Parashas Lech Lecha 5772

“Your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will make them work and afflict them, for four hundred years” (B’raishis 15:13). As Rashi points out, these 400 years cannot be referring to how many years Avraham’s descendants spent in Egypt, as K’has, Levi’s son, was among those who came down to Egypt with his grandfather, Yaakov (B’raishis 46:11), and K’has’ grandson, Moshe, was 80 years old (Sh’mos 7:7) when he led the Children of Isreal out of Egypt. Since K’has lived for 133 years (6:18), several of which were before he came to Egypt, and Amram (Moshe’s father) lived for 137 years (6:20), several of which overlapped with Moshe’s years and with K’has’ years, the total amount of time in Egypt had to be less than 350 years (80+133+137=350). Rather, the 400 years started with the birth of Yitzckok (Avraham’s son, and therefore the first “descendant” that was “a stranger in a land not his,” as Canaan wasn’t given to Avraham or his descendants until they conquered it 40 years after leaving Egypt).

The Torah gives us another number for the amount of years the Children of Israel lived in Egypt– 430 (Sh’mos 12:40). [How these years are considered to be “in Egypt” is a topic of much discussion, one that we will put aside for now.] The most widely given explanation for this discrepancy (see Mechilta Bo 14) is that Avraham was informed that his descendants will be in exile 430 years before it ended. Using simple math, we can figure out that Avraham was 70 years old when this occurred–he was 100 when Yitzchok was born (B’raishis 21:5), and if the exodus occurred 400 years after that, Avraham must have been told about the exile 30 years earlier (430-400=30), meaning he was 70 (100-30=70). However, Avraham was 75 when he left Charan for Canaan (B’raishis 12:4), and he was informed about the exile after he was already in Canaan (16:18). How could he be in Canaan when he was 70 if he didn’t move to Canaan until he was 75?

B’raishis Rabbah (39:8) tells us that Avraham made two trips from Charan to Canaan. Seder Olam (1) says that Avraham left Canaan when he was 70, right after the “covenant between the pieces” (“B’ris bain Ha’besarim,” or “BBhB”) with G-d was enacted (during which he was informed about the 400 year exile) and returned to Charan, then left Charan for good when he was 75. There are several different timelines given for Avraham’s trips between Charan and Canaan. Sefer Hayashar says Avraham moved from Charan to Canaan when he was 55, moved back to Charan when he was 70, and made his permanent move to Canaan when he was 75. Midrash HaGadol (B‘raishis 11:31 and 12:4) says that Avraham left Charan for Canaan when he was 70, but traveled back and forth between the two for five years, moving to Canaan permanently when he was 75. According to these commentaries, the narrative of the BBhB was inserted out of chronological order, but everything else was taught in chronological order. Tosfos (Daas Zekaynim and Rabbeinu Baalay HaTosfos on B’raishis 12:4) says that Lot went with Avraham the first time, when he was captured. This allows for the entire narrative to be in chronological order, but means that Lot must have already moved to Sedom when Avraham was 70 (as that’s where he was captured from), and also means that the famine that led to the trip to Egypt took place years earlier than the text indicates. (In Berachos, Tosfos “proves” that Avraham was 73 when he fought the kings; if he was 70 at the BBhB, these events were not taught in chronological order, which is the point Tosfos is trying to make.) The very same verse that tells us that Lot moved to Canaan with Avraham also says that Avraham moved when he was 75 (B’raishis 12:4), implying that they hadn’t yet separated (and out of chronological order if the BBhB took place when Avrahanm was 70). Be that as it may, the bottom line is that the 400 years started from Yitzchok’s birth and the 430 years started from the BBhB (during which Avraham was told about the exile), five years before his permanent move to Canaan.

B’raishis Rabbah (46:2) discusses why Avraham didn’t have his circumcision after the BBhB, when he was 85 years old. If Avraham was 85 when he was told about the 400 year exile (only 15 years before Yitzchok was born), the 430 years could not have started from the time Avraham knew about it (and his “exile mindset” could be included). [It should be noted that most commentaries adjust the wording of this Midrash, either changing Avraham’s age from “85” to “70” or inserting the word “or” between “85” and “when G-d spoke to him between the pieces.” However, these changes are made based on questions that can be addressed (thus negating the need to make them), and not every commentary changes the text.] If the BBhB was not 430 years before the exodus, what do the 430 years signify?

Abarbanel (Sh’mos 12:40, see also Ramban) suggests that although there was a decree that Avraham’s descendants would be “strangers in a land that is not theirs for 400 years,” because the nation had sinned while in Egypt, an additional 30 years were added on. Kli Yakar adds that 80% of the nation perishing in the plague of darkness attests to their wickedness; descending to the 49th level of spiritual impurity also does. Obviously, if the extra 30 years were after Yitzchok was born, there is no issue with the BBhB being only 15 years before he was born (and not 30). [It should be noted that this year being 5772 is based on the assumption that there were only 400 years from Yitzchok’s birth until the exodus; if all the other parts of the equation stayed the same, it would really be 5802.]

Pirkay d’Rebbe Eliezer (48) says that Efrayim and Menashe were born five years before Yaakov and the rest of the family came to Egypt. Since they were considered full “Tribes” (see B’raishis 48:5), it is as if the “Children of Israel” were in Egypt for 215 years, not just 210. If we take into account that the Egyptians made them work day and night, it is as if they were there for twice as many years (see Rashi on D’varim 15:18), or 430. (However, since the servitude didn’t start until after the last of Yaakov’s sons died, years worth of nights should not have counted.)

Aside from the BBhB being 30 years before Yitzchok was born, the most common explanation for the 430 years (see Ibn Ezra and Bechor Shor on Sh’mos 12:40, Rabbeinu M’yuchus on B’raishis 12:4, and Gra’s comments on Seder Olam; see also R’ Saadya Gaon’s Emunos v’Dayos 8:4) is that Avraham left Ur Kasdim, his hometown, when he was 70, and Avraham’s “sojourning” are included in the 430 years. The Talmud (Avodah Zara 9a) telling us that Avraham had successfully converted many in Charan to monotheism when he was 52 seems to preclude the possibility that he didn’t leave Ur Kasdim until he was 70. Malbim (Sh’mos 12:40) and Netziv (ibid) also make suggestions as to how the 430 years are based on things that happened the year Avraham was 70. Once the 430 years are not based on when the BBhB occurred, there is no reason to insist that it occurred when Avraham was 70.

As I alluded to earlier, one of the issues the 430 years raises is that the Children of Israel were in Egypt for less than half that amount of time. In his shorter commentary (Sh’mos 12:40), Ibn Ezra quotes a suggestion that Canaan was part of the Egyptian empire, allowing all of the years spent in Canaan (and G’rar) to be considered time spent “in Egypt.” Although Ibn Ezra rejects this notion because he had no evidence for it, Torah Sh’laimah (Sh’mos 12:601) cites letters discovered in Egypt and Assyria that say Canaan was under Egyptian control during the period of the Patriarchs, and Midrashic sources that say that anyone moving from “the other side of the river” into Canaan had to pay a fee to Pharaoh. However, if Avraham moved to Canaan when he was 75, we would still only have 425 years of “Israelites” (see B’raishis Rabbah 63:3) living “in Egypt.”

Although the Torah (B’raishis 12:4) says that Avram followed G-d’s instructions, Rosh (Yevamos 6:12) says that he was lax in fulfilling G-d’s word. It is possible that when G-d told him to move to Canaan (years after he had moved from Ur Kasdim to Charan), rather than just picking up and moving everybody and everything right away, he made an exploratory trip to Canaan, to scout out where he would live and what he would need. (He may have even made several trips back and forth, in preparation for, and as part of the process of, his final move.) He wasn’t defying G-d’s request, just extending the period of time it took to fulfill it. “And Avram went” (12:4), without moving yet, “as G-d had spoken to him;” G-d had only told him to “go” to Canaan (12:1), and Avram did just that, he “went” to Canaan, without leaving Charan just yet. It is even possible that on his exploratory trip Avram found an uninhabited area to move to, but by the time he actually moved there, the Canaanites had spread out and it was no longer available (12:6). Lot went with Avram the first time (12:4), and moved with him when he, along with the rest of his family and belongings, relocated there (12:5). The latter happened when Avram was 75 (12:4), but we are not told when G-d had asked him to go, or when he made his exploratory trip.

If G-d had told Avram to “go” when he was 70, and for five years he was involved in the process of moving (it is likely that he had to pay the Egyptian “entrance fee” on his first trip, after telling the border guards why he was coming to Canaan), we can understand why even those five years could be considered “living in Egyptian-controlled Canaan.” This is especially so when considered as part of a 430-year period, starting from when Avraham was told to leave Charan, whereby 425 years were fully within the Egyptian empire and five were partially in. The “Children of Israel,” starting from when Avraham was told to leave Charan and he started the process of leaving, lived in “Egypt” for 430 years, even if the BBhB occurred years after the 430-year period began.