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What Happened in 1914 According to Jehovah’s Witnesses?
Jehovah’s Witnesses count 2,520 years from October 607 B.C.E. to October 1914, when they say Christ began to rule. Editors date the earlier capture to 597.
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Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that October 1914 is when Jesus Christ was installed as King in heaven and the last days began. They reach that month by counting 2,520 years from a fall of Jerusalem they date to October 607 B.C.E. A Babylonian chronicle records Nebuchadnezzar seizing Jerusalem and capturing its king in his seventh year, which the translation dates to 597 B.C.E. Matthew 24:23–27Matthew 24:23–27 · King James Version24:23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
24:25 Behold, I have told you before.
24:26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Matthew 24:23–27 · King James VersionOpen source says not to believe a report that Christ is here or there. Acts 1:11Acts 1:11 · King James VersionWhich also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Acts 1:11 · King James VersionOpen source says he will return the way he was seen going into heaven.
Key Points
- The appendix 1914—A Significant Year in Bible Prophecy (1) says the 2,520 years began in October 607 B.C.E., when Jerusalem fell, and ended in October 1914, when Christ was installed as heavenly King.
- The same page reads “seven times” in Daniel’s tree dream as 2,520 days, then as 2,520 years, using a day for a year from Numbers 14:34Numbers 14:34 · King James Version
After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.
Numbers 14:34 · King James VersionOpen source and Ezekiel 4:6Ezekiel 4:6 · King James VersionAnd when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.
Ezekiel 4:6 · King James VersionOpen source. - A footnote gives the arithmetic: 606 years from October 607 B.C.E. to October 1 B.C.E., no zero year, then 1,914 years to October 1914.
- The Jerusalem Chronicle (2) says that in the seventh year the king of Akkad besieged “the city of Judah,” seized it on 2 Addaru, and captured the king. The editor dates that year 598/597.
- 2 Kings 25:82 Kings 25:8 · King James Version
And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem:
2 Kings 25:8 · King James VersionOpen source (3) places the burning of the city in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the king appointed after that capture. Counting from 597 B.C.E. lands near 587 or 586, not 607. - Acts 1:11Acts 1:11 · King James Version
Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Acts 1:11 · King James VersionOpen source (6) and Revelation 1:7Revelation 1:7 · King James VersionBehold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Revelation 1:7 · King James VersionOpen source (7) describe a return that is seen. The appendix calls 1914 the start of Christ’s presence as heavenly King.
How the Appendix Counts to 1914
The appendix in What Does the Bible Really Teach? ties Luke 21:24Luke 21:24 · King James VersionAnd they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Luke 21:24 · King James VersionOpen source, “the times of the Gentiles,” to the dream in Daniel 4. In that dream a tree is cut down and a decree says, “Let seven times pass over it.” The appendix says Revelation 12:6Revelation 12:6 · King James VersionAnd the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
Revelation 12:6 · King James VersionOpen source and Revelation 12:14Revelation 12:14 · King James VersionAnd to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
Revelation 12:14 · King James VersionOpen source make three and a half times equal 1,260 days, so seven times are twice that, 2,520 days. It then takes each day as a year.
The installation sentence is theirs:
The 2,520 years began in October 607 B.C.E., when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians and the Davidic king was taken off his throne. The period ended in October 1914. At that time, “the appointed times of the nations” ended, and Jesus Christ was installed as God’s heavenly King.
The footnote that checks the sum says: “From October 607 B.C.E. to October 1 B.C.E. is 606 years. Since there is no zero year, from October 1 B.C.E. to October 1914 C.E. is 1,914 years. By adding 606 years and 1,914 years, we get 2,520 years.” On those rules the end year is 1914 only if the start year is 607. Move the start, and October 1914 is no longer the last month of the count.
The appendix says the year is also the birth of God’s Kingdom and the beginning of “the last days,” and that Christ’s “presence” as King has been marked by war, famine, earthquakes, and pestilences, citing Matthew 24:3–8Matthew 24:3–8 · King James Version24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Matthew 24:3–8 · King James VersionOpen source and Luke 21:11Luke 21:11 · King James VersionAnd great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Luke 21:11 · King James VersionOpen source. What Is Armageddon? quotes their kingdom chapter on the war they connect with that reign, and it quotes the appendix’s line that significant developments were proclaimed decades ahead. This page stays with the count itself.
The appendix does not print a Babylonian tablet for 607 B.C.E. It points readers to the article “Chronology” in Insight on the Scriptures. That is their chronology. The sentence that Jerusalem fell in 607 B.C.E. is a claim of the appendix, not a line in the chronicle below.
What the Chronicle and 2 Kings Date
The chronicle translated at Livius as ABC 5, often called the Jerusalem Chronicle, follows Nebuchadnezzar year by year. For the seventh year the English says: “In the seventh year, the month of Kislîmu, the king of Akkad mustered his troops, marched to the Hatti-land, and besieged the city of Judah and on the second day of the month of Addaru he seized the city and captured the king.” The notes on that page date the seventh year 598/597 and Addaru as February/March 597. The chronicle then says he appointed a king of his own choice. 2 Kings 24:10–172 Kings 24:10–17 · King James Version24:10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.
24:11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.
24:12 And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
24:13 And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said.
24:14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.
24:15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
24:16 And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.
24:17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
2 Kings 24:10–17 · King James VersionOpen source tells the same capture: Jehoiachin is taken, and his uncle Mattaniah is renamed Zedekiah.
The chronicle’s surviving lines do not narrate a second burning of the city. The editor says Jerusalem would be captured again about ten years later and that the sequel of the tablet is lost. 2 Kings 25:1–92 Kings 25:1–9 · King James Version25:1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about.
25:2 And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
25:3 And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
25:4 And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king’s garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain.
25:5 And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him.
25:6 So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him.
25:7 And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.
25:8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem:
25:9 And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man’s house burnt he with fire.
2 Kings 25:1–9 · King James VersionOpen source is the biblical account of that later siege: it begins in Zedekiah’s ninth year and the city is burned in his eleventh year. If Zedekiah’s reign starts at the capture the chronicle places in 597 B.C.E., the eleventh year falls in 587 or 586 B.C.E. Historians use that combination. It is about twenty years after 607.
A start in 587 or 586 does not finish a 2,520-year count in 1914. The appendix’s own arithmetic shows why. The 606 years before the common era are measured from 607. A fall twenty years later shortens that first leg by about twenty years, and the sum misses October 1914 by about twenty years. The Gentile times in Luke 21:24Luke 21:24 · King James VersionAnd they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Luke 21:24 · King James VersionOpen source are Jerusalem trodden down until those times are fulfilled. The verse does not multiply Daniel’s “seven times” by 360 and then by a year.
A Reign That Is Not Seen
The appendix calls 1914 the start of Christ’s presence as heavenly King. In Matthew 24:3Matthew 24:3 · King James VersionAnd as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Matthew 24:3 · King James VersionOpen source the disciples ask for the sign of his coming and of the end of the age. Jehovah’s Witnesses read that coming as a heavenly reign that began in 1914, while the world did not see him arrive. The same chapter answers a hidden arrival. Matthew 24:23–27Matthew 24:23–27 · King James Version24:23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
24:25 Behold, I have told you before.
24:26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Matthew 24:23–27 · King James VersionOpen source (5): if anyone says he is in the desert or in the secret chambers, do not believe it, “for as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
Matthew 24:30Matthew 24:30 · King James VersionAnd then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Matthew 24:30 · King James VersionOpen source says the sign of the Son of man appears in heaven, the tribes mourn, and they see him coming on the clouds. Acts 1:9–11Acts 1:9–11 · King James Version1:9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
1:10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
1:11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Acts 1:9–11 · King James VersionOpen source (6) says a cloud received him out of their sight, and the men in white said he “shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Revelation 1:7Revelation 1:7 · King James VersionBehold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Revelation 1:7 · King James VersionOpen source (7): “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him.” A kingship that begins unseen in 1914 is not the return those verses describe.
Matthew 24:36Matthew 24:36 · King James VersionBut of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Matthew 24:36 · King James VersionOpen source says of that day and hour no one knows, not the angels, but the Father only. A chronology that names October of a stated year is a claim the verse does not make. Jesus is God. His reign is not a date the Watch Tower installed. Other dates the organization once printed, and later called hopes that did not arrive, are quoted on How Have Watchtower Teachings Changed?.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did a Babylonian Chronicle Date the Fall to 607?
The chronicle cited here dates a capture of the city and its king to Nebuchadnezzar’s seventh year. The editor of the translation places that year in 598/597 B.C.E. The appendix’s 607 B.C.E. is the date in their chronology article, which this chronicle does not print.
Where Do the 2,520 Years Come From?
The appendix doubles the 1,260 days of Revelation 12:6Revelation 12:6 · King James VersionAnd the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
Revelation 12:6 · King James VersionOpen source to get 2,520 days, then reads each day as a year. Daniel 4 itself says seven times pass over the tree in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The chapter tells the dream’s meaning for that king.
What Do They Mean by Presence?
They mean Christ began ruling from heaven in 1914, with effects they list from Matthew 24:3–8Matthew 24:3–8 · King James Version24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Matthew 24:3–8 · King James VersionOpen source, while the world did not see him arrive. Acts 1:11Acts 1:11 · King James VersionWhich also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Acts 1:11 · King James VersionOpen source says the return matches the departure the disciples watched.
Does 1914 Also Name Armageddon?
Their teaching connects the kingdom that began in 1914 with the war at Armageddon. The place-name and that war are What Is Armageddon?. This page is the count that produces the year.
Keep Reading
References
- 1914—A Significant Year in Bible Prophecy (Appendix in What Does the Bible Really Teach? Seven times, 2,520 years, October 607 B.C.E. to October 1914, and Christ’s installation as King.)
- ABC 5 (Jerusalem Chronicle) (Translation of the Neo-Babylonian chronicle. In Nebuchadnezzar’s seventh year the king of Akkad seized the city of Judah and captured its king. Livius dates that year 598/597.)
- Second Kings, 24:10–17; 25:1–92 Kings 24:10–17 · King James Version24:10
At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.
24:11And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.
24:12And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
24:13And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said.
24:14And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.
24:15And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
24:16And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.
24:17And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
2 Kings 24:10–17 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - Book of Daniel, 4:16–25Daniel 4:16–25 · King James Version4:16
Let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him.
4:17This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.
4:18This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.
4:19Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.
4:20The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth;
4:21Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation:
4:22It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.
4:23And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him;
4:24This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king:
4:25That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
Daniel 4:16–25 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - Gospel of Matthew, 24:23–27; 24:30; 24:36Matthew 24:23–27 · King James Version24:23
Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24:24For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
24:25Behold, I have told you before.
24:26Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
24:27For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Matthew 24:23–27 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - Acts of the Apostles, 1:9–11Acts 1:9–11 · King James Version1:9
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
1:10And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
1:11Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Acts 1:9–11 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - Book of Revelation, 1:7Revelation 1:7 · King James Version
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Revelation 1:7 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version
See Also
- Are Jehovah’s Witnesses Christians? — Jehovah’s Witnesses say yes: they follow Jesus, baptize in his name, and pray in his name. They also say he is not Almighty God and not part of a Trinity. The Nicene confession is that Jesus is God.
- Did Jesus Die on a Cross or a Stake? — Jehovah’s Witnesses say Jesus died on an upright stake. John speaks of nails in his hands, and Justin Martyr describes two beams.
- Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Celebrate Birthdays and Christmas? — No. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not celebrate birthdays or Christmas. They say birthday parties have pagan roots and that the only birthday feasts in the Bible end in death, and they keep the Memorial of Jesus’ death instead.
- Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Drink Alcohol? — Jehovah’s Witnesses say it is not a sin to drink alcohol in moderation. Their Bible-questions page calls wine a gift, says Jesus drank wine, and condemns drunkenness. It names times when a Christian should not drink at all.
- Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Shun Family Members? Disfellowshipping and the Bible — Jehovah’s Witnesses stop socializing with someone removed from the congregation. A 2024 article allows a simple greeting. Scripture’s limit differs.