The biblical account of the Hebrew exodus from Egypt plays a central role in Judeo-Christian religious understanding. When a severe famine in the land of Canaan brought the patriarch Jacob and his family to Egypt, God promised that He would go with him, and bring his descendants[1] out again (Gen. 46:3-4). God’s promise to Jacob is a continuation of the “promise plan,” first made to Abraham in Gen. 12. This “promise plan,” which some would say extends even further back to Gen. 3:15, is the common thread which runs throughout the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation.[2] The plan finds its main subject in the coming of the Messiah, and has its climax in the judgment.

Since the exodus narrative is part of God’s fulfillment of this promise plan, and since the event is referred to over and over in scriptures, if one doubts the exodus, one basically doubts the Bible as being the inspired, inerrant Word of God. Being such a focus of the scriptures, the exodus has for many years in turn been a focus of much controversy and discussion. Although there are some scholars and historians who doubt the biblical exodus ever happened[3], this paper will work from the assumption that an exodus of the sort described in the Bible actually did happen, a view that is taken by most scholars. The portion of the debate that will be examined in this short paper is the question of the dating of the event. Continue reading →