Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Walter Mattfeld" <mattfeld AT mail.pjsnet.com>]

Peter Kirk:
 According to David Rohl, the currently accepted dating for Ahmose I is
> 1550-1514 BCE, so that the expulsion of the Hyksos in 11th year falls
> in 1539 BCE.

Dear Peter,
Thankyou for this information, I was not aware of this "late of a dating"
for the reign of Ahmose I. The 1539 BCE Hyksos expulsion appears to fit
quite nicely the 1540 BCE date preserved in the holy scriptures of the Jews
and Early Christians (cf. Acts 13:18-21, 1 Kings 2:10-11, 1 Kings 6:1). Paul
is suppossedly giving us Saul's 40 yr. reign in Acts, and he like Josephus,
claimed to possess a priestly training. Evidently there were differing
traditions about the length of Saul's reign and the number of years between
the Exodus and the founding of the Temple contra the 480 yrs of 1 Kings 6:1,
such as 440, 592, 612, 556, or 574 years.

Mr. Banyai Michael has called to my attention that Josephus understood
Saul's reign to be 22 years (Antiq.6.14.9) in contradiction to the 40 years
preserved by Early Christian traditions (Acts 13:18-21).

Josephus also gave 592 (Antiq. 8.3.1) or 612 (Apion 2.2) years between the
Exodus and the founding of the temple by Solomon, contra the 480 years of 1
Kings 6:1.

592 + 966 BCE (Solomon's 4th yr.) =1558 BCE Exodus

612 + 966 BCE = 1578 BCE Exodus

40yrs Wilderness wandering + 450 yrs Joshua, Elders, Judges (Acts 13:18-21)
+ 40 yrs Saul (Acts 13:18-21) + 40 yrs David + 4 yrs Solomon = 574 yrs + 966
BCE = 1540 BCE Exodus

40 (Wilderness) + 450 Joshua, Elders, Judges (Acts 13:18-21) + 22 Saul
(Josephus) + 40 David + 4 Solomon = 556 yrs + 966 BCE = 1522 BCE Exodus

440 yrs (LXX) + 966 BCE = 1406 BCE  "plus" ( Joshua, Elders, and Saul's
reigns not given)

480 (MT 1 King 6:1) + 966 BCE =  1446 BCE "plus" ( Joshua, Elders, and
Saul's reigns not given)

Summary of proposed Exodus dates:

1406 BCE "Plus", 1446 BCE "Plus", 1522 BCE, 1540 BCE, 1558 BCE, 1578 BCE.
Obviously all of these dates cannot be correct. So, by what criteria does
one make his choice ? One has to search the Egyptian history to find a
period attesting to the exodus of a large body of Asiatics, heading for
Canaan, associated with armed conflict with the Egyptians as preserved in
the biblical narratives. The only incident preserved in all of Egyptian
history is the Hyksos expulsion. But we have another problem, various
authorities are not agreed on the reign of Ahmose I who expelled the Hyksos.
Dates run the gamut from as early as 1580 BCE to as late as 1514 BCE (Rohl
understanding this to be the current thinking amongst some Egyptologists).
How does 1580-1514 BCE "square" with the conflicting proposed Exodus dates
1406 "+" to 1578 BCE ? Answer: With the exception of 1406 BCE "+" and 1480
BCE "+", they all fall within the boundaries of Ahmose I reign 1580-1515
BCE. So, I would argue, considering the current state of affairs in
Egyptology, the Hyksos expulsion is what lies behind the Bible's Exodus
traditions.

All the best,

Walter

Walter Reinhold Warttig Mattfeld
Walldorf by Heidelberg
Baden-Wurttemburg
Germany