To better determine how the Israelite's could have been in Egypt for 400+ years, we are going to build a timeline which will help put the matter into perspective. We will start with Abraham, Issac, Jacob and Joseph before turning to Egyptian history and then we will examine Joseph and Levi in regards to chronology and generational details. As a fair warning, this will involve some dates and ages of Biblical characters. Up until a year or so ago, I had always supposed that the 400 years mentioned in Genesis 15:13 was figurative. When I began using the Flashlight method I realized that the 400 years could not be figurative. When I looked at the Bible and Egyptian history in the figurative sense, dates and timelines did not match up. Once I started taking the 400 years literally, dates and time periods began to make more sense.
According to Genesis 12:4 Abraham departed Haren when he was 75.
- He was in Egypt at the age of 75 (due to famine) during the reign of Mentuhotep II. Some interesting corroborating information is that Mentuhotep II was a ladies man and certainly did not believe in monogamy. This fits with him taking Sarai and wanting to make her his wife. Genesis 12:17, like Egyptian history mentions that this Pharaoh or king had several princes of sons. I am still looking for information as to whether ancient Egyptian history records anything akin to plagues during this period. We do know that Mentuhotep II had some rare and bizare health issues and these ailments would certainly have interrupted the love life of a man who was always on the lookout.
We can infer, looking at Genesis 12:10-20 that the sequence of events are not out of harmony with what is logical and expected. Abram and Sarai upon entering Egypt adopt the subterfuge of Sarai being Abram's sister in order to save his life. (It makes you wonder what Abram had heard about Egypt before he actually went there.) The princes of Egypt end up seeing Sarai and noting that she was very fair, made certain that Pharaoh was informed. The upshot is that Sarai is taken into Pharaoh's house which was both an honor and a danger. Believing that Sarai was fair game, it would have been natural for the unsuspecting Pharaoh, who believed that Abram was her brother, to be kind to him and to obtain his blessing regarding Mentuhotep's intended and perhaps immanent course of action. Genesis 12:17 states that the Lord plagued Pharaoh's house with great plagues. The Biblical record does not tell us how Mentuhotep II found out that Sarai was Abram's wife. The Pharaoh's words were, "What hast thou done unto me?" The holy record does not record Pharaoh's emotions, but reading between the lines, we get the impression that he was not a happy camper and that he was anxious for Abram to leave Egypt. Another item history has passed on to us is the fact that most or all of his wives and concubines seemed to have died around the same time. If there is a connection, then at the moment this consideration is definitely in the speculation category. The Pharaoh was anxious for Abraham to leave Egypt. Whether was because the Pharaoh's love life was on hold or whether he was paranoid or in great fear, we can't say for certain. What we do know is that Mentuhotep II had a rather pronounced swelling of his lower limbs which would certainly have impeded any motivations regarding any intimate endeavors. This is a rather rare condition and we cannot definitively say that it is the result of a plague though it is food for thought.
Ten years pass making Abraham 85. (Genesis 16:3)
- Abraham marries Hagar at the prodding of Sarai. He would have been 86 when Ismael was born (Genesis 16:16).
In Genesis 15:13, God informs Abraham that his descendants would become strangers and slaves, afflicted for 400 years in a land that was not theirs.
In Genesis 17:1 Abraham was 99 years old when God reaffirmed the covenant.
-Abraham was 100 years old in Genesis 21:5 when Issac was born.
In Genesis 25:20 Issac was 40 years old.
-Abraham would have been 140 years old. He would have been 160 when Jacob was born. Since Abraham lived to 175 years old, (Genesis 25:7) Jacob would have been 15 when Abraham died.
-Verse 26 of Genesis 25 tells us that Issac was 60 when Jacob and Esau was were born.
In Genesis 47:28, Jacob is 147 at his death and Joseph was 56 at this point in time.
- In Genesis 47:8-9, a curious Amenemhet III asks Jacob how old he is and Jacob responds in verse 9 that he is 130 years old. Joseph would have been 39 at this point. He was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh after being released from prison. 30 years (Genesis 41:46) + 7 years of plenty + 2 years of the 7 years of the famine would add up to 39. Add 17 years (later when Jacob died) and he would have been 56. 147 – 56 = 91 years. Joseph was born when Jacob was 91 and he like his brother Benjamin really were the children of their father’s old age.
- At 91, Jacob would have been 60 years younger than his father, which means that when Joseph was born Issac his grandfather would have been about 151.
Issac was born 25 years after Abraham had been to Egypt (when he was 75).
25 + 151 years = 176 years. Then add 17 years which was Joseph’s age when he went to Egypt. Here we find that there is almost 200 years (193) between Abraham having been informed by God of the servitude of his descendants (Genesis 15:13) and Joseph being sold in Egypt. The length of time from Genesis 37:2 when Joseph was 17 to Exodus 12:40 is more than 430 years, which works and we will cover why later. 200 years in Caanan and 400+ years in Egypt. From Abraham to the Exodus is more than 600 years which deviates from the supposition that the Israelites could not have been in Egypt for 400+ years and even further from the length of time of which God mentioned in Genesis 15:13. The 400 years cannot be figurative.
Joseph lived to the age of 110. 110 – 17 = 93 years, which is how long Joseph lived in Egypt.
- This is important and along with the age and linage of Levi, we can help to piece together how the children of Israel could have been in Egypt for 400+ years. Because we are using the Flashlight method we need to turn to Egyptian history, but before we do, I will briefly note that something which happened to Joseph when he was 27. This is important and we will cover this later. There are some significant indicators that Thutmose III was the Pharaoh of the Exodus and we will cover why later.
The 18th dynasty is arguably the most famous dynasty in all of Egyptian history. One of its last and most famous Pharaohs was Tutankhamen. And there is his rather odd father Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) who briefly switched Egypt from polytheism to monotheism. There is Pharaoh Hatshepsut, the only woman who truly became a Pharaoh and who my research points to as being the Egyptian mother of Moses. And there is (again) the guy who historians call the Napoleon of ancient Egypt, Pharaoh Thutmose III who according to Egyptian history, never lost a battle but whose death is somewhat mysterious. If one knows what to look for, the mummy of Thutmose III in the Cairo museum does reveal some interesting secrets. Thutmose III (1458-1425 BC) reigned about 430 years after Amenemhet III (the Pharaoh who elevated Joseph) and more than 600 years after Mentuhotep II. The 18th dynasty gives us the confirmatory ability to calculate when the slavery of the Israelite's began in earnest.
-If we want to know when something happened we usually look it up on the internet. We often start by looking up the date for when the event happened, who was connected and perhaps when they were born or when they died. So we subtract the date in question with the current date in order to know how many years ago the event in question happened. When calculating dates before the birth of Christ (B.C) we need to add in order to go further back in time to a correct date.
Ahmose I reigned 25 years. (1550-1525 B.C) Later we will cover various details that archaeology and history tell us about how this Pharaoh enslaved the Israelite's as well as various indicators regarding his motives.
Amenhotep I reigned for 20 years. (1525-1504 B.C) This Pharaoh would naturally have tightened the grip on the Israelite's that his conqueror father, Ahmose I would have established.
Thutmose I reigned for 13 years. (1506-1493) There are some indicators that he had a co-regency with Amenhotep I in the initial two years of his rule. Thutmose I and Amenhotep I had the same problem and that was that they both had full royal daughters but no full royal sons. There is unverified speculation that Thutmose I was related to Amenhotep I in an illegitimate manner and that he had been a high ranking soldier before he became Pharaoh. And because Thutmose I had no full royal sons he then decided that his full royal daughter Hatshepsut (foremost among noble ladies) should marry his illegitimate son Thutmose II. And that is what happened. There are also indicators that Moses would have been born within the 1st year of the 1st year of the reign of Thutmose I.
The mysterious death of Thutmose III, the Pharoah of the Exodus, occurred in 1425 B.C. Moses would have been 80 years old when this guy died. If we go back in time and add the 80 years of Moses’s life, what date would we arrive at? 1425 + 80 = 1505 which is within one year of the beginning of the reign of Thutmose I. So we can say that Moses was probably born around 1505. This would have made him 40 in 1465 when he committed murder and fled. It would have made him 80 in 1425 which was the year that Thutmose III’s reign ended according to Egyptian history. Using the flashlight method, looking at dates is a whole new ball game.
Thutmose II reigned for 14 years. (1493-1479 B.C) He did not reign for very long and not long before his death he had a son who would become Thutmose III.
Hatshepsut reigned for 21 years. (1479-1458 B.C) Usually the 21 years that Hatshepsut reigned first as regent and then as Pharaoh are placed within the reign of Thutmose III and the figure for both is around 54 years. She had a daughter named Neferue with Thutmose II which we will cover later. Hatshepsut is a very interesting ruler for several reasons. Her mummy was lost to the ages for about 3000 years. Her mummy was identified in 2007 and is now in the Cairo museum. Hatshepsut’s reign was a reign of prosperity and advancement. This can be seen if you visit or look up her mortuary temple in Deir El Bahri, which, even with the passage of time is an amazing complex.
A further word about Hatshepsut.
- It is an oddity that the Bible records in Genesis 46:34 that Egyptians would have preferred anything to keeping livestock and didn’t particularity like being around shepherds. And of course the Israelite's were adept at this. The oddity is that the crook was a royal symbol for a nation that did not like being around shepherds. The word crook, here, is not a reference to a thief, but a small staff with a question mark shape on the end and ceremonially held by the Pharaoh. Opposite and crossed with the crook was the flail (both an implement of authority and harvesting). These were royal emblems of the Pharaoh and were symbols of what a crown would later come to signify to an innumerable number of western rulers who would show up in history thousands of years afterwards.
-There are indications from both the Bible and Egyptian history that the daughter of Pharaoh, Hatshepsut was a different kind of ruler than most of the kings of the 18th dynasty. While most mummies had both their arms crossed over their chest in what is known as the Osirion position, representing their holding the crook and flail, Hatsheput does not. Only her left arm is bent over her chest which would most likely be grasping the crook rather than the flail. The flail would usually be grasped in the right hand and the crook in the left. It is known that Hatshepsut had sent her young nephew/step son (Thutmose III) into the military, a side motive for which might have been to discourage any royal ambitions as long as she was alive and ruling.
This could also indicate that being authoritative in civil matters was not among her top goals. While other kings of the 18th dynasty undertook strict measures in civil matters with semi-delight, Hatsheput does not appear to have done so and there is reason to believe that she was happy to delegate that responsibility to someone else, likely the future Thutmose III.
For that short amount of time she was on the throne, she accomplished a lot. The Bible records in Exodus 2:6 that when the daughter of Pharaoh saw baby Moses in the basket boat that she had compassion on him. It seems a logical conclusion that Hatshepsut was more humane than many other rulers of ancient Egypt. It seems perhaps that she may have had a soft side, though her mummy portrays a very dignified person whose bearing is, even in death, royal. It was an odd feeling looking at Hatshepsut through the glass in darker basement level of the Cairo museum and knowing with some certainly I was looking at someone mentioned in the Bible.
Thutmose III reigned for about 33 years. (1458-1425 B.C) This Pharaoh is sometimes called the Napoleon of ancient Egypt and that is because there is no record in Egyptian history that he ever lost a battle. A number of other Pharaoh’s such as Thutmose III’s great great great great great grandson Tutankhamun was likely killed in battle. The napoleon of ancient Egypt certainly had a lot of accomplishments and it makes sense that he would be a very proud, arogant and stubborn ruler. Moses, being born about 1505 B.C, was about 25 years older than Thutmose III. When Moses was 40, Thutmose III would have been about 15 years old. When Moses was 80, he would have been about 55-56 which is the age ancient Egyptian history ascribes to him at the time of his death.
When someone embarks on a historical hike of discovery and begins with theories or guesses that are based on long standing questions, curiosity and historical inconsistencies, then the dates that they will arrive at will either agree or not agree. If the dates agree or come very close to within a year or two (which for ancient history is remarkable) then the theories should be considered more seriously. I take no credit for the fact that so many dates or concurrent ages line up, match or come very close. If my theories and those of others are true, then this is an inevitability and part of the equation is the fact that I have prayed for understanding and the Holy Spirit to guide me. Another fact is that I am not perfect. I have spent a lot of my time in research and rechecking dates and ages. I am praying and I am studying. If what I am presenting it true, then the research and historical connections or results will bear this out.
-If we take a calculated chance and theorize that the enslavement of the children of Israel began at the beginning of the 18th dynasty in 1550 B.C under future Pharaoh Ahmose I, then knowing how long their actual slavery was is significant and helpful. The accumulated total from Ahmose I to the death of Thutmose III in 1425 would be about 126 years. We know that Moses was 80 at the time of the Exodus, so deduct 80 from 126 and you have 46. When Moses was born the children of Israel had been slaves for 46 years in 1505-6 which was also how old the 18th dynasty was at that time.
I will be making a presentation directly after this (Flashlights ~ 400+ years or the current episode), wherein I provide archaeological and Egyptian historical records along with Biblical references to show that the Hyksos were actually the Israelites. The Hyksos, according to ancient Egyptian history, were the people who, by default and due to a crumbling central ruling power in Egypt, were the de-facto rulers in Egypt for 100 years just before the 18th dynasty. My point will be that the Hyksos were the Isralites. An interesting curiosity is the fact that we have established that Joseph had made his headquarters in Hut-weret or Avaris, currently known as the Sharqia Governorate in the northern part of Egypt near the Nile delta. Archaeology tells us that this is the exact spot where the Hyksos made their last, defensive stand against the invading armies of Ahmose I. The record specifically mentions, in reference to the defeated Hyksos, lots of gold changing hands and many slaves taken. Are these interesting details all detached from each other? Are they merely unconnected coincidences? If a quick reply to both inquiries is no, then the motive for this reply is suspect.
There does not seem to be any record of where the Hyksos came from and where they went. Other than being Semites there are no indications from history of who they were. But interestingly archaeology has handed down an actual relief of what the Hyksos looked like. In the relief, picture or tomb carving/painting, what you can see are some bearded people who are not of Egyptian extraction and who are surrounded by flocks and herds. Sounds familiar right? Establishing that the Hyksos were the Israelites and that they had been the defacto if not traditional rulers for a 100 years before the 18th dynasty means that 100 years can be reckoned into the length of time before the 126 year (partial) rule of the 18th dynasty.
As a side note, the
Bible mentions in Exodus 12:38 that a mixed multitude went up with
the Israelites. Whom could this mixed multitude have been? It is
worth noting that Joseph’s two sons were half Egyptian. They and
their descendants would have been in the perfect position,
politically speaking to wield a lot of power. Did Ephraim succeed
Joseph as Prime minister? Of course, more research needs to go into
this hypothetical consideration, but did the ruling power of the
Hyksos comprise a greater concentration of Joseph’s descendants,
partly Egyptian that became the mixed multitude? For the present, we must leave this idea in the hypothetical 'maybe' category.
At this point we are going to turn to Levi and Joseph’s lineage.
We established earlier that Joseph spent 93 years in Egypt. We must however, for the moment, set aside this 93 year period and consider an 83 year period. We will go over why shortly. The connection is something important that happened to Joseph when he was 27. If we add 83 years to 126 years which was the time span wherein the 18th dynasty had enslaved the children of Israel, from Pharaoh Ahmose I until Thutmose III, the total would be almost 210 years. If we add the time the Hyksos/Israelites ruled to this number, we would have almost 320 years. Most historians would likely, not have warm feelings for the idea that the Hyksos and the Israelites were the same group. Probably they would not accept it, if they ever heard the idea.
We still have about a 100 years to account for if we are to verify that the children of Israel were in Egypt for 400+ years. I believe it of course, but belief without verification will, in some cases, to those who take Hebrews 11:1 seriously, not be a problem, and to those in academia it will be like the cart with no horse at all and to the general public it might seem like hearsay. For these reasons, the effort surrounding the use of the Flashlight method is much more extensive than I assumed it would be a number of years back when my twin brother Brian and I were batting around good ideas.
Brian’s idea was for what a person in Heaven for a day would experience. Mine was about how ancient Egyptian and Biblical history had many more connections than the accepted narrative prescribed. And one day, B.A Stone which could be either Brian or I, got the idea of combining the two. And while Brian and I had good ideas, it is fitting to observe that providence was not uninvolved. It is prayer and the Flashlight method that will be the tool to verify what has been discussed, as well as seeking and finding the answers to many other questions.
-A look at the lineage of Levi will help us to find, among other things, the other 100 years that would make up the full 430 years that Exodus 12:40 talks about regarding the children of Israel’s sojourn in the land of Egypt. And so, on to Joseph and Levi. It is important to note that the lineage of Levi will bring up the rear and that we will cover more Egyptian history first.
The question of Levi’s generations equaling 430 years needs answering. As some have logically questioned, how can you get 430 years from 3 generations (Levi, Kohath and Amram)? To put the response to this question on firmer ground, we will, again, need to look at Egyptian history in a bit, but first, more of the Bible. The Bible tell us in Exodus 6:16 that when Levi died, he was 137 years old. We know that the priestly privileges were granted to him. Reuben disqualified himself and so did Simeon (who was likely the mastermind behind the slaughter of the citizens of Shechem. Genesis 34:25-26). Judah became the prince of his brothers and Joseph was given the double portion.
- Unfortunately, there are no concurrent dates mentioned for anyone else regarding the age at which Levi died, but this fact is not a dead end. If we look at the Biblical account of the sons of Jacob, we get the impression that they were born one after another in quick succession. There were twelve brothers and one sister though we are not told where Dinah is in the line up. Levi was the 3rd born and Joseph was the 11th born so far as we know. It is logical, looking at the line up of brothers, to say that Levi would have been around 10-12 years older than Joseph.
-From what we know about Joseph, is it possible to say when he was born? Can we attach any kind of date to him? We are able to establish that Moses was most likely born in or around 1505 B.C. And we know that Exodus 12:40 tells us that the sojourn of the children of Israel was 430 years. And the date for the end of the reign of Thutmose III is 1425 B.C.
So we add 430 years to 1425 B.C and we go back in time to 1855 B.C which would have been the date when the 430 years would have begun. What significant event happened in 1855 BC? Is it related to the 83 years we mentioned earlier? The reign of Amenemhet III is likely to have started in 1859-60 B.C of the 12th dynasty. There are indications that Amenemhet III and his father Senesurate III shared a co-regency of several years.
-Joseph was 17 when he was sold into slavery. The Bible mentions in Genesis 41:1 that from the time when Joseph, in Genesis 40:15, interpreted the dream of the chief butler and pleaded that his situation be made known unto Pharaoh, that two full years had gone by until Pharaoh had his two dreams after which, in verse 46 of Genesis 41 we read that Joseph was 30. He would have been about 27 when he was thrown into prison. This is a significant event and we can calculate that from 27 years old, ten years after he came to Egypt in what was likely 1865 B.C, that he would live another 83 years in Egypt before dying in 1772 B.C. We can say with some certainty that the 430 years began with the imprisonment of Joseph! And from that imprisonment until the death of Thutmose III is 430 years. It is not a coincidence that this is the same number the Bible mentions in Exodus 12:40.
-First, Joseph, at 17 was a slave beginning in 1865 B.C. Then, starting in 1855 B.C, he was a prisoner for 3 years and then prime minister around 1852 B.C. If Joseph was 27 in 1855 B.C then he would have been born in 1882 B.C. The 12th dynasty ended in 1802 B.C. which would make Joseph 80 years old when the 12th dynasty ended. He would have lived 30 years into the 13th dynasty. Joseph became a prisoner in addition to being slave in 1855 B.C around 10 years before his brothers came to Egypt around 1845 B.C. This is a significant enough event to start the 430 years of the children of Israel being strangers and slaves in a land that was not theirs. Once again, I take no credit for fact that all these numbers are not in disagreement. I have undertaken a lot of research, but I believe that God has helped me to draw these conclusions, and I am still keeping it a matter of prayer.
- There is unverified speculation that Ephraim succeeded his father Joseph as vizier in the court of the Pharaoh's of the 13th dynasty. The 13th dynasty was fragmentary in some respects and sometimes vaguely lumped together with the 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th dynasties, non of which ruled a united Egypt. The Hyksos and the 17th dynasty are often synonymous. We have a lot of information about the 12th dynasty and 18th dynasty but less information regarding dynasties 13-16. This fragmented collection of dynasties and rulers lasted for 154 years until the Hyksos/Israelites. Joseph lived 33 years into 13th dynasty which began in 1803 B.C. If you deduct 33 from 154 the number would be 124. From the death of Joseph, the collection of dynasties (13th, 14th,15th and 16th) would last for 124 years until the Hyksos/Israelites. So we have 83 years for Joseph living in the land of Egypt from 1855 B.C, when he was imprisoned to his death 83 years later in 1772 B.C. We have 124 years from the death of Joseph until the Hyksos/Israelites. We have 100 years for the Israelites/Hyksos and we have 126 years for the 18th dynasty until the death of Pharaoh Thutmose III’s death in 1425 B.C. What do these figures add up to? 433 years give or take a few years. Using Egyptian History with Biblical numbers included, we now have the 430 years period accounted for. However, we still need to look at the lineage of Levi. Was it only 3 generations?
The question of generations is a good one. Let’s return for a moment to Genesis 15:13&14. 13. And He said unto Abram, know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years. 14. And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
Here we will look at the word seed. In Genesis 15:13 it is seed in the plural sense, or in reference to his descendants. It is certainly true that this could not comprise only three generations. A larger number than 3 will give even more credibility to the idea of Israelite's living in Egypt for 400+ years. We can put this into better perspective by looking at the lineage of Levi in 1st Chronicles 6. It makes sense that any of Abraham’s seed who lived in Egypt would be included in the prophecy of Genesis 15:13, which means that more than 3 generations of the Israelite's lived in Egypt. This would mean that Jacob would also be included, and though, for only 17 years of his life, his generation would also be a part of this prophecy. Let’s take a look at 1st Chronicles 6.
1. The sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
2. And the sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, and Hebron and Uzziel.
3. And the children of Amram; Aaron, and Moses and Miriam. The sons also of Aaron; Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
4. And Eleazar begot Phinehas, and Phinehas begot Abishua.
In a sense we cannot count Jacob or Phinehas because Jacob only lived 17 years in Egypt and while it is likely that Phinehas was born in Egypt, the Biblical record does not tell us whether he was or not. But instead of 3 generations, we now have 5 generations. This still is a bit of a pinch, that 5 generations could comprise 430 years. But, pinch or no, it deserves a closer look and it involves Levi.
It is likely that Levi was around 11 years older than Joseph. Based on the calculated date of Joseph’s birth in 1882 B.C, we can say that Levi could have been born around 1893 B.C. Levi would have died around 1757 B.C. He would have outlived Joseph by 15 years. He would have been around 28 when Joseph was sold. He would have been around 38 when Joseph was put into prison when the 430 years of servitude began. He would have been around 48 when he came to Egypt in 1845 B.C, when his father Jacob was 130. He would have been around 68 when Jacob died. At around 48 years old in 1845 B.C he would have arrived in Egypt with kids, no doubt and would have been part of the 66 persons mentioned in Genesis:8-27. Jacob, Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh were not included in this tally.
Levi’s sons were Gershom, Kohath and Merari. There are no indications of grand kids when he got to Egypt and the Biblical record does not expand on this, though it is very likely that Kohath had been born at this point. We have five people who stretch from the beginning (1855 B.C) of the servitude of the Israelite's until its deliverance (the death of Thutmose III in 1425 B.C) and they are Levi, Kohath, Amram, Arron and Eleazar. We know that Jacob lived 147 years. We know that Levi lived 137 years. We do not know how long Kohath or Amram lived. We know that Aaron lived to 123 years. Of course, Levi did not live to 137 and then have a son just before he died. We do know that children were born much later in life to the patriarchs than children are born to parents now even when you include the fact that they lived longer than we do. We mentioned earlier that Joseph would have been born when Jacob was 91. This could have meant that Reuben, the oldest, could have been anywhere from 13-15 years older than Joseph and would likely have been born when Jacob was around 76-77 (which means, going back 7 years to account for the 1st 7 years of servitude, Jacob was probably around 70 when he fled from home to Haran).
At this point much of the
reckoning so far is hypothetical though the speculated/calculated ages have been deduced in part
because they are based on Biblical numbers. The counterpart of this reckoning would be the deduction of those numbers in respect to them fitting together and it is fitting to reexamine some chronology and genealogy. Can we really fit 5 generations into 430 years? More scrutiny is needed in regard to the age of the patriarchs when their sons were born. Issac was born when Abraham was
100. Jacob was born when Issac was 60. And Jacob was around 76-77
when Reuben was born. Joseph had Ephraim and Manasseh fairly early.
The average age would have been around 75. If you multiply 5 (Levi,
Kohath, Amram, Aaron and Eleazar) times 75 you get 375. If you
add 17 years of the final years of Jacob, you have 392. (I have made the attempt to cross every 't' and dot every 'i' in regards to my deductions, theories and calculations. And of course, I make mistakes which is why I try to keep this a matter of prayer.)
The Bible does not tell us how old Eleazar was when children of Israel departed Egypt and there is no way to really know since it does not tell us how old his son, Phineas was when he died. If Eleazar had been in his late 30’s during the Exodus, 392 becomes around 430 years. At the moment this speculation is not on firm ground and more research is under way.
For the moment we will categorize it as being in the ‘maybe’ section, but not the ‘possible’ section. When we delve into whether the Hyksos were the Israelite’s and when we can confirm that this is so, we will return to this topic and categorize it in the ‘possible’ section. We do have a few more observations to note before closing this topic.
Levi – 37-38 (at Joseph’s imprisonment, the start of the 430 years) + 10 = 48 which is how old he would have been in 1845 B.C. when he came to Egypt. 10 years in the land of Canaan (from when Joseph was imprisoned in Egypt), and 90 years lived in Egypt = 137 years. This would be the 1st hundred years of the 430 year period.
Kohath – Age unknown. Perhaps a late teen when he went to Egypt?
Amram – probably not born.
Aaron – Certainly not born. From the birth of Aaron until the Exodus is 83 years.
Eleazar – He may have spent around the first 30-40 years of his life in Egypt.
Levi would have been around 37-38 when Joseph was thrown into prison in 1855 B.C. Levi would spend ten years from that time living in Canaan before going to Egypt himself around the age of 47-48 in 1845 B.C. The Bible records that he died at the age of 137 years. This means that 90 years, in the life of Levi would have been spent in Egypt from 1845 B.C onward. And of course between 1855 B.C until 1845 B.C would be 10 years which Levi spent in Canaan. And until Levi’s death, there would be around 100 years from the point in time when Joseph was thrown in prison in 1855 B.C. So here we have 100 years in the life of Levi, and the 1st 100 year section of the 430 year period. We need to have another look at Egyptian history.
Let's take a look at the 12th dynasty of ancient Egypt. The date in which Joseph was thrown into prison (around 1855 B.C) was during the co-regency of Amenemhet III and Senesuret III. It was about 50 years later when the dynasty ended in 1803 B.C. There is speculation that the 13th dynasty was begun by the son of the last ruler of the 12th dynasty who happened to be the daughter (Sobekneferue) of Amenemhet III. The numbers here are quite interesting.
You have a fragmented collection of dynasties ranging from the 13th to the 16th dynasty which end just before the 17th dynasty/Hyksos/Israelites. This collection of dynasties lasts from 1803 B.C to1648 B.C. This would be 154 years. Joseph would have lived 30 years into this dynasty, which would mean 124 years from his death until the 17th dynasty/Hyksos/Israelites. We have also established that Levi’s lineage fits into the narrative of the 430 year period. You have the preceding 80 years of the life of Joseph from 1855 B.C to 1772 B.C which adds up to 83 years. You have the Hyksos/Israelites from around 1650 B.C until 1550 B.C which is of course 100 years.
You have the 18th Dynasty from 1550 B.C until the death of Pharaoh Thutmose III in 1425 B.C, and this is around 126 years. All these numbers add up to around 430 years (433). And yet, if you add 430 years to this date, and go back in time you have 1855 B.C. which would be around the date of Joseph’s imprisonment which started the 430 year period. With the flashlight method, using Egyptian history arm in arm with the Bible, we can see in each respective record that the 400 years mentioned in the Bible is 400+ literal years from the imprisonment of Joseph to the Exodus!
I do want to examine the Hyksos/Israelite connection more closely but that will have to wait. I am still learning. I am still praying and I know that there is much more to come! Thank you for coming on this voyage of discovery with me!
