6), appear to further corroborate a mid-15th century B.C. Moreover, recent studies on the artifacts taken from the excavation of Jericho, destroyed by the Hebrews after Israel’s forty-year sojourn in the wilderness (Josh. This points to a much earlier date for the exodus (Caiger, 112). “All the accredited Palestinian artifactual evidence supports the literary account that the Conquest occurred at the time specifically dated by the biblical historians” (Waltke, 47).įor example, in 1896 William Petrie, the renowned Egyptologist, discovered a “Merenptah’s Victory Stele” (a stone slab with an inscription) at Thebes which indicated that “Israel” was already settled in Canaan early in the 13th century B.C. Then there is considerable archaeological evidence which corroborates the early date. “While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its towns, and in Aroer and its towns, and in all the cities that are along by the side of the Arnon, three hundred years wherefore did ye not recover them within that time?” (Jud. 1100 B.C.), the Hebrews had been in Canaan for about three centuries. This harmonizes with the statement that during the days of Jephthah (c. “And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of Jehovah.” Most of those who argue for a late date are committed to the “documentary hypothesis” of the origin of the Pentateuch, i.e., that Moses did not produce these writings.įor those who accept the plain testimony of the Scriptures, the evidence for the early date is quite compelling:įirst Kings 6:1 reveals that from the time of the exodus, to the first year of construction on Solomon’s temple (966 B.C.), was a period of 480 years. Generally speaking, conservative scholars place the event in the 15th century B.C., while liberal writers contend that the departure from Egypt occurred some 200 years later. The date of the exodus is one of the key controversies of Old Testament study. In this article, we wish to consider four aspects of this epochal event -the date of the exodus, the visitation of plagues upon Egypt, the passover, and the passage through the Red Sea. Though the arrogant ruler resisted, the Lord’s will prevailed in that remarkable event known as “the exodus.” When the Israelites finally entered the promised land forty years later, the heathen tribes of Canaan were still trembling at the great deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt (Josh. Eventually, Jehovah commissioned Moses to confront Pharaoh, the Egyptian king: “Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Let my people go” (Ex. But when a new king arose, who “knew not Joseph,” the lives of the Israelites became “bitter and hard” (Ex. As long as Joseph exercised regal authority in the land of Egypt, the Hebrew people flourished.
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