600 000 Israelites at the time of Exodus

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since having knee surgery this week I can’t seem to type anythinq right.
 
  • 1Ch 16:8 O give thanks to the LORD, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples!
  • 1Ch 16:9 Sing to him, sing praises to him, tell of all his wonderful works!
  • 1Ch 16:10 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
  • 1Ch 16:11 Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his presence continually!
  • 1Ch 16:12 Remember the wonderful works that he has done, the wonders he wrought, the judgments he uttered,
  • 1Ch 16:13 O offspring of Abraham his servant, sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
  • 1Ch 16:14 He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.
  • 1Ch 16:15 He is mindful of his covenant for ever, of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
  • 1Ch 16:16 the covenant which he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac,
  • 1Ch 16:17 which he confirmed as a statute to Jacob, as an everlasting covenant to Israel,
  • 1Ch 16:18 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan, as your portion for an inheritance.”
  • **1Ch 16:19 When they were few in number, and of little account, and sojourners in it, **
  • 1Ch 16:20 wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people,
  • **1Ch 16:21 he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account, **
  • 1Ch 16:22 saying, "Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!"
    [remainder of Psalm & chapter omitted]
blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/tools/printer-friendly.pl?book=1Ch&chapter=16&version=RSV#19
  • Psa 105:1 O give thanks to the LORD, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples!
  • Psa 105:2 Sing to him, sing praises to him, tell of all his wonderful works!
  • Psa 105:3 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
  • Psa 105:4 Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his presence continually!
  • Psa 105:5 Remember the wonderful works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
  • Psa 105:6 O offspring of Abraham his servant, sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
  • Psa 105:7 He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.
  • Psa 105:8 He is mindful of his covenant for ever, of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
  • Psa 105:9 the covenant which he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac,
  • Psa 105:10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
  • Psa 105:11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.”
  • **Psa 105:12 When they were few in number, of little account, and sojourners in it, **
  • **Psa 105:13 wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people, **
  • Psa 105:14 he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked **ki****ngs on their account, **
  • Psa 105:15 saying, "Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!"
    [Verses 16-45 omitted]
cf.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Psa&c=105&v=12&t=RSV#12

There seem to be two traditions on the subject: one says Israel were few, the other says they were many. The second is prepared for as early as Gen. 46, which lists the house of Jacob, & ends:
  • Gen 46:27 and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two; all the persons of the house of Jacob, that came into Egypt, were **seventy. **
    In Exodus:
  • Exd 1:7 But **the descendants of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong; so that the land was filled with them. **
    Gen. 46.27 is particularly interesting, because the 70-strong household of Jacob is as numerous by itself as the nations in the Table of the Nations in Genesis 10. There is a further remarkable detail, because the Masoretic text of Deut. 32.8 reads:
  • When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of men, he fixed the bounds of the peoples** according to the number of the sons of Israel**
    whereas the LXX has:
  • When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of men, he fixed the bounds of the peoples **according to the number of the sons of God. **
    The number 70 is the number of the “sons of El”, the “seventy sons of Asherah”. Which suggests that the number 70 in the Torah may owe something to Canaanite ideas. As the texts show, the number 70 is inexact - but it is important as the total the writer has supplied; so he must have meant something by it.
Both traditions can be used to make theological points - that Israel is great in numbers emphasises that God has been faithful to His promise in Gen 12, & is in continuity with the themes of blessing & dominion in & after Gen.1; for Israel to be few, emphasises the theology of the covenant of Sinai which is comes of the gracious creating electing deed of God.

The figure of 600,000 is an approximation of the stats in Num. 1 & 26 - which are schematic; stats in Kings for Israel & Judah are far lower than Ex. 12.37 implies. 600,000+ is the figure for men able to fight aged 20 & over. (See Numbers.) Such high figures are not easy to square with Samuel & Kings - how could Israel sustain about 2 million people ? 🤷

As for the truth: that would perhaps lie not in the stats as “data”, but in the faith & theology they express.
 
600 000 men would likely mean a capable army of at least 100-200 000. This number seems nearly impossible. Among the numerous difficulties, one of which is that an army of that size would be capable of conquering Egypt: why would they flee Pharoah instead of fight his pursuing army? Are there any good answers to defend this number of Israelites in the Exodus?
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I believe the number is legit, though I am going with the acceptance of St. Augustine, he says in the City of God 15.8
And this might very readily be conjectured from the fact that from one man, Abraham, in not much more than four hundred years, the numbers of the Hebrew race so increased, that in the exodus of that people from Egypt there are recorded to have been six hundred thousand men capable of bearing arms, Exodus 12:37 and this over and above the Idumæans, who, though not numbered with Israel’s descendants, were yet sprung from his brother, also a grandson of Abraham; and over and above the other nations which were of the same stock of Abraham, though not through Sarah,— that is, his descendants by Hagar and Keturah, the Ishmaelites, Midianites, etc.
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Ted_in_Charlott said:
I remember questioning this a few years back.The proof I came up with is: Given it was 400 years from the time the 70 went into Egypt until the time of Moses. If a generation is about 20 years that will give you 20 generations and each pair had about 2.06 children that will get you to the 2,000,000 people mark pretty easily. The reverse proof is 2,000,000^(1/20)=2.06 people per generation.

Further I would speculate that any question of the 2.06 children or whether it was 20 generations shold be considered low estimates. If a woman started having children at 14 or so the generations would be closer to 28. And the children that each generation had probably was closer to 4 or 5. But not having infant mortality tables available, I think this model works.

So before you start discounting the inerrancy of the Bible for this particuliar story consider the above.
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Your calculations do not factor in the infanticide of the male children.

Gary
 
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