The narrative affords the following data, which we place under two periods — that fhnn Abram *s leaving Haran to Jacob's entering Egypt, and that fsoai Ja- cob's entering Egypt to the Exodus.
(o.) Age of Abram CD learlng Ilaraa TSyrs.
Age of Abnm at laaac^s birth 100
Difference 86
Age of Isaae at Jacob's birth 60
Age of Jacob on entering Egypt 180
216
(5.) (L) Age of Levi on entering Egjpt. dr. 45
RaridaeofhiaUfiB. M
Opprearion after the death of Jaoob'i sons
(Ezod.i,6>78a.) f
Age of Moees at Exodus W
m
(2.) Age of Joseph on Jacob's entering E^gypt.. . . 89
Reeidne of his life. 71
Oppression ?
Age of Moses at Exodus 80
161 These data make up at least 887 or 866 years, to which some addition must be made, since it appean that all Joseph*s generation died before the oppression com- menced, and it is probable that it had begun some time l)efore the birth of Moses. The sum we thus obtain cannot be far different from 480 years, a period for the whole sojourn that these data must thus l>e held to confirm.
The ^nealogies relating to the time of the dwell- ing in Egypt, if continuous, as there is much reason to suppose that some are, do not seem repugnant to this scheme ; but, on the other hand, only one of them, that of Joshua, in 1 Chron. (vii, 28, 25, 26, 27), if a mieceition, can be reconciled with the opinion that dates the 480 yean from Jacob's entering into Egypt. Another important historical point of evidence is the increase of tiie Israelites from the few souls who went with Jacob into Eg3rpt, and Joseph and his sons, to the six hundrad thousand men who came out at the Exo- dus. At the former date the following an enumer- ated : " besides Jacob's sons' wives," Jacob, his twelve sons and one daughter (18), his fifty-one grandsons and one granddaughter (52), and his four great-grand- sons, making, with the patriarch himself, seventy souls (Gen. xlvi, 8-27). See Jacob. The generation to which children would be bom about this date may thus be held to have been of at least 51 pairs, since all *
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302
CHRONOLOGY
are males except one, who probably married a cousin. This computation takes no account of polygamy, which was certainly practised at the time by the Hebrews. This first gei\eration must, except there were at the time other female grandchildren of Jacob, besides the one mentioned (comp. Gen. xlvi, 7), have taken foreign wives, and it is reasonable to suppose the same to have been constantly done afterwards, though probably in a less degree. We cannot, therefore, found our calcu- lation solely on these 61 pabrs, but must allow for po- lygamy and foreign marriages. These admissions be- ing made, and the especial blessing which attended the people borne in mind, the interval of about 215 years does not seem too short for the increase. — On the whole, we have no hesitation in accepting the 480 years as the length of tt^e interval from Abimm's leav- ing Haran to the Exodus.
8. From the Exodut to the FotrndaOom ofSolomom'$ Temple, — ^There is but one passage from which we ob- tain the length of this period as a whole (see Walther, in Baumgarten's SammUmgein, 1748, ii, 818-488). It is tlkat in which the Foundation of the Temple is dated in the 480th (Heb.), or 440th (Sept) year after the Exodus, in the 4th year 2d month of Solomon*s reign (1 Kings vi, 1). This sum we have first to compare with the detailed numbers. These are as follows: (a.) From the Exodus to the death of Moses, 40 years. (6.) Leadership of Joshua, 7+ a; years, (c.) Interval between Joshua's death and the First Servitude, y years. ((/.) Servitudes and rjile of Judges until Eli's death, 480 years, (e.) Period from Eli's death to Saul's accession, 20 +« years. (/.) Saul's reign, 40 years. (^.) David's reign, 40 years. (A.) Solomon's reign to Foundation of Tem]de, 8 years. Sum, 580 + x-\-y\-z years. It is possible to obtain approxima- tively the length Gt the three wanting numbers. (1.) Joshua's age at the Exodus was at least 20 years (Num. xiv, 29, 80), and at his death, 110 ; therefore the utmost length of his rule must be 110— (20+40)= 50 years. The duration of Joshua's government is limited by the circumstance that Caleb's lot was ap- portioned to him in the 7th year of the occupation, and therefore of Joshua's rule, when he was 85 years old, and that he conquered the lot after Joshua's death. Caleb cannot be supposed to have been a vei^' old man on taking his portion, and it is unlikely that he would have waited long before attacking the heathen who held it, to say nothing of the portion being his claimed reward for not having feared the Anakim who dwelt there, a reward promised him of the Lord by Moses atid claimed of Joshua, who alone of his fellow-spies had shown the same faith and courage (Num. xiv, 24 ; Deut i,86; Josh, xiv, B adfikf xv, 18-19; Judg. i, 9-15, 20). The least length of Joshua's rule would be about 10 years. Josephus {Ant. v, 1, 29) fixes it mid- way between these limits, or at 25 years, which may be adopted as the probable length. (2.) The interval between Joshua's death and the First Servitude is lim- ited by the history of Othniel. After Joshua there is the time of the elders who overlived him, then a peri- od of disobedience and idolatry, a servitude of 8 years, deliverance by Othniel the son of Kenaz, the nephew of Caleb, and rest for 40 years, until Ottiniel's death. He was already a warrior when Caleb conquered his lot ; he lived to deliver Israel fh)m the Mesopotamian oppressor, and died at the end of the subsequent 40 years of rest. Supposing Othniel to have been 80 years old at the time of his first exploits, and 110 years at his death, then 110 -(80 +18 +8 +40) =24 years would remain for the interval in question. Josephus (Ant, vi, 5, 4) reasonably fixes it at 18 years, which cannot be for from correct. (8.) The residue of Sam- uel's judgeship after the 20 years fh>m Eli's death, ending with the solemn fiist and victory at Mizpeh, can scarcely have much exceeded 20 years ; Josephus (Ani, vi, 18, 5) assigns it a length of 12 years. Sam- « uel must have been still young at the time of Eli's