130 years old when he arrived in Egypt. In Exodus 12,40, it reads that the Israelites started the Exodus after 430 years of living in Egypt. Brind’Amour and Wöllner also observed the incorrect quotation of Genesis 47,9.4

f. The period Exodus - Temple

   … Et depuis l’yssue d’Egypte iusques à la edification du temple saicte par Salomon au quatrieme an de son regne, passerent quatre cens octante ou quatre vingt ans…

   This part of the second biblical chronology is an almost litteral quotation of 1 Kings 6,1. In this verse, it reads that in the 480th year after the Exodus, in the 4th year of reign of king Salomo, in the 2nd month, the building of the Temple began. In 1 Kings 6,38, it reads that the building was finished in the 8th month in the 11th year of reign of Salomo. In the second biblical chronology, however, no allusion is made to the time data, mentioned in 1 Kings 6,38.5

g. The period Temple - Jesus

   …Et depuis l’edification du temple iusques à Iesus Christ selon la supputation des hierographes passerent quatre cens nonante ans…

   The period Temple - Jesus is the only period in the second biblical chronology which contains a reference to scholars instead of to the Bible itself. This seems to be caused by a lack of time data regarding the period Completion rebuilding Temple - Birth of Jesus. The Bible books 1 Kings and 2 Kings contain time data regarding the length of the periods of reign of the Judean kings. In 2 Chronicles, time data can be found regarding the time span of the Babylonian exile. The book Ezra contains time data regarding the start of the rebuilding of the Temple after the end of the Babylonian exile and the number of years which were necessary to finish the rebuilding.

   In 1 Kings 11,42, it reads that the kingship of Salomo lasted 40 years. The period Exodus - Temple was calculated from the Exodus to the 4th year of reign of Salomo. Therefore, in the next table, the time span of Salomo’s kingship is 36 years, counting from the year in which the building of the Temple began.

   The kingship of Achazja lasted 1 year. After he was murdered, his wife Atalya took over the reign while Joas, his son, went into hiding. His kingship lasted 40 years. Therefore, the period of hiding should also be included.

   The kingship of Joachaz lasted 3 months.

   Between the beginning of the building of the Temple in the fourth year of reign of Salomo and the beginning of its rebuilding, there are, according to the Old Testament, 504 years. Between the beginning of the building of the Temple in the fourth year of reign of Salomo and the completion of its rebuilding, there are, according to the Old Testament, 508 years. In the Old Testament, there are no time data available by which the number of years can be calculated which are between the completion of the rebuilding of the Temple and the birth of Jesus.

Table 4. Period Kingship Salomo (from the start of building the Temple) - completion of its rebuilding
(Van Berkel, 2005)

Bible Period Years
1 Kings 11,42 Kingship Salomo from the start of building the Temple 36
1 Kings 14,21 Kingship Rechabeam 17
1 Kings 15,2 Kingship Abia 3
1 Kings 15,10 Kingship Asa 41
1 Kings 22,42 Kingship Josafat 25
2 Kings 8,17 Kingship Jorat 8
2 Kings 8,26 Kingship Achazja 1
2 Kings 11,3 Joas into hiding 6
2 Kings 12,2 Kingship Joas 40
2 Kings 14,2 Kingship Amasja 29
2 Kings 15,2 Kingship Azarja 52
2 Kings 15,32 Kingship Jotam 16
2 Kings 16,2 Kingship Achaz 16
2 Kings 18,2 Kingship Hizkia 29
2 Kings 21,2 Kingship Manasse 55
2 Kings 21,19 Kingship Amon 2
2 Kings 23,31 Kingship Joachaz (rounded) 0
2 Kings 23,36 Kingship Jojakim 11
2 Kings 24,8 Kingship Jojakin 3
2 Kings 24,11 Kingship Sidkia 11
2 Chronicles 36,21 Time span Babylonian exile 70
Ezra 3,8 End exile - start rebuilding Temple (rounded) 2
Ezra 6,15 Time span rebuilding Temple (rounded) 4
Total (rounded) 508

Revisions of the second biblical chronology

   In the Epistle to Henry II, it reads that the second biblical chronology covers a time span of about 4173 years and 8 months:

   …et ainsi par ceste supputation que i’ay faicte colligee par les sacrees lettres sont environ quatre mille cent septante trois ans, & huict moys peu ou moins…

   The total time span of the time spans of the second biblical chronology, as listed in the Epistle to Henry II, is 4092 years and 2 months, which is 81 years and 6 months less than the time span, mentioned at the end of the second biblical chronology. The explanation for this difference has to be sought in the periods Creation - Noah and Temple - Jesus.

   According to the second biblical chronology, the time span of the period Creation - Noah is 1506 years, 450 years more than the time span of 1056 years, resulting from Genesis. This difference is caused by a printer’s error (cinq cens instead of cinquante). After correcting this difference, the time span in the second biblical chronology of the period Creation - Start building Temple is 3152 years and 2 months. According to the Epistle to Henry II, the time span of the period Creation - Jesus is about 4173 years and 8 months. This means that according to the second biblical chronology, the period Start building Tempel - Birth of Jesus has lasted about 1021 years and 6 months (4173 yr 8 mth- 3152 yr 2 mth).

   In the second biblical chronology, it reads that the period Temple - Jesus lasted 490 years. The questions are: in how many periods has the period of 1021 years and 6 months been divided, what was the time span of these periods and what is the background of the figure 490.

a. Wöllner (1926)

   Wöllner did not interpret the word “Creation” as a reference to the creation of the world, but as a reference to the creation of Adam. Basing himself upon time data in Genesis 7,11, he assumes that the time span of the period Noah - Outbreak Deluge has been 601 years.

   According to Wöllner, a time span of 490 years of the period Temple - Jesus is in conflict with biblical science.

   Wöllner supposed that the numeral vingts (from quatre-vingts) in the text of the period Exodus - Temple originates from the text of the period Temple - Jesus. He assumed that in the latter text, the numeral mil dropped out; the original numeral was, according to Wöllner, mil vingts, 1020. The numerals quatre cens nonante ans in the text of the period Temple - Jesus originate, according to him, from the text in which the period Exodus - Temple is described.

   According to Wöllner, the original text of the second biblical chronology contained a.o. the following time data:

- Adam - Noah: mil cinquante et six ans
- Exodus - Temple: quatre cens octante ou nonante ans
- Temple - Jesus: mil vingt ans

   In the text which finally was printed, it looked like this:

- Creation - Noah: mil cinq cens et six ans
- Exodus - Temple: quatre cens octante ou quatre-vingts ans
- Temple - Jesus: quatre cens nonante ans

   In his revision of the second biblical chronology, Wöllner supposed that originally, the period Temple - Jesus consisted of only one period, which he estimated to have lasted 1020 years. He estimated two time spans, 480 and 490 years, to the period Exodus - Temple.6

b. Van Berkel (2005 [1986-88])

   When in the ‘80’s the investigation began which in 2002 would result in the publishing of Nostradamus, astrologie en de Bijbel, there were two editions of the Prophecies at my disposal: the 1941-Vreede-translation (the first Dutch translation of the Prophecies, made by prof. mr. dr. H. Houwens Post aka mr. dr. W.L. Vreede) and Leoni’s Nostradamus and his Prophecies (1982 [1961]).

   Houwens Post wrote that he had based his translation upon an edition of the Prophecies, published in Lyon in 1558. The publisher’s introductory notes emphasized this remark. It must be noted that the 1941-Vreede-translation does not contain a bibliography, neither does it contain a complete, parallel French source text.

   In 1982, I compared the 1941-Vreede-translation with the French text in Leoni’s book. I observed that in the 1941-Vreede-translation the period Jacob - Egypt - Exodus was phrased correctly, which was not the case in the French text in Leoni’s book. Next, I observerd that in the 1941-Vreede-translation, two time spans were mentioned regarding the period Exodus - Temple (480 and 490 years), whereas in the French text in Leoni’s book only one time span twice was mentioned (480 years) and that the time span of the period Temple - Jesus was 1020 years (Leoni: 490 years). On the other hand, the time span of the period Creation - Noah in the 1941-Vreede-translation was 1506 years, the same as in the French text in Leoni’s book. These observations brought me to the supposition that Houwens Post used an edition of the Prophecies which was different from the 1555-Bonhomme-edition (Bareste reprint), the Pierre Rigaud edition (Le Pelletier reprint) and the 1605-edition, which Leoni had consulted in order to compile a reliable French text. All differences seemed to be caused by the fact that the source text, used by Houwens Post, was a 1558-Lyon-edition, an edition of which up until today no copy has been found.

   In 1986-88, I started to verify the second biblical chronology with time data in the Old Testament. The printer’s error cinquante - cinq cens came to light. Because of this, I could revise the second biblical chronology without any problem regarding the time span of the period Temple - Jesus. In the 1941-Vreede-translation, it read that this time span was 1020 years and my point of view was that this time span originated from the 1558-Lyon-edition.

   Basing myself upon the data and literature which were at my disposal at that time, my assumption was that in the Epistle to Henry II which went into print, an inadequate attempt was made to create a correlation between the time spans, given in the second biblical chronology, and its total time span of 4173 years and 8 months. Since the figure 1020 (Temple - Jesus) could not be related to time data in the Old Testament, I supposed that this figure was replaced by the figure 490, which originated from the text regarding the period Exodus - Temple. Those who did this attempt, overlooked the printer’s error cinquante - cinq cens.

   At the end of November 2003, I bought a copy of Amadou’s L’astrologie de Nostradamus - dossier (1992 [1987]), which included a.o. Wöllner’s Das Mysterium des Nostradamus.

   At the beginning of 2004, my investigation of the 1941-Vreede-translation, during which mr. Robert Benazra gave much help and advice, showed that the French source text, used by Houwens Post, was not a 1558-Lyon-edition, but the 1927-Piobb-copy, a Xerox copy of the 1668-Amsterdam-edition, to which Piobb added a copy of the Preface to Cesar, which carried the year 1558 as the year of print. To my surprise, I also discovered that not the 1927-Piobb-copy, but the 1926-Wöllner-translation was the source text of a number of phrases in the Preface to Cesar and the Epistle to Henry II in the 1941-Vreede-translation. It turned out that Houwens Post translated the second biblical chronology from the German translation, made by Wöllner in 1926, with the peculiarity that in the 1941-Vreede-translation, the period Creation - Noah lasted 1506 years. The inevitable conclusion was that the 1941-Vreede-translation was not founded upon a 1558-Lyon-edition.7 My arithmetic findings regarding the second biblical chronology were not contested by these new discoveries, but I no longer could maintain my ideas about the origin of the figure 490.

   The only thing I can say about the time span of (rounded) 1022 years of the period Temple - Jesus is that it points to a calculation, the result of which is more or less the same as the results of other calculations. Eusebius for example calculated with 1060 years.8 In a chronology in Nostradamus’ Almanach pour l’an M.D.C.LXVI (1566), entitled Les eages du monde selon la computation des Hébrieux, it reads that the period Temple - Babylonian exile lasted 474 years and the period Babylonian exile - Jesus 613 years; an addition of these figures results in a total time span of the period Temple - Jesus of 1087 years. Joseph Juste Scaliger (the son of Jules-César Scaliger, with who Nostradamus was acquainted around 1533), calculated that the period Temple - Jesus lasted 1014 years.9 In the Netherlands, present-day editors of the Bible estimate the time span of the period Temple - Jesus to be about 966 years.10

   At the moment, I have no indication that the period Temple - Jesus was divided into several periods and I have no idea what is the source of the figure 490 in the text which finally went into print.

   According to the second biblical chronology, the time span between the creation of the world and the birth of Jesus is about 4173 years and 8 months. The birth of Jesus is celebrated on December 25 (Christmas). If we take December 25 as day of birth and subtract 4173 years and 8 months, the result is April 25, 4174 BC. I suppose that, according to the second biblical chronology, the world was created around April 25, 4174 BC.

c. Brind’Amour (1993)

   According to Brind’Amour, the figure 490 originates from a disappeared line in the second biblical chronology, in which the time span was described of the period between what he calls the start of the building of the second Temple in Jerusalem in the second year of the reign of Darius (the author of this article has named this fact: the rebuilding of the Temple) and the birth of Jesus. He refers to 1 Esdras 1 in the case of time data regarding the start of the building of the second Temple. In the case of the arithmetic background of the figure 490, he refers to the custom of scholars to estimate 490 years by multiplying 70 (the 70 weeks, mentioned in Daniel 9,24) by 7.

   Originally, according to Brind’Amour, in the second biblical chronology, the period Temple - Jesus was divided in two periods: a period First Temple - Second Temple (531 years) and a period Second Temple - Jesus (490 years). Counting with 4173 years, he concludes that the period between the start of the building of the first Temple under Salomo and the start of the building of the second Temple under Darius lasted 531 years (1021 - 490). Brind’Amour writes nothing about sources that might have been used to calculate the time span of 531 years.11

   Brind’Amours reference to 1 Esdras 1 can be specified. In the Septuagint, Brind’Amour also does not discuss the difference between the time span of 474 years of the period Temple - Babylonic exile, mentioned in the Almanach pour l’an M.D.C.LXVI, and the time span of 502 years, resulting from time data in 1 Kings, 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles.12

Table 5. Revisions second biblical chronology

Period Epistle Henri II Wöllner
(1926)
Van Berkel
(2005 [1986-88])
Brind’Amour
(1993)
Creation - Noah 1506 1056 1056 1056
Noah - Ark 600 601 600 600
Deluge 1 1 1 1
End Deluge - Abraham 295 295 295 295
End Abraham - Isaac 100 100 100 100
Isaac - Jacob 60 60 60 60
Jacob - Egypt 130 130 130 130
Egypt - Exodus 430 430 430 430
Exodus - Temple 480 480 / 491 480 480
Temple - Jesus 490 1020 1022 531 + 490

The second biblical chronology and the time structure by which it is covered

   In the article in which the first biblical chronology is discussed, it is assumed that this chronology is part of a time structure, in which is supposed that the world was created in 4757/4758 BC. This time structure stretches out to 2242 AD, the year in which the number of adversaries of Jesus Christ and his church increases strongly.13

   According to the second biblical chronology, the world was created around April 25, 4174 BC. In the predictions which come next to the second biblical chronology, there is an allusion to the end of the biblical Kingdom of 1000 years, but this end is not dated. The seventh millennium is mentioned in a series of predictions which run from 1792, but the beginning of this millennium is not dated.

   Counting from April 25, 4174 BC (the assumed date on which the world was created, according to the second biblical chronology), the seventh millennium begins around April 25, 1827 AD. This date comes next to the year 1792, which is mentioned in the Epistle to Henry II. Supposed that there have been calculations regarding the date on which the biblical Kingdom of 1000 years begins and the date on which it comes to an end, the questions are if these dates can be calculated and what function this Kingdom has in the time structure which covers the second biblical chronology.

   In the Bible, several expectations about the last days are described. St. Paul for instance writes that when the command is given, the voice of the Archangel sounds and Gods trumpet, God himself will come down from heaven. Then, first all the dead will rise who are in Christ. Next, on clouds, together with the first risen, the Christians will be carried away instantly to the Lord, in order to be with Him forever (1 Tess. 4,13-18). St. Paul also writes that this Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night (1 Tess. 5,1-2).

   Another kind of expectation is written in Revelations 19,11 - 21,1. The beast and the false prophet are burned alive in a fire pool, their followers are killed by the sword (Rev. 19,19-21). On Gods command, the dragon (Satan) is chained for one thousand years and thrown into the abyss, in order to be released for a short time when the thousand years have gone by (Rev. 20,1-3). The martyrs who died because of their testimony of Jesus, arise from the dead (the so-called “first resurrection”) and rule with Him for a thousand years; the others who died will not rise before the one thousand years have gone by (Rev. 20,4-6).

   After the expiration of the one thousand years, Satan is released. He gathers the people who live in the four corners of the earth (Gog and Magog) to fight the heavenly armies. His fighters will be consumed by heavenly fire. Satan is thrown into the fire pool and will remain there forever, together with the beast and the false prophet (Rev. 20,7-10).

   Next comes the Last Judgment. All dead people will arise; they will be judged according to their acts. Death and underworld are thrown into the fire pool as well as those whose name is not listed in the book of life (Rev. 20,11-15).

   Next to the vision of the Last Judgment, the author of Revelations beholds a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth are vanished, the sea exists no longer. The author also beholds the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21,1-2).

   In the Epistle to Henry II, some echoes of Rev. 20,1-7 are present:

- Gods command to chain Satan and to throw him into the abyss (Rev. 20,1-3);
- a peace between God and men, which last for about one thousand years (a paraphrase of Rev. 20,4-6);
- the return of the Church to her greatest power (a paraphrase of Rev. 20,6);
- Satan’s return when the period of one thousand years is expired (Rev. 20,3 and 20,7).14

   In quatrain 10-74, some echoes of Rev. 19,21-20,1-6 are present:

Quatrain 10-74
Source text: facsimile-Chomarat-2000
An reuolu du grand nombre septiesme,
Apparoistra au temps Ieux d’Hacatombe,
Non esloigné du grand eage milliesme.
Que les entres sortiront de leur tombe.

Translation (Van Berkel, 2005)
At the turn of the great seventh number,
In this time will be the game of slaughter
Not far away from the great millennial age
When those who entered, leave their tombs.

- The first line: the end of the seventh millennium.
- The second line: the death of the followers of the beast and the false prophet (Rev. 19,21). The word "Hecatombe" refers to the old-Greec sacrifice of one hundred cows or, more generally, to a great sacrifice of animals.15 In other words: a great slaughter, in this case of the followers of the beast and the false prophet.
- The third line: the biblical Kingdom of one thousand years (Rev. 20,2-6).
- The fourth line: the first resurrection (Rev. 20,4-6).

   The opinions about the meaning of this quatrain are quite diverge, as is shown in the next paragraphs, in which these opinions are arranged in order of their year of publication.

   According to Wöllner (1926), the fulfilment of this quatrain must be situated around the completion of the great seventh number. He refers to the Era of the hundred-fold sacrifice, which will not be far away from the great age of one thousand years in which the buried will rise from their tombs. Basing himself upon his time structures, he supposes that the words grand eage milliesme point towards the year 3797 AD.16 He does not describe general or specific correspondences with the book of Revelations.

   According to Leoni (1961), this quatrain must be situated at the end of the time span of all the Century quatrains. According to him, the clairvoyance which is attributed to Nostradamus, stretches out until the resurrection of the dead at the Last Judgment. He does not describe correspondences with specific verses in the book of Revelations.17

   Brind’Amour has written that the resurrection of the dead will take place at the end of the seventh millennium, at the dawn of the eighth. Regarding the words Ieux Hacatombe in the second line, he referred to the Olympic Games which used to take place in the month Hecatombaion and concluded that the events, described in quatrain 10-74, are expected to take place in mid-summer. Brind’Amour has not described general or specific correspondences with verses in the book of Revelations. His mentioning of the "resurrection of the dead" does not make clear whether he refers to the first resurrection or the resurrection at the time of the Last Judgment.18

   According to my opinion, quatrain 10-74 can only be explained in a biblical sense: a paraphrase of the death of the followers of the beast and the false prophet with next the first resurrection and the biblical Kingdom of one thousand years.

   The seventh millennium and the biblical Kingdom of one thousand years are the only millennia which are discussed in the Epistle to Henry II. In this Epistle, not one allusion is made to an eighth millennium. In the continuation of the second biblical chronology (not in the continuation of the first biblical chronology), there are allusions to the biblical Kingdom of one thousand years. The same phenomenon occurs in quatrain 10-74. There, nothing is written about an eighth millennium, but there are allusions to both the seventh millennium and the biblical Kingdom of one thousand years.

   Basing myself upon these observations, I assume that the second biblical chronology and the biblical Kingdom of one thousand years are part of one and the same time structure, which counts 8000 years. Next to the seventh millennium comes the biblical Kingdom of one thousand years, as is implied in the third line of quatrain 10-73. In this time structure, April 25, 4174 vChr is the date on which the world was created.

   In Rev. 21,1-2, it reads that heaven and earth will come to an end after the execution of the Last Judgment, not at the beginning of the biblical Kingdom of one thousand years. Because of this, I assume that according to the time structure, to which the second biblical chronology seems to belong, the world will come to an end at a certain moment after April 25, 3827 AD, the date upon which the biblical Kingdom of one thousand years will come to an end. There is no allusion in Revelations about the number of years between the release of Satan and the Last Judgment. In the Epistle to Henry II, there are no allusions to the Last Judgment and the preceding war; there is only an allusion to the release of Satan. In other words: the time structure to which the second biblical chronology seems to belong, runs from the creation of the world (April 25, 4174 BC) until the release of Satan after the ending of the biblical Kingdom of one thousand years (April 25, 3827 AD). This time structure is entirely different from the time structure to which the first biblical chronology belongs, about which I suppose that it covers a time span of 7000 years. This time structure starts with the creation of Adam and ends with the prediction that in 2242 there is a large increase of the number of adversaries of Jesus Christ and his church.19

The possibility of hidden structures

   In 1927, P.V. Piobb observed that in the first biblical chronology, the figure 621 occurs more than once: the period Adam - Noah (1242 = 2 x 621) and the period Jesus - foundation Islam (621). According to my assumption that the first biblical chronology is part of a time structure of 7000 years which starts in 4757/4758 BC, it looks as if the figure 621 is emphasized once more, because there are 621 years between the foundation of the Islam in 621 AD and the beginning of the seventh millennium in 1242 AD.20

   According to my version of the revised second biblical chronology, the time span of the period Creation - Noah is 1056 years. The time span of the period Noah - Jacob is also 1056 years (600 + 1 + 295 + 100 + 60). This is caused by the fact that in the second biblical chronology, the time span of the period End Deluge - Abraham is 295 years instead of 292 years as is shown in Genesis 11,10-26. The time span of the period Jacob - Temple is 1040 years (130 + 430 + 480). The time span of the period Temple - Jesus is about 1022 years (rounded). Does the second biblical chronology contain a hidden structure of about 1050 years? For the moment, I cannot answer this question.

T. W. M. van Berkel
De Meern, April 19, 2005

Notes

1 Scaliger, section Chronicorum canonum omnimodiae historiae libri duo. This section is a reconstruction of remains of the work by Eusebius. Eusebius has presented several calculations regarding the past, such as the Greec method, the Roman method, The Egyptian method and the Hebrew method. The Greec method deals with the Septuagint. The Hebrew method is based upon the Bible, as is the second biblical chronology in the Epistle to Henry II. Retour

2 In all editions, the time span of the periods is printed in numerals. By coincidence, the printer’s error cinquante - cinq cens is also visible in the figures 1056 and 1506: it looks as if the numbers 0 and 5 changed places. Retour

3 Brind’Amour, p.174; Wöllner, p.13, in: Amadou, p.316. Brind’Amour pays attention to the figures 1506 and 1056; Wöllner also discusses the words cinq cens and cinquante. Retour

4 Brind’Amour, p.175; Wöllner, p.13, in: Amadou, p.316. Retour

5 Wöllner wrote that the period Exodus - Temple has two time spans: 480 years and 6 months and 490 years and 6 months. He did not explain for what reason he added the 6 months to this period. The time span of 490 years and 6 months is the result of his revision of the time span of the period Temple - Jesus and his ideas about the moment on which the Temple was inaugurated (Wöllner, p.13-14, in: Amadou, p.316-317). Retour

6 Wöllner, p.11-16, in: Amadou, p.315-318. He concludes that it was not Nostradamus who used the numerals quatre-vingts, but unfortunately he has not discussed the question who did.
   In addition, the remark that Wöllner, who bases himself upon an astrological time structure of periods which last 36 years, assumes that the world has been created in 4220 BC. He observed echoes of these 36-year periods in the Preface to Cesar, in the lines in which Mars, the Moon, the Sun and Saturn are discussed (Wöllner, p.2-3, in: Amadou, p.311). Retour

7 Van Berkel: The 1941-Vreede-translation and the 1558-Lyon-edition. Internet: www.nostradamusresearch.org. Retour

8 Brind’Amour, p.174. Retour

9 Scaliger, section Isagogicorum chronologiae canonum libri tres, volume 2, section epochae temporis historici, p.124-127. According to Scaliger, the building of the Temple started in the year 3696; the birth of Jesus took place in the year 4710. This points to a time span of 1014 years. [text ]. Retour

10 Willibrord translation, p.1761 and further. Retour

11 Brind’Amour, p.175-176. Retour

12 The chronology in the Almanach pour l’an M.D.C.LXVI does not show if calculations were done regarding the beginning of the Babylonian exile or its end. Retour

13 Van Berkel: The first biblical chronology. Internet: michel.nostradamus.free.fr. Retour

14 See: facsimile-Chomarat-2000, p.172: Dieu le createur dira entendant l’affliction de son peuple, Satan sera mis & lyé dans l’abisme du barathre dans la profonde sosse,&adoncques commencera entre Dieu & les homme vne paix vniuerselle & demeurera lyé enuiron l’espace de mille ans,&tournera en sa plus grande force, la puissance ecclesiastique, & puis torne deslié. Retour

15 Microsoft Encarta® basisencyclopedie Winkler Prins 2002. Retour

16 Wöllner, p.68, in: Amadou, p.344. Retour

17 Leoni, p.751. Retour

18 Brind’Amour, p.195. Retour

19 Van Berkel: The first biblical chronology. Internet: michel.nostradamus.free.fr. Retour

20 Piobb, p.15; Van Berkel: The first biblical chronology. Internet: michel.nostradamus.free.fr. Retour

Bibliography

      - R. Amadou: L’astrologie de Nostradamus - dossier. Poissy, 1992 (1989).
      - prof. P. Brind’Amour: Nostradamus astrophile. Ottawa, 1993.
      - M. Chomarat (publisher): Les Prophéties, Lyon, 1568. Lyon, 2000.
      - Katholieke Bijbelstichting (publisher): De Bijbel uit de grondtekst vertaald (Willibrord vertaling). Boxtel, 1978.
      - E. Leoni: Nostradamus and his Prophecies. New York, 1982 (1961).
      - P.V. Piobb: Le secret de Nostradamus et de ses célèbres propheties du XVIe siècle. Paris, 1927.
      - Microsoft (publisher): Encarta Winkler Prins basisencyclopedie 2002. Utrecht, 2001.
      - J.J. Scaliger: Thesaurus Temporum. Amsterdam, 1658 (1606).



 

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