Exodus 12:37

Exodus 12:37 . About six hundred thousand men — The word means strong and able men fit for wars, besides women and children, which we cannot suppose to make less than twelve hundred thousand more. What a vast increase was this to arise from seventy souls, in little more than two hundred years!

THE DEPARTURE OF ISRAEL, THEIR NUMBERS, AND THE TIME OF THE EGYPTIAN SOJOURN. (37-41) The two principal statements of this passage are—(1) that the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt lasted four hundred and thirty years; and (2) that at the time of the departure the number of the “men” (gëbârim) was six hundred thousand. This latter statement is evidently a rough one, but it is confirmed, and even enlarged, by the more accurate estimate of Numbers 1, 2, which goes into particulars with respect to the several tribes, and makes the exact amount of the adult male population, exclusive of the Levites, to be 625,540 (Numbers 2:32). It would follow that the nation, at the time of its departure, was one of above two millions of souls. Two difficulties are raised with respect to this estimate:—(1) Could the Israelites possibly have increased during their sojourn in Egypt from the “seventy souls” who went down with Jacob to two millions? (2) Is it conceivable that such a multitude, with their flocks and herds, could have quitted Egypt on one day, and marched in a body through the narrow wadys of the Sinaitic region to the plain in front of Sinai? Could even that plain have contained them? With regard to the first point, before it can be decided we must ascertain what are the exact data. What is to be taken as the original number of those who “went down into Egypt?” what as the duration of the sojourn?

It has been already shown (see the comment on Exodus 1:5) that the descendants of Jacob who entered Egypt were probably a hundred and thirty-two rather than seventy; that they were accompanied by their wives and husbands; that they took with them also their “households,” which were very numerous (see Note on Genesis 17:13); and that the entire number is fairly estimated at “several thousands.” Let us then place it at 3,000. The duration of the sojourn in Egypt, stated in the Hebrew text at 430 years, is reduced by the LXX. and Samaritan Versions to half the time: i.e., to 215 years. If we accept Mr. Malthus’s statement, that in the absence of artificial checks population will double itself every twenty years, we shall find that 3,000 persons might, in the space of two centuries, increase to above 3,000,000; so that even the 215 years of the Greek and Samaritan Versions would admit of such a multiplication as that required. But as there is no sufficient reason for preferring the Versions to the Original, or the period of 215 to that of 430 years, we are entitled to regard the latter term as the real duration of the sojourn, in which case a doubling of the population every forty-five years would have produced the result indicated. Such a result under the circumstances, in the rich soil of Egypt, in the extensive territory granted to the Israelites, and with God’s special blessing on the people, is in no way surprising.

Succoth; a place so called, either because there the Israelites first lodged in booths or tents, whereas before they dwelt in houses; or because there God first spread his cloud of fire over them for a covering. Psalm 105:39 . Six hundred thousand, to wit, grown and strong men, and fit for war, among whom there was none feeble or sick, Psalm 105:37 . Thus the heathen writer Chaeremon, mentioned by Josephus, speaking of this matter, reckons up first two hundred and fifty thousand, and then three hundred and eighty thousand more. That were men: the Hebrew word properly signifies strong and able men , fit to go on foot in battle-array; so decrepit or weak old men are not comprehended in this number. Beside children, and women, whose presence and assistance is necessary to them. See Exodus 10:24 . Some say the Hebrew word taph signifies their households or families , which consist principally of women and children.

Verses 37-39. - THE DEPARTURE. There are, no doubts, great difficulties in conceiving the departure on one day, from one place, of "six hundred thousand that were men, beside children." The difficulty is increased when we find (from Numbers 1:3-43 ) that by "men" is meant males above twenty years of age. The entire body of Israelites is thus raised from over half a million to over two millions. The whole narrative, however, supposes some such number; and it is accepted by the best critics, as Ewald, Kalisch, Kurtz, Canon Cook, and others. As these two millions must have lived dispersed over a considerable space, and there could have been no advantage in their all assembling at Rameses (Tunis), we are probably to suppose the main body with Moses and Aaron to have stared from that place, while the others, obeying orders previously given, started from all parts of Goshen, and converged upon Succoth, which was the first rendezvous. Each body of travellers was accompanied by its flocks and herds, and followed by a number of slaves, dependants, and sympathisers not of Hebrew birth (ver. 38), which still further enlarged their numbers. The extremely open character of the country, and the firmness of the soil at the time of year, would facilitate the journey. There was no marching along roads, which indeed did not exist. Each company could spread itself out at its pleasure, and go its own pace.

All knew the point of meeting, and marched towards it, in converging lines, there being no obstacle to hinder them. Arrived in the vicinity of Succoth, they could bivouac without hurt, in that fine climate, in the open air. Verse 37. - From Rameses . It has been doubted whether this "Rameses" is the same place as the "Raamses" of Exodus 1:11 . But the doubt scarcely seems to be reasonable. The two words differ only in the pointing. Brugsch has clearly shown that Rameses (Pa-Ramesu) was a town newly built in the reign of Rameses II., partly erected by himself, in the immediate vicinity of the old city of Tanis or Zoan. It was the favourite capital of both Rameses II. and Menephthah. (See Brugsch, Hist. of Egypt , vol. 2. pp. 96 and 128.) Succoth . The meaning of the word "Succoth" is "booths." Mr. Greville Chester tells us that "huts made of reeds" are common at the present day in the tract south-east of Tunis, and suggests that the Succoth here mentioned may have been at Salahiyeh, fifteen miles due south of Tunis. Tel-Defneh, at the same distance to the south-east, is perhaps a more probable site. Six hundred thousand . See the Introductory paragraph. At the time of the numbering recorded in Numbers 1 , the males above twenty years of age were 625,550. Beside children. Rather, "beside families." The word used includes all the women, and the children under twenty. Exodus 12:37

Rameses - See Exodus 1:11 note. Rameses was evidently the place of general rendezvous, well adapted for that purpose as the principal city of Goshen. The Israelites were probably settled in considerable numbers in and about it. Pharaoh with his army and court were at that time near the frontier, and Rameses, where a large garrison was kept, was probably the place where the last interview with Moses occurred. The first part of the journey appears to have followed the course of the ancient canal. The site of Succoth cannot be exactly determined, but it lay about halfway between Rameses and Etham Exodus 13:20 . The name Succoth (i. e. "tents" or "booths" in Hebrew), may have been given by the Israelites, but the same, or a similar word, occurs in Egyptian in connection with the district. 600,000 - This includes all the males who could march. The total number of the Israelites should therefore be calculated from the males above twelve or fourteen, and would therefore amount to somewhat more than two millions. This is not an excessive population for Goshen, nor does it exceed a reasonable estimate of the increase of the Israelites, including their numerous dependants.

37 . journeyed ] lit. plucked up (viz. tent-pegs), a metaphor from breaking up camp. So regularly, as Exodus 13:20 , Exodus 16:1 , &c. Ra‘meses ] Very possibly (p. 4) Tell er-Reṭâbeh, 10 m. W. of Succoth. Succoth ] No doubt the Eg. Thke , with the determinative of a foreign place, prob. (Griffith) a foreign name, the sing. of Succoth , ‘Booths,’ and to be read Thukke . Thukke is often mentioned in inscriptions found at Tell el-Maskhuta (= Pithom: see on Exodus 1:11 ); and seems to have been both a name of Pithom itself, the capital of the nome (so in these inscriptions, and in the geographical lists), and also to have denoted the region surrounding Pithom (so in the Anastasi papyri, dating from Dyn. 19., in which it has moreover the determinative of a borderland inhabited by foreigners): see Naville, Pithom , ed. 4, pp. 6, 7b; cf. W. Max Müller, EB. ii. 1436, and s.v. Pithom. Indeed Dillm. (on Exodus 14:2 ) had already, before Naville’s discoveries, pointed out that this was the situation required for Succoth. six hundred thousand ] The same number is given in Numbers 11:21 (also J).

If it stood alone, it might be understood as a round number, current traditionally, for a very high figure: but P commits himself to details, giving the numbers of the various tribes, the whole number being, at the first census in the wilderness ( Numbers 1:46 ), 603, 550 males above 20 years old, besides 22,000 Levites above one month old, or 8580 between 30 and 50 years old ( Numbers 3:39 ; Numbers 4:48 ). 600,000 men implies a total, including women and children, of at least 2,000,000 souls. These numbers are incredible: they are not consistent either with the limits of Goshen,1[132] or (as has been most recently shewn by Petrie, Researches in Sinai , 1907, pp. 206–8) with the number that could be maintained in the Sinaitic Peninsula (similarly Di. Numbers , p. 6)2[133]: the details given by P are, moreover, inconsistent and impossible in themselves (see G.B. Gray, Numbers , pp. 12–15). The figures do not come to us from eye-witnesses; and tradition, in the course of years, greatly exaggerated the numbers of the Israelites at the Exodus. [132] So Sayce, EHH. 212. [133] Petrie’s own solution of the difficulty (that ’eleph in the lists in Numbers has been understood wrongly in the sense of ‘thousand’ instead of in that of ‘family’) is improbable in itself ( ’eleph itself meaning ‘clan’ rather than ‘family,’ and even in that sense being very rare, and never occurring in statistical lists), besides leaving many passages unexplained. See also McNeile, p. 75; and Numbers ( Camb