The 430-year sojourn of Israel, mentioned in Exodus 12:40-41, is a topic of intense debate. The topic begins in the days of Abraham with this promise:
"And [the Lord] 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; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they [thy seed] come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they [thy seed] shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." -- Gen 15:13-16 KJV
As you can see, it is not so much about Israel, as it is about
the seed of Abraham, which began with Isaac. Abraham was promised that
his seed would be released from servitude
in the fourth generation, and would come out
with great substance.
So, when was the fourth generation? Recall that the sons of Moses were with him and his wife in Egypt:
"And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand." -- Exo 4:20 KJV
Kohath [Moses's grandfather] came into Egypt with his father, Levi:
"And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn . . . And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari." -- Gen 46:8,11 KJV
And if we count back four generations from the time Moses led the children of Israel back to Canaan, we have:
- Moses's children
- Moses
- Amram
- Kohath
Therefore, it appears the children of Moses were of the fourth generation.
We know the age of Moses at the Exodus was 80; and we know the lifespans of his ancestors:
"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." -- Exo 6:18 KJV
"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." -- Exo 6:20 KJV
"And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh." -- Exo 7:7 KJV
If we assume Kohath begat Amram immediately prior to his death at age 133; and Amram begat Moses immediately prior to his death at age 137; and Moses was 80 at the Exodus, the maximum time Israel could have been in Egypt was 133 + 137 + 80 = 350 years. We can also assume that Kohath and Amram did not wait until they were on their deathbeds to have children; so the time in Egypt was more likely less than 250 years.
We also know that Jacob was 130 when he entered Egypt:
"And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage [sojourn] are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage." -- Gen 47:9 KJV
"And Jacob said to Pharao, The days of the years of my life, wherein I sojourn, are a hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, they have not attained to the days of the life of my fathers, in which days they sojourned." -- Gen 47:9 LXX
And we know that Jacob was born no more than 85 years after the covenant:
"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." -- Gen 12:4 KJV
"And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him." -- Gen 21:5 KJV
"And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them." -- Gen 25:26 KJV
Therefore, from the Abrahamic covenant to Jacob's entry into Egypt was no more than 85 + 130 = 215 years, and, as aforementioned, Israel's time in Egypt was likely to be less than 250 years. That total of less than 465 years is consistent with these statements:
"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." -- Exo 12:40-41 KJV
"And the sojourning of the children of Israel, while they sojourned in the land of Egypt and the land of Chanaan, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass after the four hundred and thirty years, all the forces of the Lord came forth out of the land of Egypt by night." -- Exo 12:40-41 LXX
"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." -- Gal 3:16-17 KJV
No matter how I dissect the Exo 12:41 and Galatians statements, I see the children of Israel coming out of Egypt and receiving the Law 430 years after the covenant; and I see no other covenant in that time frame than the one made with Abraham.
But there is a problem with the Exodus 12:40 statement. Verse 40 refers to the children of Israel -- the children of Jacob, not the seed of Abraham. So, are there two overlapping 430 year periods?
There are other translations that could include Jacob, rather than only his descendants, such as:
"The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years." -- Exo 12:40 ESV
"The time that the Israelites lived in Egypt was 430 years." -- Exo 12:40 HCSB
Assuming Jacob was intended to be considered along with his descendants, we know from previous passages that he was born no more than 85 years after the covenant. We also know from the following passages that Israel received all the land promises prior to Joshua's death, which meant the time of the sojourn was over:
"And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass." -- Jos 21:43-45 KJV
"And, behold, this day I [Joshua] am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof." -- Jos 23:14 KJV
Joshua was 110 when he died:
"And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old." -- Jos 24:29 KJV
But Joshua was apparently a young man and a warrior before Israel received the Law:
"And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand." -- Exo 17:9 KJV
"And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle." -- Exo 33:11 KJV
If we assume Joshua was 25-30 years old when he fought the Amaleks, there would be another 80-85 years until his death, which was also the time Israel received the last of the promised land. That accounts for the 80-85 years from the time of the covenant until the birth of Jacob, which is consistent with Paul's statement to the Galatians and Exo 12:41, though they are referring to different time frames. This may help explain that statement:
- Covenant to Jacob's birth = 85 years
- Exodus to Joshua's death = 85 years
- Exo 12:40 - Jacob's birth to Joshua's death = 430 years
- Exo 12:41 - Covenant to Exodus = 430 years
So, what about this Exodus quote by Stephen?
"And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years." -- Acts 7:6 KJV
"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;" -- Gen 15:13 KJV
"And it was said to Abram, Thou shalt surely know that thy seed shall be a sojourner in a land not their own, and they shall enslave them, and afflict them, and humble them four hundred years." -- Gen 15:13 LXX
The only interpretation of the 400 years that is consistent with the 430 years is the time from the birth of Isaac until the Exodus, which is roughly the time
the seed of Abraham were enslaved, humbled, and afflicted in a land not their own, but not necessarily at the same time.
As aforementioned, Jacob, upon meeting the Pharaoh, said that all the days of his life had been evil. So, it is reasonable to assume that Israel was afflicted prior to entering Egypt for the 130 years of Jacob + the 60 years of Isaac prior to Jacob's birth, which can be subtracted from the 400 years normally assumed to be the time in Egypt, to give a time in Egypt of about 210 years, which is consistent with previous estimations of less than 250 years.
This promise from Genesis 15 was also fulfilled at the time of the Exodus:
"And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance." -- Gen 15:14 KJV
"And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians." -- Exo 12:35-36 KJV
After the Exodus, Abraham's seed were subject only to God until they received the land promises.
In summary, Paul, writing by the inspiration of God, confirmed the words of both the Hebrew and Greek testaments for the time in Egypt when he declared that the time from the giving of the Covenant to Abraham, to the giving of the Law to Moses, was 430 years. Stephen, speaking also under the inspiration of God, was referring to the 400 years from the birth of Isaac, the seed of Abraham, until the Exodus. And finally, Moses, in Exodus 12:40, was referring to the 430 years from the birth of Jacob until time Israel received the promised land around the time of the death of Joshua
Dan
