606 BCE vs 607 BCE

by seek2find 4 Replies latest jw friends

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  seek2find

  Can someone point me to a post or a site that discusses the switch between 606 to 607 as the date for the destruction of Jereuselam. I was reading in the 1921 book the Harp of God, and noticed that as of the date of that publication 606 was still being used. I'd like to know exactly when the change occurred and what the explanation was. Thanks in advance. seek2find
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  inkling

  606 vs 607

  Leprechauns vs Gnomes

  [ink]
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  inkling

  seriously though, i'm looking...
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  inkling

  Ok my friend, try this link: http://corior.blogspot.com/2006/02/change-of-606-to-607-bc-as-start-of.html

  Until 1943 the Society was unsure whether Babylon fell in 537 or 538 B.C., but was coming down on the side of 537 as the year of the repatriation of the Jews. By the end of 1943 they had changed the dates to 537 and 607, neatly dealing with the "zero year" problem. The error in the starting date and in neglecting the "zero year" problem canceled out, leaving 1914 intact as the end date.

  Now we get to the bone of contention: In the 1943 book The Truth Shall Make You Free (p. 239) the Society changed the date for the start of "the Gentile times" from 606 to 607 B.C. The explanation is impossible to follow but gives the impression that the change is only a few months, from some time in early 606 B.C. back a few months to about the beginning of October, 607 B.C. One idea invoked was that the "vulgar year" of 606 B.C. actually started in October, 607 B.C., "Jewish time", because that was about when the Jewish year started. In making this explanation, however, the Society ignored the fact that Russell dated the beginning of "the Gentile times" to October of 606 B.C., so their implication that their change was only part of a year was an outright lie since it was a change of exactly one year. They also neglected to inform the reader that the real reasons for changing the date were a desire to correct Russell's error in neglecting the "zero year" problem, and that secular history proved Russell's starting date for "the Gentile times" wrong.

  My dad told me (he knew about this problem) That Jehovah knew ahead of time the REAL date that
  Bible scholars would eventually change to for the fall of Jerusalem, and so He, in his infinite
  wisdom, LET THE (zero year) MISTAKE STAY until scholars "figured out" the "correct" 537 date.

  The 1988 Revelation Climax book (p. 105) compounded the lies even further by giving a terribly fuzzy reference to the 1943 changes and saying that it was "providential" that Russell's errors had canceled one another, leaving the 1914 date intact.

  "praise Jehovah, even for the mistake"

  [inkling]
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  seek2find

  Thanks, seek2find