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MetaV Roadmap

MetaV Roadmap: Timeline

This is the fourth in a series of posts outlining the roadmap for MetaV, a database of people, places, passages, and periods of time found in the Bible.

Timeline

The Bible is not just one book, it is a collection of 66 books.  The 40 different authors of those books often tell the same stories, though emphasizing different aspects.  A key way to piece together all the details of a story across two or more books is to arrange the passages chronologically.  MetaV currently tags verses with a year (from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge), but more detail would be needed to accurately sort chronologically.

Specific Dates, Different Calendars

We are far enough removed from these events that it is hard to trust specific dates offered by historians (such as James Ussher).  That said, adding this level of detail gives us a reference point to correctly sequence events programmatically.  It’s hard to reconcile exact dates because calendar systems have changed a great deal over time.  We can get close by adding up lifespans or correlating events with archaeological records.  Perhaps the clearest difference is that the Jewish prophetic calendar is based on a 30 day month for a year of 360 days.  This is an important thing to know when studying Daniel’s 70 weeks or even Revelation.  MetaV will eventually include not just our Gregorian Calendar but Jewish calendar dates as well.

Named Events

Specifically identifying not only dates but particular events (or pericopes, if you will) allows more possibilities for dynamic timeline creation.  At higher-level views, the event name (i.e. “resurrection”) may suffice.  These headings appear in most bibles but naming systems vary widely.  Once a naming system is chosen, this data will be included in MetaV.

Date of event or date written?

The Bible includes not only historical books but also poetic and prophetic works.  For those passages that are poems or prophecies, the dates listed indicate when that section was written.  This distinction isn’t necessarily clear, and in the case of prophecy the event spoken of may be a known date other than the date of writing, it could be a date in the future, or a combination of both.  This disambiguation will be added to MetaV in the future.

Categories
Books History The World

Adam’s Chart of History

Adam's Chart of History

Anyone with even a passing interest in history should take a look at Adam’s Synchronological Chart or Map of History.What appears at first to be a simple 21-page coffee table book actually folds out as an incredibly detailed chart that’s over 25 feet long!  It covers world history from the dawn of creation through the late 19th century when the book was first published by Sebastian Adams.

He based this detailed chart on the work of Archbishop James Ussher’s Annals of the World which itself is an icon of Christian historical research.  I am glad to see it has not faded into the darkness of an old, dusty library. Instead, New Leaf publishing has reproduced it and introduces the work in this video:

If you don’t already own a full timeline of history, this is the one to add to your library.  For the “try before you buy” folks, you can download a teeny-tiny version of it as a PDF to get a flavor for it. (Note: I’m not paid by any publisher, I just happen to really love this book!)

Categories
Analysis Cool Tools The Bible Tools Translation Visualizations

English Bible Version Explorer

I’m a little late joining the bandwagon on celebrating the 400th anniversary of the KJV, but here’s my contribution to the mix. I found an interesting web site called Bible Reader’s Museum which, among other things, has extensive listings of Bible versions throughout time.  Being the chart junkie that I am, I converted their English Bible version list (used by permission) to an interactive graph of versions over time.  It begins at quarter-century intervals and then changes to smaller intervals as you filter out the years.  The list at the bottom filters along with it, making it simple to find one or several, then click the name to go to that version’s website.  It’s amazing to see just how many translations there have been over the years. Take a look!

Categories
Geography History The First Days The World

The History of the Temple Mount

If you have ever wondered why the temple mount in Jerusalem is such a big deal or are simply curious about its history, look no further than this exhaustive timeline of events and people surrounding this holy place.

The History of the Temple Mount | Way of Life Literature.