jan 1, 1446 BC - Exodus (1446 BC)

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A Survey of the Old Testament by Andrew E. Hill and John H. Walton offers nine reasons for the earlier date. The primary reason is that "1 Kings 6:1 says that the Exodus occurred 480 years before the 4th year of Solomon's reign. Solomon's 4th year of reign is dated at 966", therefore placing the Exodus at 1446. If the Bible is to be taken literally, then this is the preferable date. Holman Bible Dictionary, Holman Bible Atlas, The World and the Word, and other related commentaries also list these as commonly accepted reasons for the 1446 date of the Exodus. The World and the Word says that scholars also "point to Jephthah's statement in Judges 11:26. Involved in 'negotiations' with the Ammonites, he affirmed that the Israelites had been in possession of land that used to belong to the Ammonites for 300 years...[putting] the beginning of the Ammonite oppression in 1106 BC." The Holman Bible Atlas says that "Judges 11:26 implies the presence of Israel in the Transjordan for three hundred years preceding the time of Jephthah who lived about 1100 BC." These two sources corroborate an approximate date of 1446 BC.

According to The Expositor's Bible Commentary, "there are two pillars to the late-date case: (1) the two names for the store-cities built by the Israelites in Egypt – Pithom and Rameses (1:11) – and (2) the archeological discoveries of many Palestinian sites that have been interpreted to favor an Israelite conquest toward the end of the thirteenth century." The author mentions that "there is no evidence for a thirteenth-century city, even with all the redating of previous excavation levels", therefore dismantling the second pillar. The other pillar comes from an unnatural interpretation of Exodus 1:7-14. The late-date case would say that the two store-cities, Pithom and Rameses, were built not long before the time of the Exodus. However, the author mentions that the Bible places these as one of the first tasks the Israelites completed. Ultimately, it is impossible to determine an exact date of the Exodus. However, evidence in the Bible and in outside sources seem to point to an early date of 1446 BC.

List of sources used/quoted:
- Hill, Andrew E., John H. Walton, A Survey of The Old Testament. Zondervan, 2009.
- Merill, Eugene H., Michael A. Grisanti, Mark F. Rooker, The World and the Word: The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament. B&H Publishing Group, 2011.
- Gabelein, Frank E. The Expositor's Bible Commentary. Zondervan Interactive, 1998.
- Brisco, Thomas C. Holman Bible Atlas: A Complete Guide to the Expansive Geography of Biblical History. Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman & Holman, 1998.

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