We are not told whether or not the Israelites … [xi] Deut. Your comment “This growth is unfathomable from a historical perspective” concerning the Hebrew growth rate of roughly 200 to 2M in 430 year is in itself unfathomably ignorant! If the sum total is only to calculate the number of clans or families, then the number should have been a flat 598 or 603 – not 603 with 550 in change. To put this into perspective, each tree would have had to have fed 30,000 had there been 2 million mouths to feed. Of course, in order to leave Egypt, they had to be there. Too many people fail to do their homework concerning the years of bondage in Egypt. This theory does have its issues though. [xvi] [12]. around 400 and 500) while the two edges (i.e. 12:37, Num. They would do so as a sign of strength. 3 The Israelites set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after the Passover. It is also more likely that more tribes would be clustered around that middle number (i.e. For Israelites, the chapter describes a foretelling of slavery and servitude in the Americas: “The Lord will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again.” The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years until God sent Moses to deliver His chosen people. You guys are comical. All of the numbers have some “hundreds” in change. Of course, with the advancement of medicine and standards of life, populations increase rapidly nowadays, but in ancient times, such population growth is unheard of. Babylonian Captivity, the forced detention of Jews in Babylonia following the latter’s conquest of the kingdom of Judah in 598/7 and 587/6 BCE. Jacob and his family moved to Egypt, during the famine, 215 years after God’s promise to Abraham. There are reasons to take this number literally and many more reasons to take it non-literally. Also see Ex. 1 and 26, not once do the following numbers appear. It deals with the archaeological data of the Ancient Near East we have of that period in history and explores various verses that seem to contradict each other and that give us a glimpse of a fascinating element in biblical history. The problem is that these numbers only work with a literal interpretation of the figures given to each tribe. 10:22. What we are left with is a pile of staggering evidence that the Torah itself hasn’t intended for such a large population. Currently among Muslims it is about 2.5%. Required fields are marked *. Remember what the Amalekites did to you along your way from Egypt, 1 Samuel 15:2 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: 'I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they ambushed them on their way up from Egypt. The Israelites believed God would never deliver them out of the hands of the Pharaoh. [iv] https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/international-programs/historical-est-worldpop.html, [v] https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/international-programs/historical-est-worldpop.html. The Israelites’ population remained the same throughout the 40 years in the desert, suggesting that the birth rate wasn’t high in the Wilderness. So, from 1800 to 2000 – a 200-year span – we saw the largest growth rate humanity has seen: times seven its original population. There is another instance in Joshua 7:5 when 36 men died in the battle of Ai where the Midrash in the Talmud[xviii] interprets these 36 men as just one man. 7:17, Num. The Torah, in multiple places, describes a vast number of Israelites leaving Egypt and traveling the Wilderness. [xvi] Talmud Yerushalmi Taanis 4:5 (23a). [xiv] The veracity of this theory is untested since it enters the realm of spirituality unknown to us. In Egypt for 215 years ll dive into some of the ages, many to... 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