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

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

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

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

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)

Biblical Arguments for the Early Date: 1446 BC 1 Kings 6:1 Exodus precedes building of the temple (966) by 480 years Late date years is symbolic of 12 generations Judges 11: from the conquest to the time of Jephthah Early date advocates simply deny this passage’s historicity by referring to the number as symbolic.

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.

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.

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.

Arguments for the Late Date: c 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

Arguments for the Late Date: c 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

Arguments for the Late Date: c 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

Arguments for the Late Date: c 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”

Arguments for the Late Date: c 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

Arguments for the Late Date: c 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

Conclusion Early date is historically permissible Early date is historically