At first glance, it appears that 1 Ki 6:1 contradicts Acts 13:18-22. In fact, these passages don’t contradict. You have to account for an overlap in years during the time of the judges.
In 1 Ki 6:1, the time between the Exodus and the fourth year of Solomon’s reign is 480 years. The time for this period in Acts 13:18-22 totals 570 years, not including the four years for the beginning of Solomon’s reign. The 570 years are the result of 40 years for the wilderness journey, 450 years for the time of the judges, 40 years for Saul’s reign, and 40 years for David’s reign. There’s a big discrepancy here between 1 Ki 6:1 and Acts 13:18-22.
Is this an error? No. Paul’s time of the judges accounts for both the time each judge ruled, including the peace resulting from his rule, and the time of foreign oppression by a foreign adversary. These times actually overlap. In the table below, you see the 450 years of all the judges, the periods of rest, and the years of foreign oppression. When you deduct the years of foreign oppression (marked in bold italics) you get a net of 336 years, since each judge is actually delivering Israel while the adversary is oppressing them.
Reference | Event | Sub-total Years | Total Years |
Acts 13:18 | Wilderness journey |
40 |
|
Jud 3:8 | Chushanrishathaim |
8
|
|
Jud 3:11 | Rest – Othniel |
40 |
|
Jud 3:14 | Eglon |
18
|
|
Jud 3:30 | Rest – Ehud |
80 |
|
Jud 4:3 | Sisera |
20
|
|
Jud 5:31 | Rest — Deborah/Barak |
40 |
|
Jud 6:1 | Midian |
7
|
|
Jud 8:28 | Quietness – Gideon |
40 |
|
Jud 9:22 | Abimelech |
3
|
|
Jud 10:2 | Tola |
23 |
|
Jud 10:3 | Jair |
22 |
|
Jud 10:8 | Philistines/Ammonites |
18
|
|
Jud 12:7 | Jephthah |
6 |
|
Jud 12:9 | Ibzan |
7 |
|
Jud 12:11 | Elon |
10 |
|
Jud 12:14 | Abdon |
8 |
|
Jud 13:1 | Philistines |
40
|
|
Jud 15:20 | Samson |
20 |
|
1 Sam 4:18 | Eli |
40 |
|
Acts 13:20 | Total time of the Judges and oppressors |
450 |
|
Net years the judges ruled |
450-114 |
336 |
|
1 Sam 7:2 | Ark in Kirjathjearim |
20 |
|
Acts 13:21 | Saul’s reign |
40 |
|
2 Sam 5:4 | David’s reign |
40 |
|
1 Ki 6:1 | Solomon’s 4th year |
4 |
|
1 Ki 6:1 | Exodus to Beginning Temple | Total Net Years |
480 |
This gives us the reconciliation between I Ki 6:1 and Acts 13:18-22. As you can see, there are no errors in your King James Bible.
To cross-check these dates though, we should do one other thing. It is typically thought that the Exodus took place in 1491 BC. If that’s so, then the temple construction began in 1011 BC, 480 years later (1 Ki 6:1).
The table below shows the dates of the major events from the Exodus to the splitting of the 10 northern tribes from the 2 southern tribes, at the beginning of Rehoboam’s reign.
Event | Years | Years BC |
Exodus |
1491 |
|
Wilderness Journey to Canaan |
40 |
1491-1451 |
Judges in the book of Judges |
296 |
1451-1155 |
Eli’s Judgeship |
40 |
1155-1115 |
Ark in Kirjathjearim |
20 |
1115-1095 |
Saul’s Reign |
40 |
1095-1055 |
David’s Reign |
40 |
1055-1015 |
Solomon’s Reign to the 4th year |
4 |
1015-1011 |
Solomon’s Remaining Reign |
36 |
1011-975 |
Split Kingdom |
975 |
These dates reconcile perfectly with the dates of the events that precede the Exodus and the well-established dates of the events that follow the split kingdom, for example, Nebuchadnezzar’s first attack on Jerusalem, during the reign of Jehoiakim, in 606 BC and his final attack in 586 BC, during the reign of Zedekiah. Any other date for the split kingdom will not reconcile with the well established dates of these attacks. Therefore, we can be sure that our reconciliation of 1 Ki 6:1 and Acts 13:18-22 is accurate.
Hope this helps,
Pastor Bevans Welder