In books and articles it is often claimed that the Israelites were only in Egypt for 215 years. Jacob and his family moved to Egypt, during the famine, 215 years after God’s promise to Abraham. So the descendants of Jacob were there for 215 years, before the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt.

Some may say, “But according to Scripture the Israelites were slaves in Egypt for 400 years. Wait! Or was it 430 years?”

Is there a discrepancy? A copyist error? Were the ancients just not very good at math? These are usually the questions that pop into our minds when we come across a passage of Scripture that we don’t understand or maybe disagree with. So what’s the problem—the Bible or the way we approach it?

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Passages in Question

Let’s look at the passages in question.

> Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for 400 years.” (Genesis 15:13)

> The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:40–41)

> And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them 400 years. (Acts 7:6)

> Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void (Galatians 3:16–17)

Many commentators over the years have tried to explain these differences with various ideas. One is that the biblical authors said 400 years because they were simply rounding to a convenient number, because this was the tradition in ancient times. However, this explanation doesn’t make any sense, especially since the Bible is exact in giving ages (Genesis 5; Numbers; 1 and 2 Kings; etc.).

A closer look into Scripture, itself, will reveal a simple and definitive answer, consistent with the ancient Septuagint translation which reads in Exodus 12:40, "And the sojourning of the children of Israel, while they sojourned in the land of Egypt and the land of Chanaan, was four hundred and thirty years."

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The Simple Solution

So what’s the deal? How long were the Israelites enslaved?

Israel’s (the nation) “affliction” (Genesis 15:13; Acts 7:6) started when Isaac was five years old and Ishmael mocked him (Genesis 21:9; Galatians 4:29).

However, another difficulty might seem to arise from Exodus 12:40 where it says, “The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years.” Is this a contradiction?

When we think of the children or people of Israel we typically think of Jacob, his 12 sons, and their descendants. Remember though, the promise was not made to Jacob, but to Abraham. What Moses is subtly pointing out is that the nation of Israel did not start with Jacob, but with Abraham. Therefore, this passage is including Isaac and Abraham in the nation of Israel. Also, 430 years prior to the exodus is when Abraham first lived in Egypt. There is no contradiction or difficulty. Simply put, the nation was named after Jacob/Israel, but it started with Abraham.

The 400 years of sojourning and affliction started with Isaac’s weaning at five years old when Ishmael mocked him. This was thirty years after Abraham left Haran.

Only 215 years were spent strictly in Egypt, while the full 430 years accounts for the entire period of sojourning starting from God's promise to Abraham.