Difference between revisions of "Duration of the Egyptian Exile/2"

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(Original Author: Yonatan Novetsky, Rabbi Hillel Novetsky)
(Original Author: Yonatan Novetsky, Rabbi Hillel Novetsky)
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<approaches>
 
<approaches>
<category name="Full 430 Years">Full 430 Years
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<category name="">Full 430 Years
 
<p>The Israelites lived in Egypt for a full 430 years.</p>
 
<p>The Israelites lived in Egypt for a full 430 years.</p>
 
<mekorot><multilink><a href="Rashba367" data-aht="source">Rashba</a><a href="Rashba367" data-aht="source">New Responsa #367</a><a href="R. Shelomo b. Aderet" data-aht="parshan">About Rashba</a></multilink>,<fn>After first discussing the 210 year position found in Chazal, Rashba writes: "כל שכן לכשתלך אחר פשוטי הכתובים שהיתה עמידתם במצרים ת״ל שנה, כמו שכתוב ומושב בני ישראל אשר ישבו במצרים שלשים שנה וארבע מאות שנה". See also Scholion of Megillat Taanit regarding 25 Sivan and Bavli Sanhedrin 91a where Geviha b. Pesisa claims backpay for a full 430 years of slavery. In contrast, the parallel account in Bereshit Rabbah 61:7 speaks of 210 years. For more see <a href="Reparations and Despoiling Egypt" data-aht="page">Reparations and Despoiling Egypt</a>.</fn> <multilink><a href="Shadal6-20" data-aht="source">Shadal</a><a href="Shadal6-20" data-aht="source">Shemot 6:20</a><a href="R. Shemuel David Luzzatto (Shadal)" data-aht="parshan">About Shadal</a></multilink> agreeing with I.B. Koppe,<fn>Shadal also cites Isaak Markus Jost as maintaining this position. However, there is a fundamental difference between them regarding how to understand Shemot 6 – see below.</fn> <multilink><a href="HoilBereshit15-16" data-aht="source">Hoil Moshe</a><a href="HoilBereshit15-16" data-aht="source">Bereshit 15:16</a><a href="Hoil6-18" data-aht="source">Shemot 6:18</a><a href="HoilYehoshua7-1" data-aht="source">Yehoshua 7:1</a><a href="R. Moshe Yitzchak Ashkenazi (Hoil Moshe)" data-aht="parshan">About Hoil Moshe</a></multilink>.<fn>Two similar options are mentioned by the <multilink><a href="RambamTeiman3" data-aht="source">Rambam</a><a href="RambamTeiman3" data-aht="source">Iggeret Teiman Ch. 3</a><a href="R. Moshe b. Maimon (Rambam, Maimonides)" data-aht="parshan">About Rambam</a></multilink>, in the context of his discussion of the impossibility of predicting when the ultimate redemption will happen. Rambam notes that while the Israelites were in Egypt there were also conflicting predictions as to when the Exodus was supposed to occur and as to how to interpret the prophecy of Bereshit 15:13. According to the Rambam's reconstruction, two of the theories proposed at that time were that the 400 years should be counted either from the descent to Egypt or from the start of the slavery (which the Rambam places at 70 years after the descent). Since for the Rambam these possibilities were contemplated only while the Israelites were still in Egypt (and were proven false when the Exodus took place 400 years after the birth of Yitzchak), they could not have accounted for the later verses in Shemot 12:40-41 which mention the figure of 430 years.</fn></mekorot>
 
<mekorot><multilink><a href="Rashba367" data-aht="source">Rashba</a><a href="Rashba367" data-aht="source">New Responsa #367</a><a href="R. Shelomo b. Aderet" data-aht="parshan">About Rashba</a></multilink>,<fn>After first discussing the 210 year position found in Chazal, Rashba writes: "כל שכן לכשתלך אחר פשוטי הכתובים שהיתה עמידתם במצרים ת״ל שנה, כמו שכתוב ומושב בני ישראל אשר ישבו במצרים שלשים שנה וארבע מאות שנה". See also Scholion of Megillat Taanit regarding 25 Sivan and Bavli Sanhedrin 91a where Geviha b. Pesisa claims backpay for a full 430 years of slavery. In contrast, the parallel account in Bereshit Rabbah 61:7 speaks of 210 years. For more see <a href="Reparations and Despoiling Egypt" data-aht="page">Reparations and Despoiling Egypt</a>.</fn> <multilink><a href="Shadal6-20" data-aht="source">Shadal</a><a href="Shadal6-20" data-aht="source">Shemot 6:20</a><a href="R. Shemuel David Luzzatto (Shadal)" data-aht="parshan">About Shadal</a></multilink> agreeing with I.B. Koppe,<fn>Shadal also cites Isaak Markus Jost as maintaining this position. However, there is a fundamental difference between them regarding how to understand Shemot 6 – see below.</fn> <multilink><a href="HoilBereshit15-16" data-aht="source">Hoil Moshe</a><a href="HoilBereshit15-16" data-aht="source">Bereshit 15:16</a><a href="Hoil6-18" data-aht="source">Shemot 6:18</a><a href="HoilYehoshua7-1" data-aht="source">Yehoshua 7:1</a><a href="R. Moshe Yitzchak Ashkenazi (Hoil Moshe)" data-aht="parshan">About Hoil Moshe</a></multilink>.<fn>Two similar options are mentioned by the <multilink><a href="RambamTeiman3" data-aht="source">Rambam</a><a href="RambamTeiman3" data-aht="source">Iggeret Teiman Ch. 3</a><a href="R. Moshe b. Maimon (Rambam, Maimonides)" data-aht="parshan">About Rambam</a></multilink>, in the context of his discussion of the impossibility of predicting when the ultimate redemption will happen. Rambam notes that while the Israelites were in Egypt there were also conflicting predictions as to when the Exodus was supposed to occur and as to how to interpret the prophecy of Bereshit 15:13. According to the Rambam's reconstruction, two of the theories proposed at that time were that the 400 years should be counted either from the descent to Egypt or from the start of the slavery (which the Rambam places at 70 years after the descent). Since for the Rambam these possibilities were contemplated only while the Israelites were still in Egypt (and were proven false when the Exodus took place 400 years after the birth of Yitzchak), they could not have accounted for the later verses in Shemot 12:40-41 which mention the figure of 430 years.</fn></mekorot>
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<p class="summary">Shadal and the Hoil Moshe maintain that the Israelites were in Egypt for a full 430 years. To do so, they must posit that Moshe's genealogy in Shemot 6 omits several generations and includes only the more prominent personalities.</p>
 
<p class="summary">Shadal and the Hoil Moshe maintain that the Israelites were in Egypt for a full 430 years. To do so, they must posit that Moshe's genealogy in Shemot 6 omits several generations and includes only the more prominent personalities.</p>
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-->
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<point><b>Crux of the position</b> – Shadal and the Hoil Moshe maintain that the Israelites were in Egypt for a full 430 years. To do so, they must posit that Moshe's genealogy in Shemot 6 omits several generations and includes only the more prominent personalities.</point>
 
<point><b>430 years in Egypt</b> – This position reads the verses in Shemot 12:40-41 literally, and thus maintains that the Israelites really were in Egypt for a full 430 years.</point>
 
<point><b>430 years in Egypt</b> – This position reads the verses in Shemot 12:40-41 literally, and thus maintains that the Israelites really were in Egypt for a full 430 years.</point>
 
<point><b>Moshe's paternal lineage</b> – Shadal and the Hoil Moshe need to offer a novel interpretation of Shemot 6, maintaining that Moshe's genealogy omits several generations and includes only the more prominent personalities.<fn>Cf. Rashbam Shemot 6:18 who posits that the genealogies mention only characters who appear in stories in the Torah, and see also Rashba in the first part of his responsum: "יש לנו להשיב ולומר שלא כל התולדות אשר היו להם זכר הכתוב רק מקצת מהם או מקצת מן הנזכרים, ואף על פי שהיו להם או למקצתם בנים אחרים רבים מאלה, אלא שלא זכר כאן רק אותם שהיה הצורך מביא לזכרם, מפני שאלה היו ראשי בית אבות למשפחותיהם והאחרים בלבד יקראו על שמם".</fn> Thus it, too, covers a period of 430 years.<fn>While Shadal (and the Hoil Moshe) understand the numbers of the years recorded for Levi, Kehat, and Amram as the literal lengths of their lives, Jost (cited by Shadal) attempts to explain these numbers as the duration of the periods their families remained as a tribal unit before subdividing. This allows him to add all of these numbers together and arrive at a sum close to 430. Jost's reading, however, is a difficult if not impossible rendering of the verses.</fn></point>
 
<point><b>Moshe's paternal lineage</b> – Shadal and the Hoil Moshe need to offer a novel interpretation of Shemot 6, maintaining that Moshe's genealogy omits several generations and includes only the more prominent personalities.<fn>Cf. Rashbam Shemot 6:18 who posits that the genealogies mention only characters who appear in stories in the Torah, and see also Rashba in the first part of his responsum: "יש לנו להשיב ולומר שלא כל התולדות אשר היו להם זכר הכתוב רק מקצת מהם או מקצת מן הנזכרים, ואף על פי שהיו להם או למקצתם בנים אחרים רבים מאלה, אלא שלא זכר כאן רק אותם שהיה הצורך מביא לזכרם, מפני שאלה היו ראשי בית אבות למשפחותיהם והאחרים בלבד יקראו על שמם".</fn> Thus it, too, covers a period of 430 years.<fn>While Shadal (and the Hoil Moshe) understand the numbers of the years recorded for Levi, Kehat, and Amram as the literal lengths of their lives, Jost (cited by Shadal) attempts to explain these numbers as the duration of the periods their families remained as a tribal unit before subdividing. This allows him to add all of these numbers together and arrive at a sum close to 430. Jost's reading, however, is a difficult if not impossible rendering of the verses.</fn></point>
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<p>The Israelites were supposed to be in Egypt for a full 400-430 years, but Hashem shortened their stay.</p>
 
<p>The Israelites were supposed to be in Egypt for a full 400-430 years, but Hashem shortened their stay.</p>
 
<mekorot><multilink><a href="MekhiltaBo14" data-aht="source">Rabbi (Yehuda) in the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael</a><a href="MekhiltaBo14" data-aht="source">Bo 14</a><a href="Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael" data-aht="parshan">About the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="PesiktaDRKHaChodesh5-7" data-aht="source">Pesikta DeRav Kahana</a><a href="PesiktaDRKHaChodesh5-7" data-aht="source">HaChodesh 5:7</a><a href="Pesikta DeRav Kahana" data-aht="parshan">About Pesikta DeRav Kahana</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="TanchumaMasei7" data-aht="source">Tanchuma</a><a href="TanchumaMasei7" data-aht="source">Masei 7</a><a href="Tanchuma" data-aht="parshan">About the Tanchuma</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="PirkeiDRE47" data-aht="source">Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer</a><a href="PirkeiDRE47" data-aht="source">47</a><a href="Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer" data-aht="parshan">About Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer</a></multilink>.</mekorot>
 
<mekorot><multilink><a href="MekhiltaBo14" data-aht="source">Rabbi (Yehuda) in the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael</a><a href="MekhiltaBo14" data-aht="source">Bo 14</a><a href="Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael" data-aht="parshan">About the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="PesiktaDRKHaChodesh5-7" data-aht="source">Pesikta DeRav Kahana</a><a href="PesiktaDRKHaChodesh5-7" data-aht="source">HaChodesh 5:7</a><a href="Pesikta DeRav Kahana" data-aht="parshan">About Pesikta DeRav Kahana</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="TanchumaMasei7" data-aht="source">Tanchuma</a><a href="TanchumaMasei7" data-aht="source">Masei 7</a><a href="Tanchuma" data-aht="parshan">About the Tanchuma</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="PirkeiDRE47" data-aht="source">Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer</a><a href="PirkeiDRE47" data-aht="source">47</a><a href="Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer" data-aht="parshan">About Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer</a></multilink>.</mekorot>
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<p class="summary">This approach resolves the discrepancy between four generations and 430/400 years by suggesting that there was a change in the Divine plan. Although Hashem originally decreed a longer exile in Egypt, He later shortened the stay to 210 years.</p>
 
<p class="summary">This approach resolves the discrepancy between four generations and 430/400 years by suggesting that there was a change in the Divine plan. Although Hashem originally decreed a longer exile in Egypt, He later shortened the stay to 210 years.</p>
 +
-->
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<point><b>Crux of the position</b> – This approach resolves the discrepancy between four generations and 430/400 years by suggesting that there was a change in the Divine plan. Although Hashem originally decreed a longer exile in Egypt, He later shortened the stay to 210 years.</point>
 
<point><b>400 year period</b> – Rabbi Yehuda in the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael notes that the figure of 400 years is inconsistent with the promise of a return of the fourth generation.<fn>Cf. Seder Olam Rabbah below which counts the 400 years from Yitzchak, but the four generations from those who descended to Egypt. Rabbi Yehuda's approach attempts to avoid this inconsistency.</fn> He thus suggests that the verses are presenting two possibilities, a fast track and a slow track. If Avraham's descendants repent, then already the fourth generation will be redeemed, but if not, there will be a full 400 years.<fn>Rabbi Yehuda's statement leaves ambiguous the questions of whether they repented, by how many years repentance could have shortened the 400 years, and from when the 400 was being counted. The simplest reading (which would correlate with the Pesikta and Tanchuma) is that the Israelites' prayers and repentance shortened the possible 400 years of slavery in Egypt to 210 years or four generations. However, it is also possible that Rabbi Yehuda thinks that the Israelites did not repent and thus spent a full 400 years in Egypt. See <a href="Religious Identity in Egypt" data-aht="page">Religious Identity in Egypt</a> for a discussion of the Israelites' conduct in Egypt. Or, alternatively, he may hold that the 400 years were counted from the birth of Yitzchak (like the preceding section of the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael) and since they did not repent they spent 210 years in Egypt (while had they repented it would have been even less than this).</fn> Similarly, the Pesikta and Tanchuma say that Hashem hastened the redemption by shortening the 400 year decree to 210 years.<fn>See <multilink><a href="Aggadah4-24" data-aht="source">Midrash Aggadah (Buber)</a><a href="Aggadah4-24" data-aht="source">Shemot 4:24</a><a href="Midrash Aggadah (Buber)" data-aht="parshan">About Midrash Aggadah (Buber)</a></multilink> which depicts Moshe as wondering if it is time for the redemption when 400 years had not yet passed (see <a href="Murder Mystery at the Malon" data-aht="page">Murder Mystery at the Malon</a>). In the Midrash, Hashem responds that Yosef had already prophesied that the duration of the exile would be shortened by the 190 years of the numerical value of the word "פקוד". [Note, though, that in almost all textual witnesses of Bereshit 50:24, the word is written without a "ו".]</fn></point>
 
<point><b>400 year period</b> – Rabbi Yehuda in the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael notes that the figure of 400 years is inconsistent with the promise of a return of the fourth generation.<fn>Cf. Seder Olam Rabbah below which counts the 400 years from Yitzchak, but the four generations from those who descended to Egypt. Rabbi Yehuda's approach attempts to avoid this inconsistency.</fn> He thus suggests that the verses are presenting two possibilities, a fast track and a slow track. If Avraham's descendants repent, then already the fourth generation will be redeemed, but if not, there will be a full 400 years.<fn>Rabbi Yehuda's statement leaves ambiguous the questions of whether they repented, by how many years repentance could have shortened the 400 years, and from when the 400 was being counted. The simplest reading (which would correlate with the Pesikta and Tanchuma) is that the Israelites' prayers and repentance shortened the possible 400 years of slavery in Egypt to 210 years or four generations. However, it is also possible that Rabbi Yehuda thinks that the Israelites did not repent and thus spent a full 400 years in Egypt. See <a href="Religious Identity in Egypt" data-aht="page">Religious Identity in Egypt</a> for a discussion of the Israelites' conduct in Egypt. Or, alternatively, he may hold that the 400 years were counted from the birth of Yitzchak (like the preceding section of the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael) and since they did not repent they spent 210 years in Egypt (while had they repented it would have been even less than this).</fn> Similarly, the Pesikta and Tanchuma say that Hashem hastened the redemption by shortening the 400 year decree to 210 years.<fn>See <multilink><a href="Aggadah4-24" data-aht="source">Midrash Aggadah (Buber)</a><a href="Aggadah4-24" data-aht="source">Shemot 4:24</a><a href="Midrash Aggadah (Buber)" data-aht="parshan">About Midrash Aggadah (Buber)</a></multilink> which depicts Moshe as wondering if it is time for the redemption when 400 years had not yet passed (see <a href="Murder Mystery at the Malon" data-aht="page">Murder Mystery at the Malon</a>). In the Midrash, Hashem responds that Yosef had already prophesied that the duration of the exile would be shortened by the 190 years of the numerical value of the word "פקוד". [Note, though, that in almost all textual witnesses of Bereshit 50:24, the word is written without a "ו".]</fn></point>
 
<point><b>Hashem changing his mind</b> – Tanchuma brings this case as a proof for the principle that Hashem sometimes rescinds a negative decree but never retracts a positive decree. See, however, the exact opposite positions of Ramban and Abarbanel below, who suggest that Hashem lengthened the slavery because of the nation's bad deeds. For more, see <a href="PHI$">Change of Heart</a>.</point>
 
<point><b>Hashem changing his mind</b> – Tanchuma brings this case as a proof for the principle that Hashem sometimes rescinds a negative decree but never retracts a positive decree. See, however, the exact opposite positions of Ramban and Abarbanel below, who suggest that Hashem lengthened the slavery because of the nation's bad deeds. For more, see <a href="PHI$">Change of Heart</a>.</point>
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<point><b>Israelite population growth</b> – The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael,<fn>Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael Bo 12.</fn> Pesikta,<fn>Pesikta DeRav Kahana 11.</fn> and Tanchuma<fn>Tanchuma Shemot 5</fn> all explain that the growth was supernatural. See <a href="$">Fertility Rate</a> for more.</point>
 
<point><b>Israelite population growth</b> – The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael,<fn>Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael Bo 12.</fn> Pesikta,<fn>Pesikta DeRav Kahana 11.</fn> and Tanchuma<fn>Tanchuma Shemot 5</fn> all explain that the growth was supernatural. See <a href="$">Fertility Rate</a> for more.</point>
 
</category>
 
</category>
<category name="Never 430 Years">Never 430 Years
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<category name="">Never 430 Years
 
<p>The Israelites were never supposed to be in Egypt for a full 400-430 years, and the verses which speak of a 400 or 430 year stay need to be reinterpreted as counting, not from the descent to Egypt, but rather from a different starting point.<fn>To some extent, the verse of Bereshit 15:13 poses less of a problem than the verses in Shemot 12:40-41, as it is vaguer – which land is not specified, the 400 is perhaps only a round number and not a precise figure, and the verse contains more possibilities for what the number is describing. [This is why the Rabbinic tradition about the emendation of the translators of the Torah into Greek appears only with regard to the verses in Shemot.] On the other hand, see below that the contrast to Bereshit 15:15-16 would appear to eliminate the option that 15:13 speaks of Avraham himself or of the land of Canaan.</fn> This option subdivides regarding the point from which the 430 years are counted:<fn>The categorization below is organized by how the approaches interpreted the 430 figure. However, some of the positions may have first established the starting point for the 400 number, and then worked backwards to explain the 430. See J. Heinemann, "210 Years of Egyptian Exile," JJS 22 (1971): 19-30 who attempts to reconstruct the historical development of the various Midrashic motifs.</fn></p>
 
<p>The Israelites were never supposed to be in Egypt for a full 400-430 years, and the verses which speak of a 400 or 430 year stay need to be reinterpreted as counting, not from the descent to Egypt, but rather from a different starting point.<fn>To some extent, the verse of Bereshit 15:13 poses less of a problem than the verses in Shemot 12:40-41, as it is vaguer – which land is not specified, the 400 is perhaps only a round number and not a precise figure, and the verse contains more possibilities for what the number is describing. [This is why the Rabbinic tradition about the emendation of the translators of the Torah into Greek appears only with regard to the verses in Shemot.] On the other hand, see below that the contrast to Bereshit 15:15-16 would appear to eliminate the option that 15:13 speaks of Avraham himself or of the land of Canaan.</fn> This option subdivides regarding the point from which the 430 years are counted:<fn>The categorization below is organized by how the approaches interpreted the 430 figure. However, some of the positions may have first established the starting point for the 400 number, and then worked backwards to explain the 430. See J. Heinemann, "210 Years of Egyptian Exile," JJS 22 (1971): 19-30 who attempts to reconstruct the historical development of the various Midrashic motifs.</fn></p>
 
<opinion name="430 From Aliyah">430 Years From Avraham's Aliyah
 
<opinion name="430 From Aliyah">430 Years From Avraham's Aliyah
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<p>The 430 year count begins when Avraham originally departed Ur Kasdim at the age of 70.<fn>This position first established the birth of Yitzchak as the starting point for the 400 number and then worked backwards to find an event which could have happened thirty years earlier in order to explain the 430 figure.</fn></p>
 
<p>The 430 year count begins when Avraham originally departed Ur Kasdim at the age of 70.<fn>This position first established the birth of Yitzchak as the starting point for the 400 number and then worked backwards to find an event which could have happened thirty years earlier in order to explain the 430 figure.</fn></p>
 
<mekorot><multilink><a href="SaadiaBereshit15-13" data-aht="source">R. Saadia</a><a href="SaadiaBereshit15-13" data-aht="source">Commentary Bereshit 15:13</a><a href="SaadiaEmunot8-4" data-aht="source">Emunot VeDeiot 8:4</a><a href="R. Saadia Gaon" data-aht="parshan">About R. Saadia</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="IbnEzraShort12-40" data-aht="source">Ibn Ezra</a><a href="IbnEzraShort12-40" data-aht="source">Short Commentary Shemot 12:40</a><a href="IbnEzraLong12-40" data-aht="source">Long Commentary Shemot 12:40</a><a href="R. Avraham ibn Ezra" data-aht="parshan">About Ibn Ezra</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="RYBS12-40" data-aht="source">R. Yosef Bekhor Shor</a><a href="RYBS12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40</a><a href="R. Yosef Bekhor Shor" data-aht="parshan">About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="RAvraham12-40" data-aht="source">R. Avraham b. HaRambam</a><a href="RAvraham12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40</a><a href="R. Avraham Maimonides" data-aht="parshan">About R. Avraham b. HaRambam</a></multilink>,<fn>See, however, his commentary to Bereshit 41:1 where (following R. Shemuel b. Chofni Gaon) he explains like Seder Olam Rabbah.</fn> <multilink><a href="Kaspi12-40" data-aht="source">R. Yosef ibn Kaspi</a><a href="Kaspi12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40</a><a href="R. Yosef ibn Kaspi" data-aht="parshan">About Ibn Kaspi</a></multilink>.<fn>See also <multilink><a href="Seforno12-40" data-aht="source">Seforno</a><a href="Seforno12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40</a><a href="R. Ovadyah Seforno" data-aht="parshan">About R. Ovadyah Seforno</a></multilink> who combines this option with the position of Seder Olam Rabbah below, and see <multilink><a href="RadakBereshit15-13" data-aht="source">Radak</a><a href="RadakBereshit15-13" data-aht="source">Bereshit 15:13</a><a href="R. David Kimchi (Radak)" data-aht="parshan">About Radak</a></multilink>.</fn></mekorot>
 
<mekorot><multilink><a href="SaadiaBereshit15-13" data-aht="source">R. Saadia</a><a href="SaadiaBereshit15-13" data-aht="source">Commentary Bereshit 15:13</a><a href="SaadiaEmunot8-4" data-aht="source">Emunot VeDeiot 8:4</a><a href="R. Saadia Gaon" data-aht="parshan">About R. Saadia</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="IbnEzraShort12-40" data-aht="source">Ibn Ezra</a><a href="IbnEzraShort12-40" data-aht="source">Short Commentary Shemot 12:40</a><a href="IbnEzraLong12-40" data-aht="source">Long Commentary Shemot 12:40</a><a href="R. Avraham ibn Ezra" data-aht="parshan">About Ibn Ezra</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="RYBS12-40" data-aht="source">R. Yosef Bekhor Shor</a><a href="RYBS12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40</a><a href="R. Yosef Bekhor Shor" data-aht="parshan">About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="RAvraham12-40" data-aht="source">R. Avraham b. HaRambam</a><a href="RAvraham12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40</a><a href="R. Avraham Maimonides" data-aht="parshan">About R. Avraham b. HaRambam</a></multilink>,<fn>See, however, his commentary to Bereshit 41:1 where (following R. Shemuel b. Chofni Gaon) he explains like Seder Olam Rabbah.</fn> <multilink><a href="Kaspi12-40" data-aht="source">R. Yosef ibn Kaspi</a><a href="Kaspi12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40</a><a href="R. Yosef ibn Kaspi" data-aht="parshan">About Ibn Kaspi</a></multilink>.<fn>See also <multilink><a href="Seforno12-40" data-aht="source">Seforno</a><a href="Seforno12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40</a><a href="R. Ovadyah Seforno" data-aht="parshan">About R. Ovadyah Seforno</a></multilink> who combines this option with the position of Seder Olam Rabbah below, and see <multilink><a href="RadakBereshit15-13" data-aht="source">Radak</a><a href="RadakBereshit15-13" data-aht="source">Bereshit 15:13</a><a href="R. David Kimchi (Radak)" data-aht="parshan">About Radak</a></multilink>.</fn></mekorot>
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<p class="summary">This approach suggests that the 430 year count begins when Avraham departed Ur Kasdim at the age of 70 while the 400 years is counted from the birth of Yitzchak (the beginning of the sojourn of Avraham's "seed"). The exile in Egypt, then, lasted 210 years.</p>
 
<p class="summary">This approach suggests that the 430 year count begins when Avraham departed Ur Kasdim at the age of 70 while the 400 years is counted from the birth of Yitzchak (the beginning of the sojourn of Avraham's "seed"). The exile in Egypt, then, lasted 210 years.</p>
 +
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<point><b>Crux of the position</b> – This approach suggests that the 430 year count begins when Avraham departed Ur Kasdim at the age of 70 while the 400 years is counted from the birth of Yitzchak (the beginning of the sojourn of Avraham's "seed"). The exile in Egypt, then, lasted 210 years.</point>
 
<point><b>Only 210 years in Egypt</b> – According to these commentators, 220 of the 430 years preceded the descent to Egypt,<fn>These additional 220 years include: 30 years of Avraham (before Yitzchak was born) + 60 years of Yitzchak (before Yaakov was born) + 130 years of Yaakov (before he went down to Egypt).</fn> and the Israelites were in Egypt itself for less than half of the 430 total. R. Saadia and others explain that the maximum total of the years listed in the genealogy of Shemot 6 leaves no choice other than to say that the 430 includes years spent outside of Egypt. However, the exact figure of 210 years, although widely known, is not based on any explicit Biblical text.<fn>It is rather calculated by subtracting the 190 years between the birth of Yitzchak and the descent to Egypt from the 400 year total found in Bereshit 15:13. Thus, see below that any position which counts the 400 years from something other than the birth of Yitzchak will come out with a different number of years in Egypt.</fn></point>
 
<point><b>Only 210 years in Egypt</b> – According to these commentators, 220 of the 430 years preceded the descent to Egypt,<fn>These additional 220 years include: 30 years of Avraham (before Yitzchak was born) + 60 years of Yitzchak (before Yaakov was born) + 130 years of Yaakov (before he went down to Egypt).</fn> and the Israelites were in Egypt itself for less than half of the 430 total. R. Saadia and others explain that the maximum total of the years listed in the genealogy of Shemot 6 leaves no choice other than to say that the 430 includes years spent outside of Egypt. However, the exact figure of 210 years, although widely known, is not based on any explicit Biblical text.<fn>It is rather calculated by subtracting the 190 years between the birth of Yitzchak and the descent to Egypt from the 400 year total found in Bereshit 15:13. Thus, see below that any position which counts the 400 years from something other than the birth of Yitzchak will come out with a different number of years in Egypt.</fn></point>
 
<point><b>430 year period</b> – "וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Shemot 12:40) – This verse can be reconciled with the above approach in three different ways:
 
<point><b>430 year period</b> – "וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Shemot 12:40) – This verse can be reconciled with the above approach in three different ways:
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<p>The 430 year count begins when Avraham arrived in the land of Canaan at age 75.<fn>This position most likely developed from an attempt to match the 430 figure with a Biblically recorded event. The explanation of the 400 is likely secondary.</fn></p>
 
<p>The 430 year count begins when Avraham arrived in the land of Canaan at age 75.<fn>This position most likely developed from an attempt to match the 430 figure with a Biblically recorded event. The explanation of the 400 is likely secondary.</fn></p>
 
<mekorot><multilink><a href="Demetrius" data-aht="source">Demetrius the Chronographer</a><a href="Demetrius" data-aht="source">Praeparatio Evangelica 21</a><a href="Demetrius the Chronographer" data-aht="parshan">About Demetrius</a></multilink>,<fn>Eusebius' citation of Demetrius does not explicitly address the number 430. It does, however, note that there were 215 years from the time Avraham came to Canaan until Yaakov and his family went down to Egypt. Additionally, it constructs a detailed chronology of the generations of Levites who lived in Egypt which similarly tallies 215 years (17 years of Levi in Egypt before Kehat was born + 40 years of Kehat before Amram was born + 78 years of Amram before Moshe was born + 80 years of Moshe until the Exodus). In doing so (presumably in order to reach the magic number of 430), Demetrius has Kehat born in Egypt (which contradicts the simple reading of Bereshit 46:11).</fn> <multilink><a href="Josephus2-15-2" data-aht="source">Josephus</a><a href="Josephus2-15-2" data-aht="source">Antiquities 2:15:2</a><a href="Josephus" data-aht="parshan">About Josephus</a></multilink>.<fn>From Antiquities 8:3:1 it is also clear that Josephus thinks the entire 430 years were not spent in Egypt, except that here he implies that there were only 428 years between Avraham arriving in Canaan and the Exodus. In contrast, in Antiquities 1:10:3 and 2:9:1, Josephus seems to suggest that a full four hundred years was spent in Egypt itself. <multilink><a href="RDZHoffmann12-40" data-aht="source">R. D"Z Hoffmann</a><a href="RDZHoffmann12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40</a><a href="R. David Zvi Hoffmann" data-aht="parshan">About R. D"Z Hoffmann</a></multilink> also suggests that the 430 years could be counted from the time Avraham arrived in the land of Canaan, but he does not elaborate further.</fn></mekorot>
 
<mekorot><multilink><a href="Demetrius" data-aht="source">Demetrius the Chronographer</a><a href="Demetrius" data-aht="source">Praeparatio Evangelica 21</a><a href="Demetrius the Chronographer" data-aht="parshan">About Demetrius</a></multilink>,<fn>Eusebius' citation of Demetrius does not explicitly address the number 430. It does, however, note that there were 215 years from the time Avraham came to Canaan until Yaakov and his family went down to Egypt. Additionally, it constructs a detailed chronology of the generations of Levites who lived in Egypt which similarly tallies 215 years (17 years of Levi in Egypt before Kehat was born + 40 years of Kehat before Amram was born + 78 years of Amram before Moshe was born + 80 years of Moshe until the Exodus). In doing so (presumably in order to reach the magic number of 430), Demetrius has Kehat born in Egypt (which contradicts the simple reading of Bereshit 46:11).</fn> <multilink><a href="Josephus2-15-2" data-aht="source">Josephus</a><a href="Josephus2-15-2" data-aht="source">Antiquities 2:15:2</a><a href="Josephus" data-aht="parshan">About Josephus</a></multilink>.<fn>From Antiquities 8:3:1 it is also clear that Josephus thinks the entire 430 years were not spent in Egypt, except that here he implies that there were only 428 years between Avraham arriving in Canaan and the Exodus. In contrast, in Antiquities 1:10:3 and 2:9:1, Josephus seems to suggest that a full four hundred years was spent in Egypt itself. <multilink><a href="RDZHoffmann12-40" data-aht="source">R. D"Z Hoffmann</a><a href="RDZHoffmann12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40</a><a href="R. David Zvi Hoffmann" data-aht="parshan">About R. D"Z Hoffmann</a></multilink> also suggests that the 430 years could be counted from the time Avraham arrived in the land of Canaan, but he does not elaborate further.</fn></mekorot>
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<p class="summary">Demetrius and Josephus propose that the 430 year count begins when Avraham arrived in the land of Canaan at age 75, and they apparently view the 400 as merely a round number. The nation was thus in Egypt for a total of 215 years.</p>
 
<p class="summary">Demetrius and Josephus propose that the 430 year count begins when Avraham arrived in the land of Canaan at age 75, and they apparently view the 400 as merely a round number. The nation was thus in Egypt for a total of 215 years.</p>
 +
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<point><b>Crux of the position</b> – Demetrius and Josephus propose that the 430 year count begins when Avraham arrived in the land of Canaan at age 75, and they apparently view the 400 as merely a round number. The nation was thus in Egypt for a total of 215 years.</point>
 
<point><b>215 years in Egypt</b> – According to this position, 215 of the 430 years transpired before the descent to Egypt,<fn>The breakdown of the 215 years spent in Canaan is: 25 years of Avraham (before Yitzchak was born) + 60 years of Yitzchak (before Yaakov was born) + 130 years of Yaakov (before he went down to Egypt).</fn> and the Israelites were in Egypt itself for exactly half of the 430 years.<fn>See below for the possible influence of the LXX on this even division. Cf. <multilink><a href="PirkeiDRE47" data-aht="source">Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer</a><a href="PirkeiDRE47" data-aht="source">47</a><a href="Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer" data-aht="parshan">About Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer</a></multilink> which first counts 400 years from the birth of Yitzchak. Then, after subtracting the 190 years from his birth until the descent to Egypt to obtain 210 years in Egypt, it adds the five earlier years of Menashe and Ephraim's lives to arrive at a total of 215 years. It is unclear whether Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer was influenced by the earlier 215 year tradition. See <a href="Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer" data-aht="parshan">About Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer</a> and see above for further analysis of his motivation.</fn></point>
 
<point><b>215 years in Egypt</b> – According to this position, 215 of the 430 years transpired before the descent to Egypt,<fn>The breakdown of the 215 years spent in Canaan is: 25 years of Avraham (before Yitzchak was born) + 60 years of Yitzchak (before Yaakov was born) + 130 years of Yaakov (before he went down to Egypt).</fn> and the Israelites were in Egypt itself for exactly half of the 430 years.<fn>See below for the possible influence of the LXX on this even division. Cf. <multilink><a href="PirkeiDRE47" data-aht="source">Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer</a><a href="PirkeiDRE47" data-aht="source">47</a><a href="Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer" data-aht="parshan">About Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer</a></multilink> which first counts 400 years from the birth of Yitzchak. Then, after subtracting the 190 years from his birth until the descent to Egypt to obtain 210 years in Egypt, it adds the five earlier years of Menashe and Ephraim's lives to arrive at a total of 215 years. It is unclear whether Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer was influenced by the earlier 215 year tradition. See <a href="Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer" data-aht="parshan">About Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer</a> and see above for further analysis of his motivation.</fn></point>
 
<point><b>430 year period</b> – "וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Shemot 12:40) – Demetrius and Josephus utilized the text of the Septuagint which reads "in the land, Egypt, and in the land of Chanaan."<fn>It was thus natural for them to divide the 430 year period into two equal halves (cf. the Samaritan midrash Memar Marqah). Another possible option would have been to view the 430 years as framed by Avraham's brief exile to Egypt when he was 75 (or soon after he arrived in Canaan) and the later much lengthier exile to Egypt of his descendants. This is not what Demetrius and Josephus had in mind, as they make no mention of Avraham's descent to Egypt, but this is a possible reading of <multilink><a href="RambanSHM1" data-aht="source">Ramban in his Critique of the Rambam's Sefer HaMitzvot</a><a href="RambanSHM1" data-aht="source">Root 1</a><a href="R. Moshe b. Nachman (Ramban, Nachmanides)" data-aht="parshan">About Ramban</a></multilink> ("מעת גלות אברהם מארץ כנען בפעם הראשונה").</fn> The version of the LXX they were using may also have read "they and their fathers" like Codex Alexandrinus.<fn>Cf. the text of the Samaritan Pentateuch "ומושב בני ישראל ואבותם". Alternatively, they could have interpreted like R. Saadia above.</fn></point>
 
<point><b>430 year period</b> – "וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Shemot 12:40) – Demetrius and Josephus utilized the text of the Septuagint which reads "in the land, Egypt, and in the land of Chanaan."<fn>It was thus natural for them to divide the 430 year period into two equal halves (cf. the Samaritan midrash Memar Marqah). Another possible option would have been to view the 430 years as framed by Avraham's brief exile to Egypt when he was 75 (or soon after he arrived in Canaan) and the later much lengthier exile to Egypt of his descendants. This is not what Demetrius and Josephus had in mind, as they make no mention of Avraham's descent to Egypt, but this is a possible reading of <multilink><a href="RambanSHM1" data-aht="source">Ramban in his Critique of the Rambam's Sefer HaMitzvot</a><a href="RambanSHM1" data-aht="source">Root 1</a><a href="R. Moshe b. Nachman (Ramban, Nachmanides)" data-aht="parshan">About Ramban</a></multilink> ("מעת גלות אברהם מארץ כנען בפעם הראשונה").</fn> The version of the LXX they were using may also have read "they and their fathers" like Codex Alexandrinus.<fn>Cf. the text of the Samaritan Pentateuch "ומושב בני ישראל ואבותם". Alternatively, they could have interpreted like R. Saadia above.</fn></point>
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<p>The Covenant of the Pieces (ברית בין הבתרים) occurred when Avraham was 70 years old.<fn>It is likely that this position first established the birth of Yitzchak as the starting point for the 400 number and then dated the Covenant to thirty years earlier in order to account for the 430 figure.</fn></p>
 
<p>The Covenant of the Pieces (ברית בין הבתרים) occurred when Avraham was 70 years old.<fn>It is likely that this position first established the birth of Yitzchak as the starting point for the 400 number and then dated the Covenant to thirty years earlier in order to account for the 430 figure.</fn></p>
 
<mekorot><multilink><a href="PseudoPhilo8-14" data-aht="source">Pseudo-Philo</a><a href="PseudoPhilo8-14" data-aht="source">Biblical Antiquities 8:14</a><a href="PseudoPhilo9-4" data-aht="source">Biblical Antiquities 9:4</a><a href="Pseudo-Philo" data-aht="parshan">About Pseudo-Philo</a></multilink>,<fn>Pseudo-Philo does not explicitly mention the number 430, but he says that the Israelites were in Egypt for 210 years and that God spoke to Avraham 220 years before they came to Egypt.</fn> <multilink><a href="SederOlamRabbah3" data-aht="source">Seder Olam Rabbah</a><a href="SederOlamRabbah1" data-aht="source">Ch. 1</a><a href="SederOlamRabbah3" data-aht="source">Ch. 3</a><a href="Seder Olam Rabbah" data-aht="parshan">About Seder Olam Rabbah</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="MekhiltaBo14" data-aht="source">Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael</a><a href="MekhiltaBo14" data-aht="source">Bo 14</a><a href="Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael" data-aht="parshan">About the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="MekhiltaDeRashbi12-40" data-aht="source">Mekhilta DeRashbi</a><a href="MekhiltaDeRashbi12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40</a><a href="Mekhilta DeRashbi" data-aht="parshan">About Mekhilta DeRashbi</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="PsJ12-40" data-aht="source">Targum Pseudo-Jonathan</a><a href="PsJ12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40-41</a><a href="Targum Pseudo-Jonathan" data-aht="parshan">About Targum Pseudo-Jonathan</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="32Middot32" data-aht="source">Beraita of 32 Middot</a><a href="32Middot32" data-aht="source">Middah 32</a><a href="32 Middot of R. Eliezer" data-aht="parshan">About Beraita of 32 Middot</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="RSBHGBereshit41-1" data-aht="source">R. Shemuel b. Chofni Gaon</a><a href="RSBHGBereshit35-27" data-aht="source">Bereshit 35:27</a><a href="RSBHGBereshit41-1" data-aht="source">Bereshit 41:1</a><a href="RSBHGBereshit46-8" data-aht="source">Bereshit 46:8</a><a href="R. Shemuel b. Chofni Gaon" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shemuel b. Chofni Gaon</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="IbnJanachRikmah28" data-aht="source">R. Yonah ibn Janach</a><a href="IbnJanachRikmah28" data-aht="source">Sefer HaRikmah Sha'ar 28</a><a href="R. Yonah ibn Janach" data-aht="parshan">About Ibn Janach</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="RashiBereshit15-13" data-aht="source">Rashi</a><a href="RashiBereshit15-13" data-aht="source">Bereshit 15:13</a><a href="Rashi6-18" data-aht="source">Shemot 6:18-20</a><a href="Rashi12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40</a><a href="RashiMegillah9a" data-aht="source">Megillah 9a</a><a href="R. Shelomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)" data-aht="parshan">About Rashi</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="Rashbam12-40" data-aht="source">Rashbam</a><a href="Rashbam12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40-41</a><a href="R. Shemuel b. Meir (Rashbam)" data-aht="parshan">About Rashbam</a></multilink>, and many others.</mekorot>
 
<mekorot><multilink><a href="PseudoPhilo8-14" data-aht="source">Pseudo-Philo</a><a href="PseudoPhilo8-14" data-aht="source">Biblical Antiquities 8:14</a><a href="PseudoPhilo9-4" data-aht="source">Biblical Antiquities 9:4</a><a href="Pseudo-Philo" data-aht="parshan">About Pseudo-Philo</a></multilink>,<fn>Pseudo-Philo does not explicitly mention the number 430, but he says that the Israelites were in Egypt for 210 years and that God spoke to Avraham 220 years before they came to Egypt.</fn> <multilink><a href="SederOlamRabbah3" data-aht="source">Seder Olam Rabbah</a><a href="SederOlamRabbah1" data-aht="source">Ch. 1</a><a href="SederOlamRabbah3" data-aht="source">Ch. 3</a><a href="Seder Olam Rabbah" data-aht="parshan">About Seder Olam Rabbah</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="MekhiltaBo14" data-aht="source">Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael</a><a href="MekhiltaBo14" data-aht="source">Bo 14</a><a href="Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael" data-aht="parshan">About the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="MekhiltaDeRashbi12-40" data-aht="source">Mekhilta DeRashbi</a><a href="MekhiltaDeRashbi12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40</a><a href="Mekhilta DeRashbi" data-aht="parshan">About Mekhilta DeRashbi</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="PsJ12-40" data-aht="source">Targum Pseudo-Jonathan</a><a href="PsJ12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40-41</a><a href="Targum Pseudo-Jonathan" data-aht="parshan">About Targum Pseudo-Jonathan</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="32Middot32" data-aht="source">Beraita of 32 Middot</a><a href="32Middot32" data-aht="source">Middah 32</a><a href="32 Middot of R. Eliezer" data-aht="parshan">About Beraita of 32 Middot</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="RSBHGBereshit41-1" data-aht="source">R. Shemuel b. Chofni Gaon</a><a href="RSBHGBereshit35-27" data-aht="source">Bereshit 35:27</a><a href="RSBHGBereshit41-1" data-aht="source">Bereshit 41:1</a><a href="RSBHGBereshit46-8" data-aht="source">Bereshit 46:8</a><a href="R. Shemuel b. Chofni Gaon" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shemuel b. Chofni Gaon</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="IbnJanachRikmah28" data-aht="source">R. Yonah ibn Janach</a><a href="IbnJanachRikmah28" data-aht="source">Sefer HaRikmah Sha'ar 28</a><a href="R. Yonah ibn Janach" data-aht="parshan">About Ibn Janach</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="RashiBereshit15-13" data-aht="source">Rashi</a><a href="RashiBereshit15-13" data-aht="source">Bereshit 15:13</a><a href="Rashi6-18" data-aht="source">Shemot 6:18-20</a><a href="Rashi12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40</a><a href="RashiMegillah9a" data-aht="source">Megillah 9a</a><a href="R. Shelomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)" data-aht="parshan">About Rashi</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="Rashbam12-40" data-aht="source">Rashbam</a><a href="Rashbam12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40-41</a><a href="R. Shemuel b. Meir (Rashbam)" data-aht="parshan">About Rashbam</a></multilink>, and many others.</mekorot>
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<p class="summary">This approach suggests that the 430 years began with the Covenant which happened when Avraham was 70 years old. It thus needs to rearrange the chronology of Sefer Bereshit and also assume either that the Covenant took place outside of Israel or that Avraham came to Israel only to leave and return again. The 400 years are counted from the birth of Yitzchak. This leaves 210 years for the sojourn in Egypt.</p>
 
<p class="summary">This approach suggests that the 430 years began with the Covenant which happened when Avraham was 70 years old. It thus needs to rearrange the chronology of Sefer Bereshit and also assume either that the Covenant took place outside of Israel or that Avraham came to Israel only to leave and return again. The 400 years are counted from the birth of Yitzchak. This leaves 210 years for the sojourn in Egypt.</p>
 +
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<point><b>Crux of the position</b> – This approach suggests that the 430 years began with the Covenant which happened when Avraham was 70 years old. It thus needs to rearrange the chronology of Sefer Bereshit and also assume either that the Covenant took place outside of Israel or that Avraham came to Israel only to leave and return again. The 400 years are counted from the birth of Yitzchak. This leaves 210 years for the sojourn in Egypt.</point>
 
<point><b>Only 210 years in Egypt</b> – According to this position, 220 of the 430 years preceded the descent to Egypt,<fn>These additional 220 years include: 30 years of Avraham (before Yitzchak was born) + 60 years of Yitzchak (before Yaakov was born) + 130 years of Yaakov (before he went down to Egypt).</fn> and the Israelites were in Egypt itself for less than half of the 430 total. Seder Olam and the Mekhilta DeRashbi explain that the maximum total of the years listed in the genealogy of Shemot 6 leaves no option but to say that the 430 includes years spent outside of Egypt. However, the exact figure of 210 years, although widely known, is not based on any explicit Biblical text.<fn>It is rather calculated by subtracting the 190 years between the birth of Yitzchak and the descent to Egypt from the 400 year total found in Bereshit 15:13. [A later tradition in <multilink><a href="BereshitRabbah91-2" data-aht="source">Bereshit Rabbah</a><a href="BereshitRabbah91-2" data-aht="source">91:2</a><a href="Bereshit Rabbah" data-aht="parshan">About Bereshit Rabbah</a></multilink> finds a hint to the 210 years in the numerical value (גימטריא) of the word "רְדוּ".]</fn></point>
 
<point><b>Only 210 years in Egypt</b> – According to this position, 220 of the 430 years preceded the descent to Egypt,<fn>These additional 220 years include: 30 years of Avraham (before Yitzchak was born) + 60 years of Yitzchak (before Yaakov was born) + 130 years of Yaakov (before he went down to Egypt).</fn> and the Israelites were in Egypt itself for less than half of the 430 total. Seder Olam and the Mekhilta DeRashbi explain that the maximum total of the years listed in the genealogy of Shemot 6 leaves no option but to say that the 430 includes years spent outside of Egypt. However, the exact figure of 210 years, although widely known, is not based on any explicit Biblical text.<fn>It is rather calculated by subtracting the 190 years between the birth of Yitzchak and the descent to Egypt from the 400 year total found in Bereshit 15:13. [A later tradition in <multilink><a href="BereshitRabbah91-2" data-aht="source">Bereshit Rabbah</a><a href="BereshitRabbah91-2" data-aht="source">91:2</a><a href="Bereshit Rabbah" data-aht="parshan">About Bereshit Rabbah</a></multilink> finds a hint to the 210 years in the numerical value (גימטריא) of the word "רְדוּ".]</fn></point>
 
<point><b>430 year period</b> – "וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Shemot 12:40) – The sources taking this position can explain this verse in three different ways:<fn>There are also two much more radical options: <div>a) <multilink><a href="PsJ12-40" data-aht="source">Targum Pseudo-Jonathan</a><a href="PsJ12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40-41</a><a href="Targum Pseudo-Jonathan" data-aht="parshan">About Targum Pseudo-Jonathan</a></multilink> separates the 30 from the 400, and thereby explains the 30 as referring to Sabbatical cycles (7 × 30 = 210) and the 400 as the years from the birth of Yitzchak.</div><div>b) <multilink><a href="PirkeiDRE47" data-aht="source">Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer</a><a href="PirkeiDRE47" data-aht="source">47</a><a href="Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer" data-aht="parshan">About Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer</a></multilink> recasts the 430 as a doubling of the 215 year period in Egypt for which God counted both the days and the nights in order to hasten the redemption. To enable this explanation, Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer needs to include the 5 years of Menashe and Ephraim's lives which immediately precede the 210 years (in which all of the Israelites were in Egypt).</div></fn>
 
<point><b>430 year period</b> – "וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Shemot 12:40) – The sources taking this position can explain this verse in three different ways:<fn>There are also two much more radical options: <div>a) <multilink><a href="PsJ12-40" data-aht="source">Targum Pseudo-Jonathan</a><a href="PsJ12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40-41</a><a href="Targum Pseudo-Jonathan" data-aht="parshan">About Targum Pseudo-Jonathan</a></multilink> separates the 30 from the 400, and thereby explains the 30 as referring to Sabbatical cycles (7 × 30 = 210) and the 400 as the years from the birth of Yitzchak.</div><div>b) <multilink><a href="PirkeiDRE47" data-aht="source">Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer</a><a href="PirkeiDRE47" data-aht="source">47</a><a href="Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer" data-aht="parshan">About Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer</a></multilink> recasts the 430 as a doubling of the 215 year period in Egypt for which God counted both the days and the nights in order to hasten the redemption. To enable this explanation, Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer needs to include the 5 years of Menashe and Ephraim's lives which immediately precede the 210 years (in which all of the Israelites were in Egypt).</div></fn>
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<p>The Covenant of the Pieces (ברית בין הבתרים) occurred when Avraham was 80 years old.</p>
 
<p>The Covenant of the Pieces (ברית בין הבתרים) occurred when Avraham was 80 years old.</p>
 
<mekorot><multilink><a href="Ramban12-40" data-aht="source">Ramban</a><a href="RambanBereshit15-13" data-aht="source">Bereshit 15:13</a><a href="RambanBereshit46-15" data-aht="source">Bereshit 46:15</a><a href="Ramban12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40</a><a href="RambanSHM1" data-aht="source">Sefer HaMitzvot, Root 1</a><a href="R. Moshe b. Nachman (Ramban, Nachmanides)" data-aht="parshan">About Ramban</a></multilink>'s preferred option.<fn>After first describing Seder Olam Rabbah's position and discussing one possible way of reconciling the 430 and 400 figures, Ramban proceeds to offer three alternatives for the beginning of the 430 year count. He rejects the first of these (counting the 430 years from the birth of Yitzchak, cf. Jubilees below) and suggests the third (counting the 430 years from the Covenant which was made when Avraham was 87) primarily as a way of finding common ground with the Rabbinic figure of 210 years. We will focus here on his middle and preferred option (counting the 430 years from the Covenant which was made when Avraham was 80). [All of Ramban's possibilities start by defining the starting point for the 430, with the 400 being secondary.]</fn></mekorot>
 
<mekorot><multilink><a href="Ramban12-40" data-aht="source">Ramban</a><a href="RambanBereshit15-13" data-aht="source">Bereshit 15:13</a><a href="RambanBereshit46-15" data-aht="source">Bereshit 46:15</a><a href="Ramban12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40</a><a href="RambanSHM1" data-aht="source">Sefer HaMitzvot, Root 1</a><a href="R. Moshe b. Nachman (Ramban, Nachmanides)" data-aht="parshan">About Ramban</a></multilink>'s preferred option.<fn>After first describing Seder Olam Rabbah's position and discussing one possible way of reconciling the 430 and 400 figures, Ramban proceeds to offer three alternatives for the beginning of the 430 year count. He rejects the first of these (counting the 430 years from the birth of Yitzchak, cf. Jubilees below) and suggests the third (counting the 430 years from the Covenant which was made when Avraham was 87) primarily as a way of finding common ground with the Rabbinic figure of 210 years. We will focus here on his middle and preferred option (counting the 430 years from the Covenant which was made when Avraham was 80). [All of Ramban's possibilities start by defining the starting point for the 430, with the 400 being secondary.]</fn></mekorot>
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<p class="summary">Ramban suggests that the 430 years began with the Covenant which occurred when Avraham was 80, midway between the ages mentioned in the surrounding chapters.  This leaves 220 years for the actual sojourn in Egypt. To reconcile the discrepancy between 400 and 430, Ramban suggests that the original plan included 400 years of wandering but an additional 30 were added later due to the sins of the nation.</p>
 
<p class="summary">Ramban suggests that the 430 years began with the Covenant which occurred when Avraham was 80, midway between the ages mentioned in the surrounding chapters.  This leaves 220 years for the actual sojourn in Egypt. To reconcile the discrepancy between 400 and 430, Ramban suggests that the original plan included 400 years of wandering but an additional 30 were added later due to the sins of the nation.</p>
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<point><b>Crux of the position</b> – Ramban suggests that the 430 years began with the Covenant which occurred when Avraham was 80, midway between the ages mentioned in the surrounding chapters.  This leaves 220 years for the actual sojourn in Egypt. To reconcile the discrepancy between 400 and 430, Ramban suggests that the original plan included 400 years of wandering but an additional 30 were added later due to the sins of the nation.</point>
 
<point><b>220 years in Egypt</b> – The Torah does not give us Avraham's age at the time of the Covenant of Pieces, and thus Ramban estimates it at ~80, or midway between Avraham's recorded ages of 75 and 85-86 in the neighboring chapters.<fn>Ramban (in contrast to Seder Olam Rabbah) thus gains that the Avraham stories remain in chronological order – see <a href="LIT_">Chronology</a> and <a href="R. Moshe b. Nachman (Ramban, Nachmanides)" data-aht="parshan">Ramban</a> for more on Ramban's general chronological approach.</fn> According to this, 210 of the 430 years preceded the descent to Egypt,<fn>The additional 210 years consist of: ~20 years of Avraham (before Yitzchak was born) + 60 years of Yitzchak (before Yaakov was born) + 130 years of Yaakov (before he went down to Egypt).</fn> leaving 220 years for the stay in Egypt.<fn>Ramban also attempts to integrate the Rabbinic tradition of 210 years in Egypt with his own approach (see <a href="R. Moshe b. Nachman (Ramban, Nachmanides)" data-aht="parshan">Ramban</a> for other examples of this), by suggesting a variation according to which Avraham was 87 at the time of the Covenant of Pieces. This would reduce the number of years prior to the descent to 203, leaving 227 of the 430 years for the stay in Egypt. As Yaakov was still alive for the first 17 of these 227 years, Ramban proposes that the 210 year tradition could refer to the years the Israelites spent in Egypt after Yaakov's death. However, this approach would require one to posit an achronology (which Ramban wants to avoid), as Avraham is only 86 in the story which follows the Covenant.</fn></point>
 
<point><b>220 years in Egypt</b> – The Torah does not give us Avraham's age at the time of the Covenant of Pieces, and thus Ramban estimates it at ~80, or midway between Avraham's recorded ages of 75 and 85-86 in the neighboring chapters.<fn>Ramban (in contrast to Seder Olam Rabbah) thus gains that the Avraham stories remain in chronological order – see <a href="LIT_">Chronology</a> and <a href="R. Moshe b. Nachman (Ramban, Nachmanides)" data-aht="parshan">Ramban</a> for more on Ramban's general chronological approach.</fn> According to this, 210 of the 430 years preceded the descent to Egypt,<fn>The additional 210 years consist of: ~20 years of Avraham (before Yitzchak was born) + 60 years of Yitzchak (before Yaakov was born) + 130 years of Yaakov (before he went down to Egypt).</fn> leaving 220 years for the stay in Egypt.<fn>Ramban also attempts to integrate the Rabbinic tradition of 210 years in Egypt with his own approach (see <a href="R. Moshe b. Nachman (Ramban, Nachmanides)" data-aht="parshan">Ramban</a> for other examples of this), by suggesting a variation according to which Avraham was 87 at the time of the Covenant of Pieces. This would reduce the number of years prior to the descent to 203, leaving 227 of the 430 years for the stay in Egypt. As Yaakov was still alive for the first 17 of these 227 years, Ramban proposes that the 210 year tradition could refer to the years the Israelites spent in Egypt after Yaakov's death. However, this approach would require one to posit an achronology (which Ramban wants to avoid), as Avraham is only 86 in the story which follows the Covenant.</fn></point>
 
<point><b>430 year period</b> – "וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Shemot 12:40) – Ramban offers two possible understandings of this verse in two different works:
 
<point><b>430 year period</b> – "וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Shemot 12:40) – Ramban offers two possible understandings of this verse in two different works:
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<p>The Covenant of the Pieces (ברית בין הבתרים) occurred when Avraham was 85 years old.</p>
 
<p>The Covenant of the Pieces (ברית בין הבתרים) occurred when Avraham was 85 years old.</p>
 
<mekorot><multilink><a href="RalbagMilotBereshit15-13" data-aht="source">Ralbag</a><a href="RalbagMilotBereshit15-13" data-aht="source">Milot Bereshit 15:13</a><a href="RalbagSippurBereshit15-13" data-aht="source">Sippur Bereshit 15:13</a><a href="Ralbag2-1" data-aht="source">Shemot 2:1</a><a href="Ralbag12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40</a><a href="R. Levi b. Gershom (Ralbag, Gersonides)" data-aht="parshan">About Ralbag</a></multilink>.<fn>Ralbag discusses an alternative option that the 430 years are counted from the birth of Yitzchak and that 240 years were spent in Egypt (cf. Jubilees below). According to both of Ralbag's options for accounting for the 430, the 400 year decree began with the birth of Yaakov, but its duration was shortened (by either 30 or 45 years, resulting in either 240 or 225 years in Egypt). Ralbag also considers in passing the possibility that the full 400 years from Yaakov's birth were completed, according to which the Israelites would have spent 270 years in Egypt, however it is unclear how he would reconcile this with the 430 figure.</fn></mekorot>
 
<mekorot><multilink><a href="RalbagMilotBereshit15-13" data-aht="source">Ralbag</a><a href="RalbagMilotBereshit15-13" data-aht="source">Milot Bereshit 15:13</a><a href="RalbagSippurBereshit15-13" data-aht="source">Sippur Bereshit 15:13</a><a href="Ralbag2-1" data-aht="source">Shemot 2:1</a><a href="Ralbag12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40</a><a href="R. Levi b. Gershom (Ralbag, Gersonides)" data-aht="parshan">About Ralbag</a></multilink>.<fn>Ralbag discusses an alternative option that the 430 years are counted from the birth of Yitzchak and that 240 years were spent in Egypt (cf. Jubilees below). According to both of Ralbag's options for accounting for the 430, the 400 year decree began with the birth of Yaakov, but its duration was shortened (by either 30 or 45 years, resulting in either 240 or 225 years in Egypt). Ralbag also considers in passing the possibility that the full 400 years from Yaakov's birth were completed, according to which the Israelites would have spent 270 years in Egypt, however it is unclear how he would reconcile this with the 430 figure.</fn></mekorot>
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<p class="summary">According to Ralbag, the 430 years began with the Covenant of the Pieces which took place when Avraham was 85 years old, the age recorded in the very next chapter. The 400 years begin from the birth of Yaakov. In order to reconcile this number with the 430 which began 75 years earlier, Ralbag must suggest that Hashem decided to shorten this original decree by 45 years, leaving 225 years for the Egyptian exile.</p>
 
<p class="summary">According to Ralbag, the 430 years began with the Covenant of the Pieces which took place when Avraham was 85 years old, the age recorded in the very next chapter. The 400 years begin from the birth of Yaakov. In order to reconcile this number with the 430 which began 75 years earlier, Ralbag must suggest that Hashem decided to shorten this original decree by 45 years, leaving 225 years for the Egyptian exile.</p>
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 +
<point><b>Crux of the position</b> – According to Ralbag, the 430 years began with the Covenant of the Pieces which took place when Avraham was 85 years old, the age recorded in the very next chapter. The 400 years begin from the birth of Yaakov. In order to reconcile this number with the 430 which began 75 years earlier, Ralbag must suggest that Hashem decided to shorten this original decree by 45 years, leaving 225 years for the Egyptian exile.</point>
 
<point><b>225 years in Egypt</b> – Ralbag assumes that Avraham was 85 at the time of the Covenant of Pieces,<fn>This matches the opinion found in <multilink><a href="BereshitRabbah46-2" data-aht="source">Bereshit Rabbah</a><a href="BereshitRabbah46-2" data-aht="source">46:2</a><a href="Bereshit Rabbah" data-aht="parshan">About Bereshit Rabbah</a></multilink>. Cf. Genesis Apocryphon (1Q20) XXII:27 which also places the events of Bereshit 15 ten years after Avraham left from Haran.</fn> as this is his age in the following chapter.<fn>Ralbag links Avraham's despair of fathering a child in the first part of Bereshit 15 with Sarah giving him Hagar in Bereshit 16. Ralbag rejects Seder Olam Rabbah's proposal that the story is achronological, and he argues that had Avraham come to the land of Israel before he was 75, he would not have left it to return to Haran (cf. Ramban Bereshit 12:10).</fn> According to this, 205 of the 430 years preceded the descent to Egypt,<fn>The additional 205 years consist of: ~15 years of Avraham (before Yitzchak was born) + 60 years of Yitzchak (before Yaakov was born) + 130 years of Yaakov (before he went down to Egypt).</fn> leaving 225 years for the stay in Egypt.</point>
 
<point><b>225 years in Egypt</b> – Ralbag assumes that Avraham was 85 at the time of the Covenant of Pieces,<fn>This matches the opinion found in <multilink><a href="BereshitRabbah46-2" data-aht="source">Bereshit Rabbah</a><a href="BereshitRabbah46-2" data-aht="source">46:2</a><a href="Bereshit Rabbah" data-aht="parshan">About Bereshit Rabbah</a></multilink>. Cf. Genesis Apocryphon (1Q20) XXII:27 which also places the events of Bereshit 15 ten years after Avraham left from Haran.</fn> as this is his age in the following chapter.<fn>Ralbag links Avraham's despair of fathering a child in the first part of Bereshit 15 with Sarah giving him Hagar in Bereshit 16. Ralbag rejects Seder Olam Rabbah's proposal that the story is achronological, and he argues that had Avraham come to the land of Israel before he was 75, he would not have left it to return to Haran (cf. Ramban Bereshit 12:10).</fn> According to this, 205 of the 430 years preceded the descent to Egypt,<fn>The additional 205 years consist of: ~15 years of Avraham (before Yitzchak was born) + 60 years of Yitzchak (before Yaakov was born) + 130 years of Yaakov (before he went down to Egypt).</fn> leaving 225 years for the stay in Egypt.</point>
 
<point><b>430 year period</b> – "וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Shemot 12:40) – Ralbag interprets like Ramban<fn>See also R. Shemuel b. Chofni Gaon, R. Yonah ibn Janach, and R. Avraham b. HaRambam noted above.</fn> that the verse is an elliptical construction and should be read as if the word "עַד" precedes the 430 years. Thus, the 430 years refer to the period specified to Avraham at the Covenant of the Pieces, rather than to the time actually spent in Egypt.</point>
 
<point><b>430 year period</b> – "וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Shemot 12:40) – Ralbag interprets like Ramban<fn>See also R. Shemuel b. Chofni Gaon, R. Yonah ibn Janach, and R. Avraham b. HaRambam noted above.</fn> that the verse is an elliptical construction and should be read as if the word "עַד" precedes the 430 years. Thus, the 430 years refer to the period specified to Avraham at the Covenant of the Pieces, rather than to the time actually spent in Egypt.</point>
Line 146: Line 167:
 
<multilink><a href="KeliYekar12-40" data-aht="source">Keli Yekar</a><a href="KeliYekar12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40</a><a href="R. Shelomo Ephraim Luntschitz (Keli Yekar)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shelomo Ephraim Luntschitz</a></multilink>.
 
<multilink><a href="KeliYekar12-40" data-aht="source">Keli Yekar</a><a href="KeliYekar12-40" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40</a><a href="R. Shelomo Ephraim Luntschitz (Keli Yekar)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shelomo Ephraim Luntschitz</a></multilink>.
 
</mekorot>
 
</mekorot>
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<p class="summary">This approach counts the 430 years from the birth of Yitzchak, according to which the actual stay in Egypt was 240 years. Abarbanel explains that the 400 years is either a round number or, like Ramban above, that 30 years were later added due to the nation's sins.</p>
 
<p class="summary">This approach counts the 430 years from the birth of Yitzchak, according to which the actual stay in Egypt was 240 years. Abarbanel explains that the 400 years is either a round number or, like Ramban above, that 30 years were later added due to the nation's sins.</p>
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<point><b>Crux of the position</b> – This approach counts the 430 years from the birth of Yitzchak, according to which the actual stay in Egypt was 240 years. Abarbanel explains that the 400 years is either a round number or, like Ramban above, that 30 years were later added due to the nation's sins.</point>
 
<point><b>240 years in Egypt</b> – As Yitzchak was born 190 years before the descent to Egypt,<fn>Yitzchak was 60 years old when Yaakov was born, and Yaakov was 130 years old when he went down to Egypt.</fn> 240 years remain for the actual stay in Egypt.</point>
 
<point><b>240 years in Egypt</b> – As Yitzchak was born 190 years before the descent to Egypt,<fn>Yitzchak was 60 years old when Yaakov was born, and Yaakov was 130 years old when he went down to Egypt.</fn> 240 years remain for the actual stay in Egypt.</point>
 
<point><b>430 year period</b> – "וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Shemot 12:40) – Abarbanel reads this verse as if there was an extra word "עִם" preceding "אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם", meaning that the 430 years is a total for the entire Patriarchal period and not just the time in Egypt.</point>
 
<point><b>430 year period</b> – "וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Shemot 12:40) – Abarbanel reads this verse as if there was an extra word "עִם" preceding "אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם", meaning that the 430 years is a total for the entire Patriarchal period and not just the time in Egypt.</point>

Version as of 13:32, 6 January 2015

The Duration of the Egyptian Exile

Exegetical Approaches

Overview

Faced with the apparent contradictions between the explicit verses which speak of 400 or 430 years and the upper limit of 350 years derived from Moshe’s genealogy, different commentators chose to take some verses at face value while reinterpreting others. This yields a full spectrum of approaches regarding the total number of years the Israelites spent in Egypt.

Shadal and the Hoil Moshe maintain that the Children of Israel were in Egypt for the full 430 years. They propose that Moshe's genealogy omits several generations and includes only the more prominent personalities. Others view Moshe's genealogy as a full listing and therefore suggest that the nation was in Egypt for much less than 430 years. To do so, they reread the verses which speak of 430 or 400, suggesting that this time span does not begin with the descent to Egypt but with some other event such as Avraham's journey to Israel, the Covenant of the Pieces, or the birth of Yitzchak. Depending on which of these approaches is chosen, the Children of Israel might have been in Egypt anywhere between 210 and 240 years. There is also a compromise approach which suggests that though the original plan was for a full 400 year exile in Egypt, Hashem changed his mind and shortened the stay.1

Full 430 Years

The Israelites lived in Egypt for a full 430 years.

Crux of the position – Shadal and the Hoil Moshe maintain that the Israelites were in Egypt for a full 430 years. To do so, they must posit that Moshe's genealogy in Shemot 6 omits several generations and includes only the more prominent personalities.
430 years in Egypt – This position reads the verses in Shemot 12:40-41 literally, and thus maintains that the Israelites really were in Egypt for a full 430 years.
Moshe's paternal lineage – Shadal and the Hoil Moshe need to offer a novel interpretation of Shemot 6, maintaining that Moshe's genealogy omits several generations and includes only the more prominent personalities.5 Thus it, too, covers a period of 430 years.6
Moshe's maternal lineage – The Torah records that Yocheved was Levi's "daughter born to him in Egypt" ("‏בַּת־לֵוִי אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה אֹתָהּ לְלֵוִי בְּמִצְרָיִם") and Amram's aunt ("דֹּדָתוֹ"‎).7 If so, Yocheved would need to have lived at least from the year of Levi's death until Moshe's birth, which would make her at least 256 years old when she gave birth to Moshe. Thus, in order to sustain his position, the Hoil Moshe is forced to interpret "בַּת־לֵוִי אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה אֹתָהּ לְלֵוִי" as "a woman born to the tribe of Levi," rather than as a biological daughter of Levi himself.8 According to this, Yocheved could still be Amram's aunt, or, alternatively, "דֹּדָתוֹ" could be explained as a relative or cousin.9
"וְדוֹר רְבִיעִי יָשׁוּבוּ הֵנָּה" (Bereshit 15:16) – The Hoil Moshe Bereshit 15:16 explains that "generation" here doesn’t mean a literal generation, but rather the lifespan of an important personality which can extend over several generations.
400 in Bereshit vs. 430 in Shemot – The Hoil Moshe Bereshit 15:16 suggests that 400 is merely used as a round number approximating the more precise tally of 430 years spent in Egypt.10 According to this approach, the prophecy in Bereshit 15 is intended only to be a general foretelling of the future (rather than a precise historical account), and thus both the exact duration and location of the exile are not provided.11
Number of Levites – Shadal and the Hoil Moshe point out that in Shemot 6 only twenty Kehatite descendants are mentioned, while in the second year in the wilderness, Kehat's male descendants numbered 8,600 (see Bemidbar 3:28). As it is impossible that Kehat's descendants multiplied 430 fold in a mere two years, this demonstrates that Shemot 6 cannot be a complete genealogy.12
Israelite population growth – Shadal notes that having a full 430 years in Egypt also more easily explains the nation's growth to 600,000 men. See Fertility Rate for other options.
Biblical genealogies – There are several other instances of characters from the generation of the Exodus whose lineages are traced back to their original tribes but only have a couple of names of ancestors listed in the interim.13 As two or three generations cannot span 430 years, the Hoil Moshe14 suggests that in all of these cases the ancestors named are not the character's father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, but rather his household (בית אב‎), family (משפחה‎) and tribe (שבט‎).15
Duration of the slavery – Theoretically, this approach could posit that the Israelites were enslaved for over 300 years. However, the Hoil Moshe maintains that the harsh decrees spanned only the reign of the two kings mentioned in Sefer Shemot, or a period of about a hundred years.16

Change in Plans

The Israelites were supposed to be in Egypt for a full 400-430 years, but Hashem shortened their stay.

Crux of the position – This approach resolves the discrepancy between four generations and 430/400 years by suggesting that there was a change in the Divine plan. Although Hashem originally decreed a longer exile in Egypt, He later shortened the stay to 210 years.
400 year period – Rabbi Yehuda in the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael notes that the figure of 400 years is inconsistent with the promise of a return of the fourth generation.17 He thus suggests that the verses are presenting two possibilities, a fast track and a slow track. If Avraham's descendants repent, then already the fourth generation will be redeemed, but if not, there will be a full 400 years.18 Similarly, the Pesikta and Tanchuma say that Hashem hastened the redemption by shortening the 400 year decree to 210 years.19
Hashem changing his mind – Tanchuma brings this case as a proof for the principle that Hashem sometimes rescinds a negative decree but never retracts a positive decree. See, however, the exact opposite positions of Ramban and Abarbanel below, who suggest that Hashem lengthened the slavery because of the nation's bad deeds. For more, see Change of Heart.
430 year period – The Midrashic motif of Hashem hastening the redemption would appear to be applicable only to the 400 year prophecy and not to the 430 figure which is part of an after the fact summation.20 However, Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer attempts to apply it to the 430 number as well. He suggests that Hashem doubled the 215 years spent in Egypt21 by counting both the days and nights, thus arriving at the 430 year total.
Only 210 years in Egypt – According to Rabbi Yehuda in the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Hashem could have shortened the 400 year period by any amount, and there is no evidence for specifically a 210 year stint.22 However, the Pesikta and Tanchuma specify that Hashem reduced the decree to 210 years. They are likely influenced by the position of Seder Olam Rabbah below.23
Israelite population growth – The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael,24 Pesikta,25 and Tanchuma26 all explain that the growth was supernatural. See Fertility Rate for more.

Never 430 Years

The Israelites were never supposed to be in Egypt for a full 400-430 years, and the verses which speak of a 400 or 430 year stay need to be reinterpreted as counting, not from the descent to Egypt, but rather from a different starting point.27 This option subdivides regarding the point from which the 430 years are counted:28

430 Years From Avraham's Aliyah

The 430 years are counted from the time when Avraham began his journey to the land of Israel. There are two variations of this possibility:

Departure at Age 70

The 430 year count begins when Avraham originally departed Ur Kasdim at the age of 70.29

Crux of the position – This approach suggests that the 430 year count begins when Avraham departed Ur Kasdim at the age of 70 while the 400 years is counted from the birth of Yitzchak (the beginning of the sojourn of Avraham's "seed"). The exile in Egypt, then, lasted 210 years.
Only 210 years in Egypt – According to these commentators, 220 of the 430 years preceded the descent to Egypt,32 and the Israelites were in Egypt itself for less than half of the 430 total. R. Saadia and others explain that the maximum total of the years listed in the genealogy of Shemot 6 leaves no choice other than to say that the 430 includes years spent outside of Egypt. However, the exact figure of 210 years, although widely known, is not based on any explicit Biblical text.33
430 year period – "וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Shemot 12:40) – This verse can be reconciled with the above approach in three different ways:
  • Reinterpreting two of its terms – R. Saadia adopts this method. Thus he suggests that "בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל" can refer also to the Israelites' ancestors such as Avraham,34 and that "בְּמִצְרָיִם" encompasses not only Egypt proper, but all lands which were under Egyptian dominion.35 These broader definitions then allow him to explain that the 430 figure includes also the years from the time that the Patriarchs lived in Canaan and Haran (as those lands were then under Egyptian control).36
  • Assuming that the verse is giving only the central facts and not the full details – R. Yosef Bekhor Shor thus explains that the verse mentions only the stay in Egypt because that was the main part of the exile.37
  • Separating the 430 figure from the rest of the verse – R. Avraham b. HaRambam suggests that the verse is merely saying that the Israelites were in Egypt until the end of the 430 year Patriarchal era which began with Avraham.38
400 year period – "גֵר יִהְיֶה זַרְעֲךָ בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָהֶם וַעֲבָדוּם וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Bereshit 15:13) – R. Saadia explains that 400 years is the sum total for all of the events described in the verse (including "גֵר יִהְיֶה זַרְעֲךָ בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָהֶם"), and does not refer exclusively to the slavery itself ("וַעֲבָדוּם וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם")‎.39 In addition, this approach needs to maintain that "בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָהֶם" includes Canaan.40
430 in Shemot vs. 400 in Bereshit – R. Saadia explains that while the 430 years in Shemot 12:40-41 start with Avraham's own journey, the 400 years in Bereshit 15:13 begin only with the birth of Yitzchak thirty years later, as this verse specifies "זַרְעֲךָ".
Additional unsubstantiated assumptions – For this approach to be viable, it must assume that Avraham was 70 years old when he left Ur Kasdim (together with Terach).41 R. Saadia notes, however, that this age is not explicit in the Biblical text.42
"וְדוֹר רְבִיעִי יָשׁוּבוּ הֵנָּה" (Bereshit 15:16) and Biblical genealogies – According to this approach, the Israelites were in Egypt for only 210 years, a period short enough to be covered by four generations. Similarly, the lineages of Moshe and other characters in the Torah are complete and do not omit any generations, and the fourth generation in fact returned to the land of Israel.43 Moshe's maternal lineage, however, poses a greater challenge – see discussion below of Seder Olam Rabbah's position.
Duration of the slavery – As Shemot 1:6 implies that the entire generation of Yosef and his brothers died before the oppression began, we must deduct the 94 years Levi lived in Egypt from the 210 year total. This leaves a maximum of 116 years of slavery.44
Arrival at Age 75

The 430 year count begins when Avraham arrived in the land of Canaan at age 75.45

Crux of the position – Demetrius and Josephus propose that the 430 year count begins when Avraham arrived in the land of Canaan at age 75, and they apparently view the 400 as merely a round number. The nation was thus in Egypt for a total of 215 years.
215 years in Egypt – According to this position, 215 of the 430 years transpired before the descent to Egypt,48 and the Israelites were in Egypt itself for exactly half of the 430 years.49
430 year period – "וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Shemot 12:40) – Demetrius and Josephus utilized the text of the Septuagint which reads "in the land, Egypt, and in the land of Chanaan."50 The version of the LXX they were using may also have read "they and their fathers" like Codex Alexandrinus.51
400 year period – "גֵר יִהְיֶה זַרְעֲךָ בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָהֶם וַעֲבָדוּם וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Bereshit 15:13) – According to this position, the 400 figure is an approximation52 of the 405 years Avraham's descendants sojourned in Canaan and Egypt before the Exodus.53
430 in Shemot vs. 400 in Bereshit – The 430 years include Avraham's own years in Canaan, while the 400 figure is a round number which approximates the 405 years from the birth of Yitzchak (as this verse specifies "זַרְעֲךָ").
"וְדוֹר רְבִיעִי יָשׁוּבוּ הֵנָּה" (Bereshit 15:16) and Biblical genealogies – The 215 years in Egypt is a period short enough to be covered by four generations, and Demetrius provides a reconstructed chronology of Moshe's ancestors.54 Demetrius55 also presents Yocheved as Amram's cousin, rather than aunt. Inserting an extra generation between Yocheved and Levi significantly reduces their requisite average age at childbirth, and thus obviates the chronological difficulty presented by Moshe's maternal lineage.

430 Years From Covenant

The 430 years are counted from the Covenant of the Pieces (ברית בין הבתרים). This possibility further subdivides regarding when the Covenant took place:

Covenant at Age 70

The Covenant of the Pieces (ברית בין הבתרים) occurred when Avraham was 70 years old.56

Crux of the position – This approach suggests that the 430 years began with the Covenant which happened when Avraham was 70 years old. It thus needs to rearrange the chronology of Sefer Bereshit and also assume either that the Covenant took place outside of Israel or that Avraham came to Israel only to leave and return again. The 400 years are counted from the birth of Yitzchak. This leaves 210 years for the sojourn in Egypt.
Only 210 years in Egypt – According to this position, 220 of the 430 years preceded the descent to Egypt,58 and the Israelites were in Egypt itself for less than half of the 430 total. Seder Olam and the Mekhilta DeRashbi explain that the maximum total of the years listed in the genealogy of Shemot 6 leaves no option but to say that the 430 includes years spent outside of Egypt. However, the exact figure of 210 years, although widely known, is not based on any explicit Biblical text.59
430 year period – "וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Shemot 12:40) – The sources taking this position can explain this verse in three different ways:60
  • Reinterpreting "בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל" to refer also to the Israelites' ancestors such as Avraham61 and "בְּמִצְרָיִם" to encompass not only Egypt proper, but all lands which were under Egyptian dominion62 – This appears to be the option adopted by the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael and Mekhilta DeRashbi.
  • Reading the 430 year figure as describing the duration of the Patriarchal period, whose endpoint coincided with the Exodus – R. Shemuel b. Chofni Gaon,63 R. Yonah ibn Janach.64
  • Assuming that the verse is giving only the central facts and not the full details – R. Yosef Bekhor Shor thus explains that the verse mentions only the stay in Egypt because that was the main part of the exile.65
400 year period – "גֵר יִהְיֶה זַרְעֲךָ בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָהֶם וַעֲבָדוּם וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Bereshit 15:13) – Seder Olam Rabbah explains that 400 years is the sum total for all of the events described in the verse (including "גֵר יִהְיֶה זַרְעֲךָ בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָהֶם") which began with the birth of Yitzchak, long before the start of the slavery itself ("וַעֲבָדוּם וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם")‎.66 In addition, this approach needs to maintain that "בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָהֶם" includes Canaan.67
430 in Shemot vs. 400 in Bereshit – While the 430 years in Shemot 12:40-41 include Avraham himself, the 400 years in Bereshit 15:13 begin only with the birth of Yitzchak thirty years later, as this verse specifies "זַרְעֲךָ".
Additional unsubstantiated assumptions – In order to maintain that the Covenant of the Pieces occurred when Avraham was 70 years old, this approach must make two very far reaching claims:68
  • Achronology – As the events of Bereshit 12-14 and the first part of Bereshit 15 proceed sequentially from when Avraham was 75 years old, the story of the Covenant of the Pieces in Bereshit 15:7-21 cannot be in chronological order and is not a continuation of the first part of Bereshit 15.69
  • Setting – Since according to Bereshit 12:4-5 Avraham arrived in Israel only after he was 75, one must posit either that the Covenant of the Pieces took place outside of Israel before Avraham came to Israel70 or that Avraham had made an earlier pilot trip to Israel before he was 70, left,71 and then returned at 75.72
"וְדוֹר רְבִיעִי יָשׁוּבוּ הֵנָּה" (Bereshit 15:16) and Biblical genealogies – According to this approach, four generations would suffice to cover the 210 years, and the lineages of Moshe and other characters in the Torah are complete and do not omit any generations.73 Moshe's maternal lineage, however, is more difficult, especially according to Seder Olam Rabbah 9 which says that Yocheved was already alive when Yaakov's family arrived in Egypt.74 This would make her 130 years old when she gave birth to Moshe, 80 years before the Exodus.75 Alternatively, Yocheved could have been born at some point after the Israelites arrived in Egypt. Either way, though, the sum of Levi's and Yocheved's ages at childbirth must total 173.76
Duration of the slavery – Seder Olam Rabbah derives from Shemot 1:6 that the entire generation of Yosef and his brothers died before the Israelites were enslaved. It thus deducts the 94 years Levi lived in Egypt from the 210 year total and gives 116 as the maximum number of years of slavery. It also says that the slavery lasted no less than the 86/87 year age of Miryam at the Exodus.77
Israelite population growth – The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael78 and Rashi Shemot 1:7 explain that the growth was supernatural. See Fertility Rate for more.
Covenant at Age 80

The Covenant of the Pieces (ברית בין הבתרים) occurred when Avraham was 80 years old.

Crux of the position – Ramban suggests that the 430 years began with the Covenant which occurred when Avraham was 80, midway between the ages mentioned in the surrounding chapters. This leaves 220 years for the actual sojourn in Egypt. To reconcile the discrepancy between 400 and 430, Ramban suggests that the original plan included 400 years of wandering but an additional 30 were added later due to the sins of the nation.
220 years in Egypt – The Torah does not give us Avraham's age at the time of the Covenant of Pieces, and thus Ramban estimates it at ~80, or midway between Avraham's recorded ages of 75 and 85-86 in the neighboring chapters.80 According to this, 210 of the 430 years preceded the descent to Egypt,81 leaving 220 years for the stay in Egypt.82
430 year period – "וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Shemot 12:40) – Ramban offers two possible understandings of this verse in two different works:
  • In his Commentary on the Torah, Ramban suggests that the verse is an elliptical construction and should be read as if the word "עַד" precedes the 430 years. Thus, he interprets the 430 as referring to the aforementioned period specified to Avraham at the Covenant of the Pieces,83 rather than to the time spent in Egypt.84
  • In his Critique of the Rambam's Sefer HaMitzvot, Ramban posits that the verse is speaking generally about the majority of the 430 years, which was in fact spent in Egypt.85 Ramban also adds that the 430 year period began with Avraham's first exile from Canaan. Assuming that Ramban is referring to Avraham's descent to Egypt,86 the 430 years would then be bookended by two exiles to Egypt.
400 year period – "גֵר יִהְיֶה זַרְעֲךָ בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָהֶם וַעֲבָדוּם וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Bereshit 15:13) – Ramban is forced to make several assumptions in attempting to read this verse according to his approach:
  • Ramban explains that the verse is a מקרא מסורס and "אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" is a dangling modifier which refers back to "גֵר יִהְיֶה זַרְעֲךָ בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָהֶם", rather than to the immediately preceding words of "וַעֲבָדוּם וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם"‎.87
  • Ramban maintains that the 400 years incorporate the years of Avraham himself from the time of the Covenant,88 in spite of the fact that the verse specifies "זַרְעֲךָ"‎.89
  • Ramban must argue that "בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָהֶם" includes Canaan.90
430 in Shemot vs. 400 in Bereshit – Ramban presents two possible ways of reconciling the two numbers:
  • The verses in Bereshit should be understood as saying that following the 400 years, there will be an additional period of thirty years until the Amorites are fully deserving of punishment and the Israelites will return to the land.
  • The verse in Bereshit describes the original plan which called for only 400 years of wandering and oppression. Ultimately, however, their exile was prolonged by thirty years as a penalty for bad behavior,91 and thus Shemot speaks of 430 years.92
"וְדוֹר רְבִיעִי יָשׁוּבוּ הֵנָּה" (Bereshit 15:16) and Biblical genealogies – Ramban Bereshit 15:16 explains that the fourth generation refers to the Amorites.93 In his commentary to Bereshit 46:15 he dismisses the difficulty arising from the advanced age at which children are born to Levi and/or Yocheved, noting that Tanakh is replete with miracles94 and that nature was different at that time.95
Covenant at Age 85

The Covenant of the Pieces (ברית בין הבתרים) occurred when Avraham was 85 years old.

Crux of the position – According to Ralbag, the 430 years began with the Covenant of the Pieces which took place when Avraham was 85 years old, the age recorded in the very next chapter. The 400 years begin from the birth of Yaakov. In order to reconcile this number with the 430 which began 75 years earlier, Ralbag must suggest that Hashem decided to shorten this original decree by 45 years, leaving 225 years for the Egyptian exile.
225 years in Egypt – Ralbag assumes that Avraham was 85 at the time of the Covenant of Pieces,97 as this is his age in the following chapter.98 According to this, 205 of the 430 years preceded the descent to Egypt,99 leaving 225 years for the stay in Egypt.
430 year period – "וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Shemot 12:40) – Ralbag interprets like Ramban100 that the verse is an elliptical construction and should be read as if the word "עַד" precedes the 430 years. Thus, the 430 years refer to the period specified to Avraham at the Covenant of the Pieces, rather than to the time actually spent in Egypt.
400 year period – "גֵר יִהְיֶה זַרְעֲךָ בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָהֶם וַעֲבָדוּם וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Bereshit 15:13) – Ralbag makes three assumptions in explaining this verse:
  • Ralbag says that "זַרְעֲךָ" refers to Yaakov and the 400 years are counted from his birth, as Yaakov spent much of his life wandering and was the first to dwell in Egypt on a permanent basis.101
  • Ralbag suggests that this verse is also slightly elliptical, and is saying that the bondage will last until the end of the 400 year period which began with the birth of Yaakov.102
  • Ralbag says that ultimately Hashem shortened the 400 year decree by 45 years.103 This allows him to reconcile it with the 430 count which began 75 years earlier.104
430 in Shemot vs. 400 in Bereshit – Ralbag does not explain why the 400 years begins only with the birth of Yaakov, while the 430 years starts already at the Covenant of the Pieces.105
"וְדוֹר רְבִיעִי יָשׁוּבוּ הֵנָּה" (Bereshit 15:16) and Biblical genealogies – Ralbag Shemot 2:1 suggests that Yocheved was born at the very end of Levi's life, which according to him was 87 years after the descent to Egypt106 and 138 years before the Exodus. This would make Yocheved only 58 when she gave birth to Moshe.

430 Years From Yitzchak's Birth

The 430 years are counted from the birth of Yitzchak, when Avraham was 100 years old.

Crux of the position – This approach counts the 430 years from the birth of Yitzchak, according to which the actual stay in Egypt was 240 years. Abarbanel explains that the 400 years is either a round number or, like Ramban above, that 30 years were later added due to the nation's sins.
240 years in Egypt – As Yitzchak was born 190 years before the descent to Egypt,109 240 years remain for the actual stay in Egypt.
430 year period – "וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Shemot 12:40) – Abarbanel reads this verse as if there was an extra word "עִם" preceding "אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם", meaning that the 430 years is a total for the entire Patriarchal period and not just the time in Egypt.
400 year period – "גֵר יִהְיֶה זַרְעֲךָ בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָהֶם וַעֲבָדוּם וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה" (Bereshit 15:13) – Abarbanel explains that the 400 figure is the sum total for all of the events described in the verse (including "גֵר יִהְיֶה זַרְעֲךָ בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָהֶם"), and does not refer exclusively to the slavery itself ("וַעֲבָדוּם וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם")‎.110
430 in Shemot vs. 400 in Bereshit – Abarbanel adopts Ramban's theory that the original 400 year decree was extended to 430 years because of the Children of Israel's sins. For the ramifications of this theory, see the links in the discussion of the Ramban above.111 Abarbanel also suggests that the 400 years may simply be a round number.112
Duration of the slavery – According to Jubilees 46, the oppression began after the deaths of Yosef and all of his brothers, and thus lasted 147 years. Abarbanel opts for a lower figure of 86 years for the most severe stage of the oppression (וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם)‎.113