Galatians 3:17

Does Paul err in the amount of time between Abraham and the time the Law was given?

PROBLEM: In Galatians 3:17, the apostle states that a period of 430 years elapsed between the time of God’s promises to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), which was about 2000 B.C., and the giving of the law to Moses, which was around 1450 B.C. This would be a mistake of over 100 years.

SOLUTION: The time that Paul refers to is not the initial giving of the Abrahamic covenant (Gen. 12–15), but the later confirmation of the covenant to Jacob (Genesis 46), which was about 1877 B.C. Since the Exodus occurred around 1447 B.C. (cf. 1 Kings 6:1), this would be exactly

430. There is good indication that Paul is referring to the confirmation to Jacob, not to the initiation of the covenant to Abraham. The text clearly dates the 430 years from “the covenant that was confirmed” (Galatians 3:17). Thus, the time period is the final reaffirmation of the Abrahamic promises to the descendants (seed) of Abraham which takes place in Genesis 46:2-4 to Jacob, a descendent of Abraham, which was 430 years before the children of Israel came out of Egypt.