1:3 However, it was not until16 the first day of the eleventh month17 of the fortieth year18 that Moses addressed the Israelites just as19 the Lord had instructed him to do.
tnHeb “in” or “on.” Here there is a contrast between the ordinary time of eleven days (v. 2) and the actual time of forty years, so “not until” brings out that vast disparity.
17
sn The eleventh month is Shebat in the Hebrew calendar, January/February in the modern (Gregorian) calendar.
18
sn The fortieth year would be 1406 b.c. according to the “early” date of the exodus. See E. H. Merrill, Kingdom of Priests, 66–75.