Recently, we began studying through the book of Exodus as part of our Sunday morning worship service. In the first sermon, I provided some background to the book and also pointed out the connection that Moses makes in the first 6 verses of chapter 1 with Genesis. Moses lists for us the 12 sons of Jacob who came to Egypt as part of God’s provision through Joseph. In verse 6, Moses records that Joseph and his brothers died, and the narrative moves on to the 4th generation.

This should remind us of the warning and promise that God made to Abraham in Genesis 15. God warned Abraham that his descendants would be strangers in a foreign land and they would be oppressed (Gen 15:13). God later tells Abraham that, although his descendants would be enslaved in a foreign land, they would return to Canaan in the fourth generation.

In Genesis 15:13, God told Abraham that his descendants “will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.” When the sons of Israel leave Egypt, Moses records for us that “the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years” (Ex 12:40). Paul, in his epistle to the Galatians, also speaks of a period of “four hundred and thirty years” when Moses received the law on Mt. Sinai (Gal 3:17).

So the question I want us to consider is, “How long were the sons of Israel in slavery?” Most people would answer 400 years based on God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 15. But there is a problem with this view.

Abraham was 100 years old when Sarah gave birth to Isaac (Gen 21:5). Isaac was 60 years old when he had Jacob (Gen 25:26). We are not told how old Jacob was when he had Joseph, but by simple calculation, we believe he was 91 years old. Joseph was sold into slavery when he was 17 years old (Gen 37:2), and when he stood before Pharaoh, he was 30 years old (Gen 41:46). With 7 years of plenty and 2 years of famine, we estimate that Jacob and the 11 patriarchs arrived in Egypt when Joseph was 39 years old. Joseph later died at the age of 110 years old (Gen 50:22). Therefore, Joseph was in Egypt for 93 years. His eleven brothers were there for a minimum of 71 years when Joseph died. And after that generation had died (Ex 1:6), we arrive at the fourth generation. And here is the problem. If the 4th generation began after Joseph was in Egypt for 93 years, and Moses delivered the people out of Egypt when he was 80 years old, how can it be said that the sons of Israel were in slavery for 400 years?

The answer can be found in the 3 passages mentioned above. Note how in Genesis 15:13, the word “for” is not included before the “four hundred years.” In this verse, God is not saying that Abraham’s descendants would be oppressed for four hundred years; the four hundred is a period of time from the time God spoke to Abraham. In Galatians 3:17, Paul states that the law “came four hundred and thirty years later.” When he says “later,” Paul is referring to something in the past, and if we read verse 16, we see that the law came 430 years after God’s promise to Abraham. Therefore, Moses in Gen 15:13 and Paul in Gal 3:17 are in agreement. The last verse, Exodus 12:40, poses more of a problem.

In Exodus 12:40, Moses says that “the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years,” which puts a bit of a spanner in the works. It seems to contradict the 2 other verses and also the calculation we made earlier. The problem is solved when we consider the Samaritan and Alexandrian copies of the Pentateuch. Both interpret the verse, “Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, and of their fathers, which they sojourned in the land of Canaan and in the land of Egypt, was 430 years.” This solves the inconsistency between our verse; all three verses now agree with one another.

We conclude then that Abraham entered Canaan 25 years before Isaac was born (Gen 12:4; 17:1-21). Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob was born (Gen 25:26), and Jacob was 130 when he entered Egypt (Gen 47:9). The sum of these years (25+60+130) is 215. Jacob and his descendants lived in Egypt for another 215 years, bringing the total to 430 years. If Jacob arrived in Egypt after 215 years, when Joseph was 39 years old, they would have lived in comfort for 71 years until Joseph died at 110 years old. We are not told how long it was before the new king arrived who did not know Joseph (Ex 1:8), but we can estimate that the maximum time that the sons of Israel were in slavery was 144 years (215 - 71).

Samaritan Pentateuch versions here: https://intertextual.bible/text/exodus-12.40/samaritan-exodus-12.40
Adam Clarke Commentary on Exodus 12 was very helpful in pointing me to the Samaritan and Alexandrian Pentateuch.

Author: Yorke Hinds