"--_"Chronology," Vol. I, p.
166._
Thus, says James B. Lindsay, an English chronologist, "a foundation is
laid for chronology sure as the stars." So the sun and the stars, the
divinely appointed timekeepers, bear their witness to the accuracy of
the historical record.
We thank God for this, as we desire to know if we may depend upon
Ptolemy's canon to help us fix to a certainty the seventh year of
Artaxerxes.
According to Ptolemy, Artaxerxes succeeded to the throne in the two
hundred and eighty-fourth year of the canon. In modern reckoning, this
two hundred and eighty-fourth year runs from Dec. 17, 465 B.C., to Dec.
17, 464 B.C. The canon does not tell at what part of the year a king
succeeded to the throne; it only deals with whole years. The question
is, to be exact, Did Artaxerxes come to the throne in December, 465
B.C., or at some time in the year 464 B.C.? At what season of the year
did the king take the throne? Some historians, dealing with the matter
roughly, date the succession from the year 465. But in dealing with
divine prophecy, we require certainty upon which to base the reckoning
of the seventh year of Artaxerxes, from which date the prophetic period
runs.
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