Response to Scholar
:If you turn to page 2 under the heading 2. Chronological solutions, you will notice that the crux of the matter concerns differing calendrical systems which goes to the heart of the 586/587 debate.
2 . Chronological SolutionsSome scholars, who dealt with the chronology of the monarchic period, recorded both of the dates mentioned without coming down on one side or the other 4 .
Other scholars suggest solving the contradiction between Kings and Jeremiah by positing that the chronologies used in the two books differ: according to one chronological system the year began at Nisan while according to the other system at Tishri 5 . These scholars dealt primarily with the differences between Kings and Jeremiah in regard to the regnal years of Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kgs 25,8; Jer 52,29), but did not discuss the contradictory dates of the Temple's destruction.
4 See the bibliography cited in D.J.A. CLINES, "Regnal Year Reckoning in the Last Years of the Kingdom of Judah", On the Way to the Postmodern. Old Testament Essays 1967-1998 (JSOTSS 292; Sheffield 1998) I, 395-425. See also G. GALIL, The Chronology of the Kings of Israel and Judah (Leiden ? New York 1996) 118, 158.
5 For bibliography see CLINES, "Regnal Year".
Neil,
He's saying that the other scholars listed in these bibliographies were concerned with the apparent contradiction between 2 Kings 25:8 and Jer. 52:29 ("nineteenth year" vs. "eighteenth year") rather than the apparent contradiction between 2 kings 25:8 and Jer. 52:12 ("seventh day" vs. "tenth day").
Avioz is interested in the question of which day the temple was destroyed on, not which year.
Note his summary of the article:
This article deals with the contradiction between 2 Kgs 25 and Jer 52 regarding the date on which the First Temple was destroyed. Comparing the descriptions of the destruction in Kings and in Jeremiah shows that the two descriptions were borrowed from a common third source. In our view, this common third source is better preserved in Jeremiah 52 than in 2 Kings 25. We therefore deduce that Jeremiah 52 preserves the more exact date of the Temple's destruction: the tenth of Ab.
He doesn't even mention 586 or 587 in the summary, because that's not what his article is about. His article is about whether the Temple was destroyed on the tenth of Ab or the seventh of Ab.
Incidentally, can you tell me what the WTS position is on that question? Thank you.
Marjorie