Exodus
12:37 ¶ And the children of Israel
journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were
men, beside children. 38 And a mixed
multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.
39 And they baked unleavened cakes of
the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened;
because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they
prepared for themselves any victual. 40
Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was
four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it
came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame
day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of
Egypt. 42 It is a night to be much
observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that
night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their
generations.
Rameses,
in Lower Egypt, which is the northern most part of the country, was the
starting point for the Exodus. In its first reference it was spelled with two
‘a’s and an extra ‘e’. We will see in several cases in the Bible where the
translators included two variant spellings of a name or a word which may
reflect differences of opinion on how the word was spelled in the original
language.
Exodus
1:11 Therefore they did set over them
taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh
treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.
The
Hebrews then travelled to Succoth. Six hundred thousand Hebrew men, plus women,
children, and a mixed multitude of followers, meaning they weren’t necessarily
Hebrews, and all of their cattle and belongings would have been slow travelers.
We
don’t know where Succoth was. The name means booths according Strong’s
dictionary. Jacob stopped at a Succoth in Genesis 33:17 and built shelters for
his cattle but that one was in Canaan and is probably the one mentioned in
Judges 8. The one mentioned in Exodus could have been any number of locations
in Lower Egypt in or near the land of Goshen where the Hebrews lived, possibly
named by them in memory of Jacob’s dwelling in Canaan.
It
was probably not a northerly route which would have put them marching into the
Philistines’ territory. A coastal march would have been
most efficient but that would have them walking right into a fiercely warlike
group of people, descendants of Ham and Mizraim, the founder of Egypt; the Philistim
or Philistines. See Genesis 10. So, they marched south into the wilderness of
the Red Sea, the sparsely inhabited area bordering the Red Sea as logically the
center of Pharaoh’s power would be in Lower Egypt, the most fertile and rich
area with less control the further south one went.
Exodus
13:17 ¶ And it came to pass, when
Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the
land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest
peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt:
18 But God led the people about, through
the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up
harnessed out of the land of Egypt.
Verse
40 states that the sojourn of the Hebrews in Egypt was 430 years. Genesis 15
approximates 400 years as does the martyr, Stephen, in Acts 7:6.
Genesis
15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a
surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and
shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;… 16 But in the fourth generation they shall come
hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
Acts
7:6 And God spake on this wise, That his
seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into
bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years.
While Paul uses
the more specific 430 number.
Galatians
3:17 And this I say, that the covenant,
that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and
thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none
effect.
Some
Rabbis in history declared the beginning of the Hebrews’ bondage to the
Egyptians at the persecution of Isaac by Ishmael, whose mother was an Egyptian.
In any event, the Bible says they dwelt in Egypt for 430 years. It is not
really that difficult to understand from looking at the lifespans of Moses’ family
back in chapter 6.
If
I wrote you a lesson that said, “in the thousand years since the Norman
invasion of England,” and then, in the lesson later wrote, “in the nine hundred
and fifty-four years since 1066, when William the Conqueror defeated King
Harold at Hastings,” would that be a contradiction or would you understand what
I said as meaning the same thing?
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