Joseph in Egypt Joseph in Potiphers House Joseph's success Joseph's temptation Joseph in Prison Again find success (the Lord made it succeed - 39:23)

Old Testament Background

Evangelical Free Church of Walnut

sunesis institute_

The Egyptian SojournFrom Joseph to Moses

Dothan

Shechem

Hebron

EGYPT

The Early Life of Joseph

Dothan

Shechem

Hebron

Judah’s Humbling with Tamar

EGYPT

Timnah

Hebron

Timnah

Joseph in Egypt

Joseph in Potiphers House

Joseph's success

Joseph's temptation

Joseph in Prison

Again find success (the Lord made it succeed - 39:23)

Interprets dreams of cup bearer and chief baker

The Egyptian Sojourn

Joseph in Egypt

Joseph Interprets Pharoah's Dream

Put in charge of Egypt

Married to Egyptian wife (daughter of the priest of On)

Joseph and His Brothers

GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY Dreams were fulfilled!

Reuben's goodness becomes apparent

Judah has taken leadership

The Egyptian Sojourn

EGYPT

Israel Moves to Egypt

Hebron

Beersheba

GOSHEN

10 Brothers (minus Benjamin) go to Egypt to get grain9 Brothers (minus Simeon) return to get Benjamin 10 Brothers (including Benjamin) return to Egypt after some time11 Brothers return to Jacob and tell him Joseph is aliveJacob goes to Beersheba to sacrifice to God, who appears to him in a dreamAll of Jacob’s household goes to Egypt to dwell in Goshen

Length of Sojourn in Egypt

Sojourn = Spending time in a foreign land

Of the two options – 430 years or 215 years – 430 years is most biblical and the best supported

The Egyptian Sojourn

Arguments for 215 year sojourn

Some Church Fathers held to a 215 year sojourn

Too short for four generations

Exodus 6:16-20—Levi ► Kohath ► Amram ► Moses

Genesis 15:16—predicts sojourn of four generations

Rebuttal:

Other Church Fathers held to the 430 year sojourn

Length of life and grandsons counted as sons

The Egyptian Sojourn

Arguments for 430 year sojourn

Inerrancy of Scripture

Exodus 12:40-41—430 years “to the day”

Genesis 15:13—predicts 400 year sojourn

Acts 7:6—Stephen references 400 year sojourn

Fits best with Egyptian History (see below)

The Egyptian Sojourn

Biblical Arguments for the Early Date: 1446 BC

1 Kings 6:1

Exodus precedes building of the temple (966) by 480 years

Late date - 480 years is symbolic of 12 generations

Judges 11:26

300 from the conquest to the time of Jephthah

Early date advocates simply deny this passage’s historicity by referring to the number as symbolic.

Early Date

Length of the Period of Judges

The late date allows only 200 years between the Exodus and the beginning of the reign of Saul.

Wandering + Conquest + Samson to Saul = 61 years

200 – 61 = 139 years for entire period of the judges

The early date, in contrast, allows for 335 years for the period of the judges.

Early Date

Better Fit with Egyptian History

Only the reign of Thutmose III is long enough to account for 40 years Moses spent in Midian waiting for the Pharaoh to die.

The transitions from the Middle Kingdom ► Hyksos Period ► 18th Dynasty better explains the social forces that could have brought about the circumstances surrounding the Exodus.

Early Date

Better Fit with Egyptian History

The Merneptah Stela of 1220 BC indicates that Israel is already a nation in Palestine.

Amarna tablets speak of “Habiru” causing chaos in Palestine during the time of the early date conquest.

Dream Stela of Thutmose IV indicates he was not the legal heir to the throne – legal heir would have died in the 10th plague.

Early Date

Arguments for the Late Date: c. 1250 BC

One of the cities the Israelites built was “Raamses,” which no pharaoh was named until 1317 BC

Genesis 47:11 shows that the name “Raamses” was used before Raamses II

Names were built with common words and were not merely names of people

Late Date

Arguments for the Late Date: c. 1250 BC

Lachish, Debir, Hazor lack destruction layers from the time period suggested by the early date.

Over-confidence in the archeologist’s ability to give accurate dates and timelines from their digs.

Other factors (i.e.; rebuilding process) could have effected the presence of a burn layer

Late Date

Arguments for the Late Date: c. 1250 BC

The Transjordan was seemingly uninhabited at the time of the conquest

There has been no serious searching of the Transjordan

Much of the habitation of this area would have been in the form of non-permanent settlings

Late Date

Arguments for the Late Date: c. 1250 BC

The Egyptian capital during the early date time period was located in Upper Egypt, far from Goshen

Ancient rulers did not remain in their capitals at all times often staying away for extensive periods of time

Egyptian rulers had “secondary capitals” similar to the American President’s “Camp David”

Late Date

Arguments for the Late Date: c. 1250 BC

Habiru in the Amarna Tablets are a broad category of people that clearly are not limited to the Israelites

“Habiru” was likely a label, such as invaders or vandals

“Habiru” could be different from Israel, even fitting in as the first oppressors of Judges by the early date

Late Date

Arguments for the Late Date: c. 1250 BC

Military campaigns of Seti I and Raamses II that went through Palestine would have occurred during the period of the Judges, yet they are not mentioned.

The purpose of Judges was to record those historical events that proved the faithfulness of God to the

Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants

These campaigns are likely not included because they were not linked to a time of oppression and were not used as an agent of judgment for the sins of Israel

Late Date

Conclusion

Early date is historically permissible

Early date is historically

Early vs. Late Date