Topic: The Logistical Impossibility of the Exodus of Isreal

[Anders]

And I gather that the linguistical reasons for saying 'family' rather than thousand are really stretched.

[Desert Fox]

You are not going to grow from a base of 600 into a force in 40 years to take on any cities.

Beside, 600 families just kind of defeats the supposed epic nature

[AxeGrrl]

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?

It always struck me more like an obsessive boyfriend/girlfriend's threat: "if I can't have you, NO one will!"

*cue 'Every Breath You Take' as soundtrack*

[David E.]

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?

It always struck me more like an obsessive boyfriend/girlfriend's threat: "if I can't have you, NO one will!"

*cue 'Every Breath You Take' as soundtrack*

God just called you a bitch in a really screechy voice. 

[AxeGrrl]

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?

It always struck me more like an obsessive boyfriend/girlfriend's threat: "if I can't have you, NO one will!"

*cue 'Every Breath You Take' as soundtrack*

God just called you a bitch in a really screechy voice.

God just had a restraining order slapped on his nebulous ass

[Anders]

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?

It always struck me more like an obsessive boyfriend/girlfriend's threat: "if I can't have you, NO one will!"

*cue 'Every Breath You Take' as soundtrack*

God just called you a bitch in a really screechy voice.

God just had a restraining order slapped on his nebulous ass

He's omnipresent...

[AxeGrrl]

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?

It always struck me more like an obsessive boyfriend/girlfriend's threat: "if I can't have you, NO one will!"

*cue 'Every Breath You Take' as soundtrack*

God just called you a bitch in a really screechy voice.

God just had a restraining order slapped on his nebulous ass

He's omnipresent...

Then he's going to need omnifinancialresources !

[Caffiene]

Then he's going to need omnifinancialresources !

Well... I guess that explains why he invented Catholicism.

[AxeGrrl]

Then he's going to need omnifinancialresources !

Well... I guess that explains why he invented Catholicism.

Zing!

[David E.]

Then he's going to need omnifinancialresources !

Well... I guess that explains why he invented Catholicism.

Nice   

[Shibboleth]

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.

I am not trying to prove Exodus. I am just questioning the logic that a group of a few hundred nomads would leave an easily discoverable. My personal feeling is that it would be incredibly difficult to discover and even more difficult to identify to whom the archaeological evidence belonged.

Hannibal marched a few thousand fully armed soldiers with war elephants across the Alps at a much later date in history and I am not sure if they have found much in the way of artifacts with that traverse. I would be surprised if it would be easy to locate the paths that Assyrians took between their cities.

[Desert Fox]

The Alps are under "Change" at a rate much greater than the desert. . .
The archaeologist, including Jewish ones, did believe they should be able to find evidence.

[Shibboleth]

The Alps are under "Change" at a rate much greater than the desert. . .
The archaeologist, including Jewish ones, did believe they should be able to find evidence.

People are surprised that they cannot find artifacts of Hannibal's march. We are talking about tens of thousands of soldiers, several thousand horses, and a handful of elephants.

They are still turning up cities in Egypt that they have been looking for for a long time. The desert changes quite a bit. If you are talking about 100 thousand people moving about the desert sure.... a few hundred? I just do not think that evidence would be easy to find and identify.

[Anders]

Well, the attempt to save Exodus fails anyway, because as been said, 600 families are not a huge conquering force able to take walled cities.

[Fast Eddie B]

Born and indoctrinated as a Jew, I accepted the Exodus story as historical fact.

If there was one biblical impetus for my disbelief, however, it was the Passover story.

Omniscient God? Why then assign an angel that needs to see smeared blood from a slain lamb to kill infants?

Benevolent and omnipotent God? How could his best idea be to murder innocent children.

And with the Pharoah already ready to capitulate, why "harden his heart" just for a chance to impose more suffering?

It's a repellant and illogical story that helped drive me away first from religion, and then from any concept of the Judeo-Christian God.