A PROPOSED FRAMEWORK FOR HISTORY

Introduction

Truth can defend itself it needs only a witness. Over the years, the author has discovered that determining the chronology of the Bible is complex.[1] Many have worked toward a solution but because there are many variables, often apparently contradictory, that must be fit together to form a complete whole all reviewed solutions were flawed. In this process, the author has made many wrong assumptions usually starting with the most common presumptions, moving through the more radical assumptions and generally coming back very close to the standard assumptions. The process started in trying to solve the difficult chronology of the Judges period. This period has several good indicators as to the total length, but the sum of the parts seems to be too long. In each case comparison of the various sources, textual criticism and careful reading of the relevant passages has brought insight. Throughout this entire study, the several overriding principles have been maintained. The Scripture[2] is the word of God and was without error as originally given and that whatever corruption may have been introduced, the original can still be discovered. The problems can be reconciled! No word of Scripture is superfluous. There is value to studying and discovering the chronology. God hides things with the purpose of having them discovered. When properly understood new insights will result. It has been discovered that God foreknowing the events of history and guiding it according to His purpose does use a timetable. Not all details have been worked out, but important milestones have been discovered. Often important events associated with a Jubilee year occur in the Sabbath year preceding the Jubilee or in the following year, which is the “first harvest” in two years.

Jubilees—God’s Time Periods

God, in Leviticus 25, specifies a method for tracking time. The Israelites were to let the land to rest from cultivation every seventh year. The year of rest was called a Sabbath year. The year the Israelites entered the land of Canaan, was a Sabbath year.[3] There is a second witness the entrance was on a Sabbath year, Joshua read the law as was required on the Sabbath year (Joshua 8:34-35; Deut 31:10-12). It is confirmed Joshua read the law at this time (Nehemiah 8:17). They were to start the count from the year they planted their first crop,[4] after settling in the Promised Land. Thereafter every seventh year the land was to enjoy a rest or Sabbath. The year after every seventh Sabbath year was to be a Jubilee year: a second year, in a row, that the land was to rest from cultivation. See Figure 1: Sabbath and Jubilee Year Diagram, page 3. This means during each period of forty-nine years there were to be seven Sabbath rest years and one Jubilee rest year. This results in a total of eight years of rest in each forty-nine year period. The Jubilee celebrates the fiftieth year, not year fifty. The Jubilee year started about half way through year forty-nine. If the Israelites kept these rests or Sabbaths, God guaranteed that they would dwell in "security." Besides the land resting, God commanded that in Jubilee years the land was to be returned to its ancestral owner, debts canceled, and slaves freed. Returning the land freely in the Jubilee year, tests the possessor of the land far more than the recipient of the land. The one returning the land must give up a portion of what one has.

God apparently uses Jubilees as primary units to measure the whole period from Adam on. Many men have fit their Biblical chronology into a Jubilee framework stating that this confirmed that chronology.[5] Since these chronologies disagree among themselves and because the work on Biblical chronology by Thiele[6] has shortened the period of the kings, the work of many of these men can no longer be supported.

Figure 1: SABBATH AND JUBILEE YEAR DIAGRAM

Figure 2 Details of the Sabbath/Jubilee year pair

14 Abib / Nisan is Passover (Ex. 23:5). 15 to 21 Abib is the Feast of “Unleavened Bread” (Exodus 23:6).

Day after weekly Sabbath after Passover, “Omer” = barley sheaf (Exodus 23:11).

Fiftieth day 49 days after Omer—“Feast of Weeks” (Exodus 23:15-16).

1 Tishri “Feast of Trumpets” (Ex. 23:24). 10 Tishri Yom Kippur or “Day of Atonement” (Exodus 23:27).

15 to 21 Tishri “Feast of Booths or Tabernacles” (Exodus 23:34).

Jubilee years start with the sounding of the Trumpet on 10 Tishri (Leviticus 25:9).

Sabbath year starts with the religious calendar on the 1^st of Abib (implied Leviticus 25:1-6).

During the Sabbath and the Jubilee years gathering grain for food was allowed, but not reaping—the amount of grain collected is the issue. Normally the farmer would eat from grain stored before the Sabbath year, but if in need one could eat of the grain, but not harvest it.

Sequence and Time of Events

God, in Leviticus 26, enumerates blessings for obedience and levels of punishment for disobedience. In a more severe level of punishment, God promised to scatter the Israelites among the nations so that the land will receive its rest.[7] God kept that promise when He sent Judah into captivity in Babylon.[8] He forced the Israelites to let the land rest: "until the land has enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath to fulfill seventy years."[9] The land rested for the rest years it had missed.[10] The rest years it had missed included both Sabbath and Jubilee years, because in both of these years the land must rest. "After the seventy years are completed at Babylon I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place."[11] One can determine the period during which rests were missed if the seventy missed Sabbath rest years made up for all missed Sabbath years. If one knows the year of the start of the Babylonian captivity then one can fix the start of that period.

How many years of rest was the land given during the period of the kings? Scripture says King Josiah in his eighteenth year kept the Passover better than any previous king.[12] This was about 624 BC shortly before the Babylonian captivity. If the people were not properly keeping the Passover, it is highly unlikely that they were keeping the Sabbath year rests; much less the Jubilee year rests. It is probable that during the time of the kings, the land was never voluntarily given a Sabbath year rest. Even David, one zealous to keep the law, broke it several times with serious consequences. When he moved the Ark of the Covenant the first time he did not have it carried by Levites, causing a man to die.[13] When he counted the people, he did not have them each pay the census tax, which brought on the people three days of plague (2 Samuel 24). There is one account of the land getting a rest. When God delivered Judah under King Hezekiah, God told him that the land would sufficiently produce for their needs, for the next two years they were not to plant or harvest.[14] This was exactly what the law required at a Jubilee year because it always followed a Sabbath year. This is therefore a reference to a combined Sabbath rest and Jubilee rest. Therefore, one can pinpoint this time in Hezekiah's life if the date of any Jubilee is known.

During the period of the kings of Israel and Judah there were exactly 70 Sabbath years missed, adding in the two rest years in the time of King Hezekiah there would be 72 rest years. From this, one can calculate that there were nine Jubilee periods paid for in these 72 rest years and the period to require this number of rests is 441 years.[15] The date of the first deportation of Judah into Babylon is 605 BC Therefore the start of the period would be 1046 BC, if there were no other breaks than the keeping of two rest years during Hezekiah reign. This point is very likely the start of Saul's reign. This is very compatible with conservative scholarship, which puts Saul's anointing between 1050 and 1025 BC[16] The Jubilee during Hezekiah's reign was in 704 BC. This places the start of the Babylonian Captivity immediately following a Jubilee year.

At the start of Jesus' public ministry, on the Sabbath the first day of the second Jewish month in AD 31 He visited the synagogue in Nazareth, His hometown. See Jesus’ two-year ministry. There, Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah a proclamation of liberty and the acceptable year of the Lord.[17] Jesus announced a Jubilee year. The phrase "to proclaim liberty" is the term used in the Law of Moses for the freedom brought by the Jubilee.[18] Jesus announced the Sabbath year preceding the Jubilee year. The Jubilee year follows the start of Sabbath year by six months. From 606 BC to AD 32 the Jubilee announced by Jesus, there were 637 years, exactly thirteen Jubilee periods.[19] We now have four known Jubilees (1047 BC, 704 BC, 606 BC and AD 32). To work back to the time of the first Jubilee, in the days of Joshua, we use the 479 years of 1 Kings 6:1. The year of entrance was commanded to be a Sabbath year.[20] Additional evidence for this is, Joshua read the entire Law,[21] and only during the Sabbath year at the feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) was there a command to read the entire Law.[22] Nehemiah tells us that no one did it fully from Joshua's time until his time.[23] The second clue was the name of the place of Joshua's encampment, Succoths[24] meaning booths. The Law commanded the Israelites live in booths at the time of the reading of the Law. If the entrance occurred on a Sabbath year then the first possible Jubilee year would be 7½ years later. Because the Jubilee year starts the count, and the count was started after they planted, the Jubilee year cannot start until the 6 years of conquest are completed. Sabbath years start in the first month Nisan (Abib), Jubilee years start in the seventh month Tishri. See Sabbath and Jubilee year diagram on page 3.

Seven Jubilees before the anointing of Saul or 343 years brings us to 1391 BC 7½ years after Israel entered the Promised Land. Now the conquest of the land took six years, but afterwards it was necessary to map the land, divide it by lot, and conquer the remaining inhabitants before the Israelites settled in the land. They entered on a Sabbath year, conquered for six years, divided the land and settled during the next two year and then they planted their first crop. The Jubilee year was to be counted from when the Israelites planted their first crop.[25] Planting was allowed in the month of Tishri following the Jubilee year; this allowed a planted crop to be harvested immediately after the completion of two rest years (Leviticus 25:21-22). The scheme would work as follows: The Red Sea crossing occurred on the day of the Omer offering (Sunday Nisan 17), in the year following a Jubilee year.[26] Forty-eight and one half years later the Israelites planted the first crop in the second half of the Jubilee year. Saul became king over Israel after the Jubilee 343 years later. Using this information, the duration from the Exodus to the start of the building of the temple was 479 years.[27]

To give a BC or AD date the Jubilee date is counted as starting in the following Gregorian year. Before Christ, the Jubilee started on the 10^th day of the seventh month Tishri. The year 607 BC, will be referred to as 606 BC. The 10^th of Tishri occurs about the beginning of October, but varies about 2 weeks depending on the moon.

Table 1: DATES SO FAR FIXED BY JUBILEES
	Date	Elapsed years	Factored years	Description
	1439 BC	0		The year before the Exodus. Moses at the Burning Bush.
	1390 BC	49	1*49	The first planting in the promised land.
	1047 BC	343	7*49	Year before the anointing of King Saul.
	704 BC	343	7*49	The 15th year of Hezekiah. Sennacherib’s army destroyed.
	606 BC	98	2*49	Year before Judah first went into captivity in Babylon.
	AD 32	637	13*49	Jesus announced the 'Acceptable year of the Lord'.

One can surmise that Jubilee dating can be used before the Exodus even if at that time the land was not required to rest, because the Law had not yet been given. First, there were laws, from God, passed through the generations.[28] Second, the sojourn of the sons of Israel in Egypt (and Canaan LXX) was 430 years to the day.[29] This will be demonstrated later.

If a man had a Hebrew servant he was to let him go free after six years of labor and let him go free with an abundance of gifts (Deuteronomy 15:12-14). Jacob served Laban a period of seven years for each of his wives and then six more years. He came out of servitude with abundance after the six years were completed. Why did the injunction of slavery extend to Hebrews rather than to just the Israelites? So that Jacob would be included. Now a Hebrew servant was required to be set free in the seventh year and he was not to be sent away empty handed.[30] God made certain that this happened. If the Exodus was on the Passover following the end of the Jubilee year then Israel returned from Padam Aram in the sixth year of a Sabbath cycle.[31]

The Jubilee date immediately before the entrance into Egypt would be 12.5 years before the Jacob and sons returned to Canaan.[32] This is 6 months after Jacob married Leah and Rachael and a few months before Reuben was born. Therefore, Jacob married about the start of a Sabbath year. Three Jubilees or 147 years earlier one year after Abraham was circumcised in the spring Isaac was born. Abraham was circumcised at the start of a Sabbath year and Isaac was born within the succeeding Jubilee year. Both the birth of Isaac and the sons of Israel were long delayed events. Why did they occur on a Jubilee year? <It had appeared to me that they were born on the Omer following the Jubilee to match the time of the Exodus and the Resurrection. Do further research.> < What was God’s purpose in delaying these events until Jubilee years?>

The Pre-Abraham Period

Adam to the Flood

The view presented here of the period from Adam to the flood, assumes that there are no gaps in the record of Genesis 5 and 10. The length of time from Adam to Noah can be accurately found by adding the age of each man in the genealogy at the time of the birth of the son in the Massoretic text or Samaritan Pentateuch. While evaluating these sources, the author has required that two sources agree on the specific interval. The most questionable items are the age of Methuselah at the birth of his son, there being no agreement among the sources. And the age of Lamech at the birth of Noah because only using the data from the LXX allows Methuselah to die before the flood.

The New Testament records that Enoch was the seventh from Adam (Jude 14), which by the genealogy he is. The length of the life span after the son was born, plus the total length of the life, confirms that it is this son who was born and not that the man began to have children at this point and the successor was born some time later. A study of the manuscripts has the Massoretic text reading nearly always confirmed for the period from Adam to the flood by the Septuagint and/or the Samaritan Pentateuch. These sources never agree with each other for the numbers in Genesis 5 unless they agree with the Massoretic text. Where two or three witnesses agree a matter may be established (Deuteronomy 19:15). If the MT date for Lamech is chosen there is a problem with the date of the Flood, because it appears that Methuselah dies after the start of the flood.

The Scripture indicates a one-year per generation adjustment to these numbers. The Flood started when Noah was 600 years old or in his 600^th year. That is when Noah is 599 or in his 600^th year, he is said to be 600.[34] For this to be so, they must have used a different method to count ages. It appears that Noah was counted as one year old in his first year. Today we would not say that he was one until he entered his second year. If this reasoning is correct then the actual ages of the men in Genesis 5, are all one year higher than stated. This subtracts ten years, one year per generation, from Adam to the Flood. We can surmise that Adam was born in year one rather than year zero because the counting starts at one. This is partially removed because a son would on average be born .5 years later that his father, but up to one year per generation could be added back.

All recent conservative scholars interpret the statement that Arphaxad was born two years after the flood when Shem was 100 years old (Genesis 11:10) to mean that Shem was born when Noah was 602. Here it is taken to mean that he was born late in the year following the flood while Shem was still 100 (by the new reckoning). The Septuagint says in the second year after the flood rather than two years after the flood confirming this reasoning. It is of interest that the translation of Enoch occurred on near the twentieth Jubilee. Later we will find that at ten Jubilees intervals is often a major event. This brings then us to the date of the flood of 1652AM, about 4 years earlier than the standard Massoretic date of 1656 A.M. For reasons that will show up later there seems to be a 14-year discrepancy in the dating some time between the birth of Enoch and the birth of Isaac. I will include the error here, but more research is necessary. It could be related to the fact that the son is born on average .5 years later than the father. The time from Adam to the Flood is then 1666 years.

The Flood to Abraham

Most recent chronologists investigated used the patriarchal ages of the Massoretic text, which results in the shortest possible time between the flood and Abraham. The Samaritan Pentateuch is a very important witness to the text of the Old Testament and it provides a text of the chronologies of Genesis 5 and 11 that is independent of both the Septuagint and the Massoretic text.[35] The Septuagint and the Samaritan Pentateuch together agree on the years between generations. They are two witnesses, especially when correlated with other Biblical information, seems to provide a longer and better chronology than the Massoretic text. The chronology is better for the following reasons: Noah and Shem are considered righteous men it is therefore unlikely that they were involved in the sin at Babel. Abraham's fathers are said to have served other gods beyond the river (Joshua 24:14). If Noah and Shem were still alive at the time of Abraham then they would apparently be included in this sin of idolatry.[36] These problems disappear when using the Samaritan Pentateuch chronology, because the longer generations place the death of Noah and Shem before Babel. Luke 3:36 lists Cainan in the genealogy and there is no textual ground for eliminating this entry. Of these witnesses, only the Septuagint bears witness to this entry. It is likely that the entry for Cainan was dropped because the ages are the same as those for Selah. This is haplography. Wurthwein defines haplography as words or phrases found in immediate sequence and one omitted by error.[37] This can occur quite easily when a word or phrase matches a subsequent phrase. The addition of a name on the other hand would be a deliberate error.

If there is no reason to doubt the age of Noah at Shem's birth, then there is probably no reason to doubt the age of Terah at Abraham's birth, all manuscript evidence agrees that it was 70 years. One of the reasons driving the extending of Terah's age at Abraham's birth is to move the time of Babel earlier. If Terah's age at death is 145 as recorded in the Samaritan Pentateuch then there is no reason to doubt Stephen's statement in Acts 7:4 that Abram entered Canaan after the death of his father. The MT and the LXX record Terah’s age at death as 205 years. One group of scholars says Stephen made a mistake, but his mistake was accurately recorded, but Jesus said that the Spirit would guide the speech of those brought before a tribunal (Mark 13:11), as Stephen was, and Stephen was said to be a man especially full of the Holy Spirit. In addition, Stephen could not make his point without including some of this information.[38] These facts make it likely that Stephen made accurate statements. There is no reason to ask why Abraham would have commented that he had passed his time (to bear children) at one hundred (Genesis 17:17), his father did not bear Abraham at 130, as generally proposed, but at seventy. We do not have to ask the question why did Terah, an idolater (Joshua 24:14), lived 30 years longer than his son, a righteous man, remembering that in principle righteousness adds to the life (Proverbs 3:2).

A possible explanation for the variance of the Massoretic text has been proposed by Rehwinkel, "The word for one hundred was dropped by the copyist in the Massoretic text."[39] A second reason for variation is the numbers could be dropped inadvertently, but to add or change a number would take a deliberate manipulation of the text, which is less likely. For these reasons, the chronology here adopted follows the Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint for the genealogy of Genesis 11.

There are statements made in the Book of Jasher that tend to reveal it as a valuable source of history.

Another noteIn Jasher 7:23 "And Cush the son of Ham, the son of Noah, took a wife in those days, in his old age, and she bare a son, and they called his name Nimrod." Nimrod is called a son of Cush in the scriptural record, but it separates Nimrod from his other sons. Here Jasher explains that Nimrod was born late in Cush's life. Nimrod was the leader of all the people at the tower of Babel. Therefore, if Jasher is correct, Ham was probably dead before the division of the tongues. In addition, Shem and Noah would be dead, helping us to avoid explaining how these righteous men were involved in the sin at the tower of Babel. If Ham lived roughly the same amount of time that Shem lived, then the division at Babel probably occurred somewhat more than 500 years after the end of the flood. This would place a gap in the genealogical record between Eber and his son (or descendent) Peleg if we accept the reading of the Massoretic text, but no gap with the Septuagint reading. Apparently Joktan was born first, because the record of his sons in Genesis 11 is given and nations are said to have descended from them, while Eber's son Peleg is listed without descendants. Many scholars believe that the age recorded there is the father's age at the time the oldest son was born. Second, Genesis 11 says, each nation descended from these seventy persons. Therefore, the tongues must have been divided among the people who represent those nations. Abraham, a descendent of Peleg, is called a Hebrew therefore it is likely that Joktan and his sons spoke their own language while Eber and Peleg spoke Hebrew. Abraham is called a Hebrew because of the language he spoke.

A Proposed BC Date for the Creation of Adam

Here some assumptions will be made that will be defended later. The Exodus occurred in 1438 BC, The length of the Egyptian sojourn was 400 years. From Abraham entering Canaan until Jacob journeyed to Egypt was 215 years. Abram was 75 year old when he journeyed to Canaan; therefore Abraham was born in 2128 BC.[41] From Adam to Abraham birth is 2738 years. Therefore the creation of Adam occurred in 4866 BC (2128 BC + 2738 years). Can Jubilee dating be used to extend back to the creation of Adam? God told the Moses when to celebrate the Jubilee, therefore God knowing the time of creation of Adam and specifying the Jubilee year could have made the times line up. The flood occurred in 1666AM (Anno Mundi) a Jubilee year (34*49). Isaiah 61:2 indicates Jubilee years can be either a time of God's favor or His vengeance or both. The above date for Adam's creation 4866 BC is evenly divisible by periods of 49 years from the already surmised Jubilee years. There is therefore no reason to doubt that Jubilee years extended back to Adam even if they were not celebrated in the same way.

Table 2: FROM ADAM TO ABRAHAM
		Year	Year	age at	years	years	year
		Born	Born	son's	after	lived	died		Supporting
	Name	BC	AM	birth	son's		AM	References	Manuscripts
					birth
	Adam	4869	0	129	800	929	929	Gen.5:3-5	SP & MT
	Seth	4740	129	104	807	911	1040	Gen.5:6-8	SP & MT
	Enos	4636	233	89	815	904	1137	Gen.5:9-11	SP & MT
	Cainan	4547	322	69	840	909	1231	Gen.5:12-14	SP & MT
	Mahalaleel	4478	391	64	830	894	1285	Gen.5:15-17	SP & MT
	Jared	4414	455	161	800	961	1416	Gen.5:18-20	LXX & MT
	Enoch	4253	616	64	300	364	980[42]	Gen.5:21-24	SP & MT
	Methuselah	4189	680	186	782	968	1648	Gen.5:25-27	LXX & MT
	Lamech	4003	866	187	566	782	1648	Gen.5:28-31	LXX
	Noah	3816	1053	499	450	949	1996	Gen.5:32	SP,MT,LXX
	Shem	3317	1552	100	500	(600)	2152	Gen.11:10-11	SP,MT,LXX
	Flood	3217	1652	2				30*49=1470	31*49=1519
	Flood	3200	1666	2				Gen.6-8
	Arphaxad	3198	1654	135	403?	(438)	2106	Gen.11:12-13	SP & LXX
	Cainan	3063	1789	130	330	(460)	2263	Gen.11:13	LXX & Luke
	Shelah	2933	1919	130	303	(433)	2366	Gen.11:14-15	SP & LXX
	Eber	2803	2049	134	270	(404)	2467	Gen.11:16-17	SP & LXX
	Peleg	2669	2183	130	109	(239)	2436	Gen.11:18-19	SP & LXX
	Reu	2539	2313	132	107	(239)	2566	Gen.11:20-21	SP & LXX
	Serug	2407	2445	130	100	(230)	2689	Gen.11:22-23	SP & LXX
	Nahor	2277	2575	79	69	(148)	2737	Gen.11:24-25	SP & LXX
	Terah		2654	70	(75)	145		Gen.11:26,32	SP & Acts
	Abram	2128	2724	100	75	175	2913	Gen.12:4	SP, MT, LXX

	Flood	3200	1666	2				Gen.6-8
	Arphaxad	3198	1668	135	403?	(438)	2106	Gen.11:12-13	SP & LXX
	Cainan	3063	1803	130	330	(460)	2263	Gen.11:13	LXX & Luke
	Shelah	2933	1933	130	303	(433)	2366	Gen.11:14-15	SP & LXX
	Eber	2803	2063	134	270	(404)	2467	Gen.11:16-17	SP & LXX
	Peleg	2669	2197	130	109	(239)	2436	Gen.11:18-19	SP & LXX
	Reu	2539	2327	132	107	(239)	2566	Gen.11:20-21	SP & LXX
	Serug	2407	2459	130	100	(230)	2689	Gen.11:22-23	SP & LXX
	Nahor	2277	2589	79	69	(148)	2737	Gen.11:24-25	SP & LXX
	Terah			70		(145)		Gen.11:26,32	SP
	Terah	2198	2668	70	75	(135)	2803	Gen.11:26,32
	Abram	2128	2738	100	75	175	2913	Gen.12:4

Table 3: JUBILEE EVENTS
	Year AM	Jubilee	Year	Standard	Event Description
	0	0	4866 BC	4004 BC	Creation of Adam and Eve
	980	20	3886 BC		Enoch translated
	1656		3210 BC	2348 BC	The Flood
	2842	58	2027 BC	2065 BC	Isaac Born
	2940	60	1929 BC		Esau sold his birthright to Jacob & Famine
	2989	61	1880 BC	1922 BC	Jacob marries & Sons of Israel (Reuben) start arriving
	3038	62	1831 BC		Just after the end of the seven years of famine.
	3430	70	1439 BC	1146 BC	Moses and the burning bush, the year before the Exodus.
	3479	71	1390 BC	1399 BC	The first planting in the promised land.
	3822	78	1047 BC	1043 BC	The anointing of King Saul.
	3920	80	949 BC	958 BC	The dedication of Solomon’s Temple
	4165	85	704 BC	701 BC	The 15th year of Hezekiah.
	4263	87	606 BC	605 BC	Judah first carried into Babylon.
	4410	90	459 BC	452 BC	Ezra restored people 6 years before Jerusalem restored
	4900	100	AD 32	28 or 31	Year after Jesus Announces 'Acceptable year of the Lord'.

Many events are at 490 year[43] or 10 jubilee intervals.

The Patriarchal Period

The period from Abraham's entrance into the Promised Land until Jacob descended into Egypt is one of the least disputed intervals of time. Rowley succinctly outlines it as follows, "In Genesis 12:4 we read that Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran, and in Genesis 21:5 that he was one hundred years old when Isaac was born. Since Genesis 25:26 states that Isaac was sixty years old when Jacob was born, and Genesis 47:9 puts the age of Jacob at 130 when he went into Egypt, we have a total of 215 years from the migration of Abram to the Descent into Egypt."[44] The period from the entrance of Abraham into Canaan to the Egyptian sojourn is 215 as agreed among all scholars consulted and unchallenged here.

Table 4: ABRAHAM TO THE EXODUS
Elap-	Year	Year
sed	AM	BC	Event	Terah		Abraham	Sarah	References
		2129	Abraham born	70		0	-	Gen.11:32;12:4;Acts 7:4
45			Terah dies	145		(75)	(65)	Gen. 11:32
0		2054	Abram to Canaan		Ishmael	75	(65)	Gen. 12:4
11		2040	Ishmael born	Isaac	0	86	(76)	Gen. 16:16
13		2027*	Circumcision		13	99	(89)	Gen. 17:1, 24
1		2026	Isaac born	0	(14)	100	90	Gen. 21:5;17:17
37		1989	Sarah dies	(37)	(51)	(137)	127	Gen. 23:1
3		1986	Isaac marries	40	(54)	(140)	Jacob	Gen. 24:67; 25:19
20		1966	Jacob & Esau born	60	(74)	(160)	0	Gen. 25:26
15		1951	Abraham dies	(75)	(89)	175	15	Gen. 25:7
24		1929*	Sold birthright	[99]	[113]		[39]	Gen. 25:31
1		1928	Esau marries	(100)	(114)		40	Gen. 26:34
23		1905	Ishmael dies	(123)	137		(63)	Gen. 25:17
17		1888	Jacob's flight	(140)		Joseph	(80)	Gen. 28:5
7		1881	Jacob marries	(147)			(87)	Gen. 29:20-30
1		1880*	Rueben born	(148)			(88)	Gen. 29: 31-32
5		1876	Joseph born	(154)		0	(94)	Gen. 30:25; 31:41
8	3001	1868	Jacob enters Canaan	(160)		(8)	(100)	Gen. 31:38, 41 Ex. 12:41
2		1862	Joseph sold	(169)		17	(109)	Gen. 37:2-28
11		1851	Isaac dies	180		(28)	(120)	Gen. 35:28
2		1849	Joseph made Vizier			30	(122)	Gen. 41:46
8	2972	1838	Jacob to Egypt			(39)	130	Gen. 46:1;47:9
6	2978	1831	End of famine			(44)	(135)
12		1819	Jacob dies			(56)	147	Genesis 47:28
54		1765	Joseph dies			110		Genesis 50:26
326	3430	1439*	Burning bush					Ex. 3:2-3
1	3431	1438	Exodus					Ex. 12:40-41

* Marks a Jubilee year () Calculated numbers [] Estimated numbers

Bible mentions three circumcisions that were not done on the eighth day, all occurred at God's specific instruction. Abraham and his entire household were circumcised just before the feast of unleavened bread in Abraham's 99^th year. Moses' son was circumcised shortly before the start of the plagues on Egypt. The Israelites born in the wilderness were circumcised about the 11^th of Nisan as they entered the Promised Land.[45] The circumcisions that can be dated occurred just before the middle of Nisan. Moses' son could be the same. This would allow us to estimate the approximate date of the burning bush as the start of Nisan one-year before the Exodus.

Discerning the date of Jacob’s marriage is somewhat more difficult, Jacob came to Egypt when he was 130 years old near the end of the second year of famine. Joseph became vizier at age 30 about 8 years earlier. Joseph was born near the end of the seven-year period following Jacob’s marriage to Leah and Rachael. So Jacob got married when he was about 130 - (38+6) = 86 years old.

The Egyptian Sojourn

There are three main opinions for the length of the Egyptian sojourn: 430 years, 400 years, and 215 years.[46] Exodus 12:40-41 in the Massoretic text supports the 430-year view where the sojourn in Egypt is said to be 430 years to the day. It interprets the 430 years of Galatians 3:17 to commence with the promise to Isaac, the seed of Abraham, as he entered Egypt (Genesis 46:1-4). This view holds that the genealogies of the period were often abbreviated. This view sees the 400-year period as the period of bondage to Egypt.

The Septuagint and Samaritan Pentateuch add a phrase missing in the Massoretic text to Exodus 12:40-41, Now the sojourn of the sons of Israel in the land of Canaan and in the land of Egypt was 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all Yahweh's divisions left Egypt. The 215-year period takes the reading of the Septuagint, but assumes that the 430-year period includes the 215-year period of the patriarchs in the Promised Land. The 400 years[47] is timed from the weaning of Isaac at age five.[48]

It is here proposed that the length from the return of Israel to Canaan after the sojourn in Padam Aram to the Exodus is 430 years. These witnesses allow 430 years to include the time sons of Israel are in Canaan and Egypt. The sons of Israel arrived in Canaan when Jacob returned from Padam Aram. Galatians 3:16-17 430 years from promise to Abraham and his seed to the Exodus. This "promise to his seed" was made to Jacob just before crossing Jabbok when he wrestled with God and his name was changed to Israel (Genesis 32). After Israel and his sons had spent 30 years in Canaan, they went down to Egypt for 400 years as promised to Abraham. It also agrees with Acts 13:19-20. Because the “about 450” conflicts with 1 Kings 6:1 and Judges 11:26 it must refer to the period in Egypt for this to be true. The about 450 years is broken down as follows: 400 years in Egypt, 40 years wandering, and 8½ years to full division of property. Any reading of Exodus 12:40-41 disproves the 215 year sojourn in Egypt because it says the period of time is for the sons of Israel, because until about 40 years before the Egyptian sojourn there were no "sons of Israel.” Jacob's name was first changed to Israel while he was returning from Padam Aram and preparing to confront his brother Esau. This is also the same time that his sons first entered Canaan. Before that, his sons had always lived in Padam Aram. Both the promise made to Abraham, and the recap by Achior[49], make it clear that the time in Egypt was 400 years.

The promise to return in the fourth generation was made to Abraham. His promised son was born when he was 100 years old. Four of Abraham's generations of promise are precisely 400 years. The word for generation means 1) a man's entire life span, 2) more commonly from a man's birth to the birth of his offspring, 3) a period or age of time.[50] However, in the fourth generation, they shall come out.[51] If a generation is the period of the average life span then it is 400/4=100 years. This seems unlikely to be the average time between the birth of the father and the birth of his son remembering Abraham's comment of his age at the time of the promise of the birth of Isaac that he was beyond child bearing age and his wife was barren. The 400^th year was just starting when Israel came out of Egypt.

This cannot be 400 years of oppression because the oppression does not start until later, at least after the death of Joseph. The oppression does not get severe until the time of the birth of Moses. Aaron, Moses' older brother, was not threatened with death. Joseph was a leader until his death and it supports the twelve sons of Israel dying before the time of oppression. Then a pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph (Exodus 1:8). This occurred after Jacob died because Joseph promised to provide for his brothers and their children at that time (Genesis 50:21). In addition, it says Joseph was embalmed implying that he retained his status until his death (Genesis 50:2, 26).

Acts 13:19-20 further comments, Scripture says He "gave" them their land as an inheritance[52] rather than he "promised" them their land as an inheritance suggests that the time referred to ends when they actually receive their land. Luke here uses the prefix kata before the verb. This intensifies the meaning of "to receive as an inheritance" to "fully receive as an inheritance," meaning they settled in their inheritance. The reason this passage is given a "D" rating (meaning no good reading or a great uncertainty in the reading) is not that the best text cannot be found but rather that the best text apparently disagrees with 1 Kings 6:1. Farrar reminds us that in the decision about which of two readings to select the rule is to choose the more difficult reading.[53] This period fits when applied to the period in Egypt and conflicts with the length of the period of the Judges.

400 Year Duration of the Egyptian Sojourn Shown from Genealogies

The sojourn in Egypt was 400 years; this promise was to be slaves in a country not their own made to Abraham. From the following, it can be discerned that we do not have a complete genealogy of Moses (Kohath, Amram, and Moses) during the sojourn in Egypt. Kohath lived 133 years (Exodus 6:18), and Kohath was alive when Israel went into Egypt (Genesis 46:11). Amram lived 137 years (Exodus 6:20). There is at least one missing generation here. Because God said they would come out in the fourth generation, there would only be three otherwise. Moses was eighty at the time of the Exodus, at that time, Amram’s father, Kohath, had 8600 male descendants, and it appears that about twenty-five percent are descendants of Amram.[54] The maximum time without adding extra generations is 350 (133+137+80) years between these men. If the four generations spoken of to Abraham are taken as the total then we can find the average number of children per family during the exile. Seventy people went down to Egypt: Jacob, twelve sons, fifty-one grandsons, four great-grandsons, a daughter and two granddaughters.[55] If there were five generations, with and average of fourteen children per family, there would not have been sufficient people to have 600,000 men at the time of the Exodus. If even fourteen children per generation are not enough, it is unlikely that five generations was enough. Archer has proposed that the sons needing redemption are the first born sons, born since leaving Egypt.[56] This lessens the need for such large families. In addition, four generations would be a short period to span 400 years.

A passage that indicates a longer Egyptian sojourn is 1 Chronicles 7:20-27, the genealogy from Ephraim to Joshua. Ephraim, Joseph's second child, was born in the seven-year period before the start of the seven years of famine (Genesis 41:50). The generations are Ephraim, Shuthelah, Bered, Tahath, Eladah, Tahath, Zabad, and Zhuthelah (1 Chronicles 7:20-27). If each man were 23 when his son was born there would be 161 years between the birth of Ephraim and the Birth of Zhuthelah, seven generations later. Ezer and Elead were killed in battle with men of Gath. If these were sons, there would be an additional generation here. Ephraim was still alive at that point and had an additional son Beriah. From Beriah to Joshua, the genealogy has nine more generations. The series of generations are Beriah¾Ephraim's new son, then Repheph, Resheph, Telah, Tahan, Laadan, Ammihud, Elishama, Nun, and Joshua. If each man were 23 when his son was born there would be 207 more years for a total of 368 years from the birth of Ephraim to the birth of Joshua. If Joshua were thirty at the Exodus, this would bring the total to 398 years, very close to the 400 years of the sojourn in Egypt. The minimum time between Jacob's entrance into Egypt and the Exodus would be about 330 years, if the average generation were only 18 years. If this is compared with the often-proposed Egyptian sojourn of 215 years, it makes the 215-year period obviously short because the average generation would have to be less than 12 years.

Joseph lived to be 110 and Joseph saw Ephraim's children to the third generation (Genesis 50:22-23), Joseph stood before pharaoh when he was 30 years old (Genesis 41:46) therefore within 80 years (110-30) the third generation was born. Both Ephraim and Manasseh were born before Joseph was thirty-seven. Therefore there are between seventy and 78 years for "children" of Bered's generation (the third) to be born but to not yet have any children of Tahath's generation (the fourth) yet born. It also mentions the children being brought up on Joseph's knees; this might imply that they were counted as the next generation.[57] Ephraim and Manasseh were counted as Israel's sons while on Israel's knees.[58] Ephraim was second born; therefore, he was probably not born until at least two years after Joseph rose to power. Because there was a promise that they would come out in the fourth generation it is interesting that Ephraim, a member of the first generation, should have a child (Beriah) so late in life, about 180 years old, thus allowing the generation from father to son to be greatly extended over its normal time (1 Chronicles 7:23). If this was repeated then some of the members of the fourth generation would still be alive. Might not men in the days of Moses' birth, mourn over the loss of their descendants who were cast in the river and therefore seek to bear new children? This also explains how the population could increase so greatly, where the promise was that they would come out a great nation in the fourth generation.

While over a period of 400 years with the population doubling every 25 years there would be more than 4.5 million Israelites. However, there is only about 2.5 million. Why? First, the pharaoh attempted to kill the male children. Secondly, the Book of Jasher records that when Ephraim was 180 years old (the age his grandfather died); forty thousand of his descendants were killed in a battle with the Philistines at Gath. The battle would reduce the enormous population and it would explain Ephraim's mourning (1 Chronicles 7:22). He was not mourning for two lost descendants, but for a multitude of descendants. Josephus mentions that they were not led by the "Way of the Philistines" because they were hated because of a quarrel of old.[59] Further, it greatly extends the time from between generations and if Abraham's seed were counted in Ephraim, it would be specifically the number of generations Ephraim had in Egypt until the Exodus.[60]

Year	Year
A.M.	BC	Event
		Flood
		Babel
		Start of First Dynasty
		Start of Second Dynasty
		Start of Third Dynasty
		Joseph to Egypt as a slave