Chapter IV Extent of the Third Age of the World
Table VIII. Patriarchal Eras and Intervals from Usher—Table IX. Extent of the first Three Ages of the World—Date of the Exodus of Israel from Egypt.
The extent of the Third, or Patriarchal age, is ascertained from the text of Exodus xii. 40 and 41. That this passage originally stood in the Hebrew as it now stands in the other two texts, is evident from Galatians iii. 17; and as all commentators and chronologers are now agreed that the commencement of the 430 years was reckoned from the date of the Call, or the year following, it is unnecessary to revive former disputes on this point. The following table, partly from Usher,21 who distinctly enumerates all the texts of Scripture on which their determination depends, exhibits the intervals, between the Patriarchal eras of this period, and the corresponding years of the world, according to the Hebrew and Septuagint computations:—
| TABLE VIII. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patriarchal | Hebrew. | Septuagint. | ||
| Eras. | Intervals. | A.M. | Intervals. | A.M. |
| From the Call | 0 | 2083 | 0 | 3409 |
| Birth of Isaac | 25 | 2108 | 25 | 3434 |
| Birth of Jacob | 60 | 2168 | 60 | 3494 |
| The Eisodus | 130 | 2298 | 130 | 3624 |
| Death of Joseph | 71 | 2369 | 71 | 3695 |
| Birth of Moses | 64 | 2433 | 64 | 3759 |
| To the Exodus | 80 | 2513 | 80 | 3839 |
| ——— | ——— | |||
| Third Age | 430 | years. | 430 | years. |
In the above and following tables we omit the Samaritan computation, and adopt the Hebrew as interpreted by Usher, as the question of the true chronology in modern times is considered to lie between the latter and the Septuagint. The next table exhibits, according to these two systems, the extent of the first three ages of the world.
| TABLE IX. | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ages of the World. | Hebrew. Years. | Septuagint. Years. |
| First two Ages | 2083 | 3409 |
| Third Age | 430 | 430 |
| ——— | ——— | |
| First Three Ages | 2513 | 3839 |
Mr. Cuninghame, “Fulness of the Times,” p. 36, gives an ingenious explanation of “the sojourning of the children of Israel in Egypt,” and shows that, strictly speaking, the period of 430 years should be reckoned from the date of Abraham’s descent into that land, after his arrival in Canaan, or one year later than the date of the Call. Hence, the Exodus took place in A.M. 3840, according to the computation of the Septuagint.22