How long were the Israelites in Egypt?
The Bible says that the Israelites sojourned in Egypt for 430 years. Exodus 12:31-42 Exodus 12:40 says “the length of time that the Israelites lived in Egypt was 430 years.”
The New Testament also refers to this 430 years.
Galatians 3:17 says “ The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. “ Genesis 15:12-16
Because of this many scholars believe that the 430yrs commenced with the promise being given to Abraham 215yrs before Jacob and his family moved to Egypt.
- Genealogy of Abraham to Moses with the ages of the Levites
The result of this is that some scholars believe that Jacob moved to Egypt only 215 years before Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt (The Short Sojourn).
Other scholars believe that the Jacob’s family numbering about 70, move to Egypt 430 years before the Exodus (The Long Sojourn).
When Jacob and his family went to Egypt, the Israelites numbered about 70. When they left Egypt they numbered around 2 million. They needed time time multipy to this number.
Not withstanding this, it is obviously important to know whether the Isralites were in Egypt for 430 years or 215 years so that we know in which dynasty to look for Joseph.
It is unclear if the Genealogy given in the Bible from Levi to Moses is complete. It appears that there were only 3 generations after Levi who was in the original group that went to Egypt, until Moses who was 80 years old when he lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Four Generations in Egypt would make a Long Sojourn unlikely (although their ages do add up to more than 400 yrs and they may have had children at an old age as did Abraham). It is also hard to see how the Israelites would come to number 2 million in 4 generations unless the tribes of Israel had shorter generation times than the Levites. Exodus 1:1-6 Exodus 6:13-26 Numbers 1:1-54 Numbers 2:1-34
Looking at the promise God made to Abraham it would appear that God was telling Abraham that his children would serve as slaves in a foreign land for 400 years and then God would bring them out of that land with great wealth and give them the promised land. Genesis 15:12-16 Acts 7:6-7
The place where Abraham received the promise was Cannan. This is where Jacob was born and returned to before moving to Egypt. In Genesis 15:12-16 & Acts 7:6-7 it is clear that the foreign land where the Israelites would serve as slaves for 400 years did not include Caanan.
Djoser Pyramid Complex at Saqqara, Egypt. Note the large man made holes in the ground near the Step Pyramid that were used to store grain. They were most likely made by Joseph, the designer of the Step Pyramid, also known as Imhotep.
If it is true that Joseph and Imhotep were the same person, then the first pyramid (the Step Pyramid in Saqqara) was designed by an Israelite at the beggining of Israel’s Sojourn in Egypt. What’s more, if the last of the great pyramids (those of the 12th dynasty) were constructed with a core made from mudbricks which were made by Israelite slave labour, then the Israelites were in Egypt while all of the great pyramids were being constructed. When the Israelites departed from Egypt in the 13th dynasty, lead by Moses, there were not enough slaves in Egypt to make construct pyramids any more. Thus the pyramid age coincides with Israel’s sojourn in Egypt. The pyramids were thus constructed over a period of around 400 years.
The Black Pyramid of Amenemhet III. The inner core made of mud bricks is exposed. Josephus records that the Israelite slaves were given the task of building the Pyramids. The Pyramids of the 12th dynasty had an inner core that was made of mud bricks.
Egypt’s wealth and power reached it’s peak in the 12th dynasty under Sesostris III and his son Amenemhet III but as they had no successors, the Middle Kingdom started to fall apart when they died. Moses, an Israelite baby was adopted by the Princess Sobekneferu and groomed to be the next Pharaoh (Amenemhet IV). Amenemhet IV did in fact co-reign with Amenemhet III for a period of 9 yrs but when he had to flee to Midian at the age of 40 years, there was suddenly no successor for Amenemhet III. His daughter Sobekneferu had to take over the reigns when Amenemhet III died. She only lived for another 4 yrs and when she died, the 12th dynasty ended, Egypt fell into turmoil and became politically unstable. There was a quick succession of Pharaohs in the 13th dynasty until Neferhotep who was the Pharaoh who was ruling when Moses (Amenemhet IV) returned from exile in Midian. After a series of ten plagues that were infliced on Egypt, Neferhotep let Moses take the Israelities into the desert. When they did not return, he pursued them with his army. The Israelites were able to cross the red sea at the Gulf of Aqaba but Neferhotep and his army drowned when they tried to follow.
Moses and the Israelites Crossed the Red Sea at Nuweiba in the Gulf of Aqaba in 1446BC.
Not only did Egypt lose its slave labour force, it lost it’s monarch, it’s entire army and it’s transportation system. It was a massive defeat and not something that Egyptian historians would want to memorialize.
When the Israelites left Egypt, Pharaoh and his son died and all the Egyptian army drowned in the Red Sea taking all of Egypts chariots with them. Egypt was then thrown into turmoil. Thy Hyksos were able to take power and Egypts second intermediate period followed (until the Hyksos were finally defeated in the 18th dynasty).
The Israelites, therefore, had a profound influence on Egypt having designed the first pyramid (in the third dynasty) and having provided slave labour for various public works which included making mudbricks for the construction of the last of the great pyramids (those of the 12th dynasty). The country was destabilised when Moses (Amenemhet IV) went into exile as there was nobody to continue the 12th dynasty. Egypt suffered massive losses as a result of the Exodus and as a result became vulnerable to invasion. The Hyksos took over and ruled Egypt for the next 400 yrs (the second intermediate period).
