Can you summarize for me the debate over when the Exodus took place? Did it occur in the Fifteenth or Thirteenth Century B.C.E?
There is a long standing debate among conservative Biblical scholars—those who believe that a legitimate Exodus did take place in real history—as to whether or not the Israelites left Egypt in the Fifteenth Century or Thirteenth Century B.C.E. This is notably not a debate among those of the critical tradition, where the Exodus is often viewed as being some kind of historical fiction for a group of nomadic Semites (who became the Israelites) which steadily made their way into Canaan. Yet, among conservatives, who take the Biblical record seriously, and who do accept the Exodus as a legitimate historical event, wanting to place that event in some kind of historical context in Ancient Egypt for Ancient Israel, is important.[1]
Even though not all conservatives are agreed on the timing of the Exodus, all are agreed that a large group of Israelites was freed from Egyptian servitude at some point in real live history.[2]
Both Fifteenth and Thirteenth Century B.C.E. advocates of the Exodus have to recognize that by 1209 B.C.E., the Egyptian Pharaoh Merneptah, successor to Ramses II, was responsible for subduing four powers in Canaan: Ascalon, Gezer, Yenoam, and Israel.[3] The Merneptah Stela includes a victory poem, and how Israel was laid waste.[4] So, sometime by the late Thirteenth Century B.C.E., the Israelites had established themselves to some degree or another in Canaan—numerous enough to have been attacked and defeated in battle by an invading Egyptian force.
The Fifteenth Century B.C.E. timing of the Exodus comes from a straightforward reading of the Biblical text. 1 Kings 6:1 states, “Now it came about in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD” (NASU). The Exodus is placed 480 years before Solomon’s fourth year as king, which was 967 B.C.E. Counting 480 years back, then, yields a date of 1447 B.C.E. Even if some rounding off of numbers is considered, it is still thought that the Exodus occurred in the mid-to-early Fifteenth Century B.C.E.[5] This would mean that among the candidates of the Pharaoh for the Exodus would include either Thutmose III or Amenhotep I.[6] Around two centuries would have transpired to allow the Israelites time to settle in the Promised Land and establish themselves enough, so much so that the later Pharaoh Merneptah would be able to attack an entrenched resident of Canaan.
Advocates of the Thirteenth Century B.C.E. timing of the Exodus consider it a bit lackadaisical to just take the 480 years of 1 Kings 6:1 at face value, and that it instead needs to be interpreted as a representative number, perhaps as a holder for 12 generations of 40 years. Looking at events within Ancient Egypt, Exodus 1:11 records how the Israelites “built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses” (NASU). It is noted how the city of Pi-Ramesse, presumably named for the Pharaoh, was an east-delta city built by Ramses II (1272-1213 B.C.E.), just more than 300 years before Solomon. It is also thought that the Book of Judges probably also includes overlapping terms of various judges, which are not to be viewed in strict sequence.[7] Other reasons, more theological, concern how the Sinai Covenant of Exodus-Leviticus and Deuteronomy, perhaps best fits the period of 1380-1200 B.C.E.[8]
In response to the Thirteenth Century B.C.E. Exodus view, Fifteenth Century Exodus B.C.E. advocates like to present a series of archaeological sites from Canaan, conquered by Joshua, which they feel date to a much earlier period than the 1200s B.C.E.[9] Of particular note is what city of Jericho was destroyed by Joshua during the Conquest, as there are various Jerichos to choose from, Jericho city IV specifically dating to the Fifteenth Century. Yet, there is still ongoing research.[10] Fifteenth Century B.C.E. advocates point to the apparent dates of archaeological locations in Israel, and move backward to the Exodus. Contrary to this, Thirteenth Century B.C.E. advocates try to place the Exodus within the history of Ancient Egypt, and then they move forward. There is no doubting that one’s starting point is what determines what date of the Exodus is favored.
Even if conservative interpreters are not entirely agreed on the timing of the Exodus, this does not mean that they treat the Book of Exodus as an historical fiction, nor dismiss one another disrespectfully. Raymond B. Dillard and Tremper Longman III note in their textbook An Introduction to the Old Testament that a natural reading of the story supports a Fifteenth Century B.C.E. Exodus, but that those who believe in a Thirteenth Century B.C.E. Exodus still “treat the text with integrity.”[11] One will encounter conservative resources on Exodus, and the whole of the Pentateuch today, which include edifying and relevant commentary for Believers in Messiah compiled from both a Fifteenth and Thirteenth B.C.E. Exodus viewpoint.[12]
NOTES
[1] J.H. Walton, “Exodus, Date of,” in T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, eds., Dictionary of the Old Testament Pentateuch (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2003), 258.
[2] If necessary, consult the useful discussion seen in Tremper Longman III, Confronting Old Testament Controversies (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2019), pp 79-121.
[3] K.A. Kitchen, “Exodus, the,” in David Noel Freedman, ed., Anchor Bible Dictionary, 6 vols. (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 2:702.
[4] Walton, “Exodus, Date of,” in Dictionary of the Old Testament Pentateuch, 262.
[5] Raymond B. Dillard and Tremper Longman III, An Introduction to the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 59.
[6] Walton, “Exodus, Date of,” in Dictionary of the Old Testament Pentateuch, 267.
[7] Kitchen, “Exodus, the,” in ABD, 2:702.
[8] Ibid., 2:703.
[9] Walton, “Exodus, Date of,” in Dictionary of the Old Testament Pentateuch, pp 264-266.
[10] Ibid., 270.
[11] Dillard and Longman, 62.
[12] An excellent study for further review is James K. Hoffmeier, Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996).
