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.
- 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.
- 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.
-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
47:8-9, 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.
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.
- 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!
