5 ms·

You are correct that that number doesn't appear in the Bible, it's extrapolated from the count of 600,000 which only included males over the age of twenty. And

• dragonwriter 10y ago
  > And lots of people contend the number is not meant to be interpreted literally: http://www.aish.com/atr/Number_of_Jews_at_Exodus.html http://www.aish.com/atr/Number_of_Jews_at_Exodus.html Your source does not, in fact, contend that, it takes the number of adult males literally, reports the larger figures as extrapolations of the total population from it, including a specific figure of around 3 million in the Exodus out of 15 million Jews (about twice the population of modern Israel) that were in Egypt at the time of the Exodus. There being 3 million Jews in Egypt at any time that would fit the Exodus is fairly implausible; 15 million well exceeds all estimates I've seen of the plausible total population of Egypt at any such time. Now, certainly, that number shouldn't be taken literally, and there's good reason to doubt whether the outline of the story beyond the number should be, either, which is why it makes not to cite it as a historical example of, well, anything other than a religious myth.
  • Kinnard 10y ago
    What methods do you use to estimate the plausible population of ancient civilizations? Most secular academics do see the Exodus as legendary, but not mythical. You've heard of the Hyksos: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyksos https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyksos Striking parralells . . .