FOUR HUNDRED YEARS AFFLICTION, The, Sylvester Hassell Gen. 15:13,14, “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.”
Four hundred and thirty years are reckoned from the promise made to Abraham to the giving of the law at Sinai (B.C. 1921-B.C. 1491), according to the received chronology Gal. 3:17. This period of time was about equally divided by Abraham and his descendants—say 215 years in Canaan and 215 years in Egypt. From the death of Joseph to the exodus was 144 years, and we may conclude that the length of rigorous oppression was only about 100 years……This exodus or departure of the Israelites from Egypt closed the four hundred and thirty years of their pilgrimage, which began from the call of Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees” (Hassell)