Saul to the founding of the Temple...to Rehoboam

1068 Saul anointed king • 40 Acts 13:21
1028 David anointed king of Hebron • 40 1 Chron 29:27, 2 Sam 5:4
988 Solomon king • 3 1 Ki 6:1
985 Temple founded

Also:
988 Solomon king • 40 2 Chron 9:30, 1 Ki 11:42-43
948 Rehoboam king

Note on 1 Kings 6:1: The calendar years from the Exodus to the founding of the Temple total 613 (founding in the 614th year). By deducting 134 years of oppression (not under God's covenant government) noted in the Judges section and 1 Samuel, we find that the temple was indeed founded in the 480th year out of Egypt as stated at 1 Kings 6:1. The math is 479 + 134 = 613. We should mention 613 is an important number in Judaism (the number of laws found in the Torah), a parallel clearly of divine intent.

Note: The span from the Exodus to the founding of the Temple is the most challenging period in mapping out dates (years). Though we know the length of this overall span the Old Testament leaves three undefined variables: the span from the Fall of Jericho to the beginning of the Period of Judges, the span of Samuel’s years as judge up to the reign of Saul, and the span of Saul’s reign as king. In Acts 13, Paul gives sufficient detail to clear up some uncertainties, confirming the period of judges up to Samuel (as prophet, not judge) as about 450 years and then identifying Saul’s reign as 40 years. From this point we can conclude the other two spans together total 20 years. The accounts given in Joshua and Judges roughly suggest a dozen or more years, so the Period of Judges begins 1546/5 if not slightly later. From that we can know the approximate year of Eli’s death, c. 1096/5, 20 years before Samuel began to judge. If we know the year Saul began to reign, we are left seven to eight years for Samuel as judge before Saul’s reign. In all, Samuel judged Israel about 44 years.

Christian scholars wrongly suggest Paul’s cited years are broadly approximate. His stated spans were very precise. For those who would reject Paul as a source outright, the Old Testament account is sufficient, but it requires a great deal of reasoning to clarify the various periods. Perhaps the most useful detail is the account of Saul’s son Ishbosheth. 2 Samuel 2:10 says he was 40 when he began to reign. This means he was born c. 1063, after Saul’s first three sons, Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchishua. Saul’s two daughters, Merab and Michal were also born in this era or slightly later. The fact that Jonathan seems to have been older than his siblings, a more prominent leader and heir apparent is consistent with Saul’s ascension to his role as king. It is not clear if Saul took additional wives when he became king, but the proliferation of sons and daughters would help establish the ruling family’s position and amply ensure an heir to the throne. Without Paul’s account in Acts 13, we only have c. 1068 for Saul’s reign, c. 1075 for Samuel as judge, c. 1095 for Eli’s death, and c. 1545 for the beginning of the Period of Judges. We are not without other resources though. We know that sabbath and jubilee cycles began sometime soon after Joshua’s death and the subsequent opening events of the Book of Judges, which relate to the incomplete victories over the occupying nations of Canaan. These episodes ended with a visit by an/the Angel of the Lord and a rebuke for the incomplete obedience on the part of the various tribes of Israel. If we create seven hypothetical tables of sabbath years with cycles starting over seven consecutive years from this era, we can be sure that one of these tables is correct. Following the years incrementally forward in time, we also find a few details in scripture relating to harvest time or that suggest a harvest year. Those that can be dated precisely, or approximately, collectively suggest 1547 (and only 1547 by a process of elimination) as the first year counting toward Israel’s sabbath and jubilee year obligations. A separate study of jubilee cycles also works with details given in scripture, not to mention the handful of later secular records that cite or suggest observance of a sabbath year. I consider the sabbath tables helpful but not absolute proof in establishing a chronology. The gist is that we can have a very good chronology even without Acts 13. For an important independent confirmation, the span cited from the high priests records by Josephus gives 612 years of high priests from the Exodus to the temple. Aaron was not anointed high priest until a year after the Exodus however, reconciling the discrepancy.