All Rights Reserved. 1:16), “families” (Josh. Too many people fail to do their homework concerning the years of bondage in Egypt. When the Egyptians and their chariot force pursued, the water came crashing back down to destroy the entire army. By the year 2000, there were almost 7 billion people alive. These number of years may have been a way of expressing spiritual/symbolic significance of these individuals. How long were the Israelites in Egypt | … 12:38). See here for verses that were clearly written well after Moses’ times and see here for the possibility for there to be errors in Torah (at least scribal errors over the generations[11]). 200, 300, 600, and 700). So we will now cite three examples in which the sages themselves interpreted numbers in the Torah as non-literal numbers. 1:1). God Provides in Our Darkest Moments . If we were adamant to make interpret this figure literally, then perhaps we can say that the Israelites multiplied exceedingly fast. This view is that the Torah was edited at some point well after the census was written. Take the patriarch Jacob for example, who had four women with him and yet only 12 children. is 603. But since there is no theological mandate to take the figure literally, plus all the evidence to the contrary, I am inclined to believe in a miniature Exodus. What we are left with is a pile of staggering evidence that the Torah itself hasn’t intended for such a large population. These numbers (i.e. Identifying the Bantu as the descendants of the Israelites extremely important. Given this background, it becomes obvious how unrealistic it is for the Hebrews to have multiplied to 10,000 times its original number in just several hundred years. 7:17, Num. The editor would have mistakenly thought eleph to have been “thousand” instead of being “clan,” “family,” or “unit.” He therefore would have sum-totaled it at 603,550 due to a misunderstanding of the original census. [9] And of course there is the issue of the actual 550 in “change” that follows the 603 thousand. Jewish archeologists were left scrambling for answers when their DNA analysis of bones found in an ancient grave dating to as much as 6,000 years ago showed that some of the earliest inhabitants of the land of Israel were aryan-looking with fair skin and blue eyes:. 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. The ”hundreds” follow the same pattern as the “thousands.” There are no 0 to 100 figures, no 100 to 200, no 800 to 900, and no 900 to 999. An animated clip narrating the Jewish story of Moses. 1:10). Many kings or scribes would inflate/exaggerate the numbers of their military populations. spoiled the Egyptians--The accumulated earnings of many years being paid them at this moment, the Israelites were suddenly enriched, according to the promise made to Abraham ( Genesis 15:14), and they left the country like a victorious army laden with spoil ( Psalms 105:37, Ezekiel 39:10). To put things into perspective, the population during the first century ACE is estimated at 250 million. 1 and 26, not once do the following numbers appear. In 1 Samuel 6:19 it’s written, “And He smote of the people seventy men, fifty thousand men.”, “Rabbi Abbahu and Rabbi Elazar disagree over the interpretation of the verse. This was a common practice at the time in the Ancient Near East. 400 or 500) than those veering off to the more side numbers (i.e. The reason why the numbers all cluster around 400 and 500 is because that was the reality of how many troops there were. They would do so as a sign of strength. Another big issue with this explanation is that the verse mentions nothing of this. But this too is unrealistic for several reasons. In Egypt, the Nile River also flooded, but its floods were regular. 0, 1, 8, and 9) are totally absent from the 24 numbers.[5]. Many Egyptians Left Egypt With the Israelites . (A note on the Hyskos and Joseph’s Marriage, p.1) . God promised that their exit would mean great abundance for Israel. Exodus 12:40 declares that the Israelites were in Egypt for 430 years. The numbers range from as few as a fighting force of 5,000 (which is a total population of about 20,000) to as high as a fighting force of 140,000 (which is a total population of about 500,000). Joseph was born in 2068 BC, and became governor of Lower (Northern) Egypt in 2038 BC, when the 7 years of plenty started. (Exodus 13:21-22). When the waters went down, they left a layer of dark, rich mud. Also see https://jewishbelief.com/genesis-historical-error/ for a discussion of full chapters of Torah being a possible error. This is just an example of Gematria while the significance of the other Gematrias may not be known to us and why each tribe was assigned a certain number. 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.” What is the meaning of “Aha?“ [The cited verse indicates that Tyre rejoiced on the first day of the month.] 13:25-33. It cannot adequately explain the total number given in Numbers 26 – 601,730. Only in the region of Goshen where the Israelites stayed, there was no hail. Now that we finished examining the evidence that the Torah hasn’t intended for a literal 600,000 number, we still have one puzzling question: so what did the Torah mean with its census number total of six hundred thousand? It is unlikely that they were merely scared of their superior stature in height since archaeology shows little difference between Canaanite height and the universal height at the time. Moses tells the Israelites that they will conquer the Canaanites, yet only slowly over many generations “lest the wild beasts multiply upon you” to inhabit the abandoned cities. 83.). 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. Yet the sum-total is 603 eleph (plus 550 change). Many Jews flee to Egypt and a possible fourth deportation to Babylon 562 BCE Release of Jehoiachin after 37 years in a Babylonian prison. [2] It should be noted that the promise to Abraham that his descendants would multiply greatly (Gen 15:5) is surely fulfilled by even a much smaller growth rate than the one suggested with a literal 600,000 figure. In order to seem as a valid contender to these military foes, the Israelites had to inflate their numbers or else bear the military consequences of appearing weak in the face of their adversaries. 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. When the Israelites left Egypt following the tenth plague, they were told to ask the Egyptians for items of value for their journey. Then thunder and hail and fire streamed down on the ground of Egypt. The 10 plagues of Egypt described in the Bible book of Exodus were 10 disasters that God brought on Egypt when Pharoah refused to let the Israelite nation leave. Many other kings-lists of that time and era also give an insanely long number of years to various early kings. Anywhere between 0 to 10,000, 10,000 to 20,000, 80,000 to 90,000, and 90,000 to 99,000. [12] Here is a rough translation of the Talmudic passage: It is written, “[In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month], a breach was made in the city“ (Jer.39.2). Said R. Tanhum bar Hanilai, “There is an error in calculation here.“. Some will suggest that it was a miraculous reproduction rate above and beyond physical nature. The Israelites will have to remain in the wilderness for forty years, [20] and Yahweh kills the spies through a plague except for the righteous Joshua and Caleb , who will be allowed to enter the promised land. The children under the age of 20 likely doubles that number, giving us a total of about two and half million. If the number were intended to be non-literal, the contributions to the Tabernacle given by each individual wouldn’t have matched up. This explanation of numbers signifying a spiritual status may explain other numbers, like those given as the long lifespans to early mankind (see here). Your email address will not be published. It is also more likely that more tribes would be clustered around that middle number (i.e. After each of the tribes’ numbers are counted separately, the census finishes off with the grand total number. And finally, the literal number 600,000 fits the number of contributions for the Tabernacle mentioned in Ex. 1. [xv] For an in-depth thesis on this theory see https://www.thetorah.com/article/recounting-the-census-a-military-force-of-5500. [5] It cannot be argued that the “edge” numbers are rounded to the closest thousand, since if that were the case, we would expect to see many more fully rounded “thousands.” But in reality, there actually isn’t even a single rounded thousand! The sum-total just doesn’t work out with the eleph as clan/unit theory. Anything in the open was struck down, as well as all the grasses and trees. The Holy Temple was destroyed millenia ago, but Conservative and Orthodox Jews still acknowledge the three-fold division of ancient Israel into Kohanim, Leviim and Yisraelim. [xvi] Talmud Yerushalmi Taanis 4:5 (23a). [9], It is for this reason that the eleph as clan/unit theory must resort to a less traditional and less orthodox view. These hundreds (in change) within the count of each of the tribes eventually add up to equal five thousand, turning the eleph from 598 to 603. In the 24 numbers provided in Numbers Ch. Another likely possibility is that the numbers of the census were intentionally inflated. If the Egyptian population at the time was several million, wouldn’t this suggest that the Israelites were also several million? 1 should have equaled 598 elephs. We can also explain the verse in a different manner that fits with the Hebrew wording and is actually the translation by many famous bible translations (https://www.biblestudytools.com/exodus/1-9-compare.html). This is why Pharaoh told the Israelites to dwell in Goshen so they can dwell with their own … The Israelites’ population remained the same throughout the 40 years in the desert, suggesting that the birth rate wasn’t high in the Wilderness. [xi] However, with a force of 600,000 adult men, the Israelites would have fallen upon the Canaanites as locusts swarming a crop field. The Israelites entered Egypt with 70 men. And one says that there were fifty thousand men, and each and every one was equivalent to the seventy men in the Sanhedrin.”. The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years until God sent Moses to deliver His chosen people. Suitable for teaching 5 to 7s. 0, 1 ,8, and 9) are the first two and last two in the ten-digit system. It should be noted that the number 600,000 is merely a detail in the Exodus narrative and does not mean that we can start radically modifying the entire Exodus account. In fact, the verses repeatedly stress that it was all the firstborn male children. Moreover, the verses throughout Torah that describe the genealogies of the Israelites never count remotely large households – yet alone 50. Gematria is the equivalent value of every Hebrew letter in numerical value. Trang tin tức online với nhiều tin mới nổi bật, tổng hợp tin tức 24 giờ qua, tin tức thời sự quan trọng và những tin thế giới mới nhất trong ngày mà bạn cần biết Why did the Israelites need manna if they had flocks/herds of animals that they could eat? Exodus 15:27 describes the Israelite travel to a particular desert oasis that boasted seventy date palms to feed the starving Israelites. The problem is that these numbers only work with a literal interpretation of the figures given to each tribe. We’ll dive into some of the many lessons from the 40 years in the desert. A very natural explanation is that the numbers represent a spiritual significance. One says that there were seventy men, and each and every one of them was equivalent to fifty thousand men. The Children of Israel (bnei Yisroel) were counted to be 603,550 in the census taken in Numbers Ch. The calculation I was making was based on the population trends of that time. But here the new king of Egypt sensed in their numbers a threat to his national security and thus decided to deal “shrewdly” with them (Exod. 1:5, Deut. However, various explanations have been put forward on the table. What was the meaning and purpose of the ten plagues of Egypt? Chazal have interpreted numbers non-literally. Baal (/ ˈ b eɪ əl, ˈ b ɑː əl /), properly Baʽal, was a title and honorific meaning "owner", "lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity.From its use among people, it came to be applied to gods. I respect your literalist approach and we can agree to disagree. Reform Jews do not believe any congregant should have a different status than another, and therefore do not acknowledge these divisions.. We must therefore say that the description of the giants in Num. If this were merely a figurative non-literal number, the point of the census would seem useless. The Hebrew word eleph once had multiple meanings and depending on context it was translated differently.[8]. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt. The descendants of Aaron alone were sanctioned to sacrifice to the Lord. 1 Samuel 27:8 Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. Moreover, the several-million population of the Jews during the Second Temple era could have fulfilled this promise (but see Deut. 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