Abram and Moses Dates of Birth

Question

When were Abram and Moses born, and when did they die?

Answer

We don't know the dates of Abram or Moses with certainty, but we have a good idea of approximate dates. Most likely, the Exodus occurred around 1447 BC. Moses was 80 years old at the time, so he would have been born around 1527 BC and died around 1407 BC.

The Israelites had lived in Egypt 430 years prior to the Exodus (Exod. 12:40), that is from 1877 BC, and had moved there during the time of Joseph, who was the third generation after Abram. Abram was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born (Gen. 21:5), and Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob was born (Gen. 25:26). Jacob married after Esau, who married when Jacob was 40 years old. I'm not sure how old Jacob was when Joseph was born, but it was near the end of the time in which he was still living under Laban's (Gen. 30:25ff.), at least 14 years after Esau married. Jacob and his family moved to Egypt when Joseph was at least 37 years old (Gen. 41:46ff.). So, Abraham was born at least 251 years before the nation moved to Israel, 681 years before the Exodus. He must have been born by the year 2128 BC, and he must have died by the year 1953 BC (Gen. 25:7).