Edwin R. Thiele

Edwin Richard Thiele ( born September 10, 1895 in Chicago, † April 15, 1986 in Angwin, Napa County, California ) was an American theologian, archaeologist, editor and author of German descent, who worked as a missionary in China. He is known especially for his chronological studies on the monarchy in Israel.

Life

Thiele grew up in his native Chicago and attended the seven -day Adventist Emmanuel Missionary College in Berrien Springs (Michigan ), which was renamed Andrews University in 1960, where he in 1918 received a Bachelor degree in ancient languages ​​. After two years as secretary for mission needs of the East Michigan Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, he worked from 1920 for 12 years as a missionary in China. During this time he also worked as editor and manager for Signs of the Times in Shanghai.

After his return to the United States, he studied at the University of Chicago archeology and graduated in 1937 with a Master 's degree. During his doctorate in biblical archeology, from which he graduated in 1943, he worked at the theological faculty of Emmanuel Missionary College. His dissertation, which later appeared under the title The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, is considered ground-breaking work in the field of chronology of the Israelite kings. During this research, he has repeatedly visited the Middle East.

In addition, Thiele wrote a popular book about Christianity entitled Knowing God. After his death, begun by his study of the Book of Job was completed by his wife Margaret and published under the title of Job and the Devil. It Thiele argues that Leviathan and Behemoth are connected to ancient Near Eastern myths about chaos and evil. Therefore, he suggests that Job represents the struggle of God with the evil that is behind Job's doubts.

From 1963 to 1965 he was professor of Ancient History at Andrews University. After retirement in 1965, he moved to California, where he continued his literary activity, and died 1986. He was buried in the Rose Hill Cemetery in Berrien Springs.

Biblical chronology

The proposed in The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings chronology is based primarily on a series of royal letters and cross connections between the books of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, in which the accessions of all the kings of the northern kingdom dated in relation to the year of the reign of each king of the southern kingdom will and vice versa. Since these cross-references apparently not always fit, could a king, was set for which a reign of 20 years, who ruled for 19 or 21 years.

Thiele noted that the cross-links during the long reign of King Asa had an error of one year is cumulative for each subsequent king of the northern kingdom. He was able to demonstrate that this is the result of two different methods for calculating years of rule: The Akzessionsjahrmethode and the non- Akzessionsjahrmethode. Compared with our present calendar, no problem would only arise if the old king died on 31 December, and the new king ascended the throne on January 1. However, when a king died before the last day of a year, a gap of X days until the end of the year revealed. The Akzessionsjahrmethode then began counting the regnal years from the first day of the following year, describing the days until the start of the year as the accession year. The non- Akzessionsjahrmethode began counting the years of the reign directly with accession of the new king and continued the count then the year regularly continued. Thiele also succeeded to show that the beginning of the year, however, was celebrated in the northern kingdom in the spring, in the southern kingdom in the fall. These deviations are in the dating of the New Year and the year of the reign method were responsible for the discrepancies in the cross-links. In addition to that the southern kingdom under Athaliah was transferred from the Akzessionsjahrmethode for non- Akzessionsjahrmethode that was previously used only in the northern kingdom. He paid no attention to his first publication the results of the Belgian Couckes Valerius, who scored the same results a few years earlier, a fact which he acknowledged only in the third edition of his Mysterious Numbers.

With this understanding of the chronology of the monarchy Thiele showed that the recognized 14 years between Ahab and Jehu were actually only 12 years old. So Ahab in Kurkh monolith, which documents the Battle of Qarqar ( 853 BC) between Assyrians and the Syro- Levantine population, and Jehu the black obelisk of Shalmaneser III. , Of a 841 BC paid tribute testifies mentioned is, both kings could be precisely dated, Ahab had in Qarqar in his last year of reign fought and Jehu paid tribute in his first year of reign.

This allowed Thiele, offset the chronological data of the biblical books of Kings and Chronicles, with the exception of synchronism between Hosea and Hezekiah at the end of the Kingdom of Israel, for which he concluded that the writers was a mistake undermined here. For synchronises a coregency Hezekiah was recognized with his father Ahaz as a possible explanation later.

Chronology of the Israelite kings according to Thiele

Reception

Thiele's reconstruction of a chronology was not accepted by all scientists, but there is just as little a counter-proposal that would have met on a broad consensus. Overall, Thiele has work and his students won the widest acceptance, so that the orientalist Donald Wiseman wrote: "The chronology most Widely accepted today is one based on the meticulous study by Thiele " and more recently Leslie McFall, " Thiele 's chronology is almost becoming the consensus view among Old Testament scholars, if It has not already reached did point. "

Although practiced at many specific points of its chronology criticism, his work was nevertheless praised even by those who disagreed with its ultimate conclusion. Nevertheless, even scholars who share Thiele's religious conviction, admitted that his argument has weaknesses as unfounded assumptions and circular reasoning: "In his desire to resolve the Discrepancies Between The data in the Book of Kings, Thiele what forced to make improbable suppositions ... There is no basis for Thiele 's statement did his conjectures are correct Because He succeeded in Reconciling most of the data in the Book of Kings, since his assumptions ... are derived from the chronological data Themselves ... "

The many extra-biblical synchronisms particular that he conform to its chronology that involved not always the latest results altorientalistischer research. He often took on undocumented events to confirm biblical data.

In response to the circular reasoning argument Kenneth beach pointed to several archaeological findings, which were published after the emergence of Thiele's chronology and confirmed his chronology and assumptions over other chronological systems such as William F. Albright, have been postulated before Thiele's work. Within the scientific methodology, the ability to find new results that were at the time of origination of the theory is not yet known applies to predict as significant support for the provisional acceptance of such a theory.

Despite the criticism remains Thiele's methodical approach to today typical starting point of scientific studies in the tray. His work is ( 931 BC), considered the establishment of the exact date for the division of the Israelite Kingdom.

Publications (selection)

• The Chronology of the Kings of Judah and Israel. In: Journal of Near Eastern Studies 3, 1944, pp. 137-186
• The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings. Chicago, Chicago University Press 1951; 2nd Impression 1955; Revised Edition Grand Rapids, Eerdmans 1965; Grand Rapids, Kregel, 1983. ISBN 0-8254-3825- X
• A Chronology of the Hebrew Kings. Grand Rapids, Zondervan 1977, ISBN 0-310-36001-3
• With Margaret Thiele: Job and the Devil. Boise, Pacific Press Pub. Association in 1988. ISBN 0-8163-0747-4