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Chronology and 607 BCE · Claim record

The organisation has taught since at least 1968 that 539 BCE is an 'absolute date', and that 'the fixing of 539 B.C.E. as the year when this historical event occurred is based on a stone document known as the Nabonidus (Nabunaid) Chronicle'. The whole of its biblical chronology, including 607 BCE and 1914, is counted back from that date.

Claim ID claim-chronology-org-539-absolute-dateConcerns 15 August 1968Organisation's explanation
Organisation's explanation · 15 August 1968 Verified

The organisation has taught since at least 1968 that 539 BCE is an 'absolute date', and that 'the fixing of 539 B.C.E. as the year when this historical event occurred is based on a stone document known as the Nabonidus (Nabunaid) Chronicle'. The whole of its biblical chronology, including 607 BCE and 1914, is counted back from that date. The Watchtower, 15 August 1968'All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial', 1990

The organisation’s position or later explanation: 'The pivotal date for counting back to Adam's creation is that of Cyrus' overthrow of the Babylonian dynasty, 539 B.C.E.'

Show the evidence (2 sources)
Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower, “The Book of Truthful Historical Dates”

15 August 1968 · pp.488-494 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania

“The fixing of 539 B.C.E. as the year when this historical event occurred is based on a stone document known as the Nabonidus (Nabunaid) Chronicle.”

Under the heading 'THE ABSOLUTE DATE OF 539 B.C.E.', the article explains that an absolute date 'must be one where sacred and secular historical events coincide', and derives 539 BCE from a Babylonian chronicle, quoting it from Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, p. 306.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. The full article was fetched from the Watchtower Online Library on 19 September 2026 and read with page markers intact; the quotation is on page 490.

Corroborated by. src-chr-e-pd-1942-p11-nabonidus-cyrus, src-chr-e-ebl-bm35382

Notes. The article then says of 607: 'It is now a simple formula to determine when the seventy years began. One has only to add 70 to 537 to get 607.'

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-chr-e-w68-0815-absolute-539

Primary JW publication Verified

'All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial', “Study Number 3-Measuring Events in the Stream of Time”

1990 · p.285 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania

“Starting From the Pivotal Date. The pivotal date for counting back to Adam's creation is that of Cyrus' overthrow of the Babylonian dynasty, 539 B.C.E.”

A standard reference work used in congregation study. The whole of Watch Tower biblical chronology, including 607 BCE and 1914, is counted back from a date established by Babylonian documents.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Fetched from the Watchtower Online Library on 19 September 2026 and read with page markers intact. The study occupies pp. 284-298 (Online Library header “si pp. 284-298”); this passage falls after the marker for page 285.

Corroborated by. src-chr-e-w68-0815-absolute-539

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-chr-e-si-1990-pivotal-539

Claim page

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