FYI - Periods of Israel's History

Note: I decided to start a new series of posts entitled simply "FYI." As you can guess, they will be merely informative posts about different topics. I welcome any correction.

It is important, in the study of the OT, to recognize the historical context. The following chart will help to grasp a general timeline for the history of OT Israel. The dates given are those generally held by conservative scholars. Less conservatives scholars generally use later dating, particularly in the earlier part of Israel's history.

 

The Patriarchs	c. 2200-1800 B.C.	Genesis 12-50
The Slavery and Exodus	c. 1800-1407 B.C.	Exodus-Deuteronomy
The Conquest	c. 1407-1380 B.C.	Joshua
The Judges	c. 1380-1050 B.C.	Judges and Ruth
The United Kingdom	c. 1050-931 B.C.	1 and 2 Samuel, 1 Kings 1-11, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles 1-9*
The Divided Kingdom	931-586 B.C. 931-722 B.C (Northern) 931-586 B.C. (Southern)	2 Kings, 2 Chronicles*
The Exile	606-536 B.C.	Daniel
The Restoration	538-396 B.C.	Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah

 

*1 and 2 Chronicles were most likely written after the exile, and are therefore generally called "post-exilic." They were perhaps written by Ezra, though the authorship of many of the historical books is unknown.