Length of the Egyptian slavery

 

We come now to a point people argue. Some point to Genesis 15:13 and state that the Children of Israel were slaves in Egypt for 400 years. Others point to Exodus 12:40 and state that the Children of Israel were slaves in Egypt for 430 years. Both of these arguments are incorrect. 

 

Genesis 15:13

...Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that it not theirs, and they shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years.

 

Read this passage very carefully. It does not say when the 400 year countdown will start. It does not say if it will affect all of Abraham's seed, or just a portion. It does not say if they will be a stranger in only one land, or if they will just not own whatever land they happen to dwell in no matter where they move to. It never once mentions Egypt. 

 

Exodus 12:40

Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.

 

Read this passage just as carefully as Genesis 15:13. This one does mention Egypt, and the fact that they lived there. It does not state that they lived there the entire 430 years. It does not say they were slaves the entirety of the 430 years, just sojourners.

 

The mother and father of Moses were slaves, or they would not have feared for the life of their son and set him to float on the river in a basket. His father was named Amram. He was Levi's grandson (Exodus 6:16-18). His mother was named Jochebed. She was Levi's daughter (Numbers 26:59). This is only a generation or two from Levi, the son of Jacob/Israel, who walked into Egypt as a free man. 

 

Moses was 80 at the time he told the Pharaoh to let the people go (Exodus 7:7). That puts his birth less than 100 years before that slavery ended. If this slavery had lasted 400 years or more, Jochebed would have been more than 300 years old when she bore him, since she was born to a free man. The lifespan of man changed after the Flood of Noah. People weren't living that long anymore. For a second witness, Sarah had grown too old to bare children without assistance from God at less than a third of that age. 

 

So then why does the Bible say 400 years? And then seemingly contradict itself by saying 430 years in another spot? Since it cannot be in reference to the length of the Egyptian slavery, it must be referring to something else.