Topic: The Logistical Impossibility of the Exodus of Isreal

[Desert Fox]

I thought this was worth posting. . . .A little long to quote in its entirety.

[link]

Much of this I already discussed with others.

[David E.]

The thing that always stuck out to me was the ahem Numbers.  If Moses had an army of  603,550 able bodied men of fighting age: Egypt would have been conquered with absurd ease.  The Exodus would have been of Conquered Egyptians, not Hebrews.  Egypt of the time could have been taken with 60,000 men, never mind 600,000.  An army of 600,000 would have scared the piss out of Rome at its height. 

[jomike]

Yabut, manna!  And, water from the rocks!

Speaking of which -- it's Easter weekend, which means The Ten Commandments on ABC.  When I was a little kid the Angel of Death scared the everloving crap out of me.  So much camp, so much win.

[Eternally Learning]

I thought this was worth posting. . . .A little long to quote in its entirety.

[link]

Much of this I already discussed with others.

That was an awesome read!  Thanks!

[Chew]

When I was a little kid the Angel of Death scared the everloving crap out of me.

That green mist? Yeah, that creeped me too. It was pretty good special effects for that era.

[Chew]

I was hoping they would discuss the Red/Reed translation error. They did!

[Neon Genesis]

I still love The Prince of Egypt even though it's a pro-genocide kid's movie.

[David E.]

I still love The Prince of Egypt even though it's a pro-genocide kid's movie.

It was done amazingly well. 

[Desert Fox]

The thing that always stuck out to me was the ahem Numbers.  If Moses had an army of  603,550 able bodied men of fighting age: Egypt would have been conquered with absurd ease.  The Exodus would have been of Conquered Egyptians, not Hebrews.  Egypt of the time could have been taken with 60,000 men, never mind 600,000.  An army of 600,000 would have scared the piss out of Rome at its height.

It goes without saying that they could also decimate the Canaanites.

[Trinoc]

I was hoping they would discuss the Red/Reed translation error. They did!

Not to mention the distance. Egypt to Canaan isn't much more than the 300 miles, so the first ones to leave would be getting to Canaan not long after the last ones left Egypt. Or is the marching column only 30 miles long? The article isn't clear about this. Even a 30-mile column of untrained people would be impossible to control.

And how long does it take to walk that distance? A few weeks? A few months if you take it easy? Certainly not 38 years. In one of the gospels, doesn't Jesus get taken to Egypt to escape Herod's massacre? It seems they must have got there and back, not to mention waiting for Herod's death (which conveniently happened 4 years before Jesus's birth, but that's another story), in far less time than it took for him to grow up.

[Anders]

The total population of Egypt at the time was 1 million. That 60% of the population would walk out and this doesn't leave any trace in the historical records beggars beliefs.

However, there is a way out. In certain contexts the word for 'thousand' can mean 'family'. So 600 families walked out of Egypt. That can be plausible (but would still have left traces).

[David E.]

I was hoping they would discuss the Red/Reed translation error. They did!

Not to mention the distance. Egypt to Canaan isn't much more than the 300 miles, so the first ones to leave would be getting to Canaan not long after the last ones left Egypt. Or is the marching column only 30 miles long? The article isn't clear about this. Even a 30-mile column of untrained people would be impossible to control.

And how long does it take to walk that distance? A few weeks? A few months if you take it easy? Certainly not 38 years. In one of the gospels, doesn't Jesus get taken to Egypt to escape Herod's massacre? It seems they must have got there and back, not to mention waiting for Herod's death (which conveniently happened 4 years before Jesus's birth, but that's another story), in far less time than it took for him to grow up.

Well there was the biblical fact (not be confused with real fact) that God was pissed and forced them to wander for that 40 years.  God also did kill everyone over the age of 20 for being prats.   

The site of several hundred thousand people wandering around with a pillar of fire and cloud leading them in random circles for 40 years probably would have been recorded in some societies comedy sketches. 

I have listened to every episode of Thomas and the Bible recently so I am really up on my biblical dumb.   

[Traveler]

Well there was the biblical fact (not be confused with real fact) that God was pissed and forced them to wander for that 40 years.  God also did kill everyone over the age of 20 for being prats.   

The site of several hundred thousand people wandering around with a pillar of fire and cloud leading them in random circles for 40 years probably would have been recorded in some societies comedy sketches. 

So the purpose of the commandment to have no other gods was just to prevent the Israelites from stopping to ask some other god for directions?

And behold the Lord saith, I will turn this column around if you don't stop asking "Are we there yet?"

[Shibboleth]

However, there is a way out. In certain contexts the word for 'thousand' can mean 'family'. So 600 families walked out of Egypt. That can be plausible (but would still have left traces).

Possibly but they are still turning up cities today that were well over 600 residents. I am not saying that the Exodus happened. I am just skeptical that groups of a few hundred people would be easily found. 

[Desert Fox]

Assuming 600 families, we are talking about 1800 to 2400 individuals.
That is a large group to be crossing that desert to not leave signs
They have found signs of even smaller groups than that crossing that area in pre-history
So pretty doubtful

As with other areas, the onus really is on those trying to prove the account not disprove it.