When the Israelites left Egypt in 1513 B.C.E., they may have numbered more than three million. Spanning three or even four generations
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Yesterday's WT slip up
by neat blue dog 34 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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neat blue dog
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_Morpheus
Did they.... overlap?
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sir82
Just the whole idea of "3 million people" ought to give anyone with the faintest of neuronal activity pause.
The population of Chicago is roughly 2.7 million.
Imagine an 80 year old guy, without anything remotely resembling modern communication, directing the population of Chicago to, say, walk across the bed of Lake Michigan (let's just give him the miracle of splitting the water). If he's standing at Wrigley Field, how is he going to tell the people camped at Wilis Tower when to go - or even what direction to move?
Oh, I know - "it was the spirit of Jehovah" that allowed this, that, and the other thing.
If Jehovah was going to "use his spirit" to do impossible things, why not just build the Israelites an instant golden bridge? Or teleport them, Star-Trek style?
It's all so stupid it makes my head hurt.
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Vanderhoven7
From gotquestions.org
How many Israelites left Egypt in the exodus?
Question: "How many Israelites left Egypt in the exodus?"
Answer: When the Israelites left Egypt in the exodus, there were “about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children” (Exodus 12:37). The “men on foot” number of 600,000 would have only included able-bodied, military-age men. The people of Israel had been living in Egypt for 430 years (Exodus 12:40). After a lengthy dispute with Pharaoh, during which God brought many plagues on the land of Egypt, Moses led the Israelites away from that land. Scholars believe that the total number of Israelites who left Egypt during the exodus, women and children and old men included, was around 2.4 million people. If we include Egyptians who chose to join the Israelites, the number would be even greater: “Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds” (Exodus 12:38).
In the second year after the Israelites left Egypt, Moses took a census of the men in Israel able to fight—all the able-bodied men age twenty and above from all the tribes except the Levites. The number of warriors was 603,550 (Numbers 1:45–46). The Levites were not counted because God commanded Moses to exclude them from the census (verse 49). Instead of going to war, the Levites were to stay and guard the tabernacle (verse 53).
About 2.4 million Israelites leaving Egypt is a very large multitude, but the number is a reasonable estimate. The ordinary proportion of people fit to go to war in a general population is one in four, and 600,000 x 4 = 2,400,000. We know that, while the Hebrews were in Egypt, they were “fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them” (Exodus 1:7). In fact, the Hebrews were so numerous that the Pharaoh feared that Egypt would be overwhelmed in the event of a slave uprising (verses 8–10).
The original group of Israelites—Jacob’s family who went to Egypt—numbered just seventy people (Genesis 46:27). In 430 years the vigorous and healthy Hebrew race increased to 2.4 million. We have no reason to believe that any of the Israelites stayed behind in Egypt, so we can safely say that 2.4 million is the approximate number of Hebrews who left Egypt in the exodus. -
DesirousOfChange
Do we have any other reliable historical reference to document any of this? Or, is it all based on the same "historical" reference that documents talking snakes, kangaroos on a boat in the Middle East, and 9 ft tall superhuman/angels?
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Crazyguy
Did they really say 1513 BCE?
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Finkelstein
Ironic is it not that the ancient Hebrews were prolific bullshitters just like today so too are the JWS leaders, but then again they have made steadfast career out bullshitting for their religious publishing house.
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neat blue dog
Did they really say 1513 BCE?
Yes. While not exactly accurate, this date is closer to the New Chronology of the Egyptian timeline, which scholars have long asserted but not updated with much recent evidence. If you're interested, the documentary Patterns of Evidence lays the loads of evidence out plainly and allows the viewer to reach an informed conclusion:
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Crazyguy
I did not realize they ever gave a specific date to the exodus. What they don’t seem to understand is that the Pharaoh at the time or the one that succeeded the Pharaoh of the exodus was Thutmose I . He was one of the most successful kings of the Egyptians and expanded Egyptian rule all the way up into Syria even crossing the Euphrates river. So what was the point of the Exodus if the land you ran to was going to be conquered by the same people you ran away from. Jeez Jehovah you screwed the pooch on that one didn’t you.
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Nathan Natas
For the sake of argument, let's say this 3,000,000 figure is correct.
Is it not AMAZING beyond belief that three million people LEFT NO TRACE in the desert - the same desert in which ground-penetrating-radar has revealed ancient campsites of as few as three individuals.
Jehovah must have deployed the same anti-matter cleanup crew he will be using after Armageddon!