The Watchtower, “When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed?—Part One”
“So why do Jehovah’s Witnesses hold to a date that differs from widely accepted chronology by 20 years? In short, because of evidence within the Bible itself.”
The same paragraph gives the reason the question matters: that “knowing the actual year when this ‘ultimate catastrophe’ began and understanding how the restoration of true worship in Jerusalem fulfilled a precise Bible prophecy will build your confidence in the reliability of God’s Word.”
Official source (opens in new tab)
Provenance and verification note for The Watchtower, When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed?—Part One
Confidence note. Full document fetched from the Watchtower Online Library on 19 September 2026 and read in full; the quotation, the paragraph and the page were confirmed against the article text and its embedded page markers (span class=“pageNum”).
Corroborated by. src-chr-o-it1-chronology-bible-over-classical
Notes. The single clearest statement of the organisation’s method: the date is derived from Scripture, not from the material record.
Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-chr-o-w-2011-1001-bible-itself