Timeline for Is the "four hundred years" the equivalent of the "four generations" in the Gen. 15:13-16 prophecy?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
17 events
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| Oct 30 at 18:38 | comment | added | Saber Truth Tiger | The LXX rendering of Exodus 12:40 indicates the children of Israel (Jacob) had dwelt 430 years in Egypt AND Canaan. Jacob didn't have any children until he was about 40 years old. The Samaritan Penteteuch renders Exodus 12:40 differently, that the children of Israel and their fathers had dwelt in the land of Canaan and Egypt for 430 years. I have always considered the Masoretic Text from which we get our Hebrew Scriptures to be inspired of God but maybe the LXX is correct. Or, the Samaritan Penteteuch. | |
| Oct 30 at 18:33 | comment | added | Saber Truth Tiger | Exodus 12:40 in the Masoretic Text indicates the children of Israel (Jacob) had lived in Egypt for 430 years. This is problematic, because Jacob didn't even have any children until he was about 40 years old and did not even go into Egypt with his children until he was a grandfather. | |
| Nov 18, 2021 at 20:34 | comment | added | Kyle Johansen | I think this is a really good answer. I'd point out that Canaan had yet to be conquered by the Israelites - to clarify the constant strangerdom. | |
| Sep 13, 2021 at 19:01 | comment | added | bach | Poly if that's your stance then yes (that would be your short answer), but you would still have to bring solid proof that this is not the case, and why you think my hypothesis is untenable. Then if you will, you can go on to explain how you long you think the Egyptian bondage was, and how many generations were there (perhaps as an appendix). But the main thing is that your answer stays focused. I would even upvote such answer, even if I find myself disagreeing with your conclusions. | |
| Sep 13, 2021 at 14:29 | comment | added | Polyhat | @Bach Biblical chronology has been an interest of mine since I was in gradeschool, and I have very carefully calculated the times that I post in my answer--none of this is copy/paste from some other source. As such, I am able to answer questions and to support the details of my answer from the Bible, without assistance from commentaries (which are often imprecise when it comes to chronology). If, therefore, you have a question about one of the specifics, feel free to ask. As it stands, you seem to want only to know that "No, the 400 years are not the same as the 4 generations." Is that right? | |
| Sep 13, 2021 at 14:21 | comment | added | Polyhat | @Bach I could state the answer to your question in a single paragraph. But would you understand and accept it? The complexity of the details to support the answer required more explanation--and it appears I have not explained it enough. Here's a one-sentence attempt: The four hundred years and the four generations are separate prophecies with separate, albeit overlapping, fulfillments in which the four generations amount to about a quarter of the 400 years. Note that the Bible does not give the exact number of years for the four generations; only approximations can be ascertained. | |
| Sep 13, 2021 at 14:13 | comment | added | bach | I do not mean to offend you, on the contrary, I appreciate when ppl like you take their time to address other user's questions, but some users here on BH see someone else's question as a way to post their own sermons which frustrates me to no end. I'm not accusing you of this behavior, but look for example at this question, it has garnered 5 answers so far, and none remotely address the question that was asked. | |
| Sep 13, 2021 at 14:13 | comment | added | bach | But your post seems to address something else entirely: how many Israelite generations were in Egypt, and how many years elapsed from the time of entry until the Exodus. Granted, all these topics are somewhat related to my question, but it's not formulated as an answer to my question, just a ramble of many different indirect points about the Exodus, which again are important but not directly addressing my question (usually when I post an answer I summarize in the end how I think I have answered the OP's question). | |
| Sep 13, 2021 at 14:13 | comment | added | bach | Polyhat, but you seem to miss the point of this question. I'm not asking how much generations we can cram into 400 years? My question is if the 400 years is another expression of the four generation prophecy. In order to answer this effectively you would have to either show proof that a generation generally equals hundred years in the bible, or prove from the text itself in Gen. 15 that this is what is intended, or reject my hypothesis altogether (on solid grounds). | |
| Sep 13, 2021 at 1:51 | history | edited | Polyhat | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Added 215-year notation to timeline graphic
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| Sep 12, 2021 at 19:56 | comment | added | Polyhat | @Bach The answer shows that the four generations are part of the 400 years. This isn't some sermon of mine, this is simply the Bible truth. I've done my best to make it clear. If you don't like the answer, downvote it even if you wish, but because you don't find it helpful, you think I should delete it? Perhaps others will appreciate it. The site is not only for your benefit, nor was I writing the answer for any specific person. I'm a bit surprised, actually, after having taken the time to make the timeline graphic and add it here, to receive such a reprimand for it. Totally unexpected. | |
| Sep 12, 2021 at 11:46 | history | edited | Polyhat | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Added an image of the prophetic timeline
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| May 13, 2021 at 19:29 | history | edited | Polyhat | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 406 characters in body
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| May 13, 2021 at 19:07 | comment | added | Polyhat | @Bach In reading some from that site I've realized a mistake I'd made in the genealogy. It is true that Jacob entered Egypt, but it is also true that Levi entered Egypt with him. So the reckoning should start, not with Jacob, but with his sons as the first generation. I'll update my answer accordingly. | |
| May 13, 2021 at 18:48 | comment | added | Polyhat | @Bach Time prophecies are useless if they do not specify their endpoints. A 400-year prophecy with no definite time to start is not really a 400-year prophecy anymore--it's just a vagueness. But the prophecy specifies its start point. It must begin with Abram's seed being either in affliction or in bondage. As the affliction came first, that's where it starts, and the clock is then ticking toward its finish, which must not exceed 400 years in total. Isaac was first afflicted by an Egyptian at his weaning party--the Bible makes this clear. | |
| May 13, 2021 at 14:23 | comment | added | bach | I'm not really sure how you addressed my question. In any case, your assumption that the 400 year prophecy starts from Abram is highly speculative and contested (and I think is false) See for example this link sites.google.com/site/calendarstudies/exodus-6-16-20 where the author explains and proves that the 400 most probably started from the time Levi first went down to Egypt (which really makes sense, since the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt continued non-stop since Levi entered Egypt, as opposed to Abram which had Isaac and Jacob that were all over Canaan and Mesopotamia). | |
| May 12, 2021 at 13:38 | history | answered | Polyhat | CC BY-SA 4.0 |