The Gentile Times Reconsidered Chronology Christ

Appendix 339
Daniel use this curious way of reckoning regnal years only in this
passage of his book? No other arguments are proposed for this
new position except this statement:
Here again, as at Daniel 1:1, the peculiarity which the writer of
this book has of making a secondary reckoning of the years of a
king’s reign is demonstrated. He reckons by counting from
epochal events within the reign that put the king in a new
relationship. 63
There could hardly be a more obvious example of circular
reasoning.
The date of Jehoiakim’s rebellion
The latest discussion of these problems is found in the Watch
Tower Society’s Bible dictionary Insight on the Scriptures, Vol. 1
(1988), pages 1268–69. Daniel 1:1 is still interpreted as meaning the
third year of Jehoiakim’s vassalage to Babylon, beginning at the end
of his eighth year of reign and ending in his eleventh and last year.
On page 480 of Vol. 2 of the same work, an attempt is made to
find support for this in the Babylonian chronicle B.M. 21946. After
recording the battle of Carchemish in Nebuchadnezzar’s accession
year, this chronicle refers to several succeeding campaigns in the
Hattu-area by Nebuchadnezzar, in his first, second, third and
fourth years. Mentioning these campaigns, the Society’s dictionary
says that “evidently in the fourth year he made Judean King
Jehoiakim his vassal. (2 Kings 24:1)”
This conclusion, however, is not supported by the Babylonian
Chronicle. On the contrary, this chronicle indicates that
Jehoiakim’s vassalage to Babylon began in Nebuchadnezzar’s
accession-year, or possibly in his first year, and that in the fourth
year Jehoiakim was already in open revolt against Babylon. To
demonstrate this, it is necessary to quote important parts of the
Babylonian Chronicle, from the accession year to the fourth year of
Nebuchadnezzar:
Events from c. Sept./Oct. 605 to Jan./Feb. 604 B.C.E.:
”In (his) accession year Nebuchadnezzar (II) returned to
Hattu. Until the month Shebat he marched about victoriously in
Hattu. In the month Shebat he took the vast booty of Hattu to
Babylon.”
From May/June to Nov./Dec. 604:
”The first year of Nebuchadnezzar (II): In the month of Sivan
he mustered his army and marched to Hattu. Until the month
63 Equipped for Every Good Work, p. 227.