The Date of the Exodus

In favor of a “later date” (c. 1260 b.c.) are the following arguments:

1. Exodus 1:11 says the Israelites “built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses.” But the city of Raamses (also spelled Rameses; the Egyptian Pi-Rameses) was built by Raamses II, who reigned 1279–1213 b.c. This city is not mentioned in any earlier archaeological records from Egypt. Therefore the Israelites were still in Egypt around 1270 b.c. when Raamses was built. In addition, the other geographical terms in Exodus—e.g., Pithom, Migdol, Yam Sup (the “Red Sea”), etc.—are all attested in thirteenth-century Egyptian texts, whereas they are not attested in the period of the early date.

2. First Kings 6:1 probably uses the expression “480 years” as a representative number to stand for 12 idealized generations of 40 years each. But in reality the period covered 12 generations of only 25 years each, or 300 years. Subtracting 300 years from 966 b.c. gives an exodus about 1266.

3. Egypt had imperial control over Canaan from about 1400–1250 b.c. But there is no Egyptian record of any military conflicts with Israel over that land until the Merneptah Stele, which refers to a victory over Israel around 1211–1209 b.c.

4. The Bible contains almost no mention of conflict with Egypt in Joshua or Judges, which would be strange if the Israelites entered Canaan in 1406 b.c., when the Egyptian Empire had control over Canaan. This makes a late date for the exodus more likely, since Egyptian influence over Canaan was minimal after about 1200 b.c.

5. The covenant forms used at the time of Moses in the biblical narratives show significant parallels to ancient Near Eastern covenants in the thirteenth century but not in the fifteenth century b.c.

6. Archaeological discoveries in Canaan show the complete destruction of some cities (such as Hazor) in the later thirteenth century b.c., which would fit with a date of c. 1260 for the exodus. Further, site surveys seem to show that there was a huge migration into the hill country areas of Canaan in the thirteenth century b.c. There also appear to have been technological innovations in this later period, such as terracing of the land, newer pottery styles, and plaster-lined silos, that favor the later date for Israel’s occupation.

Both the early date and the late date are supported by established evangelical scholars today. In this Study Bible, both the early date (1446 b.c.) and the later date (c. 1260) are included.