Exodus from Egypt

Feilding Star, Volume XIII, Issue 142, 28 May 1892, Page 4

Exodus from Egypt

♦ What was the precise date of the Exodus from Egypt (asks the Jewish Chronicle) f A German astronomer, according to one of our contemporaries, has solved this knotty problem. Jewish tradition gives the date as Ist Kisau, 1312 b.c In order to test this our astronomer has assumed that the vfeyptiau darkness, which immediately preceded the exodus, was an eclipse. He has consequently calculated all the eclipses of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries b.c , and having selected those which look place in the spring, has then chosen irom them those which come nearest to the date given by the Jewish tradition. The eclipse he finally selected was one which took place on 13th March, 1336 be. It is curious to note that this date agrees with Jewish tradition, so <ar as the month and day are concerned The year is, however, twenty three years out. The astronomer declares that this is a mistake of the Jewish historians, since no eclipse occurred in the year 1312 B.C. He seems to forget that the alleged darkness is described in the Scriptures as havingbeen a miracle. However the result oi bis calculation is to show that the Exodus took place on March 27 eh, 1336— a discovery which will be appreciated when our iconoclastic reformers lay violent hands on the Jewish calendar.