The BibleGospel Companion
Miracle · Conquest and Settlementc. 1451 BC

Israel crosses the Jordan

Range across sources: 1480–1451 BC

True span4004 BC – AD 100
Beginnings · 4004 BC – 1996 BC · 12 eventsBeginnings4004 BC – 1996 BCThe Patriarchs · 1996 BC – 1635 BC · 34 eventsPatriarchs1996 BC – 1635 BCEgypt and the Exodus · 1635 BC – 1451 BC · 19 eventsExodus1635 BC – 1451 BCConquest and Settlement · 1451 BC – 1400 BC · 7 eventsConquest1451 BC – 1400 BCThe Judges · 1405 BC – 1095 BC · 13 eventsJudges1405 BC – 1095 BCThe United Kingdom · 1095 BC – 975 BC · 38 eventsUnited Kgdm1095 BC – 975 BCIsrael and Judah · 933 BC – 721 BC · 27 eventsIsrael & Judah933 BC – 721 BCJudah Alone · 721 BC – 586 BC · 22 eventsJudah alone721 BC – 586 BCThe Exile · 586 BC – 538 BC · 7 eventsExile586 BC – 538 BCReturn and Restoration · 538 BC – 400 BC · 13 eventsReturn538 BC – 400 BCBetween the Testaments · 400 BC – 4 BC · 8 eventsBetween400 BC – 4 BCThe Life of Jesus · 6 BC – AD 33 · 42 eventsJesus6 BC – AD 33The Apostles and the Early Church · AD 30 – AD 100 · 29 eventsThe ChurchAD 30 – AD 1001451 BC — Israel crosses the Jordan1451 BC — The walls of Jericho fall1451 BC — Defeat at Ai; Achan's sin; Ai taken1445 BC — The land is divided among the tribes at ShilohThe Gibeonite treaty; the sun stands still — placed by its order in the narrativeHazor and the northern kings defeated — placed by its order in the narrativeJoshua's farewell at Shechem; his death — placed by its order in the narrative
the events of this period, each at its year — this one outlinedplaced only by its order in the narrativethe whole thread →

Told in

Joshua 3:1–17Joshua got up early in the morning; and they moved from Shittim and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel. They camped there before they crossed over.Joshua 4:1–24When all the nation had completely crossed over the Jordan, Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying,
Opening words from the World English Bible (public domain); the passage list is in-house

Who and where

JoshuaJordan ›
Names and references: STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0 · coordinates: OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding · CC BY 4.0

How we know the date

Ussher's Annals (1650) gives 1451 BC (its year of the world 2553 c); ISBE's article “Exodus, The” (1915) gives 1480 BC. The sources differ by 29 years; the year shown (1451 BC) is the one this timeline follows through this stretch, from Ussher's Annals (1650).

Written in-house from the sources below · every year is a quotation

The sources, word for word

“2553. a. … Die 10. mensis primi, April. 30. feria sexta, eodem videlicet die quo agnus paschialis erat seligendus; Israelite, duce Josua typo Jesu Christi, ex Jordane ascenderunt in promissam terram Cananzam, ccelestis patrie typum, pedibus emensi fluvium, divisis ejus undis qua tempestate omnes suas ripas superare solitus est.”

Ussher, Annales Veteris Testamenti (1650), Latin text in The Whole Works of James Ussher, vols. VIII–XI (Dublin, 1864) · vol. VIII, AM 2553 c · gives 1451 BC

“We therefore find that Joshua's conquest is placed about 1480 BC, and the Exodus about 1520 BC.”

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · EXODUS, THE · gives 1480 BC

Sources