Jewish Population & Moses

[oikumene]

What was the population of the Jews which were enslaved in Egypt and were set free by God through Moses and thus had to travel for 40 years in the desert?

 

[NotWorthy]

I got this from Agape Bible Study

Exodus begins by detailing the sons of Jacob/Israel. Then it jumps ahead 400 years. Verse 7 recalls the prophetic word concerning Israel’s future given to Abraham in Genesis 15:13 in the statement of Exodus 1:7 that "…the Israelites were fruitful and prolific, they became so numerous and powerful that eventually the whole land was full of them*."* During the 430 years in Egypt, Jacob’s family grew from 70 male members to 603,550 males over 21 or an approximate total population of 2-3 million Israelites. Meanwhile, archaeological data indicates that Egypt is experiencing a high infant mortality rate.

Genesis 1:8 records that there came to power in Egypt "a new king who had never heard of Joseph." The literal translation of the Hebrew text, "a new king who did not know Joseph", uses the Hebrew word yadad = “to know.” To have “knowledge” of someone in the language of the Bible indicated intimate knowledge either of a sexual nature or of intimate knowledge from a covenant association. This new pharaoh is a ruler of Egypt who is no longer in covenant with the foreigners who occupied the rich Nile Delta lands of northern Egypt.

Pharaoh, in an effort to reduce the population of Israel, attempts to convince the Hebrew midwives to kill babies, in this case the boy babies, but the Hebrew midwives, fearing God, refuse and make the excuse that the healthy Hebrew women give birth to their babies before the midwives arrives.

So Pharaoh develops another plan. The plan is to throw the born boy babies into the Nile, but to let the girls live. ’Throw every new-born boy into the river but let all the girls live*" *Exodus 1:22. We know from Genesis chapter 47 that eventually, with the exception of the Israelites, there was no private ownership of land in Egypt. If there are not enough Israelite men, then Israelite women will be forced to accept Egyptian husbands and the land would pass back into Egyptian hands. This is, of course, only speculation but it is a possible motive for only seeking to kill the boy babies who would inherit the land.

 

[inthecloud]

Most modern Biblical scholarship think the numbers were grossly exagerated orally before the Torah was written down.
I think they are right.

 

[NotWorthy]

Sometimes “most modern scholars” are completely wrong. Sort of like “most modern scientists” believe man is causing global warming.

If Israel was in Egypt for 400 years, and their numbers double every 32 years, this number would be easily reachable.

 

[Valke2]

Man is causing global warming.

 

[NotWorthy]

Man is causing global warming.

So says a consensus of scientists.

Wasn’t man the cause of the great ice age that was being crowed about in the 80’s due to the very same pollution? Isn’t the greenhouse affect that was supposed to cause numerous hurricanes now the same greenhouse affect that is supposed to reduce hurricanes?!?

Oh yeah, I’m sold!

Bad man… bad man.

 

[Valke2]

So says a consensus of scientists.

Wasn’t man the cause of the great ice age that was being crowed about in the 80’s due to the very same pollution? Isn’t the greenhouse affect that was supposed to cause numerous hurricanes now the same greenhouse affect that is supposed to reduce hurricanes?!?

Oh yeah, I’m sold!

Bad man… bad man.

You’re right. THere’s no evidence that we are affecting climate change or that we are endangering ourselves. it is all so clear to me now.

 

[NotWorthy]

You’re right. THere’s no evidence that we are affecting climate change or that we are endangering ourselves. it is all so clear to me now.

You’re right. There’s no evidence that all the climate changes that we’ve experienced over the previous millions of years were affected by men.

Nothing has indicated that this is any different from all the other cycles we’ve had through the millenia.

It’s all so clear to me.