Exodus in Easton's Bible Dictionary
the great deliverance wrought for the children of Isreal
when
they were brought out of the land of Egypt with "a
mighty hand
and with an outstretched arm" (Ex 12:51; Deut. 26:8;
Ps 114;
136), about B.C. 1490, and four hundred and eighty
years (1
Kings 6:1) before the building of Solomon's temple.
The time of their sojourning in Egypt was, according
to Ex.
12:40, the space of four hundred and thirty years.
In the LXX.,
the words are, "The sojourning of the children of
Israel which
they sojourned in Egypt and in the land of Canaan
was four
hundred and thirty years;" and the Samaritan version
reads, "The
sojourning of the children of Israel and of their
fathers which
they sojourned in the land of Canaan and in the land
of Egypt
was four hundred and thirty years." In Gen. 15:13-
16, the period
is prophetically given (in round numbers) as four
hundred years.
This passage is quoted by Stephen in his defence
before the
council (Acts 7:6).
The chronology of the "sojourning" is variously
estimated.
Those who adopt the longer term reckon thus:
Years
From the descent of Jacob into Egypt to the
death of Joseph 71
From the death of Joseph to the birth of
Moses 278
From the birth of Moses to his flight into
Midian 40
From the flight of Moses to his return into
Egypt 40
From the return of Moses to the Exodus 1
430
Others contend for the shorter period of two hundred
and
fifteen years, holding that the period of four
hundred and
thirty years comprehends the years from the entrance
of Abraham
into Canaan (see LXX. and Samaritan) to the descent
of Jacob
into Egypt. They reckon thus...
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