Thales of Miletus Consider the astronomer Thales of Miletus. His peers credit Thales with predicting a solar eclipse that stopped the war between the nations of Lydia and Media. Apparently, Lydia and Media were locked in a battle when a solar eclipse occurred. These nations, who were worshipers of the heavenly bodies, realized that the solar eclipse could be a potentially “bad” omen, so they negotiated an end to the military confrontation. Conventional chronologists dated this eclipse to the year 585 BC. C. This date is only one year different from the date proposed by conventional chronologists for Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. Since Lydia (present-day Turkey) is in the same part of the world as Jerusalem, was the eclipse described by Thales that stopped the war between Lydia and Media also visible in Jerusalem around the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s siege? If it was visible in Jerusalem, was this eclipse documented in the Bible?

The solar eclipse in Turkey (Lydia) in 585 BC was visible over Israel. No other solar eclipses have occurred in Turkey or Israel since 558 BC. C. until 634 a. C. Therefore, this eclipse could have been seen in Israel and it was the only eclipse that could have been seen in Israel during this time. So does the Bible mention a solar eclipse near the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of Jerusalem? I think so.

Consider the following verses (Jeremiah 6:4-5):

Prepare war against her; Get up, and let’s go up at noon. Woe to us! Because the day goes away, because the shadows of the sunset extend. Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy their palaces.” Many theologians believe that this verse describes a conversation between Nebuchadnezzar’s generals on the day they were to attack Jerusalem. These theologians believe that Nebuchadnezzar’s forces were preparing to attack at noon and found that their attack had lasted until the end of the day so they had to continue their attack at night. I have a different interpretation. I believe these verses describe a solar eclipse. I believe Nebuchadnezzar’s forces began attacking at noon when a solar eclipse occurred. His generals realized that a very “bad” omen was occurring in the sky (perhaps due to some angry god) and exclaimed “Woe to us” and stopped the attack.(It is interesting that the forces from Lydia and Media reacted in a similar way during the same eclipse that was predicted by Thales.) Also note that the characteristics of an eclips The solar e, the day that sets and the distortion of the shadows, are mentioned in the verse to clarify that the solar event took place. Nebuchadnezzar’s generals then attacked at night to avoid the possibility of another solar eclipse occurring and impeding their attack.

The wording of the verse also points to the uniqueness of the event. Notice the phrase “evening shadows stretch out.” This is the only place in the entire Bible where this description of shadows is used. There are two different verses used by Solomon to describe the appearance of shadows when night turned into day, Song 2:17 and 4:6: “Until the morning dawns and the shadows flee…”. Literally, the phrase “the shadows flee” means that the shadows disappeared, which is a reasonable way to describe the phenomenon of the sun turning night into day. The phrase “evening shadows stretch out” from the book of Jeremiah is best translated as “evening shadows twist.” During a solar eclipse, the appearance of shadows exhibits many strange behaviors. As the sun approaches the eclipse, the shadows from the trees appear to have many crescent outlines, the shadows appear to run across the ground, and the shadows lengthen. I think this is what Jeremiah was describing when he wrote “the evening shadows stretch out.”

If this was a solar eclipse, why didn’t Jeremiah write “the day became night at noon”? I believe this was a special type of eclipse, an annular eclipse. A total solar eclipse will result in total darkness for some area of ​​the Earth, however an annular eclipse will not. So what is an annular eclipse? It is an eclipse where only about 97% of the Sun’s area is eclipsed. Total darkness does not occur; however, the brightness of the sun decreases as if behind a cloud. Therefore, the description of the solar eclipse in Jeremiah 6:4-5 is consistent with the description of an annular solar eclipse.

Finding the Thales Eclipse

If the eclipse in Jeremiah 6:4-5 is an annular eclipse and is the same eclipse described by Thales of Miletus, then it cannot be the eclipse that occurred in 585 BC. Why? That eclipse was a total solar eclipse.

So what eclipse is it? According to the timeline I propose in my book “The Fourth Day: Why the Bible is Historically Accurate,” the destruction of Jerusalem occurs very close to 390 BC. C. instead of the year 586 a. C. as many historians affirm. The closest solar eclipse over Israel in the time frame I proposed took place on August 14, 393 BC and was a Cancel eclipse.

While a solar eclipse provides very useful information when it comes to dating an event, it seems that God provides even more clarification to remove all doubt as to which solar eclipse he refers to (Jeremiah 15:9): “She who has given birth to seven languish.” : she has delivered the ghost; her sun has set while it is still day…”Notice that it is much clearer in this verse that a solar eclipse has occurred: “…her sun has set while it is still day.” it’s still day…” Also, can you imagine a woman having her own “sun” of her own? What kind of woman is this? If you read the twelfth chapter of the book of Revelation, a woman in heaven has been associated with Israel and her name is Virgo. Is it possible that Jeremiah is referring to the constellation of Virgo? According to this verse, Virgo has given birth to “seven”. I mention elsewhere in my book, “The Fourth Day: Why the Bible is Historically Accurate” that the sign in the sky described in Revelation 12:3 regarding the heavenly sign of the dragon with seven crowns was the constellation Hydra and seven bodies (sun, moon, and five planets) located in the sky during a solar eclipse. Is it possible that Jeremiah 15:9 is describing a similar heavenly sign? A solar eclipse occurred over Israel on August 14, 393 BC During this solar eclipse the constellation of Virgo is in the center of the sky and seven celestial bodies, the sun and the moon and five planets, would have been in the sky. Therefore, I believe that Jeremiah 15:9 is a description of the appearance of the sky during the solar eclipse that occurs at the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar’s final siege of Jerusalem, the solar eclipse that Thales predicted, and the solar eclipse that stopped the war. between Lydia and Media.