The Exodus from Egyptian bondage to the 4th year of the reign of King Solomon is the most complicated era for chronologists, but it was solved satisfactorily by Dr. Martin Anstey in 1913.
There is a very confusing chronological statement in I Kings 6:1, which on the surface seems to indicate that the period was exactly 480 years:
And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year (480) after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of JEHOVAH (I Kings 6:1).
That era was the THEOCRACY, or JEHOVAH'S direct rule over his people. In reality, 594 calendar years had expired during that period. To get the true age of the earth the extra 114 years must be counted!
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Saul of Tarsas was of the same tribe as King Saul, and he had a profound knowledge of his nation's history. The Apostle gave additional chronological information about that era when preaching to real Jews in the synagogue at Antioch:
Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear Elohim, give audience. The Elohim of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it. And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness. And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he divided their land to them by lot. And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. And afterward they desired a king: and Elohim gave unto them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will." Of this man's seed hath Elohim according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Joshua (Acts 13:16-23).
Here is a table of that complicated timeline according to Saint Paul:
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Saul of Tarsus met the Messiah on the Damascus Road, and he had an encyclopedic knowledge of Jewish history even before he became a Christian. As such, he was uniquely qualified to preach the Resurrection of Christ to the real Jews.
Reference
Anstey, Dr. Martin. The Chronology of the Old Testament. Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1973. First published in London in 1913.
Copyright © 2022 by Patrick Scrivener