Exodus 12:40
430 years in Egypt, or in Canaan and Egypt?
The Hebrew says Israel's sojourn "in Egypt" lasted 430 years. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the Greek Septuagint say the 430 years covered Canaan and Egypt together, which leaves about 215 years in Egypt.
Manuscript variant: witnesses differ in wording
The family tree
Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.
✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives
- Same line, through lost copies
- Translation
- Related (shared ancestry)
What the two readings imply
- Hebrew (430 in Egypt)
- Jacob's family enters Egypt about 430 years before the Exodus.
- Samaritan and Greek (430 from Abraham)
- About 215 years from Abraham to Jacob's descent into Egypt, and about 215 in Egypt.
- Genesis 15:13
- "Four hundred years" of affliction, a round number that fits either reckoning.
Every witness, in order
Unknown (debated)
Original Exodus
No original survives.
Translated c. 250 BC
Septuagint
How the site knows this: Reported in scholarship; not checked by the site.
The sojourning of the children of Israel, which they sojourned in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, was 430 years.
Like the Samaritan, counts Canaan and Egypt together (Codex Alexandrinus also adds "they and their fathers").
c. AD 50
Paul, Galatians 3:17
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: the Greek New Testament editions in the library (Textus Receptus, Byzantine Textform, Statistical Restoration).
ὁ μετὰ ἔτη τετρακόσια καὶ τριάκοντα γεγονὼς νόμος
the law, which came 430 years after [the promise]
Counts 430 years from God's promise to Abraham to the Law at Sinai, matching the longer reckoning. Josephus (Antiquities 2.318) also gives 430 years from Abraham's arrival in Canaan and 215 years in Egypt.
c. AD 400
Jerome's Vulgate
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).
Habitatio autem filiorum Israel qua manserunt in Aegypto, fuit quadringentorum triginta annorum.
The dwelling of the children of Israel, in which they remained in Egypt, was 430 years.
Follows the Hebrew.
AD 1008
Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.
וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה
The dwelling of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was 430 years.
Egypt only.
Historical manuscriptImage credit Pictured: a decorated page from the codex, not Exodus 12.
Ancient tradition; medieval copies
Samaritan Pentateuch
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Samaritan Pentateuch, Kennicott's 1780 text digitized by A. Sigalov.
ומושב בני ישראל ואבתם אשר ישבו בארץ כנען ובארץ מצרים שלשים שנה וארבע מאות שנה
The dwelling of the children of Israel and their fathers, who dwelt in the land of Canaan and in the land of Egypt, was 430 years.
Adds "and their fathers" and "in the land of Canaan," so the 430 years begin with Abraham.
Historical manuscriptImage credit Pictured: a Samaritan Torah scroll, not this verse.
1611
King James Bible
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).
Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.
Follows the Hebrew; modern Bibles do the same, many with a footnote.
What changed, and why
This is a genuine difference between ancient text traditions. The Samaritan and Greek wording looks like an explanation added to make the chronology work with the genealogy of Exodus 6 (only four generations from Levi to Moses). Others argue the longer wording is original. Either way, both readings agree on the number 430.
What the evidence shows
- The Hebrew reads "in Egypt"; the Samaritan and Greek read "in Canaan and Egypt."
- Paul and Josephus count 430 years from Abraham.
- Which reading is original.
Sources
- NET Bible translators' note on Exodus 12:40 ↗
- E. Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, 3rd ed. (Fortress, 2012)
Related lessons
- When Did the Exodus Happen? →The Bible gives numbers that point to about 1446 BC. Place names point many scholars to the 13th century BC. Egypt's Merneptah Stele shows Israel in Canaan by about 1208 BC. Here is the evidence for each model.
- How Exodus Came to Us →Who wrote Exodus, how it was copied and translated for three thousand years, the places where the copies differ, and how it became Scripture for Jews, Samaritans and Christians.