Demonstrable Errors in Modern Versions Part 6: Acts 13:20

We now come to what I consider another very substantial and easily demonstrable error in the modern versions. Acts 13:17–20 in the King James Bible reads:

Acts 13:17–20 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 Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot. (20) And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.

In this text Paul the Apostle is preaching and briefly relays Israel’s history. He begins with God’s calling of the fathers, to their stay in Egypt after the time of Joseph, and their later exodus from Egypt under Moses. He then recounts the forty years of wandering in the wilderness to the time when Joshua led them into the promised land and destroyed seven nations as Moses prophesied that they would do. Joshua would then divide the land by inheritance to the Israelites. After this, we are clearly told that God gave Israel judges for about 450 years. When one goes back and calculates the biblical data, they will find that this is exactly the case. Philip Mauro, in chapter 7 of his book the Wonders of Bible Chronology, demonstrated this very clearly. All one has to do is calculate the number of years from the oppression of the Israelites under Cushan to the rise of Samuel as the last judge of Israel. The reader will find that 450 years elapsed between these two events. I was able to find this book available for download on e-sword, and will post a screenshot of the relevant section:

So, the King James Bible is quite self-explanatory on this point. The ESV and NIV, however, say something quite different. Observe:

Acts 13:17–20 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. (18) And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. (19) And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. (20) All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

The ESV says that “all this took about 450 years”, and that God gave judges to Israel after the 450 years. The question then arises, “all of what?”. Well, to that there have been more than a few answers given. The ESV can be read as saying one of two things. Either “all of this” refers to everything from the calling of the fathers mentioned in verse 17 to the driving out of the seven nations and dividing of the inheritane in verse 19, or “all this” refers to the driving out of the seven nations. Some proponents of the modern versions have gone with the first option, and have claimed that it should begin with the birth of Isaac and end with the taking of Israel out of Egypt, which apparently comes close to 450 years, although not quite. The obvious problem with this, however, is that Paul refers to the choosing of “our fathers”, which would have begun with Abraham, not Isaac. So this explanation is clearly false. Moreover, it is worth noting that both the ESV and the NIV are being rather deceptive in their translation at this point. The critical text does not say “all this took”. The beginning of verse 20 in the SBLNT says ὡς ἔτεσι τετρακοσίοις καὶ πεντήκοντα — literally “For about years 450” and is a continuation of verse 19. Interestingly, the RSV gives a much more honest rendering of the critical text here:

17 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 And for about forty years he bore with them in the wilderness. 19 And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance, for about four hundred and fifty years.

The more literal rendering makes it clear that the 450 years cannot extend all the way back to the choosing of the fathers, but only refers to the giving of Israel’s inheritance. However, given that it did not take Joshua 450 years to distribute the land as an inheritance for the Israelites, modern versions such as the ESV, NIV, and NET Bible add the phrase “all this took” in order to “make a complete statement in English”, as Dan Wallace puts it . So the critical text is utterly nonsensical at this point. To compensate, the modern versions tweak the translation a bit to make it into better English. Consequently, the “all this” would then refer to the driving out of the seven nations. But once again, this simply did not take 450 years to accomplish. It only took about six years for Joshua to conquer the seven nations and divide the inheritance to Israel. Mauro is once again very helpful on this point:

But the needed chronological link is supplied through Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, of the tribe of Judah. We have seen that the spies were sent out the 2nd year after the Exodus, in the early Fall (“ at the time of the first ripe grapes,” Numb. 13:20). This was the year 2514, 2nd month (see Table 6). At that time Caleb was 40 years old; for he said, “Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to espy out the land” (Jos_14:7). Hence Caleb was born in the year (25 14 “40) 2474. At the time of the division of the land by Joshua, at the conclusion of the wars of conquest, Caleb was 85 years old; for he said at that time, “And now behold, the Lord hath kept me alive as He said, these forty and five years, … and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old” (Jos_14:10). Add 85 to 2474, and we get 2559, as the year of the division of the land after the wars of conquest. Therefore, the duration of those wars was six years (2553 to 2559).

And so here we find a conclusive historical and chronological error in the modern versions, which simply does not exist in the King James Bible.