The Skeptical Review Online - Print Edition

The Skeptical Review (Vol. 6, No. 4) carried an article entitled "The 430-Year Sojourn of Israel in Egypt" by Roger Hutchinson and a rebuttal by Farrell Till. While Mr. Till's rebuttal is well written and responsive (as are many of his written efforts I have seen), I am of the opinion that Hutchinson made a fundamentally incorrect assumption near the beginning of his article, which makes his effort not only unnecessary but the entire exchange moot.

The erroneous assumption occurred in Hutchinson's first paragraph, where he asserted, "Exodus 12 states clearly that Israel dwelt in Egypt 430 years." Actually, it states no such thing; the text does not state that the 430 years covered only the time in Egypt. The words "who dwelt in Egypt" form an appositional phrase relating to "sons (of Israel)," NOT to "sojourning." Therefore, it is exegetically incorrect to maintain that the dwelling in Egypt covered 430 years. A more careful reading of the text yields the proper understanding that the 430-year period commenced with the *beginning* of the Israelites' "sojourning." The determination of this "beginning" point will clear up the controversy, and that is the purpose of this article.

Since it is my conviction that God is the author of the Bible, it is therefore my contention that the only errors the Bible may contain are those of copyists, printers, or translators. Once these errors are eliminated, every statement of the Bible must agree with every other. However, this harmony is not always found on the surface of the text; it is sometimes deeply hidden; but if it is patiently, reverently and diligently sought, harmony will eventually emerge. Dr. Ivan Pain wrote, "The Bible makes upon the reader certain inexorable demands. To those who comply, it readily yields its secrets, treasures ere long, according to the capacity of each. To those who do not comply, it abides sealed in proportion to their lack of compliance" (Biblical Chronology, 1922, p. 7).

One of the foremost canons of interpretation of the Bible (or any written document) is that a clear statement in one part of the Bible is to be adhered to against others not so clear in other parts. The light from the clear is to be thrown on the obscure, rather than the obscure to darken the light. A mere difficulty is not to annul a certainty. Furthermore, fairness requires observance of another canon: the Bible alone is the final authority for its own data.

With these two canons (there are several others, but need for brevity prohibits my citing them) in control of our inspection of the matter at hand, I call the reader's attention to a clear statement by the Apostle Paul recorded in Galatians 3:16-18:

(T)he promises were spoken to Abraham.... But this I say: A covenant confirmed afore by God the Law which came *four hundred and thirty years after,* disannulleth not unto the voiding of the promise. For if the inheritance is of Law, it is no longer of promise. But to Abraham God hath granted it by promise (emphasis added).

This statement is abundantly clear: from the covenant with Abraham (whenever it was) to the Law (given at Sinai in the year of the exodus) is 430 years. Alongside this stands Exodus 12:40-41:

And the sojourning of Israel's sons who sojourned in Egypt land was thirty years and four hundred years. And it was at the end of thirty years and four hundred years (and it was the self-same day) that all the hosts of the Lord went out from Egypt land.

A superficial reading of this passage could give the impression that from the going down of the sons of Jacob with their father to sojourn in Egypt to the giving of the Law was 430 years; Galatians 3:16 is thus apparently contradicted. The covenant with Abraham was, at the latest, the year before Isaac was born, when Abraham was 99. Isaac was 60 when Jacob was born, and Jacob was 130 when he went to Egypt. Thus, 1+60+130+430 yields 621 years from the covenant with Abraham to the Law, if the data from Exodus 12 are thus to be understood--and Paul's assertion stands contradicted.

Note that Galatians is clear, but Exodus is not so clear. The terms in Exodus *sojourned,* *Israel's sons,* *Egypt land* (to which the regions where Abraham and Isaac lived may have been subject at some period of their lives)-- each of these terms needs considerable elucidation before they can be allowed to annul the clear statement in Galatians. Thus, our first canon makes Galatians the standard by which Exodus is to be understood, rather than the reverse. The clear overrides the obscure, and the passage from Exodus must submit to the clarity of Galatians.

The solution to the 430 years question begins with the determination of the year of Abraham's birth, which affects all subsequent biblical dates. The first Christian martyr, Stephen, is recorded in Acts 7:2-4 as saying that when Abraham left Haran, his father, Terah, was dead.

The God of the Glory appeared to our father Abraham... and said to him, Come out of thy land.... Then came he out of the Chaldeans' land and dwelt in Haran; and thence *after his father's death* [God] r moved him into this land wherein ye now dwell.

Genesis 11:32 states "all the days of Terah were five years and two hundred years." In Genesis 12:4, Abraham is said to be a "son of five years and seventy years when he departed from Haran." Therefore, according to Stephen, who then was expressly said to have been "filled with the Holy Spirit," Terah was 205 less 75 when Abraham was born, or 130. Note that this deduction is clear and obvious. However, in Genesis 11:26 we read, "Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor and Haran"--which at first glance implies they were triplets of whom Abram was firstborn. But in the clear light of Stephen's statement in Acts 7:2-4, the statement in Genesis 11:26 requires clarification: if Abraham was born when his father was 70, he was at Terah's death 135, not 75. Our first canon thus requires that Stephen's clear statement be held to against Genesis 11:26, where it is possible to derive the meaning that Terah became a father at 70, and his children were Abraham, Nahor, and Haran, of whom Abraham is not necessarily the oldest but named first for some reason that is not obvious here. Thus, we should hold to Stephen and keep Genesis 11:26 in abeyance pending further light. This treatment is paralleled by the case of Shem, Ham, and Japhet, sons of Noah, where it is demonstrable that Shem, although named first, was not the oldest of triplets but was two years younger than Japhet.

I give now (without developing the proof, which would frustrate the objective of brevity, but if proof of this development is demanded and space for printing in The Skeptical Review is offered, I will supply it) the chronology from Abraham's birth to the exodus. The first date given is the number of years that elapsed since the creation week (A. M. = Anno Mundi = years of the world). The figure following is the same year in terms of B. C. (Before Christ):

Event	A. M.	B. C.
Terah born	1878	2125
Terah 70, Haran born	1948	2055
Abraham born	2008	1995
Sarah born	2017	1986
Terah (205) dies	2094	1920
Abram 86, Ishmael born	2083	1909
The covenant given	2107	1896
Isaac born, Abraham 100	2108	1895
Sarah dies	2144	1859
Isaac marries Rebecca	2148	1855
Esau & Jacob born	2168	1835
Abraham (175) dies	2183	1820
Jacob (77) with Laban	2245	1758
Joseph born	2259	1744
Joseph (17) sold	2276	1727
Joseph in prison	2287	1716
Isaac (180) dies	2288	1715
Joseph before pharaoh	2289	1714
End of 7 years of plenty	2296	1707
Year 2 famine, Jacob 130	2298	1705
Jacob 147, dies	2315	1688
Joseph 110, dies	2369	1634
Aaron born	2454	1549
Moses born	2457	1546
Moses 40	2497	1506
Exodus, giving of law	2537	1466

The exodus having occurred in 1466 B. C., going back in time 430 years would bring us to 1896 B. C., which is the year of God's covenant with Abraham recorded in Genesis 17:1-27. That Abraham was at this time 99 years of age is established in verses 1 and 20. In addition, verse 25 states that Ishmael was 13, having been born when Abraham was 86 (Gen. 16:16). This is the only covenant from which Paul could begin the 430-year period to the Law: the covenant made with Abraham when he was 99, in 2107 A. M. (1896 B. C.). [Two other dates have been suggested as commencing the 430 years that culminated in the exodus: (1) Abram's call, at 75 (2083 A. M.; 1920 B. C.); (2) the land covenant made with Abram (Gen. 15:18). The former was not a covenant but a "call" and does not meet the 430-year period to the exodus in 1466 B. C.; the second cannot be dated but was not later than Abram's 85th year, so it also fails the requirement of the 430-year period reaching 1466 B. C.]

In summary, the 430-year "sojourn" commenced with the Abrahamic covenant recorded in Genesis 17:1-27, when Abram (renamed "Abraham" by God at that time) was 99: 2107 A.M. or 1896 B.C. Application of Occam's Razor is appropriate here; the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. There is no need to find 430 years during the events of Exodus 6:16-20. Therefore, the semantic gyrations used by Mr. Hutchinson and rebutted by Mr. Till are rendered unnecessary and may be seen to be, in Shakespeare's words, "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

(Wilhelm E. Schmitt, 14575 Louisiana Avenue, PriorLake, MN 55372.)