476 years after the Israelites left Egypt.
And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord.
1 Kings 6:1 KJV
570 years after the Israelites left Egypt.
17 The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it.
18 And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness.
19 And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he divided their land to them by lot.
20 And after that he gave unto them judges years about the space of four hundred and fifty, until Samuel the prophet.
21 And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.
22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave their testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.
Acts 13:17-22 KJV
26 Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel.
27 And the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.
1 Chronicles 29:26-27 KJV
476 or 570 years?
The critic has combined some numbers in the Bible and has arrived at the surprising insight that there is something wrong with the date of Solomon’s succession of David. There is a clear indication in 1 Kings 6:1 pointing to 476 years after the Exodus from Egypt. However, the historical overview in Acts 13 (speech of the apostle Paul) seems to give about 570 years after the Exodus. This disparity is outlined below:
Counting overview
|
Acts 13: |
|
Critic’s counting |
|
18 |
In the desert |
40 years 40 years |
|
|
Total |
570 years |
These figures indicate that the critic took all the numbers and adding them together he got the remarkable total of 570 years. However this calculation overlooks a key fact:
The better text variant overlooked
The critic has only made use of the King James Version in his detailed study of the Bible. That is not wise. All recent translations and the classic Vulgate (1000 years older than the KJV), have a text variant deviating from the KJV reading in verse 20 (Acts 13). Look at the inversion of the blue phrase of Acts 13:20, actually belonging to verse 19.
“19 And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he divided their land to them by lot (for) years about the space of four hundred and fifty.
20 And after that [plural: these things] he gave unto them judges until Samuel the prophet.”
That [these things] refer to verses 17-19, the period covering about 450 years, which are to be calculated as follows:
Better Counting
|
Acts 13 |
|
Correct counting |
|
17 |
Time of oppression (Egypt) |
400 years Gen.15:13 |
|
|
Total |
about 450 years |
Conclusion
The critic used a wrong text variant for his criticism and so his calculations are unsound.
No Bible Contradiction
Additionally
For the time of the Israelites in Egypt see the article "How long was the Egyptian Captivity?"
How to deal with text variant see the article "Variant readings and inerrancy of the Old and New Testament".
Update (19 – 3 – 2016)
It is the authors personal view that the text used by the KJV-translaters (textus receptus) was not properly translated by them here. (20) "And after that he gave unto them judges years about the space of four hundred and fifty, until Samuel the prophet.” Following the word order of the used Greek text (without insertion of helping words), it is: 20 "And after these things–about the space of four hundred and fifty years–he gave unto them judges, until Samuel the prophet.” In this translation the 450 years relate to the foregoing "these things" and not to the time of the judges until Samuel.