Israel's Four Hundred and Thirty Years,
its Four Hundred Years
And its Four Generations
40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.
(Exodus 12:40-41)
This statement appears to be a notice of the fulfillment of prophecy. The phrase “even the selfsame day it came to pass” seems to mark a particular and exact fulfillment. This impression is confirmed by the words of the martyr Stephen:
17 But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, 18 Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph. (Acts 7:17-18)
There is no other promise of a set time that this could be, but the promise that, after four hundred years of sojourning, Abram's seed would come out of the nation that had enslaved them, and re-enter Canaan to inherit it. There is no prophecy of a four hundred and thirty years' sojourning of the children of Israel anywhere in Scripture. There is only the prediction of a four hundred years sojourning, in Genesis 15:13:
And He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs (and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them) four hundred years;
How can this be reconciled?
The Importance of This Study
Many have used apparent discrepancies such as these to attempt to discredit the word of God. The student of Scripture must recognize that there are not a few of them in the chronological record of Israel's history. One difficulty is in reconciling the four hundred years in Genesis 15 with the four hundred and thirty years of Exodus 12. Incidentally, there is the problem of the four generations mentioned in Genesis 15. Also involved is the question of how long Israel was in slavery in Egypt. I hope to show – not only the solutions to these difficulties, but – the proper way to address all such problems; which is to trust the Word of God to be true, accurate, and consistent with itself, and to carefully separate opinion from fact in choosing between interpretations of the text. Then we need not be afraid to confront any of these challenges head-on.
Some of the conclusions may be startling; but all is founded on a literal reading of the text, and uses the simple arithmetical operations of addition and subtraction. This is not a technical article for historians or scholars in Hebrew
and Greek. The facts can be verified by any serious student of Scripture from his English Bible. Some may find such a study tedious, but those who persevere will be rewarded by a deeper and more solid conviction that the Word of God is absolutely consistent and absolutely accurate.
The study of Bible chronology results in the construction of a system, and the refinement of that system; but we need not begin from scratch. Others have labored, and we have entered into their labors. The chronological system employed is essentially that of Ussher, as refined and corrected by Martin Anstey. Anstey's magnum opus, titled Romance of Bible Chronology is a masterpiece of disciplined mental labor. For sources, it confines itself to actual statements of Scripture, and shuns presenting guess-work as conclusions. I have personally verified his reasoning and his calculations for all of the dates that I present as fact in this paper. I have supplied a chronology of the period discussed in this paper following the footnotes and appendices, for ease of reference.
Is Four Hundred Just a Round Number?
Some interpreters have suggested that the “four hundred years” simply rounds off the number for the same period, defined more exactly as “four hundred and thirty years”. But this would mean that God promised them deliverance after four hundred years of sojourning when he really meant four hundred and thirty, which is impossible. Thirty years is a long time to be late on keeping a promise!
Consider the importance of this promise to the Hebrews at the time when they were in bondage in Egypt. Joseph knew of the promise (Genesis 50:24) and implied that his brethren knew of it too, when he charged them to take his bones with them into Canaan; and he could only have learned of it from his father Jacob, or from the written family records (the source documents which Moses used to create the book of Genesis). At the time Moses returned to Egypt from Midian, there must have been many among the children of Israel who knew the prophecy. They would have known from the promise recorded in Genesis 15:13-16 that the time of Israel's deliverance was at hand.
13 And He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs (and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them) four hundred years; 14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. (Genesis 15:13-16)
Not only was the four hundred years of verse 13 ending (of which more later), but the generation then living was the fourth since Jacob had come down with his family to Egypt, in the time of Joseph. They also must have had some idea of the deliverance from servitude foretold in verse 14. This prophecy must have been much on the minds of the pious Hebrews. It would have lent credit to Moses' claim to be a God-appointed deliverer. (Yet for all that, the body of the people was too demoralized to believe Moses at first. The ten plagues may have been as necessary to prepare Israel for God's deliverance as they were to destroy Egypt's power to resist.)
In view of the importance of the prophecy to the generation suffering oppression and hoping for deliverance at a particular time, it is unthinkable that the four hundred years could have meant anything but the precise number of years until Israel's deliverance. Nothing less than the faithfulness of God was at stake. The solution must rather be that there are two distinct and well-defined periods – a longer and a shorter – that share the same point of termination, as we shall see.
The Four Generations
13 And He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs (and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them) four hundred years; 14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. (Genesis 15:13-16)
God had told Abram already (Genesis 12:7) that his seed would inherit the land of Canaan. In chapter 15, he is told that there will be four hundred years in which his seed will be strangers “in a land that is not theirs” before they come into the possession of the promised land. But they would come back to Canaan to possess it “in the fourth generation”. What does this mean?
Many assume that these four generations run concurrently with the four hundred years, and this is a natural assumption. In this case, the length of a patriarchal generation would be reckoned at one hundred years.1 But there are major problems with this view. First, Isaac was born in his father's one hundredth year. This was considered (and was in fact) a miracle. It would be strange indeed to reckon as a normal generation something so exceptional. Second, there were six actual generations of the seed of Abraham before the Exodus, at least in the line of Moses: Isaac, Jacob, Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses (See Exodus 6:16-20).
A better solution is to count the four generations from the entry of Israel into Egypt. The first Israelite to dwell in Egypt was Joseph, and so his generation (that of the twelve sons of Jacob) may be counted as the first, even though Jacob came with his sons and their families. Scripture gives us Moses' genealogy; and it shows that Levi's son Kohath sired Amram, the father of Moses. Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses: that makes four generations. The starting point for the counting of the four generations is Israel's entrance into Egypt, because what is being spoken of in Genesis 15 is when they will come out. “But in the fourth generation (in Egypt) they shall come hither again”.
Not all the tribes had passed through just four generations at the time of the Exodus; but Moses and Aaron were their chief men, and this is enough reason to count the generations in the tribe of Levi for all Israel. There were four generations in the line of the Deliverer.
It is also possible that the word, “generation” in the prophecy of Genesis 15 was used to denote the time of a typical or average generation. In Abram's day, it was certainly less than a hundred years, but also more than forty. It may be that sixty years was reckoned as a normal generation during this period. In that case, the Exodus would have been in the fourth generation from the going-down into Egypt.
But it would be odd to speak in this manner. Normally, when a generation is spoken of as a second, third, fourth, etc. it means the number of successive births in a bloodline. Also, the life expectancy of man was still declining fairly rapidly, as it had ever since the flood of Noah. So there was no long period of predictable lifespans from which to infer an average generational time period, as in David's time.
It is true that this prediction is not explicit about the relocation of Israel into Egypt, but though the years of the sojourning run continuously, the distinction between the periods in Canaan and in Egypt is necessarily implied in verses 14-16:
14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance... 16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
Abram's seed would come into existence, and begin their sojourn, in the land where he was when this prophecy was given to him, in Canaan, the land of the Amorites; but here Abram's seed are contemplated as living somewhere else for the latter part of the four hundred years. From thence shall they “come hither again”. This necessarily implies that they have left Canaan.
Their return to Canaan will be to judge the Amorites; but it is not time for that yet. God is going to let them fill up the measure of their iniquity for four more centuries before He puts an end to it by sending in His army, the “hosts” of Israel, to execute His judgment on them.
In the meantime, He is going to preserve and provide for His people while He greatly multiplies them, by sending them into Egypt, called in verse 14 “that nation whom they shall serve”. At the right time, God “will judge” Egypt, and Israel will then “spoil” the Egyptians (a term which implies that they were an army that had been victorious in a war against their captors) and “come out with great substance”. All of this was literally fulfilled!
The Four Hundred and Thirty Years
So far, so good, but what about the four hundred versus the four hundred and thirty?
The first thing to observe is that both of these periods definitely terminate at the Exodus from Egypt; but neither one begins at the entrance into Egypt. To show when each of them started, I will consider the longer period first.
The four hundred and thirty years is the entire period from the time the covenant promises were given to Abraham, just before he went into Canaan, until the giving of the law, in the same year as the Exodus. This fact is proved by Galatians 3:17, which I now quote in its context:
15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.
16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. (Galatians 3:15-18)
The covenant promise referred to in verse 17 is this one, given in the preceding context:
And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. (Galatians 3:8)
This promise, recorded in Genesis 12:3, was given when Abram was in Haran (verse 4) and he entered Canaan in the same year:
1 Now the LORD said 2 unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. (Genesis 12:1-4)
Therefore, the four hundred and thirty years clearly extends from this year, the year in which Abram's sojourning began, to the year of the Exodus. Notice the careful wording Moses uses in Exodus 12:40: “Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years”. He does not say, ”the sojourning in Egypt”, but “the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt”.
The expression, “the children of Israel” in this case must include Abraham himself, as well as Isaac and Jacob. Those who were literally “the children of Israel” – that is, Jacob's children – had only been in existence for less than two hundred and sixty years at the Exodus. For Jacob wasn't even married until 2252 A.M.3 , and the Exodus was in 2513. (2513 – 2252 = 261.) Abram and his seed are here being viewed as organically one – as one family or nation, here called “the children of Israel”. This term, first used by Moses in Genesis 32:32, appears about six hundred times in the historical books of the Old Testament as a standard term for the nation of Israel.
The Four Hundred Years
We have seen that the whole time of Israel's “sojourning” in the lands of others (Canaan and Egypt) was four hundred and thirty years. What about the four hundred years? This is pretty straightforward, with just a few minor complications. Basically, this shorter period is reckoned from the appearance in history of the promised seed of Abraham (namely Isaac) until the Exodus. It is the period when Abraham's seed would live as strangers in a land that was not theirs. The difference of thirty years is accounted for by the time when
Abram was in Canaan, before the seed came, through whom the covenant promises would be realized. Let us recall the exact words of the prophecy:
And He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs (and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them) four hundred years; (Genesis 15:13)
Even though Abraham already had a son named Ishmael when Isaac was born, God told him that the seed of promise had to come through Isaac:
19 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
20 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. 21 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. (Genesis 17:19-21)
Until Isaac was born, there was no “seed of Abraham” in this sense. Abram's age when he entered the land in 2083 A.M. was seventy-five (Genesis 12:4). Isaac was born twenty-five years later, in his one-hundredth year. But that leaves us five years short of the thirty years' difference between the two periods in question.
The solution to this problem is that the period is actually reckoned from the date of the feast held when Isaac was weaned, rather than from his birthday. That is because it was at this time that Ishmael was cast out, signifying that Ishmael and his seed was to have no part with the children of promise. The inheritance was not to be shared. Isaac was then officially recognized as the sole heir, and the appointed seed through whom the promises would come to fulfillment. This was a major development, and accordingly, a detailed account is given:
8 And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. 9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. 10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. 11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son. 12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. 13 And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed. (Genesis 21:8-13)
The date of this feast is not given in the Bible, but it must have been held when Isaac was five years old. That is not as strange as it may seem, for according to Edersheim, the Hebrews generally weaned their sons at three years or so during later biblical times. Allowing for the longer ages of the patriarchs, and assuming a corresponding slower maturation (Isaac wasn't married until he was forty), it makes perfect sense. These five years, added to the twenty-five years that Abram was in the land before Isaac was born, make up the thirty
years' difference we are seeking.
It should be remembered that the four hundred and thirty years definitely began when God first made the promises to Abram in his seventy-fifth year – the year he entered the promised land. This has been established by Galatians 3:17ff. It is also beyond dispute that Isaac was born twenty-five years later, when Abraham was one hundred. Therefore the four hundred years must be reckoned from Isaac's fifth year. This feast is the only event recorded in Scripture near that date; and therefore the only possible explanation for that fact: moreover, it is a relevant and credible one.
How Long was Israel in Egypt?
There are a few more matters to clear up. The reader may have noticed that my citation of Genesis 15:13 above is punctuated differently from the reading in the Authorized Version, which has:
And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
But John Gill (known as a master Hebraist) punctuates it like this:
And He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs (and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them) four hundred years;
The A.V.'s rendering obscures the central point of the prophecy; which is that there would be a very long wait before the seed of Abraham would actually inherit the land. It was given to sustain the faith of the seed of Abraham during the centuries that passed while they lived as strangers in the lands of others. Many generations of Hebrews would live and die before the promised day would come. This was a severe test of faith; and required the support of a definitely defined period of time. It was necessary to the purpose that the beginning of the period be definite, so that the time of fulfillment could be accurately known, anticipated, and recognized when it came as a fulfillment of the promise. It was also necessary that Israel should be prepared for the deep humiliation and oppression that they would suffer before their triumphant Exodus from the land of their slave-masters; but this is not the primary idea.
I have accordingly adopted John Gill's punctuation from his commentary, for the fact is, that they did not serve, nor were they afflicted for four hundred years, as the A.V.'s reading says. For, to begin with, the length of time Israel spent in Egypt was just two hundred and fifteen years, all told. Of the four hundred years, one hundred and eighty-five were spent in Canaan. Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt in 2298 A.M. Isaac's weaning-feast was in 2113. 2298 – 2113 = 185.
There were also just two hundred and fifteen years from Abram's entry into Canaan to the entry of Jacob into Egypt. Is it not interesting that the four hundred and thirty years of Israel's sojourning is divided into two equal parts at this point?
Jochebed and Amram
The idea that Israel was in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years leads to many wrong conclusions; such as the idea that Jochebed was not literally Levi's daughter, but a distant descendant of Levi, because she could not have lived to have children 300 years later. This is directly contradicted by Numbers 26:59.
59 And the name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt: and she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister.
Kohath and his two brothers were born in Canaan, not Egypt. They came down to Egypt with their father (Genesis 46:8-11). Jochebed was born after Levi entered Egypt in 2298; and was therefore younger than they, but we do not know by how much. But we do know that Levi died in 2392, forty-one years before the birth of Moses. So she may have been as young as forty-one when she gave birth to Moses in 2433. It is entirely possible that she was as young as, or even younger than Amram, her nephew.
The same problem arises with the elongated chronology with respect to Moses' father. A second Amram must be invented also, because Amram the son of Kohath could not possibly have lived long enough to father Moses eighty years before the Exodus. Can you find two different Amrams in this genealogy?
16 And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years.
17 The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families.
18 And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years.
19 And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi according to their generations.
20 And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years. (Exodus 6:16-20)
The structure of this genealogy is sublimely simple and logical. The members of each successive generation are listed in order: first, the members of Levi's second generation in verse 16, then the third generation in verses 17-19, the fourth in verses 20-22, and finally some members of the fifth in verses 23-25. Each succeeding generation is linked to the previous one by the names of all the fathers. There is therefore no possibility of confusion; nor can there be any generations left out. Yes, some persons are omitted; for example, the sons of Hebron are not given, and the fifth generation list is selective, but this is not intended to be exhaustive – but only a list of “the heads of the fathers of the Levites”(6:25).
So how can anyone say that the Amram of verse 20 is not the same Amram introduced in verse 18? We correctly assume that the Merari of verse 16 is the same with the Merari in verse 19, and the Izhar of verse 18 is the same as the Izhar in verse 21. To deny this simple principle would violate the structure of the record and introduce complete confusion.
This should remove any doubt that it is Amram the son of Kohath who fathers Aaron and Moses in verse 20. And yet there is more proof:
57 And these are they that were numbered of the Levites after their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites: of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites: of Merari, the family of the Merarites. 58 These are the families of the Levites: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korathites. And Kohath begat Amram. 59 And the name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt: and she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister. (Numbers 26:57-59)
Kohath, it says, begat Amram. And in the very next verse, Amram is identified as the husband of Jochebed. Will they now say that begat does not necessarily mean begat? Or that there were two Kohaths?
The only reason that Moses' parents are thus removed by some from their proper place in the genealogies is because of the myth of a four hundred and thirty year sojourn in Egypt.
How Long was Israel's Enslavement?
The circumstances of Israel's enslavement were as follows:
6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. 7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: 10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. 11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. (Exodus 1:6-11)
Israel was not enslaved until after Joseph and all his generation had died (Exodus 1:6), and after the last Pharaoh who knew Joseph had also died (Exodus 1:8). Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten, in the year 2369 A.M., but we know that Levi didn't die until @2392, ninety-four years after Jacob entered Egypt4 . So the years of slavery could not have been more than one hundred and twenty-one years (215 – 94 = 121); and they may have been less.
In fact, they were not enslaved until “...the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them“(Exodus 1:7)5 and they had become “more and mightier than [the Egyptians]”, as the “new Pharaoh” put it (Exodus 1:9). This suggests that Israel was not in bondage until late in its stay in Egypt. Remember Stephen's words:
“17 But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, 18 Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph. 19 The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live. 20 In which time Moses was born...” (Acts 7:17-20)
However, it is clear that the oppression lasted more than eighty years, for Moses was eighty years old at the time of the Exodus (Exodus 7:7); and he was born after the massacre of the male children began. The enslavement, therefore, must have begun before the birth of Moses. On the other hand, Aaron, his older brother, who was three years older (Exodus 7:7), must have been born just before the massacre of the male children began.
Concluding Remarks
At the outset, I observed that the statement in Exodus 12:41 “appears to be a notice of the fulfillment of prophecy. The phrase 'even the selfsame day it came to pass' seems to mark a particular and remarkable fulfillment... But there is no prophecy of a four hundred and thirty years' sojourning of the children of Israel anywhere in the Old Testament. There is only the prediction of a four hundred years sojourning, in Genesis 15:13.”
Clearly, Moses was recording the fulfillment of that prophecy at the Exodus. But it would not make sense to speak of four hundred and thirty years unless those for whom he wrote understood that the four hundred years of the original prediction began at a time thirty years subsequent to Abram's entering of Canaan, when “the sojourning of Israel”, of which he speaks, began. Otherwise, in order to draw attention to the fulfillment of the prophecy, he would have had to say:
Now the sojourning of the seed of Abraham, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.
And if the original prediction of just four hundred years was, as some say, a round number for the same period of four hundred and thirty, then Moses would have looked pretty silly claiming that the prediction was fulfilled to the day, when it was off by thirty years! This is my final argument for the distinction between the two periods, and for my identification of their respective starting points and durations.
Thus we see, in this brief study – instead of discrepancies, contradictions and inaccuracies – yet another example of how precise the biblical history is, and how perfectly the chronological statements of holy Scripture fit together into a coherent, systematic whole.
Footnotes
1 The average length of a generation during this era actually turns out to be close to sixty-five years. From the birth of Isaac in 2108 to the birth of Moses in 2433 was three hundred and twenty-five years. This represents five generations: Isaac, Jacob, Levi, Kohath, Amram. 325 / 5 = 65.
2 There is no warrant in the Hebrew text for inserting the word “had”. The AV translators seem to have assumed that the call referred to here is the original call of Abram to leave Mesopotamia, referred to by Stephen in Acts 7:2-3; but this is a second call, given in Haran, as the context shows. Terah had settled there, perhaps because of an illness that eventuated in his death. God renewed the original call at that time, which was simply a command, ”Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee”; but adding promises to it (see Genesis 12:1-3).
3 The designation of years from the creation of the world as “Anno Mundi” or “A.M.” is from the Seder Olam Rabah, the official Jewish chronology; and was also used by James Ussher. It is the most natural and biblical way of referring to events in biblical history, being less confusing and cumbersome than the use of B.C. dates, which count backwards, and from a date not given in Scripture. I use it in all my chronological studies.
4 Jacob married Leah and Rachel in the year 2252 A.M. Levi was his third son. None of them were twins or triplets, for Leah conceived each of them separately (Genesis 29:32-34). So Levi could not have been born before 2254. He lived one hundred and thirty-seven years (Exodus 6:16). Levi is the only son of Jacob whose lifespan is given in Scripture. There is a tradition that Benjamin was born twenty-three years after Jacob's marriage, which would make him about fifteen years younger than Joseph, the next youngest. Others of Jacob's sons may have lived longer than Levi.
5 From the time that Jacob was 84, when he was married, to the time when he and his family moved to Egypt at age 130, the males in his family had increased from one to 58. Jacob had eleven of his twelve sons in just seven years. 215 years later, at the Exodus, there were about 600,000 men in the family. The average number of male sons for each Israelite male, over the last three generations, had to be about 22 in order to achieve this astounding growth. For 58 X 22 X 22 X 22 = 617,584. But the growth rate was not constant; for Exodus 1:7 says that the growth, already great, was further accelerated after the death of Joseph, and 1:12 definitely states, “But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.”
Appendix A:
Back to Canaan
We have seen that the prophecy we have been studying was most exactly fulfilled. But we have not yet considered all its details. There is more:
13 And He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs (and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them) four hundred years; 14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. (Genesis 15:13-16)
The four hundred years' sojourn was to terminate in the judgment of Egypt and the Exodus of Israel from that land; but the time of the return of Israel to the land of Canaan was not so definitely foretold. It was only stated that “ in the fourth generation they shall come hither again”. We have already seen that Moses' generation was the fourth from the entrance of Israel into Egypt. This is the generation that should have inherited the land; but sadly, Joshua and Caleb were the only representatives of that generation who did so. However, that generation did “come hither [back to Canaan] again”. They returned to the very border of Canaan, but they did not enter in, because of unbelief. The conquest would have to wait for the rise of the fifth generation.
40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:40-41)
The “sojourning”, the predicted period in Israel's existence when they were strangers in lands belonging to others was ended at the Exodus, but Israel would not actually “possess” the land of Canaan until forty-six years later. Nevertheless, during the first year after the Exodus, Israel was constituted a nation under God. It received a complete system of laws: both criminal, religious and administrative. A center of worship was set up – the tabernacle – which was also the seat of judgment. Israel was now united – not only by its familial bonds, but – by a common government and by a common form of worship. They were no longer sojourners: they were now a nation in their own right.
Early in the second year, Israel, having been organized into a nation, was summoned to take possession of the promised land. Moses recalled this event just before he handed over the leadership to Joshua and left this earthly scene:
6 The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: 7 Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them. (Deuteronomy 1:6-8)
Then spies were sent out, which reported the goodness of the land; but Israel believed not, and God turned them back into the wilderness instead, to be chastised for their refusal to trust Him. All but a few of the fourth generation would have to die there. The Amorites would thus gain a brief reprieve, a further space for repentance; in which they might reflect upon the meaning of the tidings out of Egypt, before their inevitable judgment fell.
It is clear, then, that it was God's intention for Israel to immediately begin the conquest as soon as they had been organized into a nation at Mount Horeb. The delay in fulfillment of the promise was owing solely to Israel's rebellion.
Appendix B:
Keil & Delitzsch to the Contrary
“Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 12:40-41)
I have delayed the discussion of objections to the view I have set forth to keep the presentation as simple as possible. But this paper would be incomplete without a word from critics of my view. Keil & Delitzsch, whose commentaries I use almost daily, strongly oppose the view that I have set forth in this paper. Their suite of arguments in rebuttal of my position is complete, their scholarship impeccable. They attack from many angles. For all that, I am confident that my readers can discern the lack of substance in their attack, which I shall quote in full, with my comments interspersed. At the end, you will find a two-column table that exhibits the main differences between the two views.
Their commentary on Exodus 12:40-41 begins as follows:
“The sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt had lasted 430 years.”
But the text does not say so. If Moses had meant to say so, he could have
omitted two words that appear in the text in both English and Hebrew. Those words are, “who dwelt”. No one has been able to explain why they are there, if Moses meant to say that Israel was in Egypt 430 years.
Moreover, it cannot be proved that these two words have no effect on the meaning of the statement; nor can it be shown that my interpretation of them is not grammatically possible. All that the esteemed authors can honestly say for certain is that they think it means something else.
“This number is not critically doubtful, nor are the 430 years to be reduced to 215 by an arbitrary interpolation, such as we find in the LXX, ἡ δὲ κατοίκησις τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ ἥν κατῷκησαν (Cod. Alex. αὐτοὶ καὶ οί πατέρες αὐτῶν) ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ καὶ ἐν γῇ Χαναάν, [Translated 'and of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan.' HDK]”
No one “reduces the 430 years to 215”; we merely say that one half of this time was spent in Egypt, and the other in Canaan. And no one bases his view on this statement of the Septuagint. It simply provides corroborative evidence that the Alexandrian Jews also understood that the four hundred and thirty years includes the sojourning of Abraham and the patriarchs in Canaan.
“This chronological statement, the genuineness of which is placed beyond all doubt by Onkelos, the Syriac, Vulgate, and other versions...”
Again, no one disputes its genuineness. The point at issue is what period it refers to.
“...is not only in harmony with the prediction in Gen_15:13, where the round number 400 is employed in prophetic style...”
Notice that no proof is given that four hundred is a “round number”. There is not only no proof that can be given: but in fact it is impossible that God would leave the Israelites a promise of deliverance from an intolerable slavery after four hundred years when He really knew that it would be another thirty years before they would be freed!
“... but may be reconciled with the different genealogical lists, if we only bear in mind that the genealogies do not always contain a complete enumeration of all the separate links, but very frequently intermediate links of little historical importance are omitted, as we have already seen in the genealogy of Moses and Aaron (Exodus 6:18-20).”
This is faulty logic: “An omission sometimes occurs, therefore we may assume that it has occurred here, even though there is no proof that it has.” One way that we can know that a gap exists is by comparing one text with another parallel text where the missing material is supplied. Where is the parallel genealogical text that shows more descendants in Moses' genealogy than the one in Genesis 6? There is none: it would have been cited if there were.
The only other case that would prove that one or more gaps exist is if the time period were too long to possibly span with just the persons listed. An example occurs in Ruth 4:20-22, where the span of years from Nahshon to David is about five hundred and ten years, and only four intervening links are given. That is simply not the case here.
The authors' commentary on Exodus 6:18 theorizes, but does not prove, that there are gaps in Moses' genealogy. It theorizes that there were two Amrams, and that Moses was the son of the younger Amram – perhaps the great-great-great-great (etc.) grandson of the original. I have already discussed this, but it may be instructive to address it again here.
“But the Amram mentioned in Exodus 6:20 as the father of Moses, cannot be the same person as the Amram who was the son of Kohath (Exodus 6:18), but must be a later descendant. For, however the sameness of names may seem to favour the identity of the persons, if we simply look at the genealogy before us, a comparison of this passage with Numbers 3:27-28 will show the impossibility of such an assumption.”
Then they quote Tiele to explain why it is impossible for the Amram in verse 20, who married Jochebed, who bore Moses, to be the same Amram who in verse 18 is given as the son of Kohath through whom Moses was descended:
“According to Numbers 3:27-28, the Kohathites were divided (in Moses' time) into the four branches, Amramites, Izharites, Hebronites, and Uzzielites, who consisted together of 8600 men and boys (women and girls not being included). Of these, about a fourth, or 2150 men, would belong to the Amramites.”
This is wholly gratuitous; but it is typical of the way many chronologists argue. Assumptions, estimates, theories are set against the plain statements of chronological facts. No one knows how many there were of each clan, period.
“Consequently, if Amram the son of Kohath, and tribe-father of the Amramites, was the same person as Amram the father of Moses, Moses must have had 2147 brothers and brothers' sons (the brothers' daughters, the sisters, and their daughters, not being reckoned at all). But as this is absolutely impossible, it must be granted that Amram the son of Kohath was not the father of Moses, and that an indefinitely long list of generations has been omitted between the former and his descendant of the same name' (Tiele, Chr. des A. T. p. 36).”
Obviously, the argument is inconclusive. Amram may have had as many as thirty or forty or even more male offspring, for all we know. When Jacob went down to Egypt , the males in his family numbered fifty-eight. Two hundred and fifteen years later, at the Exodus, there were about six hundred thousand men in the family. As I reckon it, the average number of male sons for each Israelite male, over the last three generations, had to be about twenty-two in order to achieve this astounding growth. For 58 X 22 X 22 X 22 = 617,584.
But the growth rate was not constant; for Exodus 1:7 says that their rate of growth, already great, was further accelerated after the death of Joseph “And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.” God does not exaggerate: this was no ordinary fertility! And 1:12 definitely states, “But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.” Amram therefore lived at the time when Israel was most prolific.
Keil & Delitzsch then suggest that the reason that the genealogy of Moses lists only four generations is to make the record artificially seem to conform to the prophecy in Genesis 15:16 that Israel would return to Canaan in the fourth generation!
“The enumeration of only four generations, viz., Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses, is unmistakeably related to Genesis 15:16, where it is stated that the fourth generation would return to Canaan.”
It seems that they would rather believe that the prophecy was not literally fulfilled (i.e. was false) than admit that only four generations existed from Levi to Moses.
“For example, the fact that there were more than the four generations mentioned in Exodus 6:16ff. between Levi and Moses, is placed beyond all doubt, not only by what has been adduced at Exodus 6:18-20, but by a comparison with other genealogies also. Thus, in Numbers 26:29, Exodus 27:1; Joshua 17:3, we find six generations from Joseph to Zelophehad; in Ruth 4:18, 1Chronicles 2:5-6, there are also six from Judah to Nahshon, the tribe prince in the time of Moses; in 1Chronicles 2:18 there are seven from Judah to Bezaleel, the builder of the tabernacle; and in 1Chronicles 7:20, nine or ten are given from Joseph to Joshua. This last genealogy shows most clearly the impossibility of the view founded upon the Alexandrian version, that the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt lasted only 215 years; for ten generations, reckoned at 40 years each, harmonize very well with 430 years, but certainly not with 215.”[Italics mine, H.D.K.]
There is impressive biblical scholarship in this paragraph. I will begin with the last, since they claim it proves their case beyond doubt. But it is unfortunate for them that the authors have cited the case of Joseph and of the Ephraimites; for on careful examination it will be seen to tell against them. For along with the birthright which passed from Reuben to Joseph, there was a Divine blessing of extraordinary fruitfulness on the tribe of Joseph (Genesis 49:22-26) which was chiefly manifested in Ephraim's line (Genesis 48:17-19). Joseph means “God shall add” and Ephraim means “double fruit”. Moses (Deuteronomy 33:13-17) also predicted extraordinary fruitfulness for the tribe of Joseph.
There are three ways to increase the growth rate of a population: involve more females (as Jacob did), increase the incidence of multiple births, or start the childbearing years sooner. Probably all three of these contributed to Israel's astounding growth while in Egypt. But in Ephraim, we see clear evidence of the last method. For in Genesis 50:22-23, we read:
And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father's house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years. And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph's knees. (Genesis 50:22-23)
According to Keil and Delitzsch themselves, this means that Joseph lived to see his great-great-grandchildren! Now, all this happened after Joseph was released from prison, at age thirty. Ephraim and Manasseh were both born in the latter part of the years of plenty (Genesis 41:46-53), so around his thirty-seventh year. In just the seventy-three years that remained to him, four generations grew up and had children: Ephraim, his sons, his grandsons, and
his great grandsons. These “generations” – the ages of the fathers when they had their first sons – averaged eighteen and one quarter years – not forty years, as our opponents suppose. At this rate, the ten generations from Joseph to Joshua that Keil and Delitzsch refer to above would represent one hundred and eighty years. As I have proved, Israel was in Egypt two hundred and fifteen years; and Joshua was grown when the Exodus occurred. A plausible scenario can be constructed from these facts as follows:
Joseph had Ephraim and Manasseh before the years of famine, but after he was freed from prison (2289 A.M.) and after he had been collecting grain for some time. Joseph's brothers came down to Egypt in the second year of the famine (2298). So his sons were still quite young, between three and seven years old. Taking the mean of five years, and counting 18 years as a generation, we then –
Add 13 years to the birth of Zabad. (18 – 5 = 13)
Add 18 years to the birth of Shuthelah, Ezer, and Elead.
Add 18 years to their deaths (slain by the men of Gath, 1 Chronicles 7:21).
Add 1 year to the birth of Beriah. (Joshua's line begins here.)
Add 18 years to the birth of Rephah.
Add 18 years to the birth of Telah.
Add 18 years to the birth of Tahan.
Add 18 years to the birth of Laadan.
Add 18 years to the birth of Ammihud.
Add 18 years to the birth of Elishama.
Add 18 years to the birth of Non.
Add 18 years to the birth of Jehoshua.
Add 21 years to the Exodus, in 2513 A.M., Joshua now full grown.
-------
215 years total
There is nothing impossible in this. However, it does reflect the extraordinary blessing of God alluded to above. It was not equaled by any other tribe of Israel.
Four generations would seem to have been the general rule, from the words of the promise. Or else the preeminence of Moses and Aaron, of Levi's fourth generation, accounts for the number of generations being reckoned as four for the whole nation.
It is also possible that the word, “generation” in the prophecy of Genesis 15 was used to denote the period of time of a typical or average generation. In Abram's day, it was certainly less than a hundred years, but probably more than forty. It so happens that the average of the generations of Isaac, Jacob, and those of Levi during the Egyptian sojourn was sixty-five years. It may be that sixty years was reckoned as a normal generation.
And what if there were six, ten, or even twelve generations in some genealogical lines? Such things are highly variable in any population. Some people start having children in their late teens. Others may not marry until middle age. The length of a generation is never defined in Scripture. But chronology – real chronology versus imaginary chronology – does not depend on such variables. It depends on the chronological statements of the Hebrew
text, and necessary inferences therefrom.
Going back to the original assertion, “the fact that there were more than the four generations mentioned in Exodus 6:16ff. between Levi and Moses, is placed beyond all doubt... by a comparison with other genealogies also”, the simple answer is – the fact that there were more generations than four in some of the other tribes does not prove that there were more than four in the tribe of Levi.
Besides, we have a definite and authoritative statement of the Apostle Paul to the effect that the law was given four hundred and thirty years after the covenant promise was given to Abraham:
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. (Galatians 3:16-17)
Aware that this one text sweeps away all their sophisticated arguments, the authors have had to find a way to discredit the statement. This involves more reflections on the weaknesses of the Septuagint:
“(Note: The Alexandrian translators have arbitrarily altered the text to suit the genealogy of Moses in Exodus 6:16ff., just as in the genealogies of the patriarchs in Gen 5 and 11.”
The translators of the Septuagint indeed took unwarranted liberties with the text in Genesis 5 and 11; but that is a different matter from offering helpful explanatory material derived from actual chronological facts given elsewhere in the Bible, as they have done in Exodus 12:40.
“The view held by the Seventy became traditional in the synagogue, and the Apostle Paul followed it in Galatians 3:17, where he reckoned the interval between the promise to Abraham and the giving of the law as 430 years, the question of chronological exactness having no bearing upon his subject at the time.)”
It cannot be proved that Paul was just following the traditional view, or that he was unconcerned about the accuracy of the number. Why should we not assume that he knew the facts and meant what he said? If there was no need to be exact, why did Paul not use the “round number” of four hundred years? In Galatians, we find Paul locked in mortal combat with Judaizing Jews. To make an inaccurate statement regarding Jewish history was to invite attacks on one's credibility.
But Paul's statement, taken literally, is perfectly harmonious with the view that I am defending. There were precisely four hundred and thirty years – to the day – from the first announcement of the gospel to Abraham to the Exodus; and the Law was given later in that same year.
But Keil and Delitzsch are not done. They are at least determined to be consistent. Even the plain expression, “the self-same day” must be explained away because of their “round number” theory of the four hundred years. It makes no sense to say that the prophecy was fulfilled to the day if it was thirty years off!
“The statement in Exodus 12:41, “the self-same day,” is not to be understood as relating to the first day after the lapse of the 430 years, as though the writer supposed that it was on the 14th Abib that Jacob entered Egypt 430 years before; but points back to the day of the exodus, mentioned in Exodus 12:14, as compared with Exodus 12:11., i.e., the 15th Abib (cf. Exodus 12:51 and Exodus 13:4).”[Italics mine, H.D.K.]
I think Keil and Delitzsch interpret Moses to mean that the entire Exodus occurred on the same day as the first Passover. But why may not the phrase mean what every reader of the text has naturally understood it to mean? No reason is given for the authors' preference for their interpretation of the phrase. If we are right, it is highly significant; and if they are right, it could well have been left out. But consider the phrase in its immediate context:
40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:40-41)
Verse 40 tells us how long “the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt” was – “four hundred and thirty years”. This calls attention to the promise of Genesis 15:13, with its “four hundred years”, but which commenced its count thirty years after it was given, since the birth of Isaac twenty-five years later, and his recognition as the appointed seed was in his fifth year.
Verse 41 tells us when “the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.” It was “at the end of the [same period of] four hundred and thirty years”. This repetition is for emphasis.
“And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years... that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.”
To add further emphasis, and to call attention to the exactness of the fulfillment, the clause “even the selfsame day it came to pass” is inserted.
41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.
The syntax requires that both occurrences of the phrase, “it came to pass” refer to the same day – the day at “the end of the four hundred and thirty years”, on which “all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.” How then can anyone say that “the selfsame day” has nothing to do with “the end of the four hundred and thirty years”? The sense is plain and obvious: no other interpretation is possible.
I have presented the entirety of Keil and Delitzsch's case. I have not distorted it, misrepresented it, or selectively quoted from it. I have given, I believe, a fair and equitable evaluation of the argumentation employed against my view; and I submit that it fails at every point.
The Long Chronology
1 The sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt lasted 430 years.
2 The Septuagint is wrong when it makes Exodus 12:40 to read “Now the sojourning of the children of Israel and of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, was four hundred and thirty years.”
3 The “four hundred” in Genesis 15:13 is a round number for “four hundred and thirty”.
4 The genealogy of Moses and Aaron in Exodus 6 omits several unspecified generations.
5 Jochebed, the Mother of Moses, was not the literal daughter of Levi, but a later descendant of his.
6 The Amram mentioned in Exodus 6:20 as the father of Moses, cannot be the same person as the Amram who was the son of Kohath (Exodus 6:18), but must be a later descendant.
7 The enumeration of only four generations, viz., Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses, is artificially adapted to fit the prophecy in Genesis 15:16, where it is stated that the fourth generation would return to Canaan.
8 The fact that other tribes went through more generations than four shows that Levi must have done the same.
9 When Paul used the number 430 in Galatians 3:16-17, he was not concerned about the accuracy of the number, since it had no bearing on his subject; but was only using the currently-accepted chronology, based on the Septuagint, which was in error.
10 In the statement in Exodus 12:41, “the self-same day,” does not mean that the 430 years was exact, that is, that it began and ended on the same day of the year; but that the whole body of the Israelites left Egypt on the same day – the day of the first Passover. The prophecy was not accurate to the decade, let alone to the day.
The Short Chronology
1 The sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt lasted only 215 years. The 430 years runs from the time that Abram entered the promised land to the Exodus, in the same year as the giving of the Law. (Gal 3:16-17)
2 The Septuagint translation is not wrong, but only expands the text with a helpful explanatory interpolation.
3 The “four hundred” in Genesis 15:13 is the exact number of years that the seed of Abram lived as sojourners, from the weaning of Isaac to the Exodus; the thirty years' difference being the time Abraham was in Canaan before Isaac was established as his sole heir.
4 The genealogy of Moses and Aaron in Exodus 6 is complete, as the structure of it proves.
5 Jochebed, the Mother of Moses, was the literal daughter of Levi, “whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt.”(Num. 26:59)
6 There is only one Amram, the immediate and proper son of Kohath, in the genealogies: the second is invented. (Numbers 26:58-59)
7 The prophecy was literally fulfilled when Israel came out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses and Aaron, Levites, in the fourth generation of their tribe since Israel entered Egypt.
8 The fact that other tribes went through more generations than four shows nothing of the kind. There was variation among the tribes.
9 Paul, besides writing under inspiration, knew what the facts were and said what he meant.
10 The text is unambiguous. “And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.” The prophecy was accurate to the day.
Old Testament Chronology
from
Abram to Joshua
(2008 to 2559 Anno Mundi)
2008. Abram was born.
2083. Abram left Haran and entered Canaan in his 75th year. The 430 years' of Israel's sojourning began.
2093. Abram married Hagar in his 85th year.
2094. Ishmael was born in Abram's 86th year.
2107. Sarah's conception and the birth of Isaac was foretold.
Abram, 99 years old, received the covenant of circumcision.
Abram's name was changed to Abraham, Sarai's to Sarah.
Sodom was destroyed, Lot saved.
Abraham went to Gerar and returned.
Sarah conceived.
2108. Isaac, the promised seed, was born in Abraham's 100th year.
2113. Isaac was weaned at age five, Ishmael cast out. The 400 years' sojourning of Abram's seed began.
2145. Sarah died, aged 127. Abraham was 137.
2148. Isaac married Rebekah in his 40th year.
2168. Esau and Jacob were born in Isaac's 60th year.
2183. Abraham died, aged 175
2208. Esau married at the age of 40.
2245. Jacob left home at the age of 77.
2252. Jacob, at the age of 84, married both Leah and Rachel.
2259. Joseph was born in Jacob's 91st year.
2265. Jacob returned to Canaan, aged 97. Joseph was 6.
2276. Joseph told his dreams to his brothers at the age of 17.
2288. Isaac died, aged 180.
2289. Joseph stood before Pharaoh, aged 30, and interpreted his dreams.
2296. At the end of 7 years' plenty, Joseph was 37.
2298. At the end of 2 years' famine, when Jacob came down into Egypt,
Joseph was 39 and Jacob was 130.
2315. Jacob died, aged 147. Joseph was 56.
2369. Joseph died, aged 110.
2391. Earliest possible date for Levi's death, aged 137.
2433. Moses was born 80 years before the Exodus.
2473. Moses fled Egypt at age 40, went to Midian.
2474. Caleb was born.
2513. Moses returned to Egypt, now 80 years old.
Egypt was destroyed by the ten plagues.
Israel departed from Egypt at the end of the 400/430 years of Israel's
sojourning.
The law was given at Mount Sinai.
The Tabernacle was built.
Aaron was consecrated and Mosaic worship instituted.
2514. Moses sent out the spies.
Israel's 4th generation refused to enter Canaan.
The wilderness wanderings began.
2552. The 5th generation was prepared to enter Canaan by the conquest of Og and Sihon.
2553. Israel crossed the Jordan and entered Canaan. The conquest began with Jericho.
2559. The war of conquest ended, Joshua divided the land.
Israel possessed the land of Canaan, as God had promised.
Howard Douglas King
November 25, 2014
Revised August 9, 2015
its Four Hundred Years
And its Four Generations
40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.
(Exodus 12:40-41)
This statement appears to be a notice of the fulfillment of prophecy. The phrase “even the selfsame day it came to pass” seems to mark a particular and exact fulfillment. This impression is confirmed by the words of the martyr Stephen:
17 But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, 18 Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph. (Acts 7:17-18)
There is no other promise of a set time that this could be, but the promise that, after four hundred years of sojourning, Abram's seed would come out of the nation that had enslaved them, and re-enter Canaan to inherit it. There is no prophecy of a four hundred and thirty years' sojourning of the children of Israel anywhere in Scripture. There is only the prediction of a four hundred years sojourning, in Genesis 15:13:
And He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs (and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them) four hundred years;
How can this be reconciled?
The Importance of This Study
Many have used apparent discrepancies such as these to attempt to discredit the word of God. The student of Scripture must recognize that there are not a few of them in the chronological record of Israel's history. One difficulty is in reconciling the four hundred years in Genesis 15 with the four hundred and thirty years of Exodus 12. Incidentally, there is the problem of the four generations mentioned in Genesis 15. Also involved is the question of how long Israel was in slavery in Egypt. I hope to show – not only the solutions to these difficulties, but – the proper way to address all such problems; which is to trust the Word of God to be true, accurate, and consistent with itself, and to carefully separate opinion from fact in choosing between interpretations of the text. Then we need not be afraid to confront any of these challenges head-on.
Some of the conclusions may be startling; but all is founded on a literal reading of the text, and uses the simple arithmetical operations of addition and subtraction. This is not a technical article for historians or scholars in Hebrew
and Greek. The facts can be verified by any serious student of Scripture from his English Bible. Some may find such a study tedious, but those who persevere will be rewarded by a deeper and more solid conviction that the Word of God is absolutely consistent and absolutely accurate.
The study of Bible chronology results in the construction of a system, and the refinement of that system; but we need not begin from scratch. Others have labored, and we have entered into their labors. The chronological system employed is essentially that of Ussher, as refined and corrected by Martin Anstey. Anstey's magnum opus, titled Romance of Bible Chronology is a masterpiece of disciplined mental labor. For sources, it confines itself to actual statements of Scripture, and shuns presenting guess-work as conclusions. I have personally verified his reasoning and his calculations for all of the dates that I present as fact in this paper. I have supplied a chronology of the period discussed in this paper following the footnotes and appendices, for ease of reference.
Is Four Hundred Just a Round Number?
Some interpreters have suggested that the “four hundred years” simply rounds off the number for the same period, defined more exactly as “four hundred and thirty years”. But this would mean that God promised them deliverance after four hundred years of sojourning when he really meant four hundred and thirty, which is impossible. Thirty years is a long time to be late on keeping a promise!
Consider the importance of this promise to the Hebrews at the time when they were in bondage in Egypt. Joseph knew of the promise (Genesis 50:24) and implied that his brethren knew of it too, when he charged them to take his bones with them into Canaan; and he could only have learned of it from his father Jacob, or from the written family records (the source documents which Moses used to create the book of Genesis). At the time Moses returned to Egypt from Midian, there must have been many among the children of Israel who knew the prophecy. They would have known from the promise recorded in Genesis 15:13-16 that the time of Israel's deliverance was at hand.
13 And He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs (and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them) four hundred years; 14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. (Genesis 15:13-16)
Not only was the four hundred years of verse 13 ending (of which more later), but the generation then living was the fourth since Jacob had come down with his family to Egypt, in the time of Joseph. They also must have had some idea of the deliverance from servitude foretold in verse 14. This prophecy must have been much on the minds of the pious Hebrews. It would have lent credit to Moses' claim to be a God-appointed deliverer. (Yet for all that, the body of the people was too demoralized to believe Moses at first. The ten plagues may have been as necessary to prepare Israel for God's deliverance as they were to destroy Egypt's power to resist.)
In view of the importance of the prophecy to the generation suffering oppression and hoping for deliverance at a particular time, it is unthinkable that the four hundred years could have meant anything but the precise number of years until Israel's deliverance. Nothing less than the faithfulness of God was at stake. The solution must rather be that there are two distinct and well-defined periods – a longer and a shorter – that share the same point of termination, as we shall see.
The Four Generations
13 And He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs (and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them) four hundred years; 14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. (Genesis 15:13-16)
God had told Abram already (Genesis 12:7) that his seed would inherit the land of Canaan. In chapter 15, he is told that there will be four hundred years in which his seed will be strangers “in a land that is not theirs” before they come into the possession of the promised land. But they would come back to Canaan to possess it “in the fourth generation”. What does this mean?
Many assume that these four generations run concurrently with the four hundred years, and this is a natural assumption. In this case, the length of a patriarchal generation would be reckoned at one hundred years.1 But there are major problems with this view. First, Isaac was born in his father's one hundredth year. This was considered (and was in fact) a miracle. It would be strange indeed to reckon as a normal generation something so exceptional. Second, there were six actual generations of the seed of Abraham before the Exodus, at least in the line of Moses: Isaac, Jacob, Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses (See Exodus 6:16-20).
A better solution is to count the four generations from the entry of Israel into Egypt. The first Israelite to dwell in Egypt was Joseph, and so his generation (that of the twelve sons of Jacob) may be counted as the first, even though Jacob came with his sons and their families. Scripture gives us Moses' genealogy; and it shows that Levi's son Kohath sired Amram, the father of Moses. Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses: that makes four generations. The starting point for the counting of the four generations is Israel's entrance into Egypt, because what is being spoken of in Genesis 15 is when they will come out. “But in the fourth generation (in Egypt) they shall come hither again”.
Not all the tribes had passed through just four generations at the time of the Exodus; but Moses and Aaron were their chief men, and this is enough reason to count the generations in the tribe of Levi for all Israel. There were four generations in the line of the Deliverer.
It is also possible that the word, “generation” in the prophecy of Genesis 15 was used to denote the time of a typical or average generation. In Abram's day, it was certainly less than a hundred years, but also more than forty. It may be that sixty years was reckoned as a normal generation during this period. In that case, the Exodus would have been in the fourth generation from the going-down into Egypt.
But it would be odd to speak in this manner. Normally, when a generation is spoken of as a second, third, fourth, etc. it means the number of successive births in a bloodline. Also, the life expectancy of man was still declining fairly rapidly, as it had ever since the flood of Noah. So there was no long period of predictable lifespans from which to infer an average generational time period, as in David's time.
It is true that this prediction is not explicit about the relocation of Israel into Egypt, but though the years of the sojourning run continuously, the distinction between the periods in Canaan and in Egypt is necessarily implied in verses 14-16:
14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance... 16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
Abram's seed would come into existence, and begin their sojourn, in the land where he was when this prophecy was given to him, in Canaan, the land of the Amorites; but here Abram's seed are contemplated as living somewhere else for the latter part of the four hundred years. From thence shall they “come hither again”. This necessarily implies that they have left Canaan.
Their return to Canaan will be to judge the Amorites; but it is not time for that yet. God is going to let them fill up the measure of their iniquity for four more centuries before He puts an end to it by sending in His army, the “hosts” of Israel, to execute His judgment on them.
In the meantime, He is going to preserve and provide for His people while He greatly multiplies them, by sending them into Egypt, called in verse 14 “that nation whom they shall serve”. At the right time, God “will judge” Egypt, and Israel will then “spoil” the Egyptians (a term which implies that they were an army that had been victorious in a war against their captors) and “come out with great substance”. All of this was literally fulfilled!
The Four Hundred and Thirty Years
So far, so good, but what about the four hundred versus the four hundred and thirty?
The first thing to observe is that both of these periods definitely terminate at the Exodus from Egypt; but neither one begins at the entrance into Egypt. To show when each of them started, I will consider the longer period first.
The four hundred and thirty years is the entire period from the time the covenant promises were given to Abraham, just before he went into Canaan, until the giving of the law, in the same year as the Exodus. This fact is proved by Galatians 3:17, which I now quote in its context:
15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.
16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. (Galatians 3:15-18)
The covenant promise referred to in verse 17 is this one, given in the preceding context:
And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. (Galatians 3:8)
This promise, recorded in Genesis 12:3, was given when Abram was in Haran (verse 4) and he entered Canaan in the same year:
1 Now the LORD said 2 unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. (Genesis 12:1-4)
Therefore, the four hundred and thirty years clearly extends from this year, the year in which Abram's sojourning began, to the year of the Exodus. Notice the careful wording Moses uses in Exodus 12:40: “Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years”. He does not say, ”the sojourning in Egypt”, but “the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt”.
The expression, “the children of Israel” in this case must include Abraham himself, as well as Isaac and Jacob. Those who were literally “the children of Israel” – that is, Jacob's children – had only been in existence for less than two hundred and sixty years at the Exodus. For Jacob wasn't even married until 2252 A.M.3 , and the Exodus was in 2513. (2513 – 2252 = 261.) Abram and his seed are here being viewed as organically one – as one family or nation, here called “the children of Israel”. This term, first used by Moses in Genesis 32:32, appears about six hundred times in the historical books of the Old Testament as a standard term for the nation of Israel.
The Four Hundred Years
We have seen that the whole time of Israel's “sojourning” in the lands of others (Canaan and Egypt) was four hundred and thirty years. What about the four hundred years? This is pretty straightforward, with just a few minor complications. Basically, this shorter period is reckoned from the appearance in history of the promised seed of Abraham (namely Isaac) until the Exodus. It is the period when Abraham's seed would live as strangers in a land that was not theirs. The difference of thirty years is accounted for by the time when
Abram was in Canaan, before the seed came, through whom the covenant promises would be realized. Let us recall the exact words of the prophecy:
And He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs (and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them) four hundred years; (Genesis 15:13)
Even though Abraham already had a son named Ishmael when Isaac was born, God told him that the seed of promise had to come through Isaac:
19 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
20 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. 21 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. (Genesis 17:19-21)
Until Isaac was born, there was no “seed of Abraham” in this sense. Abram's age when he entered the land in 2083 A.M. was seventy-five (Genesis 12:4). Isaac was born twenty-five years later, in his one-hundredth year. But that leaves us five years short of the thirty years' difference between the two periods in question.
The solution to this problem is that the period is actually reckoned from the date of the feast held when Isaac was weaned, rather than from his birthday. That is because it was at this time that Ishmael was cast out, signifying that Ishmael and his seed was to have no part with the children of promise. The inheritance was not to be shared. Isaac was then officially recognized as the sole heir, and the appointed seed through whom the promises would come to fulfillment. This was a major development, and accordingly, a detailed account is given:
8 And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. 9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. 10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. 11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son. 12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. 13 And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed. (Genesis 21:8-13)
The date of this feast is not given in the Bible, but it must have been held when Isaac was five years old. That is not as strange as it may seem, for according to Edersheim, the Hebrews generally weaned their sons at three years or so during later biblical times. Allowing for the longer ages of the patriarchs, and assuming a corresponding slower maturation (Isaac wasn't married until he was forty), it makes perfect sense. These five years, added to the twenty-five years that Abram was in the land before Isaac was born, make up the thirty
years' difference we are seeking.
It should be remembered that the four hundred and thirty years definitely began when God first made the promises to Abram in his seventy-fifth year – the year he entered the promised land. This has been established by Galatians 3:17ff. It is also beyond dispute that Isaac was born twenty-five years later, when Abraham was one hundred. Therefore the four hundred years must be reckoned from Isaac's fifth year. This feast is the only event recorded in Scripture near that date; and therefore the only possible explanation for that fact: moreover, it is a relevant and credible one.
How Long was Israel in Egypt?
There are a few more matters to clear up. The reader may have noticed that my citation of Genesis 15:13 above is punctuated differently from the reading in the Authorized Version, which has:
And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
But John Gill (known as a master Hebraist) punctuates it like this:
And He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs (and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them) four hundred years;
The A.V.'s rendering obscures the central point of the prophecy; which is that there would be a very long wait before the seed of Abraham would actually inherit the land. It was given to sustain the faith of the seed of Abraham during the centuries that passed while they lived as strangers in the lands of others. Many generations of Hebrews would live and die before the promised day would come. This was a severe test of faith; and required the support of a definitely defined period of time. It was necessary to the purpose that the beginning of the period be definite, so that the time of fulfillment could be accurately known, anticipated, and recognized when it came as a fulfillment of the promise. It was also necessary that Israel should be prepared for the deep humiliation and oppression that they would suffer before their triumphant Exodus from the land of their slave-masters; but this is not the primary idea.
I have accordingly adopted John Gill's punctuation from his commentary, for the fact is, that they did not serve, nor were they afflicted for four hundred years, as the A.V.'s reading says. For, to begin with, the length of time Israel spent in Egypt was just two hundred and fifteen years, all told. Of the four hundred years, one hundred and eighty-five were spent in Canaan. Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt in 2298 A.M. Isaac's weaning-feast was in 2113. 2298 – 2113 = 185.
There were also just two hundred and fifteen years from Abram's entry into Canaan to the entry of Jacob into Egypt. Is it not interesting that the four hundred and thirty years of Israel's sojourning is divided into two equal parts at this point?
Jochebed and Amram
The idea that Israel was in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years leads to many wrong conclusions; such as the idea that Jochebed was not literally Levi's daughter, but a distant descendant of Levi, because she could not have lived to have children 300 years later. This is directly contradicted by Numbers 26:59.
59 And the name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt: and she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister.
Kohath and his two brothers were born in Canaan, not Egypt. They came down to Egypt with their father (Genesis 46:8-11). Jochebed was born after Levi entered Egypt in 2298; and was therefore younger than they, but we do not know by how much. But we do know that Levi died in 2392, forty-one years before the birth of Moses. So she may have been as young as forty-one when she gave birth to Moses in 2433. It is entirely possible that she was as young as, or even younger than Amram, her nephew.
The same problem arises with the elongated chronology with respect to Moses' father. A second Amram must be invented also, because Amram the son of Kohath could not possibly have lived long enough to father Moses eighty years before the Exodus. Can you find two different Amrams in this genealogy?
16 And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years.
17 The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families.
18 And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years.
19 And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi according to their generations.
20 And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years. (Exodus 6:16-20)
The structure of this genealogy is sublimely simple and logical. The members of each successive generation are listed in order: first, the members of Levi's second generation in verse 16, then the third generation in verses 17-19, the fourth in verses 20-22, and finally some members of the fifth in verses 23-25. Each succeeding generation is linked to the previous one by the names of all the fathers. There is therefore no possibility of confusion; nor can there be any generations left out. Yes, some persons are omitted; for example, the sons of Hebron are not given, and the fifth generation list is selective, but this is not intended to be exhaustive – but only a list of “the heads of the fathers of the Levites”(6:25).
So how can anyone say that the Amram of verse 20 is not the same Amram introduced in verse 18? We correctly assume that the Merari of verse 16 is the same with the Merari in verse 19, and the Izhar of verse 18 is the same as the Izhar in verse 21. To deny this simple principle would violate the structure of the record and introduce complete confusion.
This should remove any doubt that it is Amram the son of Kohath who fathers Aaron and Moses in verse 20. And yet there is more proof:
57 And these are they that were numbered of the Levites after their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites: of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites: of Merari, the family of the Merarites. 58 These are the families of the Levites: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korathites. And Kohath begat Amram. 59 And the name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt: and she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister. (Numbers 26:57-59)
Kohath, it says, begat Amram. And in the very next verse, Amram is identified as the husband of Jochebed. Will they now say that begat does not necessarily mean begat? Or that there were two Kohaths?
The only reason that Moses' parents are thus removed by some from their proper place in the genealogies is because of the myth of a four hundred and thirty year sojourn in Egypt.
How Long was Israel's Enslavement?
The circumstances of Israel's enslavement were as follows:
6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. 7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: 10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. 11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. (Exodus 1:6-11)
Israel was not enslaved until after Joseph and all his generation had died (Exodus 1:6), and after the last Pharaoh who knew Joseph had also died (Exodus 1:8). Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten, in the year 2369 A.M., but we know that Levi didn't die until @2392, ninety-four years after Jacob entered Egypt4 . So the years of slavery could not have been more than one hundred and twenty-one years (215 – 94 = 121); and they may have been less.
In fact, they were not enslaved until “...the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them“(Exodus 1:7)5 and they had become “more and mightier than [the Egyptians]”, as the “new Pharaoh” put it (Exodus 1:9). This suggests that Israel was not in bondage until late in its stay in Egypt. Remember Stephen's words:
“17 But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, 18 Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph. 19 The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live. 20 In which time Moses was born...” (Acts 7:17-20)
However, it is clear that the oppression lasted more than eighty years, for Moses was eighty years old at the time of the Exodus (Exodus 7:7); and he was born after the massacre of the male children began. The enslavement, therefore, must have begun before the birth of Moses. On the other hand, Aaron, his older brother, who was three years older (Exodus 7:7), must have been born just before the massacre of the male children began.
Concluding Remarks
At the outset, I observed that the statement in Exodus 12:41 “appears to be a notice of the fulfillment of prophecy. The phrase 'even the selfsame day it came to pass' seems to mark a particular and remarkable fulfillment... But there is no prophecy of a four hundred and thirty years' sojourning of the children of Israel anywhere in the Old Testament. There is only the prediction of a four hundred years sojourning, in Genesis 15:13.”
Clearly, Moses was recording the fulfillment of that prophecy at the Exodus. But it would not make sense to speak of four hundred and thirty years unless those for whom he wrote understood that the four hundred years of the original prediction began at a time thirty years subsequent to Abram's entering of Canaan, when “the sojourning of Israel”, of which he speaks, began. Otherwise, in order to draw attention to the fulfillment of the prophecy, he would have had to say:
Now the sojourning of the seed of Abraham, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.
And if the original prediction of just four hundred years was, as some say, a round number for the same period of four hundred and thirty, then Moses would have looked pretty silly claiming that the prediction was fulfilled to the day, when it was off by thirty years! This is my final argument for the distinction between the two periods, and for my identification of their respective starting points and durations.
Thus we see, in this brief study – instead of discrepancies, contradictions and inaccuracies – yet another example of how precise the biblical history is, and how perfectly the chronological statements of holy Scripture fit together into a coherent, systematic whole.
Footnotes
1 The average length of a generation during this era actually turns out to be close to sixty-five years. From the birth of Isaac in 2108 to the birth of Moses in 2433 was three hundred and twenty-five years. This represents five generations: Isaac, Jacob, Levi, Kohath, Amram. 325 / 5 = 65.
2 There is no warrant in the Hebrew text for inserting the word “had”. The AV translators seem to have assumed that the call referred to here is the original call of Abram to leave Mesopotamia, referred to by Stephen in Acts 7:2-3; but this is a second call, given in Haran, as the context shows. Terah had settled there, perhaps because of an illness that eventuated in his death. God renewed the original call at that time, which was simply a command, ”Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee”; but adding promises to it (see Genesis 12:1-3).
3 The designation of years from the creation of the world as “Anno Mundi” or “A.M.” is from the Seder Olam Rabah, the official Jewish chronology; and was also used by James Ussher. It is the most natural and biblical way of referring to events in biblical history, being less confusing and cumbersome than the use of B.C. dates, which count backwards, and from a date not given in Scripture. I use it in all my chronological studies.
4 Jacob married Leah and Rachel in the year 2252 A.M. Levi was his third son. None of them were twins or triplets, for Leah conceived each of them separately (Genesis 29:32-34). So Levi could not have been born before 2254. He lived one hundred and thirty-seven years (Exodus 6:16). Levi is the only son of Jacob whose lifespan is given in Scripture. There is a tradition that Benjamin was born twenty-three years after Jacob's marriage, which would make him about fifteen years younger than Joseph, the next youngest. Others of Jacob's sons may have lived longer than Levi.
5 From the time that Jacob was 84, when he was married, to the time when he and his family moved to Egypt at age 130, the males in his family had increased from one to 58. Jacob had eleven of his twelve sons in just seven years. 215 years later, at the Exodus, there were about 600,000 men in the family. The average number of male sons for each Israelite male, over the last three generations, had to be about 22 in order to achieve this astounding growth. For 58 X 22 X 22 X 22 = 617,584. But the growth rate was not constant; for Exodus 1:7 says that the growth, already great, was further accelerated after the death of Joseph, and 1:12 definitely states, “But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.”
Appendix A:
Back to Canaan
We have seen that the prophecy we have been studying was most exactly fulfilled. But we have not yet considered all its details. There is more:
13 And He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs (and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them) four hundred years; 14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. (Genesis 15:13-16)
The four hundred years' sojourn was to terminate in the judgment of Egypt and the Exodus of Israel from that land; but the time of the return of Israel to the land of Canaan was not so definitely foretold. It was only stated that “ in the fourth generation they shall come hither again”. We have already seen that Moses' generation was the fourth from the entrance of Israel into Egypt. This is the generation that should have inherited the land; but sadly, Joshua and Caleb were the only representatives of that generation who did so. However, that generation did “come hither [back to Canaan] again”. They returned to the very border of Canaan, but they did not enter in, because of unbelief. The conquest would have to wait for the rise of the fifth generation.
40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:40-41)
The “sojourning”, the predicted period in Israel's existence when they were strangers in lands belonging to others was ended at the Exodus, but Israel would not actually “possess” the land of Canaan until forty-six years later. Nevertheless, during the first year after the Exodus, Israel was constituted a nation under God. It received a complete system of laws: both criminal, religious and administrative. A center of worship was set up – the tabernacle – which was also the seat of judgment. Israel was now united – not only by its familial bonds, but – by a common government and by a common form of worship. They were no longer sojourners: they were now a nation in their own right.
Early in the second year, Israel, having been organized into a nation, was summoned to take possession of the promised land. Moses recalled this event just before he handed over the leadership to Joshua and left this earthly scene:
6 The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: 7 Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them. (Deuteronomy 1:6-8)
Then spies were sent out, which reported the goodness of the land; but Israel believed not, and God turned them back into the wilderness instead, to be chastised for their refusal to trust Him. All but a few of the fourth generation would have to die there. The Amorites would thus gain a brief reprieve, a further space for repentance; in which they might reflect upon the meaning of the tidings out of Egypt, before their inevitable judgment fell.
It is clear, then, that it was God's intention for Israel to immediately begin the conquest as soon as they had been organized into a nation at Mount Horeb. The delay in fulfillment of the promise was owing solely to Israel's rebellion.
Appendix B:
Keil & Delitzsch to the Contrary
“Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 12:40-41)
I have delayed the discussion of objections to the view I have set forth to keep the presentation as simple as possible. But this paper would be incomplete without a word from critics of my view. Keil & Delitzsch, whose commentaries I use almost daily, strongly oppose the view that I have set forth in this paper. Their suite of arguments in rebuttal of my position is complete, their scholarship impeccable. They attack from many angles. For all that, I am confident that my readers can discern the lack of substance in their attack, which I shall quote in full, with my comments interspersed. At the end, you will find a two-column table that exhibits the main differences between the two views.
Their commentary on Exodus 12:40-41 begins as follows:
“The sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt had lasted 430 years.”
But the text does not say so. If Moses had meant to say so, he could have
omitted two words that appear in the text in both English and Hebrew. Those words are, “who dwelt”. No one has been able to explain why they are there, if Moses meant to say that Israel was in Egypt 430 years.
Moreover, it cannot be proved that these two words have no effect on the meaning of the statement; nor can it be shown that my interpretation of them is not grammatically possible. All that the esteemed authors can honestly say for certain is that they think it means something else.
“This number is not critically doubtful, nor are the 430 years to be reduced to 215 by an arbitrary interpolation, such as we find in the LXX, ἡ δὲ κατοίκησις τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ ἥν κατῷκησαν (Cod. Alex. αὐτοὶ καὶ οί πατέρες αὐτῶν) ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ καὶ ἐν γῇ Χαναάν, [Translated 'and of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan.' HDK]”
No one “reduces the 430 years to 215”; we merely say that one half of this time was spent in Egypt, and the other in Canaan. And no one bases his view on this statement of the Septuagint. It simply provides corroborative evidence that the Alexandrian Jews also understood that the four hundred and thirty years includes the sojourning of Abraham and the patriarchs in Canaan.
“This chronological statement, the genuineness of which is placed beyond all doubt by Onkelos, the Syriac, Vulgate, and other versions...”
Again, no one disputes its genuineness. The point at issue is what period it refers to.
“...is not only in harmony with the prediction in Gen_15:13, where the round number 400 is employed in prophetic style...”
Notice that no proof is given that four hundred is a “round number”. There is not only no proof that can be given: but in fact it is impossible that God would leave the Israelites a promise of deliverance from an intolerable slavery after four hundred years when He really knew that it would be another thirty years before they would be freed!
“... but may be reconciled with the different genealogical lists, if we only bear in mind that the genealogies do not always contain a complete enumeration of all the separate links, but very frequently intermediate links of little historical importance are omitted, as we have already seen in the genealogy of Moses and Aaron (Exodus 6:18-20).”
This is faulty logic: “An omission sometimes occurs, therefore we may assume that it has occurred here, even though there is no proof that it has.” One way that we can know that a gap exists is by comparing one text with another parallel text where the missing material is supplied. Where is the parallel genealogical text that shows more descendants in Moses' genealogy than the one in Genesis 6? There is none: it would have been cited if there were.
The only other case that would prove that one or more gaps exist is if the time period were too long to possibly span with just the persons listed. An example occurs in Ruth 4:20-22, where the span of years from Nahshon to David is about five hundred and ten years, and only four intervening links are given. That is simply not the case here.
The authors' commentary on Exodus 6:18 theorizes, but does not prove, that there are gaps in Moses' genealogy. It theorizes that there were two Amrams, and that Moses was the son of the younger Amram – perhaps the great-great-great-great (etc.) grandson of the original. I have already discussed this, but it may be instructive to address it again here.
“But the Amram mentioned in Exodus 6:20 as the father of Moses, cannot be the same person as the Amram who was the son of Kohath (Exodus 6:18), but must be a later descendant. For, however the sameness of names may seem to favour the identity of the persons, if we simply look at the genealogy before us, a comparison of this passage with Numbers 3:27-28 will show the impossibility of such an assumption.”
Then they quote Tiele to explain why it is impossible for the Amram in verse 20, who married Jochebed, who bore Moses, to be the same Amram who in verse 18 is given as the son of Kohath through whom Moses was descended:
“According to Numbers 3:27-28, the Kohathites were divided (in Moses' time) into the four branches, Amramites, Izharites, Hebronites, and Uzzielites, who consisted together of 8600 men and boys (women and girls not being included). Of these, about a fourth, or 2150 men, would belong to the Amramites.”
This is wholly gratuitous; but it is typical of the way many chronologists argue. Assumptions, estimates, theories are set against the plain statements of chronological facts. No one knows how many there were of each clan, period.
“Consequently, if Amram the son of Kohath, and tribe-father of the Amramites, was the same person as Amram the father of Moses, Moses must have had 2147 brothers and brothers' sons (the brothers' daughters, the sisters, and their daughters, not being reckoned at all). But as this is absolutely impossible, it must be granted that Amram the son of Kohath was not the father of Moses, and that an indefinitely long list of generations has been omitted between the former and his descendant of the same name' (Tiele, Chr. des A. T. p. 36).”
Obviously, the argument is inconclusive. Amram may have had as many as thirty or forty or even more male offspring, for all we know. When Jacob went down to Egypt , the males in his family numbered fifty-eight. Two hundred and fifteen years later, at the Exodus, there were about six hundred thousand men in the family. As I reckon it, the average number of male sons for each Israelite male, over the last three generations, had to be about twenty-two in order to achieve this astounding growth. For 58 X 22 X 22 X 22 = 617,584.
But the growth rate was not constant; for Exodus 1:7 says that their rate of growth, already great, was further accelerated after the death of Joseph “And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.” God does not exaggerate: this was no ordinary fertility! And 1:12 definitely states, “But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.” Amram therefore lived at the time when Israel was most prolific.
Keil & Delitzsch then suggest that the reason that the genealogy of Moses lists only four generations is to make the record artificially seem to conform to the prophecy in Genesis 15:16 that Israel would return to Canaan in the fourth generation!
“The enumeration of only four generations, viz., Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses, is unmistakeably related to Genesis 15:16, where it is stated that the fourth generation would return to Canaan.”
It seems that they would rather believe that the prophecy was not literally fulfilled (i.e. was false) than admit that only four generations existed from Levi to Moses.
“For example, the fact that there were more than the four generations mentioned in Exodus 6:16ff. between Levi and Moses, is placed beyond all doubt, not only by what has been adduced at Exodus 6:18-20, but by a comparison with other genealogies also. Thus, in Numbers 26:29, Exodus 27:1; Joshua 17:3, we find six generations from Joseph to Zelophehad; in Ruth 4:18, 1Chronicles 2:5-6, there are also six from Judah to Nahshon, the tribe prince in the time of Moses; in 1Chronicles 2:18 there are seven from Judah to Bezaleel, the builder of the tabernacle; and in 1Chronicles 7:20, nine or ten are given from Joseph to Joshua. This last genealogy shows most clearly the impossibility of the view founded upon the Alexandrian version, that the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt lasted only 215 years; for ten generations, reckoned at 40 years each, harmonize very well with 430 years, but certainly not with 215.”[Italics mine, H.D.K.]
There is impressive biblical scholarship in this paragraph. I will begin with the last, since they claim it proves their case beyond doubt. But it is unfortunate for them that the authors have cited the case of Joseph and of the Ephraimites; for on careful examination it will be seen to tell against them. For along with the birthright which passed from Reuben to Joseph, there was a Divine blessing of extraordinary fruitfulness on the tribe of Joseph (Genesis 49:22-26) which was chiefly manifested in Ephraim's line (Genesis 48:17-19). Joseph means “God shall add” and Ephraim means “double fruit”. Moses (Deuteronomy 33:13-17) also predicted extraordinary fruitfulness for the tribe of Joseph.
There are three ways to increase the growth rate of a population: involve more females (as Jacob did), increase the incidence of multiple births, or start the childbearing years sooner. Probably all three of these contributed to Israel's astounding growth while in Egypt. But in Ephraim, we see clear evidence of the last method. For in Genesis 50:22-23, we read:
And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father's house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years. And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph's knees. (Genesis 50:22-23)
According to Keil and Delitzsch themselves, this means that Joseph lived to see his great-great-grandchildren! Now, all this happened after Joseph was released from prison, at age thirty. Ephraim and Manasseh were both born in the latter part of the years of plenty (Genesis 41:46-53), so around his thirty-seventh year. In just the seventy-three years that remained to him, four generations grew up and had children: Ephraim, his sons, his grandsons, and
his great grandsons. These “generations” – the ages of the fathers when they had their first sons – averaged eighteen and one quarter years – not forty years, as our opponents suppose. At this rate, the ten generations from Joseph to Joshua that Keil and Delitzsch refer to above would represent one hundred and eighty years. As I have proved, Israel was in Egypt two hundred and fifteen years; and Joshua was grown when the Exodus occurred. A plausible scenario can be constructed from these facts as follows:
Joseph had Ephraim and Manasseh before the years of famine, but after he was freed from prison (2289 A.M.) and after he had been collecting grain for some time. Joseph's brothers came down to Egypt in the second year of the famine (2298). So his sons were still quite young, between three and seven years old. Taking the mean of five years, and counting 18 years as a generation, we then –
Add 13 years to the birth of Zabad. (18 – 5 = 13)
Add 18 years to the birth of Shuthelah, Ezer, and Elead.
Add 18 years to their deaths (slain by the men of Gath, 1 Chronicles 7:21).
Add 1 year to the birth of Beriah. (Joshua's line begins here.)
Add 18 years to the birth of Rephah.
Add 18 years to the birth of Telah.
Add 18 years to the birth of Tahan.
Add 18 years to the birth of Laadan.
Add 18 years to the birth of Ammihud.
Add 18 years to the birth of Elishama.
Add 18 years to the birth of Non.
Add 18 years to the birth of Jehoshua.
Add 21 years to the Exodus, in 2513 A.M., Joshua now full grown.
-------
215 years total
There is nothing impossible in this. However, it does reflect the extraordinary blessing of God alluded to above. It was not equaled by any other tribe of Israel.
Four generations would seem to have been the general rule, from the words of the promise. Or else the preeminence of Moses and Aaron, of Levi's fourth generation, accounts for the number of generations being reckoned as four for the whole nation.
It is also possible that the word, “generation” in the prophecy of Genesis 15 was used to denote the period of time of a typical or average generation. In Abram's day, it was certainly less than a hundred years, but probably more than forty. It so happens that the average of the generations of Isaac, Jacob, and those of Levi during the Egyptian sojourn was sixty-five years. It may be that sixty years was reckoned as a normal generation.
And what if there were six, ten, or even twelve generations in some genealogical lines? Such things are highly variable in any population. Some people start having children in their late teens. Others may not marry until middle age. The length of a generation is never defined in Scripture. But chronology – real chronology versus imaginary chronology – does not depend on such variables. It depends on the chronological statements of the Hebrew
text, and necessary inferences therefrom.
Going back to the original assertion, “the fact that there were more than the four generations mentioned in Exodus 6:16ff. between Levi and Moses, is placed beyond all doubt... by a comparison with other genealogies also”, the simple answer is – the fact that there were more generations than four in some of the other tribes does not prove that there were more than four in the tribe of Levi.
Besides, we have a definite and authoritative statement of the Apostle Paul to the effect that the law was given four hundred and thirty years after the covenant promise was given to Abraham:
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. (Galatians 3:16-17)
Aware that this one text sweeps away all their sophisticated arguments, the authors have had to find a way to discredit the statement. This involves more reflections on the weaknesses of the Septuagint:
“(Note: The Alexandrian translators have arbitrarily altered the text to suit the genealogy of Moses in Exodus 6:16ff., just as in the genealogies of the patriarchs in Gen 5 and 11.”
The translators of the Septuagint indeed took unwarranted liberties with the text in Genesis 5 and 11; but that is a different matter from offering helpful explanatory material derived from actual chronological facts given elsewhere in the Bible, as they have done in Exodus 12:40.
“The view held by the Seventy became traditional in the synagogue, and the Apostle Paul followed it in Galatians 3:17, where he reckoned the interval between the promise to Abraham and the giving of the law as 430 years, the question of chronological exactness having no bearing upon his subject at the time.)”
It cannot be proved that Paul was just following the traditional view, or that he was unconcerned about the accuracy of the number. Why should we not assume that he knew the facts and meant what he said? If there was no need to be exact, why did Paul not use the “round number” of four hundred years? In Galatians, we find Paul locked in mortal combat with Judaizing Jews. To make an inaccurate statement regarding Jewish history was to invite attacks on one's credibility.
But Paul's statement, taken literally, is perfectly harmonious with the view that I am defending. There were precisely four hundred and thirty years – to the day – from the first announcement of the gospel to Abraham to the Exodus; and the Law was given later in that same year.
But Keil and Delitzsch are not done. They are at least determined to be consistent. Even the plain expression, “the self-same day” must be explained away because of their “round number” theory of the four hundred years. It makes no sense to say that the prophecy was fulfilled to the day if it was thirty years off!
“The statement in Exodus 12:41, “the self-same day,” is not to be understood as relating to the first day after the lapse of the 430 years, as though the writer supposed that it was on the 14th Abib that Jacob entered Egypt 430 years before; but points back to the day of the exodus, mentioned in Exodus 12:14, as compared with Exodus 12:11., i.e., the 15th Abib (cf. Exodus 12:51 and Exodus 13:4).”[Italics mine, H.D.K.]
I think Keil and Delitzsch interpret Moses to mean that the entire Exodus occurred on the same day as the first Passover. But why may not the phrase mean what every reader of the text has naturally understood it to mean? No reason is given for the authors' preference for their interpretation of the phrase. If we are right, it is highly significant; and if they are right, it could well have been left out. But consider the phrase in its immediate context:
40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:40-41)
Verse 40 tells us how long “the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt” was – “four hundred and thirty years”. This calls attention to the promise of Genesis 15:13, with its “four hundred years”, but which commenced its count thirty years after it was given, since the birth of Isaac twenty-five years later, and his recognition as the appointed seed was in his fifth year.
Verse 41 tells us when “the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.” It was “at the end of the [same period of] four hundred and thirty years”. This repetition is for emphasis.
“And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years... that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.”
To add further emphasis, and to call attention to the exactness of the fulfillment, the clause “even the selfsame day it came to pass” is inserted.
41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.
The syntax requires that both occurrences of the phrase, “it came to pass” refer to the same day – the day at “the end of the four hundred and thirty years”, on which “all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.” How then can anyone say that “the selfsame day” has nothing to do with “the end of the four hundred and thirty years”? The sense is plain and obvious: no other interpretation is possible.
I have presented the entirety of Keil and Delitzsch's case. I have not distorted it, misrepresented it, or selectively quoted from it. I have given, I believe, a fair and equitable evaluation of the argumentation employed against my view; and I submit that it fails at every point.
The Long Chronology
1 The sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt lasted 430 years.
2 The Septuagint is wrong when it makes Exodus 12:40 to read “Now the sojourning of the children of Israel and of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, was four hundred and thirty years.”
3 The “four hundred” in Genesis 15:13 is a round number for “four hundred and thirty”.
4 The genealogy of Moses and Aaron in Exodus 6 omits several unspecified generations.
5 Jochebed, the Mother of Moses, was not the literal daughter of Levi, but a later descendant of his.
6 The Amram mentioned in Exodus 6:20 as the father of Moses, cannot be the same person as the Amram who was the son of Kohath (Exodus 6:18), but must be a later descendant.
7 The enumeration of only four generations, viz., Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses, is artificially adapted to fit the prophecy in Genesis 15:16, where it is stated that the fourth generation would return to Canaan.
8 The fact that other tribes went through more generations than four shows that Levi must have done the same.
9 When Paul used the number 430 in Galatians 3:16-17, he was not concerned about the accuracy of the number, since it had no bearing on his subject; but was only using the currently-accepted chronology, based on the Septuagint, which was in error.
10 In the statement in Exodus 12:41, “the self-same day,” does not mean that the 430 years was exact, that is, that it began and ended on the same day of the year; but that the whole body of the Israelites left Egypt on the same day – the day of the first Passover. The prophecy was not accurate to the decade, let alone to the day.
The Short Chronology
1 The sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt lasted only 215 years. The 430 years runs from the time that Abram entered the promised land to the Exodus, in the same year as the giving of the Law. (Gal 3:16-17)
2 The Septuagint translation is not wrong, but only expands the text with a helpful explanatory interpolation.
3 The “four hundred” in Genesis 15:13 is the exact number of years that the seed of Abram lived as sojourners, from the weaning of Isaac to the Exodus; the thirty years' difference being the time Abraham was in Canaan before Isaac was established as his sole heir.
4 The genealogy of Moses and Aaron in Exodus 6 is complete, as the structure of it proves.
5 Jochebed, the Mother of Moses, was the literal daughter of Levi, “whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt.”(Num. 26:59)
6 There is only one Amram, the immediate and proper son of Kohath, in the genealogies: the second is invented. (Numbers 26:58-59)
7 The prophecy was literally fulfilled when Israel came out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses and Aaron, Levites, in the fourth generation of their tribe since Israel entered Egypt.
8 The fact that other tribes went through more generations than four shows nothing of the kind. There was variation among the tribes.
9 Paul, besides writing under inspiration, knew what the facts were and said what he meant.
10 The text is unambiguous. “And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.” The prophecy was accurate to the day.
Old Testament Chronology
from
Abram to Joshua
(2008 to 2559 Anno Mundi)
2008. Abram was born.
2083. Abram left Haran and entered Canaan in his 75th year. The 430 years' of Israel's sojourning began.
2093. Abram married Hagar in his 85th year.
2094. Ishmael was born in Abram's 86th year.
2107. Sarah's conception and the birth of Isaac was foretold.
Abram, 99 years old, received the covenant of circumcision.
Abram's name was changed to Abraham, Sarai's to Sarah.
Sodom was destroyed, Lot saved.
Abraham went to Gerar and returned.
Sarah conceived.
2108. Isaac, the promised seed, was born in Abraham's 100th year.
2113. Isaac was weaned at age five, Ishmael cast out. The 400 years' sojourning of Abram's seed began.
2145. Sarah died, aged 127. Abraham was 137.
2148. Isaac married Rebekah in his 40th year.
2168. Esau and Jacob were born in Isaac's 60th year.
2183. Abraham died, aged 175
2208. Esau married at the age of 40.
2245. Jacob left home at the age of 77.
2252. Jacob, at the age of 84, married both Leah and Rachel.
2259. Joseph was born in Jacob's 91st year.
2265. Jacob returned to Canaan, aged 97. Joseph was 6.
2276. Joseph told his dreams to his brothers at the age of 17.
2288. Isaac died, aged 180.
2289. Joseph stood before Pharaoh, aged 30, and interpreted his dreams.
2296. At the end of 7 years' plenty, Joseph was 37.
2298. At the end of 2 years' famine, when Jacob came down into Egypt,
Joseph was 39 and Jacob was 130.
2315. Jacob died, aged 147. Joseph was 56.
2369. Joseph died, aged 110.
2391. Earliest possible date for Levi's death, aged 137.
2433. Moses was born 80 years before the Exodus.
2473. Moses fled Egypt at age 40, went to Midian.
2474. Caleb was born.
2513. Moses returned to Egypt, now 80 years old.
Egypt was destroyed by the ten plagues.
Israel departed from Egypt at the end of the 400/430 years of Israel's
sojourning.
The law was given at Mount Sinai.
The Tabernacle was built.
Aaron was consecrated and Mosaic worship instituted.
2514. Moses sent out the spies.
Israel's 4th generation refused to enter Canaan.
The wilderness wanderings began.
2552. The 5th generation was prepared to enter Canaan by the conquest of Og and Sihon.
2553. Israel crossed the Jordan and entered Canaan. The conquest began with Jericho.
2559. The war of conquest ended, Joshua divided the land.
Israel possessed the land of Canaan, as God had promised.
Howard Douglas King
November 25, 2014
Revised August 9, 2015
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