Exo 12:40 | KD | STEP | The sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt had lasted 430 years. 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, κ.τ.λ. This chronological statement, the genuineness of which is placed beyond all doubt by Onkelos , the Syriac , Vulgate , and other versions, is not only in harmony with the prediction in , where the round number 400 is employed in prophetic style, 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 ( ). For example, the fact that there were more than the four generations mentioned in Exo 6:16. between Levi and Moses, is placed beyond all doubt, not only by what has been adduced at , but by a comparison with other genealogies also. Thus, in Num 26:29., ; , we find six generations from Joseph to Zelophehad; in Rth 4:18., , there are also six from Judah to Nahshon, the tribe prince in the time of Moses; in there are seven from Judah to Bezaleel, the builder of the tabernacle; and in 1Ch 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. The statement in , “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 , as compared with Exo 12:11., i.e., the 15th Abib (cf. and ). On “the hosts of Jehovah,” see Exo 7:4.

‏ Exodus 12:40

The sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt had lasted 430 years. 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, κ.τ.λ. This chronological statement, the genuineness of which is placed beyond all doubt by Onkelos, the Syriac, Vulgate, and other versions, is not only in harmony with the prediction in Gen 15:13, where the round number 400 is employed in prophetic style, 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 (Exo 6:18-20). For example, the fact that there were more than the four generations mentioned in Exo 6:16. between Levi and Moses, is placed beyond all doubt, not only by what has been adduced at Exo 6:18-20, but by a comparison with other genealogies also. Thus, in Num 26:29., Exo 27:1; Jos 17:3, we find six generations from Joseph to Zelophehad; in Rth 4:18., 1Ch 2:5-6, there are also six from Judah to Nahshon, the tribe prince in the time of Moses; in 1Ch 2:18 there are seven from Judah to Bezaleel, the builder of the tabernacle; and in 1Ch 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. ^{▼▼The Alexandrian translators have arbitrarily altered the text to suit the genealogy of Moses in Exo 6:16., just as in the genealogies of the patriarchs in Gen 5 and 11. The view held by the Seventy became traditional in the synagogue, and the Apostle Paul followed it in Gal 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.}

The statement in Exo 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 Exo 12:14, as compared with Exo 12:11., i.e., the 15th Abib (cf. Exo 12:51 and Exo 13:4). On “the hosts of Jehovah,” see Exo 7:4.