And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.
And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years. Since this appears to contradict 1 Kings 6:1, various solutions have been proposed. Taking the words as they stand in the Greek-thus, 'after that, by the space of four hundred and fifty years, he gave judges'-the meaning may be, that about 450 years elapsed from the time of the covenant with Abraham until the period of the judges; which is historically correct, the word "about" showing that chronological exactness was not aimed at. But taking the sense to be as in our version-that it was the period of the judges itself which lasted about 450 years-this statement also will appear historically correct, if we include in it the interval of subjection to foreign powers which occurred during the period of the judges, and understand it to describe the whole period from the settlement of the tribes in Canaan to the establishment of royalty.
Thus, from the exodus to the building of the temple, were 592 years (Josephus, Ant. 8: 31): from this period deduct 40 years in the wilderness, 25 years of Joshua's rule (Josephus, Ant. 5: 1. 29), 40 years of Saul's reign (Acts 13:21), 40 of David's, and the first four years of Solomon's reign (1 Kings 6:1); and there will remain just 443 years; or, in round numbers, "about 450 years" "until Samuel the prophet."