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Temple Dates


Question:
Why do some hitorians say that the Temple was detroyed in 586 BCE while
others say that it was on 480 BCE?


AskTheRabbi.org answered:

Actually the "error" is about 165 years and is not necessarily an error. There is a discrepancy between Greek historians and Jewish historians. The Greeks maintain that in Jewish history a number of Persian kings were left out of our history and their total years of ruling add up to about 165 years. The Jewish historians maintain that the people the Greeks count as kings were actually only Dukes or Princes and that they ruled concurrently. The fact they were known as kings and not as "king of kings" is evidence of this. The Jews lived in Babylon and Persia for over 1000 years, the Greeks sent scribes to gather historical knowledge. I believe, therefore that our history is accurate and Greek history mistaken - we have first-hand knowledge of Persia and are therefore more reliable.


 
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