Ask just about anyone who has gone to church at all, or ever watched the movie Ten Commandments, and they will tell you the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt for 430 years.
That is overwhelmingly the common answer to this question.
What if I told you that isn’t true?
Well, I make a habit of saying most of the things we’ve learned in church are not true, so why wouldn’t I question this?
LOL
Let’s take a look at it.
Exodus 12:40-41 tells us this:
40 Now the time that Bnei-Yisrael lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41 So it happened at the end of 430 years, to the very day, that all the armies of Adonai went out from the land of Egypt.
Well, there you go.
Case closed, right?
Nope.
This verse says they lived in Egypt for 430 years, not that they were enslaved for that long.
Minor technicality, right?
What if I told you they didn’t live in Egypt for 430 years either?
Why would I say such a thing, when scripture clearly states this to be fact?
Because this translation is incorrect. That’s why.
Most translations say exactly this in Exodus 12 — 430 years.
However, the Septuagint says otherwise.
Septuagint Exodus 12:40
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.
Do you see the difference?
Most translations say they were in Egpyt for 430 years, while the Septuagint says they were in Egypt and Canaan for 430 years.
So how do we figure out which is true?
All throughout scripture, we are given time markers.
So and so died at such and such an age.
So and so had a son at such and such an age.
If we go and find all the markers associated with this story, we can quickly figure out the truth.
For example, Kohath was the father of Amram who was the father of Moses.
Kohath lived to be 133 [Exodus 6:18], Amram lived to be 137 [Exodus 6:20], and Moses was 80 years old when he and Aharon confronted Pharaoh at the time of the 10th plague. [Exodus 7:7]
Kohath was one of the Israelites to go to Egypt to live during the famine of the land. [Genesis 46:11]
Now, let’s look at this timeline that is established.
Let’s assume Kohath moved to Egypt the day he was born.
Let’s assume Amram was born to Kohath the day that Kohath died.
Let’s assume that Moses was born to Amram the day that Amram died.
This timeline would look like this:
This means that from the time the nation of Israel moved to Egypt until the time they left Egypt could be no longer than 350 years.
And this is worst case scenario!!
So Exodus 12:40 is already debunked, and shows that the Septuagint is the only version that can be correct.
Let’s assume that Kohath was an adult when he went to Egypt.
Let’s assume Amram was born earlier than Kohath’s death.
Let’s assume Moses was born earlier than Amram’s death.
With this more realistic timeline, we get this:
Based on time markers given in scripture, we can say that the Hebrews spent less than 350 years living in Egpyt.
Let’s move on to another time marker given in scripture.
Moving forward, all the way to the New Testament…
Really???
Yes. Paul is going to help us out here.
Galatians 3:16-17
16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. It doesn’t say, “and to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “and to your seed,” who is the Messiah. 17 What I am saying is this: Torah, which came 430 years later, does not cancel the covenant previously confirmed by God, so as to make the promise ineffective.
Paul tells us that the Torah was given on Mount Sinai 430 years after Yehova made His promise to Abraham.
Let’s look at some more time markers.
Abram was 75 years old when he received the promise and left Haran. [Genesis 12:4]
Abram was 100 years old when Isaac was born. [Genesis 21:5]
Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob was born. [Genesis 25:26]
Jacob was 130 years old when he and the nation of Israel arrived in Egypt. [Genesis 47:9]
What can we learn from these time markers?
There are 430 years total from the promise to the law being given.
Subtract 25 years from the time Abram left Haran until Isaac is born.
Subtract 60 years from the time Isaac is born until Jacob is born.
Subtract 130 years from the time Jacob is born until he arrives in Egypt.
That leaves 215 years.
This means that the Hebrew nation resided in Egypt for 215 years, which fits into our timeline above, showing the duration had to be less than 350 years.
What do we know about this 215 years?
We know that some of this time was spent in peace, and some of this time was spent in captivity.
Let’s look for more time markers, shall we?
Joseph was 30 years old when he began serving Pharaoh. [Genesis 41:46]
There was seven years of abundance, which made him 37 years old.
Then began seven years of famine.
The Hebrew nation moved to Egypt two years into the famine, making Joseph 39 years old when his people arrived in Egypt. [Genesis 45:6]
Joseph died at the age of 110 years. [Genesis 50:26]
If we subtract Joseph’s age (39) when the Hebrews arrived in Egypt from his age when he died (110), we get 71 years.
So we know that the Hebrews lived in Egypt for at least 71 years without being enslaved.
If we subtract that from the 215 years spent in Egypt, we get 144 years.
At some point after Joseph’s death, a new Pharoah made captives of the Hebrews, and we know the maximum amount of time this could be is 144 years (assuming it happened the day after Joseph’s death, which is not likely).
The Hebrew nation left Egypt when Moses was 80 years old, and we know from the details of the story that Israel was already enslaved when Moses was born. This makes the minimum time they were enslaved 80 years, assuming they were enslaved the day Moses was born.
So we have a minimum of 80 years in captivity, and a maximum of 144 years in captivity.
We can certainly say Israel was held as slaves in Egypt for approximately 90 to 135 years…
Absolutely not 430 years, as many teach.
The clues are all right in scripture.
It takes a bit of time and effort to find those clues and map them out, but this should not be a secret.
We should not be making mistakes like this!
So what’s the point of all this?
With just a little bit of effort, we can show that the things churches teach us are incorrect.
Worse yet, people just sit in church and listen, and they walk out believing whatever they are told.
This is not good!!
If our church doctrine gets something simple like this wrong, what if they get more important things wrong?
Not only can they, but scripture guarantees it…
Again, I’m referring to Jeremiah 16:19-20
19 Adonai, my strength, my stronghold,
my refuge in the day of affliction,
to You will the nations come
from the ends of the earth and say:
“Our fathers have inherited nothing
but lies, futility and useless things.”
20 Will man make gods for himself?
Yet they are not gods.
Jeremiah tells us that everything we learn are lies.
That is not good.
So I ask you this:
Will you study your bible?
Or will you continue to listen to what some guy says about it for 45 minutes a week?