end of the four
hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that
all the hosts of the Lord came out of the land of Egypt" (xii. 40, 41).

Certain ancient versions have departed from this text. The Septuagint
reads, "The sojourning of the children of Israel which they sojourned in
Egypt and _in the land of Canaan_, was four hundred and thirty years";
and the Samaritan agrees with this, except that it has "the sojourning
of the children of Israel and _of their fathers_." The question is,
which reading is correct? Must we date the four hundred and thirty years
from Abraham's arrival in Canaan, or from Jacob's descent into Egypt?

For the shorter period there are two strong arguments. The genealogies
in the Pentateuch range from four persons to six between Jacob and the
Exodus, which number is quite unable to reach over four centuries. And
St. Paul says of the covenant with Abraham that "the law which came four
hundred and thirty years after" (_i.e._ after the time of Abraham)
"could not disannul it" (Gal. iii. 17).

This reference by St. Paul is not so decisive as it may appear, because
he habitually quotes the Septuagint, even where he must have known that
it deviates from the Hebrew, provided that the deviation does not
compromise the matter in hand. Here, he was in nowise concerned with the
chronology, and had no reason to perplex a Gentile church by correcting
it. But it was a different matter with St. Stephen, arguing his case
before the Hebrew council. And he quotes plainly and confidently the
prediction that the seed of Abraham should be four hundred years in
bondage, and that one nation should entreat them evil four hundred
years (Acts vii. 6). Again, this is the clear intention of the words in
Genesis (xv. 13). And as to the genealogies, we know them to have been
cut down, so that seven names are omitted from that of Ezra, and three
at least from that of our Lord Himself. Certainly when we consider the
great population implied in an army of six hundred thousand adult men,
we must admit that the longer period is inherently the more probable of
the two. But we can only assert with confidence that just when their
deliverance was due it was accomplished, and they who had come down a
handful, and whom cruel oppression had striven to decimate, came forth,
no undisciplined mob, but armies moving in organised and regulated
detachments: "the Lord did bring the children of Israel forth by their
hosts"