Israel was in Egypt 215 years, not 430 years

            Every preacher I ever listened to proclaimed that the nation of Israel was in Egypt for 430 years. This belief was accepted because of the way Exodus 12:40 was written and understood by many. But, the nation of Israel was in Egypt only 215 years as is proven by the following study.

            Why have so many preachers made this mistake saying that the Nation of Israel was in Egypt 430 years? The answer is that before starting to preach and teach the scriptures, they did not take the time to study the scriptures to be sure they were preaching the truth.

            Now you might say: what is the significance of this? It’s such a minor thing and has nothing to do with a person’s salvation. That’s true, but if a preacher is teaching incorrectly on minor things in the Bible, how can we be sure they are right on the major issues?

Starting in the forty-sixth chapter of the book of Genesis, it tells the story of the house of Israel going from the land of Canaan into the land of Egypt because of the famine that was in the land.

The beginning of the story tells of Jacob, who was the son of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham, leading his family into Egypt to live after being summoned by his son Joseph, who was appointed governor of Egypt by Pharaoh. The number of persons in his family totaled seventy persons in addition to his wives, his son’s wives and his grandson’s wives. The seventy persons that were mentioned were his direct offspring, his sons, daughters, grandsons, one granddaughter and four great-grandsons. The exact total of persons that were with him can not be determined because of not knowing how many of his wives, his son’s wives, and his grandson’s wives were with him at that time.

An exception could be made because of what Stephen said in the book of Acts. Stephen was one of the first deacons that had been selected to serve the Church during the ministry of the Lord’s Apostles. Stephen, while preaching his one and only sermon that was recorded, said that Jacob and all his kindred that came into Egypt with him were seventy five souls.(Acts 7:14) This may not have included Joseph and his two sons since they were already in Egypt before Jacob and the rest came in. For this study, the exact number of Jacob’s family is not important. The only point that needs to be made is that there was some number of persons above seventy in number.

The end of the story, in the twelfth chapter of the book of Exodus tells us that the Israelites who left Egypt with Moses numbered six hundred thousand men and an unnumbered amount of women and children. A more exact number was mentioned in Exodus 38:26 of six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty men who were twenty years old and older, plus the women and children.

It has been commonly believed and taught that the Israelites spent four hundred thirty years in Egypt because of what Exodus 12:40-41 states.

Exodus 40-41 “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.”

These two verses state that the children of Israel (Jacob) sojourned for four hundred thirty years, but it does not say that they sojourned in Egypt for that amount of time. The words set apart by commas, (who dwelt in Egypt) were there to specify which children of Israel were being talked about. Without those words in the sentence, it would read as follows:

Now the sojourning of the children of Israel was four hundred and thirty years.

Which children?

Those who dwelt in Egypt.

First of all we need to understand just who the children of Israel were.

The children of Israel are the offspring of Jacob beginning with his firstborn Reuben. Reuben was born after Jacob had served Laban for seven years. At that time Jacob was eighty four years old according to the chronological record that has been developed. So the sojourning of the seed of Israel began at the birth of Reuben in 1873 BC and ended with the exodus of the whole nation of Israel in 1612 BC, 261 years later.

The exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt is calculated to have been in 1612 BC, just two hundred sixty one years after the first of the seed of Israel was born. So if the total time of the sojourn was four hundred thirty years, it was not all spent in Egypt and it was not the children of Israel who sojourned for that entire period of time.

The only other place that could shed some light on these four hundred thirty years of sojourning is in Galatians 3:17. This speaks of the Law being given four hundred thirty years after the promise was given to Abraham about God making a great nation out of him. (Gen 12:1-3) God called Abraham out to leave his former country and seek a new land in 2042 BC, exactly four hundred thirty years before the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. It might be that God was speaking of the sojourning of the children of Israel while they were still in the loins of Abraham.

The following might be a little difficult to follow and requires careful study of the chronological order of the scriptures.

1. Jacob arrived in Egypt, being 130 years old. (Gen 47:9)

            His family was the nation of Israel

2. Seventeen years passed until Jacob’s death (Gen 47:28)

            Jacob died at 147 years old. (Gen 47:28)  

            Joseph was 56. Years old at this time

3. Fifty four years passed until the death of Joseph (Gen 50:26)

            Joseph died at 110 years old.

4. From the call of Abraham to the death of Joseph was 286 years.

            According to detailed Bible Chronology

5. From the birth of Moses to the Exodus was 80 years. ( Acts 7:23, 30)

            Add 286 years (Abram=s call to Joseph=s death) to 80 (Age of  Moses At the Exodus)  = 366 years.

            Subtract these 366 years from 430 (The complete time of the Sojourning) = 64 years.

            (64 years was the time between the Death of Joseph, to the birth of Moses.) (Exo 12:40-41)

6. Eighty years passed from the birth of Moses to the start of the Exodus.

7. The start of the Exodus from Egypt was 215 years after Jacob and his family
            (The  nation  of  Israel) entered Egypt

Another aspect that needs to be taken into account to disprove that Israel was in Egypt for four hundred thirty years is the genealogy of Jacob’s offspring. Let’s examine the following people according to Moses’ lineage.

(1). Levi, the son of Jacob came into Egypt in 1827 BC with three sons. They were Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

(2). Levi had a daughter born in Egypt named Jochebed, who was to become the mother of Moses.

(3). Kohath had a son born in Egypt named Amram, who was to become the father of Moses.

(4). Moses was eighty years old at the start of the exodus. Since the exodus started in 1612 BC, Moses must have been born in 1692 BC.

If Moses’ father, Amram, was born right after they entered Egypt, he might have been one hundred fifteen years old when Moses was born. If Amram was born later after they entered Egypt, he would have been even younger when Moses was born. Even at one hundred fifteen years old it would not have been uncommon at that time to have a child. (Moses lived to be 120 years old, Levi lived to be 137 years old, Amram lived to be 137 years old and Jacob lived to be 147 years old).

The lineage and generations of Moses were as follows:

(1). The daughter of Levi, Jochebed, was of the first generation born in Egypt.

(2). Moses was of the second generation born in Egypt.

(3). Moses’ sons, Eliezer and Gershom were the third generation in Moses’ lineage.

(4). The grandsons of Moses, Rehabiah and Shebuel were of the fourth generation who  entered       into   the land that God promised to Abraham.

The lineage and generations of Aaron were as follows:

(1). Aaron was three years older than Moses, having the same father and mother.

(2). Eleazar, the son of Aaron took over as high priest near the end of the wilderness journey.

(3). Eleazar and his son Phinehas crossed over into the promise land with Joshua.

(a). Levi entered into Egypt with his father Jacob.

(b). Kohath the son of Levi entered Egypt with his father.

(c). Amram the son of Kohath was the first generation born in Egypt.

(d). Aaron the son of Amram was the second generation.

(e). Eleazar the son of Aaron was the third generation.

(f). Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, was of the fourth generation that left Egypt.

In Genesis 15: 13-16, God told Abraham that in the fourth generation, his seed would return to the land that He gave them.

Genesis 15:13-16 “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that your 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 come out with great substance. And you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come here again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”

God told Abraham that his seed would be a stranger in a land that was not theirs. Abraham’s seed started with his son Isaac. Isaac was weaned in the year of 2012 BC at five years old and became Abraham’s sole heir because Hagar and her son Ishmael were cast out of the family. So the seed of Abraham, starting with Isaac, were strangers in the lands that were not theirs until the exodus of the Israelites (also Abraham’s seed) in 1612 BC, four hundred years later.

The question might be asked: “Is it possible that the Israelites could grow from just seventy some men to over six hundred thousand in 215 years?”

Using Jacob for an example, he entered Egypt with sixty three male offspring that were produced in fifty three years, from the time Reuben was born to the time of their entering into Egypt. So if each male offspring produced in 215 years in Egypt, just one fourth of the number that Jacob produced in 53 years before he came to Egypt, it’s quite possible. You must take into account that their lives were probably very easy as long as Joseph was living. They had no wars to fight, with no one leaving home and a low accident rate, the births probably far exceeded the death rate. Also taking into account the long lives they lived, compared to today’s mortality rate, many children could be produced. Large families were not uncommon.

In conclusion: the time the Israelites lived in Egypt was 215 years and not 430 years as is commonly accepted. The seventy some odd male offspring of Jacob could quite possibly have multiplied into over 600,000 in the time period of 215 years.  The four generations of the families spanning 215 years is more plausible than 430 years. During the period of 430 years, more than likely, many more generations would have evolved. Consequently, this lines up with the scripture of Genesis 15:16, where God said that his seed would return to the land in the fourth generation.

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