How many Israelites left Egypt with Moses?

Numbers used in the Hebrew Bible are generalizations. The number 600,000 was a lot! The 400 years of slavery in Egypt was a VERY long time. The 40 years of wandering in the wilderness was a long time. It rained for 40 days and nights -- a long time. Sarah bore a child in her old age -- she was beyond her childbearing years.

The Bible is neither a history nor science book -- the exact numbers are irrelevant. The Hebrew Bible is our instruction book for living together peacefully in this world. We don't need exact numbers to learn those lessons.

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There are actually two different numbers given. One passage says something about 600,000 the other says about 6,000,000.

I would have to search to find the passages.

But 6 million is obviously far too large because there were only about 4 or 5 million people living in all Egypt at that time.

(Just like now hardly anybody lived out in the desert.)

Even the 600 thousand number is ridiculous. That many people would make for a column of march about 60 miles long.

When the Israelites left Egypt they had not yet received the Torah (5 Books of Moses, and the Oral Law) So they were "Ivrim" from Abraham the Ivri, Ivri means other, so they were a distinct group already, (Jews did not become "Jews" until a much later time, when the tribes split, and the only remaining Jews descended from Judah) That being said, many of the forefathers were able to discern Torah Laws, through their knowledge of the world around them.

The men in the army who left were 603,550 men Numb1:46.

If every man had a wife +2 children that makes 2,4 Million,

if it was 3 children that makes 3 Million. Its hard to say as only

fighting men & priests were counted. 2,5 - 3 Million seems

about right.

600,000 is the number I've heard, but at that time they only counted men.

I'd guess at about 2million. doubling for women and adding a guess at children. The were numerous enough that the egyptains were afraid of being overrun by them.

Numbers 26:51 So the total number of Israelite men counted in the census numbered 601,730.

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This was only men twenty years and older, this number did not include women or children.

God Bless You!

Exodus 12:37 evidently about 600,000 men on foot.

www.shepherdschapel.com

http://www.askmoses.com/

We know it was a fair sized number because there were apparently many who then witnessed Moses receiving the ten commandments at Mount Sinai.

nobody knows cuz ALL of the Israelites left Egypt.

it was either in the hundreds or thousands then it grew as God blessed them all