In support of this long period for the Judges may be urged—
(1.) The authority of Paul as above (Acts 13: 20) which makes this period 450 years.
(2.) Josephus makes the interval from the Exodus to the founding of the temple 592 years, and not 480. The Jews of China also make it 592—facts which favor the supposition that the Hebrew text of 1 K. 6: 1, is in error. It can not be supposed that either Josephus or the Chinese Jews adjusted their figures to harmonize with Paul.
(3.) The internal dates in the Book of Judges demand the long period and can not be harmonized with the short one:——Thus Judges 11: 26 shows that the Hebrews had then dwelt in Heshbon, Aroer and along the coast of Arnon 300 years. These years lie between the entrance into Canaan and the beginning of Jephthah’s judgeship. We have then this computation:
| YEARS. | |
| 300 years, minus 17 years for the term of Joshua, is | 283 |
| Add for Jephthah (Judg. 12: 6) | 6 |
| For Ibzan 7 years; for Elon 10; for Abdon 8 (according to Judg. 12: 8, 11, 14) | 25 |
| Servitude to the Philistines (Judg. 13: 1) | 40 |
| Sampson (Judg. 15: 20 and 16: 31) not less than | 20 |
| Eli (1 Sam. 4: 18) | 40 |
| A period without dates (narrated Judg. 17–21) estimated at | 40 |
| Makes a total of | 454 |
It is entirely impossible to bring these internal dates in the history within the short period of 339 years for the Judges. We must therefore accept the long period—450 years—and place the Exodus in 1013 + 591 = B. C. 1604.
The next period of conflicting authorities is the Sojourn in Egypt. The issue lies between the long period, 430 years, and the short one, 215 years.——The first proof text is Ex. 12: 40: “Now the sojourning of the children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was 430 years.” Next is Gen. 15: 13: “Thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not theirs and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them 400 years”:—which is quoted substantially by Stephen, Ac. 7: 6.——On the other hand stands Gal. 3: 17, which makes the giving of the law on Sinai 430 years after the covenant made with Abraham. The interval from that covenant to Jacob’s standing before Pharaoh is readily computed thus: From the covenant with Abram, he being then 75 years old (Gen. 12: 4) to the birth of Isaac, Abraham 100 years old (Gen. 21: 5) is 25 years.——From birth of Isaac to birth of Jacob (Gen. 25: 26) 60.——Jacob standing before Pharaoh (Gen. 47: 9) at 130, the sum of which numbers is 215. According to Paul, this would leave for the sojourn in Egypt but 215 years.
A distinct class of proofs came from an estimate of the generations between the fathers who went down into Egypt and the sons who entered Canaan. Of this, presently.
Reverting now to the obviously conflicting proof texts above cited, we may note that Ex. 12: 40 is read variously—the Septuagint (Vatican text) adding after “dwelt in Egypt,” the words—“and in the land of Canaan;” while the Alexandrian text of the Septuagint adds also—“they and their fathers.” Both these additions appear also in the Samaritan text and in the Targum Jonathan; while the Masoretic Hebrew is supported by the more reliable Targum of Onkelos;also by the Syriac and the Vulgate. These additions as in the Septuagint are clumsily made. The dwelling in Canaan, referring to Abraham and Isaac, should come in before the dwelling in Egypt if at all, and not after. The diversity between the two texts of the Septuagint is suspicious. The authority of the old Hebrew text stands unshaken.