Israel in Egypt

Joseph, sold by his brothers into Egypt as a slave (Gen 37), rose to become second only to Pharaoh and saved the region from a seven-year famine (Gen 41). At his invitation his father Jacob and seventy descendants moved down to settle in the land of Goshen in the eastern Nile Delta (Gen 46:27). "The sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them" (Exod 1:7). A later Pharaoh "who did not know Joseph" (Exod 1:8) enslaved them, set them to brickmaking for the store-cities of Pithom and Raamses, and ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill every newborn boy. Moses was born under that decree (c. 1526 BC), raised in Pharaoh’s court, fled to Midian, and returned at the age of eighty to lead the people out. After the ten plagues the Exodus took place on the night of 14 Nisan (c. 1446 BC by the early date the Bible itself suggests, 1 Kgs 6:1). Exodus 12:40 fixes the total length of the sojourn at 430 years; Genesis 15:13 had foretold it to Abraham. Paul cites the same 430 years in Galatians 3:17, dating from Abraham’s call to the giving of the Law.