Original Timeline · special year-by-year timeline

The Babylonian Captivity

From Babylon’s rise to Cyrus’s return

Creation yearTishriSept./Oct.	Months	Nisan yearNisanMarch/April	BCDec./Jan.	Regnal year	Jehoiachin captivity	After city fell	Ruler / empire	Event and KJV Scripture
3317	Tishri–AdarTishri · Cheshvan · Kislev · Tevet · Shebat · Adar / Adar II		Dec./Jan.605 BC				Nabopolassar
	Nisan–ElulNisan · Iyar · Sivan · Tammuz · Av · Elul	871		0			Nabopolassar → Nebuchadnezzar	Carchemish and Nebuchadnezzar’s accession Jeremiah 25:1; 46:1–2 · KJV The Babylonian Chronicle places Nebuchadnezzar’s defeat of Egypt at Carchemish before Nabopolassar died on Ab 8. Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon and ascended the throne on Elul 1. His regnal count begins here at 0.
3318	Tishri–AdarTishri · Cheshvan · Kislev · Tevet · Shebat · Adar / Adar II		Dec./Jan.604 BC				Nebuchadnezzar
	Nisan–ElulNisan · Iyar · Sivan · Tammuz · Av · Elul	872		1			Nebuchadnezzar	Daniel and companions are carried to Babylon · working placement Daniel 1:1–7; 2 Chronicles 36:6–7 · KJV Daniel records Nebuchadnezzar coming against Jerusalem in Jehoiakim’s third year; Chronicles records Jehoiakim being bound and temple vessels carried to Babylon. The difference between accession-year and regnal-year wording remains visible.
3319	Tishri–AdarTishri · Cheshvan · Kislev · Tevet · Shebat · Adar / Adar II		Dec./Jan.603 BC				Nebuchadnezzar	Jeremiah announces the seventy years Jeremiah 25:3–12 · KJV Judah and the surrounding nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years; when the years are accomplished, Babylon will be punished. Jeremiah’s scroll is written Jeremiah 36:1–4 · KJV In Jehoiakim’s fourth year Jeremiah dictates to Baruch the words given from the days of Josiah onward.
	Nisan–ElulNisan · Iyar · Sivan · Tammuz · Av · Elul	873		2			Nebuchadnezzar
3320	Tishri–AdarTishri · Cheshvan · Kislev · Tevet · Shebat · Adar / Adar II		Dec./Jan.602 BC				Nebuchadnezzar	The scroll is read and burned Jeremiah 36:9–32 · KJV In Jehoiakim’s fifth year the scroll is read publicly, cut with a penknife, and burned; Jeremiah dictates another roll with additional words.
	Nisan–ElulNisan · Iyar · Sivan · Tammuz · Av · Elul	874		3			Nebuchadnezzar
3321	Tishri–AdarTishri · Cheshvan · Kislev · Tevet · Shebat · Adar / Adar II		Dec./Jan.601 BC				Nebuchadnezzar
	Nisan–ElulNisan · Iyar · Sivan · Tammuz · Av · Elul	875		4			Nebuchadnezzar
3322	Tishri–AdarTishri · Cheshvan · Kislev · Tevet · Shebat · Adar / Adar II		Dec./Jan.600 BC				Nebuchadnezzar
	Nisan–ElulNisan · Iyar · Sivan · Tammuz · Av · Elul	876		5			Nebuchadnezzar
3323	Tishri–AdarTishri · Cheshvan · Kislev · Tevet · Shebat · Adar / Adar II		Dec./Jan.599 BC				Nebuchadnezzar	Jehoiakim serves Babylon and rebels 2 Kings 24:1–4 · KJV Jehoiakim becomes Nebuchadnezzar’s servant three years, then turns and rebels. The established Original Timeline places the service marker here.
	Nisan–ElulNisan · Iyar · Sivan · Tammuz · Av · Elul	877		6			Nebuchadnezzar
3324	Tishri–AdarTishri · Cheshvan · Kislev · Tevet · Shebat · Adar / Adar II		Dec./Jan.598 BC				Nebuchadnezzar
	Nisan–ElulNisan · Iyar · Sivan · Tammuz · Av · Elul	878		7			Nebuchadnezzar
3325	Tishri–AdarTishri · Cheshvan · Kislev · Tevet · Shebat · Adar / Adar II		Dec./Jan.597 BC		0		Nebuchadnezzar	Jehoiachin and Jerusalem’s leaders are deported 2 Kings 24:8–17; 2 Chronicles 36:9–10; Jeremiah 24:1 · KJV After a three-month reign Jehoiachin, his household, officers, craftsmen, and treasures are carried to Babylon. This removal begins Ezekiel’s captivity-year count. Zedekiah is installed 2 Kings 24:17–20; 2 Chronicles 36:10–13 · KJV Nebuchadnezzar makes Mattaniah king and changes his name to Zedekiah; he reigns eleven years and later rebels. Jeremiah writes to the captives Jeremiah 29:1–14 · KJV The captives are told to build, plant, marry, and seek Babylon’s peace. After seventy years at Babylon the LORD promises to visit and bring them back.
	Nisan–ElulNisan · Iyar · Sivan · Tammuz · Av · Elul	879		8			Nebuchadnezzar
3326	Tishri–AdarTishri · Cheshvan · Kislev · Tevet · Shebat · Adar / Adar II		Dec./Jan.596 BC		1		Nebuchadnezzar
	Nisan–ElulNisan · Iyar · Sivan · Tammuz · Av · Elul	880		9			Nebuchadnezzar
3327	Tishri–AdarTishri · Cheshvan · Kislev · Tevet · Shebat · Adar / Adar II		Dec./Jan.595 BC		2		Nebuchadnezzar
	Nisan–ElulNisan · Iyar · Sivan · Tammuz · Av · Elul	881		10			Nebuchadnezzar
3328	Tishri–AdarTishri · Cheshvan · Kislev · Tevet · Shebat · Adar / Adar II		Dec./Jan.594 BC		3		Nebuchadnezzar
	Nisan–ElulNisan · Iyar · Sivan · Tammuz · Av · Elul	882		11			Nebuchadnezzar
3329	Tishri–AdarTishri · Cheshvan · Kislev · Tevet · Shebat · Adar / Adar II		Dec./Jan.593 BC		4		Nebuchadnezzar
	Nisan–ElulNisan · Iyar · Sivan · Tammuz · Av · Elul	883		12			Nebuchadnezzar
3330	Tishri–AdarTishri · Cheshvan · Kislev · Tevet · Shebat · Adar / Adar II		Dec./Jan.592 BC		5		Nebuchadnezzar
	Nisan–ElulNisan · Iyar · Sivan · Tammuz · Av · Elul	884		13			Nebuchadnezzar	Ezekiel’s opening vision by Chebar Ezekiel 1:1–3 · KJV The fifth year of Jehoiachin’s captivity, fourth month, fifth day opens Ezekiel’s dated ministry.
3331	Tishri–AdarTishri · Cheshvan · Kislev · Tevet · Shebat · Adar / Adar II		Dec./Jan.591 BC		6		Nebuchadnezzar
	Nisan–ElulNisan · Iyar · Sivan · Tammuz · Av · Elul	885		14			Nebuchadnezzar	Ezekiel sees Jerusalem’s abominations Ezekiel 8:1–18 · KJV The vision is dated to the sixth captivity year, sixth month, fifth day.
3332	Tishri–AdarTishri · Cheshvan · Kislev · Tevet · Shebat · Adar / Adar II		Dec./Jan.590 BC		7		Nebuchadnezzar
	Nisan–ElulNisan · Iyar · Sivan · Tammuz · Av · Elul	886		15			Nebuchadnezzar	The elders inquire of the LORD Ezekiel 20:1–3 · KJV Certain elders sit before Ezekiel in the seventh year, fifth month, tenth day.
3333	Tishri–AdarTishri · Cheshvan · Kislev · Tevet · Shebat · Adar / Adar II		Dec./Jan.589 BC		8		Nebuchadnezzar
	Nisan–ElulNisan · Iyar · Sivan · Tammuz · Av · Elul	887		16			Nebuchadnezzar
3334	Tishri–AdarTishri · Cheshvan · Kislev · Tevet · Shebat · Adar / Adar II		Dec./Jan.588 BC		9		Nebuchadnezzar
	Nisan–ElulNisan · Iyar · Sivan · Tammuz · Av · Elul	888		17			Nebuchadnezzar
3335	Tishri–AdarTishri · Cheshvan · Kislev · Tevet · Shebat · Adar / Adar II		Dec./Jan.587 BC		10		Nebuchadnezzar	The final siege begins 2 Kings 25:1–2; Jeremiah 39:1; 52:4; Ezekiel 24:1–2 · KJV Zedekiah’s ninth year, tenth month, tenth day is identified by Ezekiel as the very day Babylon sets itself against Jerusalem.
	Nisan–ElulNisan · Iyar · Sivan · Tammuz · Av · Elul	889		18			Nebuchadnezzar
3336	Tishri–AdarTishri · Cheshvan · Kislev · Tevet · Shebat · Adar / Adar II		Dec./Jan.586 BC		11		Nebuchadnezzar
	Nisan–ElulNisan · Iyar · Sivan · Tammuz · Av · Elul	890		19		0	Nebuchadnezzar	Ezekiel’s dated words concerning Egypt Ezekiel 29:1; 30:20; 31:1 · KJV The tenth-year tenth-month word and the eleventh-year first- and third-month words fall around Jerusalem’s last months. Jerusalem is breached and the temple burned 2 Kings 25:2–10; Jeremiah 39:2–8; 52:5–14; 2 Chronicles 36:17–21 · KJV In Zedekiah’s eleventh year the city is broken up. The temple, king’s house, and Jerusalem are burned; the walls are broken down and survivors are carried away. NOTE: Why the eighteenth and nineteenth years both appear Jeremiah 52:29; 2 Kings 25:8–9; Jeremiah 52:12–13 · KJV Jeremiah 52:29 records 832 persons carried away from Jerusalem in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year. The Temple burning is expressly dated to his nineteenth year in 2 Kings 25:8–9 and Jeremiah 52:12–13. The references mark related stages of Jerusalem’s fall across the regnal-year boundary; the timeline therefore preserves both numbers rather than forcing them into one date. Zedekiah is captured 2 Kings 25:4–7; Jeremiah 39:4–7; 52:7–11 · KJV Zedekiah flees, is taken in the plains of Jericho, sees his sons slain, is blinded, bound, and carried to Babylon. The land begins its desolate sabbaths 2 Chronicles 36:20–21; Jeremiah 25:11–12 · KJV Chronicles connects the land’s sabbaths and threescore and ten years with Judah’s service until Persia; Jeremiah connects seventy years of national service with Babylon’s judgment.

The fixed Creation-year backbone

This page retains CY 3317 for Carchemish and Nebuchadnezzar’s accession in 605 BC, CY 3325 for Jehoiachin’s captivity in Adar 597 BC, CY 3336 for Jerusalem’s fall, CY 3384 for Babylon’s fall, and CY 3385 for Cyrus’s return decree.

Three biblical counts are kept distinct

Jeremiah’s seventy years concern service to Babylon and Babylon’s punishment. Chronicles’ sabbath statement concerns the desolate land. Ezekiel’s captivity years begin with Jehoiachin’s removal in Adar. That partial month is shown only as the beginning; it is not numbered as a completed first year. The counts overlap, but the table does not turn them into one interchangeable counter. Partial accession years, Nisan years, and Creation years also do not begin on the same day.

Within the captivity period · exact year not supplied

Important accounts preserved without inventing a date

The fiery furnace

Daniel 3. Nebuchadnezzar’s image, the refusal to worship, and the deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego belong to his reign, but the chapter does not state a regnal year.

Nebuchadnezzar’s tree dream

Daniel 4. The dream, seven times, humbling, and restoration are recorded without a numbered Babylonian year.

Jeremiah’s prophecies against Babylon

Jeremiah 50–51. Babylon’s judgment and Israel’s return are proclaimed, but the prophecy is not assigned a new Creation year merely from chapter order.

Daniel in the lions’ den

Daniel 6. The account belongs under Darius the Median after Babylon’s fall; the narrative does not supply a separate year number.

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The Babylonian Captivity

From Babylon’s rise to Cyrus’s return

Carchemish and Nebuchadnezzar’s accession

Daniel and companions are carried to Babylon · working placement

Jeremiah announces the seventy years

Jeremiah’s scroll is written

The scroll is read and burned

Jehoiakim serves Babylon and rebels

Jehoiachin and Jerusalem’s leaders are deported

Zedekiah is installed

Jeremiah writes to the captives

Ezekiel’s opening vision by Chebar

Ezekiel sees Jerusalem’s abominations

The elders inquire of the LORD

The final siege begins

Ezekiel’s dated words concerning Egypt

Jerusalem is breached and the temple burned

NOTE: Why the eighteenth and nineteenth years both appear

Zedekiah is captured

The land begins its desolate sabbaths

Important accounts preserved without inventing a date

The fiery furnace

Nebuchadnezzar’s tree dream

Jeremiah’s prophecies against Babylon

Daniel in the lions’ den