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NASB | Genesis 15:13 God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 15:13 God said to Abram, "Know for sure that your descendants will be strangers [living temporarily] in a land (Egypt) that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. [Ex 12:40] |
Bible Question:
Scripture ... Exodus 12:40-41 "Now the time that the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, to the very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt." ... What do these 430 years mean? Searcher |
Bible Answer: At Exodus 12:40, 41, Moses records that “the dwelling of the sons of Israel, who had dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.” From the above wording, it is apparent that not all this “dwelling” was in Egypt. This time period begins with Abraham’s crossing of the Euphrates on his way to Canaan, at which time God’s covenant with Abraham went into effect. The first 215 years of this “dwelling” was in Canaan, and then an equal period was spent in Egypt, until Israel became completely independent of all Egyptian control and dependency, in 1513 B.C.E. A footnote on Exodus 12:40 shows that the Greek Septuagint, which is based on a Hebrew text older than the Masoretic, adds, after the word “Egypt,” the words “and in the land of Canaan.” The Samaritan Pentateuch does similarly. Galatians 3:17, which also mentions the 430 years, confirms that this period started with the validating of the Abrahamic covenant, at the time that Abraham crossed the Euphrates on his way to Canaan. This was therefore in 1943 B.C.E., when Abraham was 75 years old.—Gen. 12:4. |