1491 BC · Egypt and Exodus

The first Passover; Israel leaves Egypt

On the fourteenth day of the first month Israel ate the Passover with blood on the doorposts, and that night the LORD brought them out of Egypt after 430 years of sojourning counted from Abraham (Exodus 12:40-41; Galatians 3:16-18). The date shown, 1491 BC, follows the 430-year sojourn counted from Abraham; some chronologers instead reckon 1446 BC from the temple date of 1 Kings 6:1.

📖 Exodus 12:1–3

1Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2“This month is the beginning of months for you; it shall be the first month of your year. 3Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man must select a lamb for his family, one per household.

© 2026 Jeffrey A. Jameson, BibleTimescape (bibletimescape.com). Map geometry: Natural Earth, public domain. Place coordinates: OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0. EgyptRamesesSuccoth
Map: Natural Earth (public domain) · Places: OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Sources: AiG, Bible Timeline (live table) · AiG, Timeline of the Bible (chart PDF) · AiG, How Long Were the Israelites in Egypt?
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