LXX vs MT time in Egypt

samaus123456789 · 2025-12-13T05:34:56-0600

The 430 vs 215 years in Egypt question comes down to how Exodus 12:40–41 is read and which textual tradition you follow, and it also ties directly into Paul’s statement in Galatians 3:17.

I’ll lay it out cleanly and chronologically.

1. The Two Positions

Option A: 430 years in Egypt

View: Israel lived in Egypt for the full 430 years.

Text used:
Masoretic Text (MT) – Exodus 12:40

“Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.”

Implication:

Jacob enters Egypt → 430 years later → Exodus
This requires very compressed genealogies (e.g., Levi → Kohath → Amram → Moses covering 430 years)

Option B: 215 years in Egypt

View: The 430 years covers the entire period from Abraham to the Exodus, not Egypt alone.
Actual time in Egypt = 215 years.

Texts used:

Septuagint (LXX) – Exodus 12:40
Samaritan Pentateuch
Paul (Galatians 3:17)

LXX reads:

“The sojourning of the children of Israel, which they sojourned in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, was four hundred and thirty years.”

2. Paul Settles the Timeline (Galatians 3:17)

Paul says:

“The law, which came four hundred and thirty years after, does not annul the covenant previously confirmed by God.”

This refers to:

Covenant with Abraham → 430 years → Law at Sinai

That cannot fit 430 years only in Egypt, because:

Abraham lived long before Jacob entered Egypt
Isaac and Jacob are clearly inside the 430-year span Paul is counting

Therefore, Paul assumes 430 years total, not Egypt-only.

3. Chronological Breakdown (215-year Egypt model)

Using Genesis data:

Event	Years
Abraham enters Canaan (age 75)	Year 0
Isaac born (Gen 21:5)	+25
Jacob born (Isaac age 60)	+60
Jacob enters Egypt (age 130)	+130
Total before Egypt	215 years
Time in Egypt	215 years
Total to Exodus	430 years

This matches:

Paul
LXX
Samaritan Pentateuch
Normal human lifespans
Uncompressed genealogies

4. Genealogical Evidence

Levi → Moses line:

Levi
Kohath
Amram
Moses

Even with maximum lifespans, these cannot span 430 years naturally.
They fit perfectly into ~215 years.

5. Why the Masoretic Text Reads Differently

The MT:

Omits “and in the land of Canaan”
Likely reflects later rabbinic tradition
Creates tension with:
- Paul
- Genesis chronology
- Genealogies

Notably:

All pre-Christian witnesses (LXX, Samaritan) preserve the longer reading.

6. Conclusion

Biblically and chronologically:

430 years = from Abraham’s covenant to the Exodus
215 years = actual time Israel lived in Egypt

This is:

The view assumed by Paul
The view preserved in the LXX
The only view that harmonizes Genesis, Exodus, and Galatians

1. Anchor Date: The Exodus

Using the biblical internal chronology (1 Kings 6:1):

Exodus → 480 years → 4th year of Solomon

Solomon’s 4th year is widely dated to 966 BC.

So:

Exodus = 1446 BC

(This is the standard early-Exodus date used in conservative biblical chronology.)

2. Abraham to the Exodus (430 years total)

Paul (Gal 3:17) places 430 years from the Abrahamic covenant to the Law at Sinai.

So:

Abraham enters Canaan (Gen 12) = 1876 BC
Exodus = 1446 BC

1876 − 1446 = 430 years

Anchor

Exodus: 1446 BC

Abraham

Abraham enters Canaan (age 75): 1446 + 430 = 1876 BC
Abraham born (75 years earlier): 1876 + 75 = 1951 BC

Isaac

Isaac born (Abraham age 100): 1876 + 25 = 1851 BC

Jacob

Jacob born (Isaac age 60): 1851 + 60 = 1791 BC

Jacob enters Egypt

Jacob enters Egypt (age 130): 1791 + 130 = 1661 BC

Time in Egypt

Israel enters Egypt: 1661 BC
Exodus: 1446 BC
Time in Egypt: 1661 − 1446 = 215 years ✅

So the corrected statement is:

215 years in Egypt = 1661 BC to 1446 BC,

samaus123456789 · 2025-12-13T05:45:38-0600

1. Abraham’s Call (Genesis 12)

Text: Genesis 12:1–4

Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.

Date

Abraham enters Canaan (the call): 1876 BC
Abraham’s age: 75

This is the event Paul treats as the covenant starting point (Galatians 3:17).

2. Circumcision Command (Genesis 17)

Text: Genesis 17:1, 24

Abram was 99 years old when the LORD appeared to him…
And Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised.

Date

From age 75 → age 99 = 24 years
1876 BC − 24 years = 1852 BC

So:

Circumcision instituted: 1852 BC
Abraham’s age: 99

3. Isaac’s Birth (for confirmation)

Text: Genesis 21:5

Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.

Isaac born: 1851 BC

This confirms the circumcision date one year earlier.

4. Summary Table

Event	Abraham’s Age	Date (BC)
Called / enters Canaan	75	1876 BC
Circumcision commanded	99	1852 BC
Isaac born	100	1851 BC
Jacob enters Egypt	130	1661 BC
Exodus	—	1446 BC

5. Theological Note (important)

This means:

Circumcision comes 24 years after the promise
Law comes 430 years after the promise
Which is exactly Paul’s argument in Romans 4 and Galatians 3

samaus123456789 · 2025-12-13T05:57:18-0600

1. What Scripture explicitly fixes — and what it does not

Explicit in Scripture

Israel left Egypt on the 15th day of the 1st month (Passover week)
(Exod 12:6, 12:17, 12:41; Num 33:3)

Not explicit anywhere in Scripture

The month or day Israel entered Egypt
(Genesis 46–47 gives Jacob’s age only, not a date)

So any assumption about the entry month—including “it must have been Passover”—is an inference, not a biblical statement.

2. “To the very day” ≠ “same month”

Exodus 12:41:

“At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.”

The phrase “to the very day” (ʿeṣem hayyôm hazzeh) means:

exact chronological completion
not “same calendar date as the entry into Egypt”

Proof from Scripture itself

That same phrase is used for:

Noah entering the ark (Gen 7:13)
Abraham circumcised (Gen 17:23)
Israel crossing the Jordan (Josh 5:11)

In none of those cases does it imply an anniversary of a prior calendar date — it means “precisely when the period was fulfilled.”

3. What the 430-year “anniversary” actually refers to

Paul tells us explicitly.

Galatians 3:17

“The law, which came 430 years later, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God.”

So the anniversary being marked is:

Abraham’s call / covenant (Gen 12)
not Jacob’s descent into Egypt

That covenant did not occur at Passover.
Therefore:

The Exodus being at Passover does not require
the entry into Egypt to be at Passover

They are different reference points.

4. Why Passover is fixed to the Exodus — not the entry

Passover is instituted because of the Exodus, not because of the entry into Egypt.

Exodus 12:14:

“This day shall be unto you for a memorial…”

Meaning:

The calendar is reshaped around redemption
Not around migration into Egypt

So the Torah anchors sacred time to deliverance, not to arrival.

5. Jubilees is not contradicting Scripture here

Jubilees gives: 21st day of the 10th month for entry
Scripture gives: 15th day of the 1st month for exit
Scripture never claims those must match

Jubilees is simply preserving a tradition Scripture leaves unstated.

Nothing in Exodus says:

“Israel entered Egypt in the same month they left.”

That idea is modern inference, not biblical logic.

LXX vs MT time in Egypt

samaus123456789

Active Member

1. The Two Positions​

Option A: 430 years in Egypt​

Option B: 215 years in Egypt​

2. Paul Settles the Timeline (Galatians 3:17)​

3. Chronological Breakdown (215-year Egypt model)​

4. Genealogical Evidence​

Levi → Moses line:​

5. Why the Masoretic Text Reads Differently​

6. Conclusion​

1. Anchor Date: The Exodus​

2. Abraham to the Exodus (430 years total)​

Anchor​

Abraham​

Isaac​

Jacob​

Jacob enters Egypt​

Time in Egypt​

samaus123456789

Active Member

1. Abraham’s Call (Genesis 12)​

Date​

2. Circumcision Command (Genesis 17)​

Date​

3. Isaac’s Birth (for confirmation)​

4. Summary Table​

5. Theological Note (important)​

samaus123456789

Active Member

1. What Scripture explicitly fixes — and what it does not​

Explicit in Scripture​

Not explicit anywhere in Scripture​

2. “To the very day” ≠ “same month”​

Proof from Scripture itself​

3. What the 430-year “anniversary” actually refers to​

Galatians 3:17​

4. Why Passover is fixed to the Exodus — not the entry​

5. Jubilees is not contradicting Scripture here​

Similar threads

1. The Two Positions

Option A: 430 years in Egypt

Option B: 215 years in Egypt

2. Paul Settles the Timeline (Galatians 3:17)

3. Chronological Breakdown (215-year Egypt model)

4. Genealogical Evidence

Levi → Moses line:

5. Why the Masoretic Text Reads Differently

6. Conclusion

1. Anchor Date: The Exodus

2. Abraham to the Exodus (430 years total)

Anchor

Abraham

Isaac

Jacob

Jacob enters Egypt

Time in Egypt

1. Abraham’s Call (Genesis 12)

Date

2. Circumcision Command (Genesis 17)

Date

3. Isaac’s Birth (for confirmation)

4. Summary Table

5. Theological Note (important)

1. What Scripture explicitly fixes — and what it does not

Explicit in Scripture

Not explicit anywhere in Scripture

2. “To the very day” ≠ “same month”

Proof from Scripture itself

3. What the 430-year “anniversary” actually refers to

Galatians 3:17

4. Why Passover is fixed to the Exodus — not the entry

5. Jubilees is not contradicting Scripture here