Jacob and the 70: Time Span From Entry into Egypt to Start of Enslavement

David Theese

Hello,

First-time poster with a question on a particular search to get me started...

I am using Logos 6 with the Standard Starter base package.

What I would like to determine (if it can be done with Standard Starter) is this: When Jacob and the 70 first arrived in Egypt, they were welcome. They did not start out as slaves. But at some point, a Pharaoh that "did not know Joseph" came into power. Either at that time or sometime later, the period of slavery started. How many years was it from the time of their entry into Egypt before they were enslaved?

Thank You,

Dave

Graham Criddle

Hi Dave - and welcome to the forums

What I would like to determine (if it can be done with Standard Starter) is this: When Jacob and the 70 first arrived in Egypt, they were welcome. They did not start out as slaves. But at some point, a Pharaoh that "did not know Joseph" came into power. Either at that time or sometime later, the period of slavery started. How many years was it from the time of their entry into Egypt before they were enslaved?

Thanks for a very clear question.

I would suggest two things to get you started

The verse which speaks about a Pharoah "not knowing Joseph" is Exodus 1:8 so try running a "Passage Guide" on that verse (right-click on the verse, select the verse in the right-hand menu, and then select "Passage Guide")

This will give you - among other things - a section with your commentaries which refer to that verse. One of these should be the Bible Knowledge Commentary which states:

"1:8–10. The new king … did not know about Joseph. The identity of this Pharaoh is uncertain but possibly he was Ahmose I, founder of the 18th dynasty, or more likely, Amenhotep I (1545–1526) or Thutmose I (1526–1512; see “Historical Background” under the Introduction)."

John D. Hannah, “Exodus,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck; vol. 1; Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1108.

Another thing to try is a search of all your resources which reference that verse

You do this in a "Basic Search" as shown below:

You will get a different set of results as I have a different set of resources but it should give you some places to start.

Hope this helps - and please do post back if any of this doesn't make sense

Graham