How long were the Israelites in Egypt? In answering this question, many will say 430 years, for that seems to be what Exodus 12:40-41 is saying. The problem with this is that Paul writes to the Galatians in 3:17 that the Law of Moses was given 430 years after the covenant of promise was given to Abraham. Some people see this as a contradiction in the Bible. Now that promise was given 215 years before Jacob took his family down to Egypt. Abraham received the promise when he was 75 years old (Gen. 12:2-4). Isaac was born when Abraham was 100 (Gen. 21:5), 25 years later. Then Jacob and Esau were born when Isaac was 60 (Gen. 25:26). And Jacob was 130 years old when he took his family down to Egypt (Gen. 47:9). So, 25+60+130=215. Shall we add the 215 years to the 430, making Paul wrong, or do we subtract them from the 430, giving 215 years in Egypt?
The answer is found in the Greek Old Testament. Unlike the Masoretic Hebrew text, the Greek says, "Now the residence of the sons of Israel during which they dwelt in the land, Egypt, and in the land of Chanaan was four hundred and thirty years" (Ex. 12:40 LXX, New English Translation of the Septuagint). There has obviously been a copying mistake here, either an addition in the Greek or an omission in the Masoretic text. Now the Samaritan Pentateuch written in Hebrew also adds Canaan to Egypt in this verse. This gives us a clue that somehow the Masoretic text (our copies dating from the 10th century A.D.) is based on manuscripts that have left out Canaan. Unfortunately, most English translations do not indicate that there is another reading; the English Revised Version (1881), the New International Version, the New King James Version, and the Catholic New American Bible are exceptions, noting in the footnotes that the Greek and Samaritan texts have Egypt and Canaan. The addition of Canaan in Exodus 12:40 solves the apparent contradiction.
But someone will say, "Paul was just quoting from the Greek Old Testament that the Galatians had; it is the Masoretic text which is correct. After all, God told Abraham in Genesis 15:13: 'Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.'" However, a close reading of the text reveals that God did not say that they would be servants for four hundred years. It says three things: 1) Abraham's offspring would sojourn in a land that is not theirs; 2) They would at some point be servants in a land that is not theirs; and 3) they would be afflicted or oppressed for four hundred years. Some English translations obscure this by saying that they would be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. However, even if one takes the reading 430 years for the sojourn in Egypt, the enslavement did not last 400 years. It did not start until a new Pharaoh came to the throne after the death of Joseph who lived 71 years after the Israelites came to Egypt.
The offspring of Abraham did sojourn in a land that was not theirs. Isaac and Jacob wandered in the land of Canaan, Egypt, and Aram (Syria) all of their life. Their descendants lived in Canaan and Egypt, dwelling in tents. His offspring were oppressed in various ways for 400 years, beginning about 30 years after the promise to Abraham when Isaac was weaned. Paul says in Galatians 4:29 that Ishmael persecuted Isaac. Isaac told Abimelech that he was hated and sent away from Gerar where wells which he had dug were taken away from his herdsmen (Genesis 26). Jacob had his life threatened by his brother Esau (Gen. 27:42). He was cheated by his father-in-law about having to work for Rachel as a wife (Gen. 29:25) and his father-in-law changed his wages "ten times" (Gen. 31:7). His father-in-law chased him to try to recover his daughters and animals, with only God's intervention in a dream to stop him (Gen. 31;42-43). His daughter was raped by a Hivite son (Gen. 34:2). Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers (Gen. 37:28, 38) and then thrown into prison following a false accusation by his master's wife (Gen. 39:20). His son Ephraim mourned the lose of two of his sons when men of Gath killed them in a raid on livestock (1 Chron. 7:21-22). And of course, the Israelites were ultimately enslaved by the Egyptians (Ex. 1:10-11). But this latter oppression cannot be the whole thing, thus ignoring the earlier oppression during sojourning in lands that were not theirs.
Trying to make the oppression 400 years in Egypt also ignores God's statement to Abraham that they would return to the land of Canaan in the fourth generation (Gen. 15:16). That was fulfilled in Moses and Aaron who were the fourth generation from Levi: Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses and Aaron. Or, since Kohath as a child went down to Egypt, one can take Kohath, Amram, Aaron, and Aaron's children (Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, Ithamar). There is not room for 430 years in Egypt according to the genealogy in Exodus 6:14-25 because the ages of the men at death are given. Assuming that Kohath was a child in arms when Levi took him to Egypt (Gen. 46:11), he would have lived in Egypt no more than 133 years, his age at death (Ex. 6:18). Assuming that he fathered Amram in the last year of his life, Amram would have lifed in Egypt no more than 137 years, his age at death (Ex. 6:20). Further assuming that Amran fathered Moses in the last year of his life, Moses was 80 years old when he led the Israelites out of Egypt (Ex. 7:7). Thus the maximum period of time that the Israelites could have been in Egypt would have been 350 years (133+137+80) and that is a stretch based on the above unlikely assumptions. And it is made more unlikely because Moses' mother Jochebed is said to be Kohath's sister (Ex. 6:20) born to Levi in Egypt (Num. 26:59). She would have been really old (at least 271 years) when Moses was born under the above assumptions.
But someone will say, "Moses' and Aaron's father was a different Amran than the one in Exodus 6, perhaps a grandson; after all, sometimes people are left out of genealogies." The problem with this is that, not only is the genealogy found in Exodus 6, but the same genealogy is repeated three times in Numbers 26:58-59 and 1 Chronicles 6:2-3; 23:12-13. Further, Moses and Aaron are not the only fourth generation mentioned in scripture. There are also Levi, Kohath, Izhar, and Korah (who led the rebellion against Moses); Levi, Kohath, Uzziel, Mishael and Elzaphan (the cousins of Aaron who buried his sons Nadab and Abihu); Reuben, Pallu, Eliab, Dathan and Abiram (who joined Korah's rebellion);); Hezron (Judah's grandson), Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon (leader of Judah) and his sister Elisheba (wife of Aaron) ); and Perez, Hezron, Caleb, Hur (who with Aaron held up Moses' hands) . The above genealogies are found in Exodus 6:16-22; 1 Chronicles 2:5, 9-10, 18-20; Numbers 26:5-9; and Matthew 1:3-4.0
Thus there is evidence that the Israelites were not in Egypt 430 years. That being the case, Paul under inspiration was giving a figure that supports the reading found in the Greek Old Testament and the Samaritan Pentateuch which includes Canaan in the time of sojourning for 430 years. Since the sojourning in Canaan lasted 215 years, the sojourning in Egypt must also have been 215 years (430 minus 215). This fits much better with the genealogies. Given that Joseph lived 71 years after the Israelites went down to Egypt, the period of slavery was less than 145 years, which is still a significant number. And Moses would have been born 135 years after Israelites went down into Egypt. Since Levi was about 4 years older than Joseph (Gen. 29-30), he would have been about 43 when he went down to Egypt. He died at age 137 (Ex. 6: 16), so he lived 94 years in Egypt. If Jochebed was born toward the end of his life, she would have been about 41 when she gave birth to Moses, a much more reasonable figure.
It is when one realizes that there is a textual problem in the Masoretic text of Exodus 12:40 the supposed contradiction in scripture disappears.
Bruce Terry