Why not do what I did and use a coupla Bible verses and two quotes from the Watchtower Society's own literature. That's all it takes to blow their 607 chronology back to the toilet it came from
587 BC For Total Dunderheads
If you're a dunderhead on Neo-Babylonian history (like me) you've probably remained totally clueless whenever the subject of the chronology leading to back 607 B.C. comes up. Since I had nothing better to do today, I decided to finally take the time it takes to understand why dub chronology on that date is wrong. This piece of information alone should give you a clue about how bored I am!
It turns out this stuff is a piece of cake! The tricky part was filtering through the obfuscating WTS comments on the matter, and I won't bother you with that. However, using ONLY comments by the faithful and discrete slavers we can rather easily see that their chronology regarding 607 B.C. is wrong.
There is really not much to learn here, either: No astronomy, no neo-Babylonian tablets, and no confusing Bible versus will be presented. Just the names of five people with really funny names, and only several quotes from WTS publications will be used. Also, there is no need to quibble over things like regnal years, assession years, cardinal and ordinal numbers, whatever in-the-hell THEY are. Remember, the WTS's claim of 607 B.C. is a full TWENTY years earlier than the accepted date of 586/87 B.C. and all the tinkering with a few months here and few partial year reigns there cannot make up a difference of twenty years.
Another tricky part to remember is that people were very primitive in those years before Christ came up with a sensible calendar that actually counts FORWARD as you go forward rather than BACKWARD as you go forward. This is known as the "really stupid ancient people RULE." It's a wonder those folks could survive at all.
Most of what we need is found in a single paragraph of the WTS book "Babylon the Grape Has Fallen - God's Kingdom Rocks!" ("Fallen Baby") on page 184 . To keep things simple, I will paraphrase this paragraph, but include the actual paragraph at the end for reference.
We have to start some 68 years AFTER the date of Jerusalem's fall with a date and event that is agreed upon by both the WTS and secular historians. From this date we will count backward by counting forward using the "really stupid ancient people RULE." That date is 539 B.C., the date that Babylon fell to Cyrus the Mede ("Cy").
Keep in mind we are trying to find the date Jerusalem fell and the Genital Times began.
"Fallen Baby" tells us that Nabonidus ("Nabby") was King when Babylon fell in 539 B.C. The WTS book "Aid to Bible Understanding" tells that "Nabby" ruled seventeen years from 556 to 539 B.C.
We are now back to 556 B.C.
"Fallen Baby" tells us that before Nabby, Labashi-Marduk ("Laby the Duck") ruled about nine months. It also tell us that before "Laby The Duck," Neriglissar ("Glissy") ruled for four years.
So if we go backwards 4 years and nine months from 556 B.C. we're now at 560-561 B.C.
"Fallen Baby" also tells us that before "Glissy", Evil-Merodach ("Evil Duck") ruled for 2 years. We are now back to 562-563 B.C. and to the last year of the reign of King Nebuchadnezzer ("Chad").
On page 1212 of the Aid to Bible Understanding book we are told that "Chad" ruled 43 years.
562/563 + 43 years = 605/606 BC, the year when "Chad" started ruling Babylon.
2nd Kings 25:8-10 tells us that Jerusalem was destroyed in the 19th year of "Chad's" reign, so if we go forward 19 years from 605/606 B.C. we will have the approximate years of the beginning of the Genital Times.
Using the "really stupid ancient people RULE" to go forward when you want to go backward we get:
605/606 B.C. - 19th year of "Chad's" reign = 586/587 B.C!
That's it! It's that simple.
Let's summarize:
"Nabby" ruled Babylon for 17 years from 556 to 539 B.C. Cy messed up Babylon in 539 B.C.
Before that, "Laby the Duck" ruled for 9 months and "Glissy" ruled for 4 years.
"Evil Duck" ruled for 2 years.
"Chad" ruled for 43 years.
17 years + 9 months + 4 years + 2 years + 43 years = 66 to 67 years.
Starting at 539 B.C. and going back 66/67 years we arrive at 605/606 B.C. or the start of the reign of "Chad." Remember, none of this would be possible without using the "really stupid ancient people RULE."
Nineteen years after 605/606 B.C. using this stupid RULE brings us to 586/587 B.C.
This is so simple that everyone but the Watchtower Society can understand it.
References:
Insight on the Scriptures under "Chaldea""
"Particularly was this domination manifest during the seventh and sixth centuries B.C.E. when Nabopolassar, a native of Chaldea, and his successors, Nebuchadnezzar II, Evil-merodach (Awil-Marduk), Neriglissar, Labashi-Marduk, Nabonidus, and Belshazzar, ruled the Third World Power, Babylon."
Babylon the Great Has Fallen - God's Kingdom Rules, page 184:
"After reigning but two years King Evil-Merodach was murdered by his brother-in-law Neriglissar. According to the inscriptions that have been found, this usurper of the throne spent most of his time in building operations and reigned four years. When he died, his son Labashi-Marduk, though not yet of age, succeeded him. He was a vicious boy, and within nine months he had his throat cut by an assassin. Nabonidus, who had served as Governor of Babylon and who had been Nebuchadnezzar's favorite son-in-law, now took the throne and had a fairly glorious reign till Babylon fell in 539 B.C."
Aid to Bible Understanding on Nabonidus - P 1195:
"Last supreme monarch of the Babylonian Empire...On the basis of cuneiform texts he is believed to have rule some seventeen years (556-539 B.C.E.)."
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/74549/1/587-BC-for-Total-Dunderheads
Farkel
