Exodus 12:40-42 - Exposition

1 . As to the soundness; and

2 . As to the true meaning, of the Hebrew text, and have arrived at the conclusion that it is sound, and that it means what it says, viz; that 430 years elapsed between the arrival of Jacob in Egypt, with his sons, and sons' sons, and their families, as related in Genesis 46:1-27 , and the commencement of the exodus. The time is required by the genealogy of Joshua ( 1 Chronicles 7:22-27 ). It is in remarkable accordance with the traditions that Joseph was the minister of Apspi, and that the Jews went out under Menephthah. If not absolutely required for the multiplication of the race from "seventy souls" to above two millions, it is at any rate more in accord with that fact than the alternative number, 215. It is twice repeated, so that "the mistake of a copyist" is almost impossible.