Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Peter Kirk"<peter_kirk AT sil.org>]

I think I pointed this out a few days or weeks ago in connection with 
David Rohl: Josephus (the correct reference is "Antiquities" book 2, 
chapter XV:2) gives 215 years as the time of the Israelite stay in 
Egypt. Here is the passage:

"They left Egypt in the month Xanthicus, on the fifteenth day of the 
lunar month; four hundred and thirty years after our forefather 
Abraham came into Canaan, but two hundred and fifteen years only after 
Jacob removed into Egypt."

This is in accordance with LXX of Exodus 12:40 which assigns 430 years 
to the stays of Israel in Canaan and Egypt - MT refers to Egypt only 
in this verse. So this just could be a textual matter.

Of course none of this is relevant to the date of the Exodus, only to 
the dating of what went before it.

Peter Kirk


______________________________ Reply Separator 
_________________________________
Subject: Chronology
Author:  <alster AT comandcom.com> at Internet
Date:    29/01/2000 20:38


Shalom to all!

When we take into account the Bible's internal chronology, and Jewish 
traditional chronology, there are a few things we need to remember:

1.  The Bible sometimes contradicts itself.  The better-remembered 400/430 
years in Egypt does not go with the genealogical table in Ex 6.  Kehat (who, 
according to Gen. 46:11, went down to Egypt) lived 133 years; Amram 137; and 
Moses was 80 at the time of the Exodus - for a total of no more than 350 
years in Egypt.  This brought the Rabbis to give a much lower total - 210 in 
Seder Olam Rabba chap. 3).  Nachmanides (Ex 12:40) says _approximately_ 220 
years.  I seem to remember a 215-year midrashic total (as the Israelites 
worked night and day, each year was counted twice).  In any event, these 
figures are in accordance with the Bible's internal dating as much as 
400/430 years.

<snip>