show that the first-born is more frequently a female than a male.' Ans. But in the case of the Hebrews, according to the story in the Pentateuch, (whatever may be the case generally,) the first-born was much more frequently a male than a female. We have the instances of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Jacob's twelve sons, (except Asher who had a daughter before going into Egypt, and she may have been his first-born child,) in each of which the first-born was a male. Amram's firstborn, indeed, was a daughter, and Zelophehad had only daughters. As far, however, as we have any data to guide us, we should be justified in assuming that the number of the firstborn males far exceeded that of the females. really of any use whatever for that purpose. There is, indeed, one point, though he has not noticed it, which might help slightly to diminish it. In some families the first-born may have died before the numbering; some, too, who were born about the time of the birth of Moses, may have been killed And, if all by the order of Pharaoh. those, who may have thus died, be reckoned with the 22,273, the proportion of the remaining males, to be placed under each of the first-born, Still, we will be somewhat altered. cannot suppose any unusual mortality born females. This, however, will not by of this kind, without checking, in the any means get rid of, or at all diminish, the same degree, the increase of the people. essential difficulty of the question now before Let us, however, reckon that one out us: it will only change the form of it. For, having now brought in the idea of the of four first-borns died, so that instead daughters, we must remember that, if there of 44,546 first-borns, male and female, were 900,000 [1,000,000] males, there must have been about as many females. But let us suppose that they were even equal in number,—that, in short, besides the 22,273 first-born males, there were also 22,273 first And 44,546 first-born children among a population of 1,800,000, would imply that each mother had, on the average, forty-two children, as before, but twenty-one sons and twenty-one daughters. (v) Lastly, such of the first-born, as were themselves heads of families, were not reckoned at all as first-born, who had to be redeemed, but only their sons.' Ans. This is a pure assumption, and unwarranted by anything that is found in the Scripture. The command in N.iii.40 is this, Number all the first-born of the males, from a month old and upward.' Hence, says KURTZ, very justly, if there had been any age, beyond which the numbering was not to go, [or, we may add, any class of persons, such as heads of families, who were to be excepted from it,] it would undoubtedly have been mentioned here. But there is nothing of the kind.' Have we any reason to suppose that the firstborn son of an Egyptian was exempt from death, because he was the head of a family? He was the first-born to his father, and therefore died, according to the story in Exodus, 'from the first-born of Pharaoh that sat on his throne, unto the first-born of the captive that was in the dungeon,' so that there was not a house where there was not one dead.' E.xii. 29,30. Besides, there is one fact, which seems by itself to imply that the 22,273 first-borns were intended to include all the first-born males of all ages, whether married men and heads of families or not, viz. this, that the 22,000 male Levites, of all ages and conditions, from a month old and upward, whether heads of families or not, were substituted for 22,000 of the first-borns from a month old and upward,' the remaining 273 first-borns being redeemed with money, N.iii.39,45,46. 91. Thus not one of KURTZ's 'many ways' of relieving this difficulty is there would have been, if all had lived, about 60,000. But even this number of first-borns, for a population. of 1,800,000, would imply that each mother had on the average thirty children, fifteen sons and fifteen daughters. Besides which, the number of mothers must have been the same as that of the first-borns, male and female, including also any that had died. Hence there would have been only 60,000 child-bearing women to 600,000 men, so that only about one man in ten had a wife or children! 92. By this time, surely, great doubt must have arisen, in the minds of most readers, as to the historical veracity of some considerable portions of the Pentateuch. That doubt, I believe, will be confirmed into certainty, when it is seen to follow, as a direct consequence from the data of the Pentateuch itself, that there could not have been any such population as this, to come out of Egypt,-in other words, that the children of Israel, at the time of the Exodus, if only we attend carefully to the distinct statements of the narrative, could not possibly have amounted to two millions, that, in fact, the whole body of warriors could not have been two thousand. In order, however, to show this more clearly, we must first premise a few considerations, which are set forth in the following chapter. The question, which we have here to consider, is this,-To what 'sojourning' do the above words refer? Do they refer to that of Jacob and his descendants in the land of Egypt only, or to the entire sojourning of them and their forefathers, Abraham and Isaac, 'in a strange land,' both in Canaan and Egypt, from the time when the promise of old was given to Abraham, and he 'sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country,' Heb.xi.9? sister, to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were a hundred thirty and seven years.' Now supposing that Kohath was only an infant, when brought down by his father to Egypt with Jacob, G.xlvi.11, and that he begat Amram at the very end of his life, when 133 years old, and that Amram, in like manner, begat Moses, when he was | 137 years old, still these two numbers added to 80 years, the age of Moses at the time of the Exodus, E.vii.7, would only amount to 350 years, instead of 430. 97. Once more, it is stated in the above passage, that 'Amram took him Jochebed, his father's sister,'-Kohath's sister, and therefore, Levi's daughter, -'to wife.' And so also we read, 'The name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom (her mother) bare to him in Egypt. N.xxvi.59. 94. The verse above quoted, as it stands in the E. V., does not decide the question. But there is evidently someNow Levi was one year older than Judah, and was, therefore, 43 years thing unusual and awkward in the manner, in which the phrase, 'who dwelt in old (18), when he went down with Egypt,' enters into the above passage: above that he was 137 years old, when Jacob into Egypt; and we are told And, in fact, the original words would be more naturally translated, (as in the he died. Levi, therefore, must have Vulgate, Chald., Syr., and Arab. Ver-lived, according to the story, 94 years sions,) 'the sojourning of the children of Israel, which they sojourned in Egypt,' but for the serious difficulties which would thus arise. It is plain, then, that St. PAUL in this passage dates the beginning of the four hundred and thirty years, not from the going down into Egypt, but from the time of the promise made to Abraham. 96. Again, in E.vi.16-20, we have given the genealogy of Moses and Aaron, as follows: "These are the names of the sons of Levi, according to their generations, Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. And the years o; the life of Levi were a hundred thirty and seven years.' And the sons of Kohath, Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kohath were a hundred thirty and three years.' ‘And Amram took him Jochebed,his father's in Egypt. Making here again the Jochebed in the last year of his life, extreme supposition of his begetting she may have been an infant 94 years after the migration of Jacob and his sons into Egypt. Hence it follows that, if the sojourn in Egypt was 430 years, Moses, who was 80 years old at the time of the Exodus, must have been born 350 years after the migration into Egypt, when his mother, even on the above extravagant supposition, would have been at the very least 256 years old! 98. It is plain, then, that the 430 years are meant, as St. PAUL understood, to be reckoned from the time of the call of Abraham, when he yet lived in the land of Haran. Thus, reckoning 25. years from his leaving Haran, G.xii.4, to the birth of Isaac, xxi.5,-60 years to the birth of Jacob, xxv.26,-130 years to the migration into Egypt, xlvii.9,we have 215 years of sojourning in the land of Canaan, leaving just the same length of time, 215 years, for the sojourn in the land of Egypt. We conclude, therefore, that the which the 'Seed of Abraham' should translation in the English Bible of be sojourners in a strange land, rather E.xii.40, however awkwardly it reads, than to the oppression, which they is correct as it stands, if the Hebrew were to suffer during some part of that words themselves are correct, as they sojourning. They lived as 'pilgrims appear in all manuscript and printed and strangers' in the land of Canaan; copies of the Pentateuch. and they were at times, no doubt, much more uncomfortable among the people of that land, G.xxvi. 15-21,xxxiv, than they were in Egypt during the seventy years while Joseph yet lived (103), and, we may suppose, for some time after his death. 99. The Septuagint and Samaritan Versions, however, insert a few words, which are either a gloss to make the meaning of the passage more plain, or else are a translation of words, which existed in those copies of the Hebrew Bible, that were used for those Versions, though they are not found in our own. The Vatican copy of the Septuagint renders the passage thus: The sojourning of the children of Israel, which they sojourned in Egypt and in the land of Canaan, was 430 years.' The Alexandrian has, 'The sojourning of the children of Israel, which they and their fathers sojourned in Egypt and in the land of Canaan, was 430 years.' The Samaritan has, "The sojourning of the children of Israel and of their fathers, which they sojourned in the land of Canaan and in the land of Egypt, was 430 years.' 100. And this agrees also substantially with the promise in G.xv.13-16, which is quoted by STEPHEN, Acts vii.6: 'Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger, in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them, four hundred years. And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterwards they shall come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.' We believe, then, that the 400 years in the above passage are meant to date from the birth of Isaac, Abraham's seed,' from which to the Exodus there may be reckoned, as in (98), 405, or, in round numbers, 400, years. 101. THE EXODUS IN THE FOURTH GENERATION. Again when it is said, G.xv.16, 'in the fourth generation they shall come hither again,' this seems to mean 'in the fourth generation,' reckoning from the time when they should leave the land of Canaan, and go down into Egypt. Thus we find Moses and Aaron in the fourth generation from the migration, viz. Jacob begat Levi, Levi begat Kohath, Kohath begat Amram, Amram begat Aaron. Or, as Jacob was so aged at the time of his descent into Egypt, and Moses and Aaron also, at the time of the Exodus, were advanced in life beyond the military age, we may reckon from those, as Levi, who went down into Egypt in the prime of life; and then the generation of Joshua, Eleazar, &c., in the prime of life, will be the fourth generation. 102. Accordingly, if we examine the At first sight, indeed, it would seem different genealogies of remarkable men, from the above that Abraham's de- which are given in various places of scendants were to be afflicted for 400 the Pentateuch, we shall find that, as a. years, in one land, such as Egypt, by rule, the contemporaries of Moses and one nation. But it is certain that they Aaron are descendants in the third, were not afflicted, according to the and those of Joshua and Eleazar in story, during all the time of their so- the fourth, generation, from some one journ in Egypt. And hence it appears of the sons, or adult grandsons, of that the time here specified, 400 years, Jacob, who went down with him into is meant to refer to the time during | Egypt. Thus we have: 1st Gen. 2nd. Gen. 3rd Gen. Amram Moses Kohath Amram Levi. Aaron Levi. Elzaphan Levi. Korah Reuben. Reuben. . Pallu Levi. Kohath Amram Aaron Ram Pharez Hezron Ram Amminadab 103. Again, we are told that the children of Machir the son of Manasseh, were brought up upon Joseph's knees, G.1.23. Hence, as Joseph was 39 years old, when Jacob came down to Egypt (18, note), and died at the age of 110, G.1.22, having lived, therefore, 71 years after that event, we may assume that Machir's son, Gilead, was born about 70 years after the migration, and we read of his grandson, Zelophehad, whose daughters came to Moses for land, at the end of the wanderings, and who died in the wilderness, N.xxvii. 1-3. 104. It is true that in 1Ch.vii.20-27 we have one remarkable exception to the above rule, where we find the genealogy of Joshua given as follows: "And the sons of Ephraim,-Shuthelah, and Bered his son, and Tahath his son, and Eladah his son, and Tahath his son, and Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son, and Ezer, and Elead, whom the men of Gath, that were born in that land, slew, because they came down to take away their cattle. And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him. And when he went in unto his wife, she conceived and bare a son, and he called his name Beriah, because it went evil with his house. And his daughter was Sherah, who built Beth-horon the nether, and the upper, and Uzzen-Sherah. And Rephah his son, and Resheph, and Telah his son, and Tahan his son, Laadan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son, Nun his son, Jehoshuah his son.' Here then, apparently, Joshua is given in the ninth generation from Ephraim, or the tenth from Joseph. 105. Upon this I would first remark as follows: :+ (i) This is an exception to the rule, which prevails universally in the Pentateuch. (ii) We are not here concerned with the books of Chronicles, (which, as all commentators will admit, were certainly composed after the Captivity,) but with the narrative in the Pentateuch and book of Joshua, and must abide by the data which they furnish. (iii) The book of Chronicles itself exhibits the rule of the Pentateuch in all other cases, as in that of Moses and Aaron, vi.1-3, Korah, Eleazar Phinehas E.vi.23,25. Elisheba Nahshon E.vi.23. vi.37,38, Achan, ii.4,6,7, Nahshon, ii.9,10, 106. Let us now, however, examine Since Joseph 'saw Ephraim's children of the third generation,' G.1.23, Telah, one of these, may have been born about seventy years after the migration into Egypt (103). Joshua at the time of the Exodus. But we We have no express statement of the age of may suppose it to have been about the same as that of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, with forty years old, when sent to spy the land at whom he is so often coupled; and Caleb was the end of the first year after the Exodus, Jo.xiv.7. We may, therefore, adopt the esti mate of JOSEPHUS, Ant.V.i.29, who reckons that the age of Joshua was forty-five at the time of the Exodus. This will agree well with the fact, that, shortly after leaving Egypt, while still young enough to be the 'minister' or servant of Moses, E.xxiv.13, he was old enough also to command the host of Israel when fighting with Amalek, E.xvii. 9,10. Hence, since the Exodus took place 215 years at most after the migration into Egypt, there must have intervened between the birth of Telah and that of Joshua 215-70-45, that is, 100 years; so that, according to the Chronicler, there must have been six complete generations in 100 years, which is hardly credible. Again, according to the Chronicler, Elishama, the son of Ammihud,' was the grandfather of Joshua. But Elishama, the son of Ammihud,' was himself the captain of the host of Ephraim, N.ii.18, about a year after his grandson, Joshua, had commanded the whole Hebrew force which fought with Amalek, E.xvii.8-16, which also is hardly credible. 107. But in truth, the account of Joshua's descent in 1Ch.vii appears to be very perplexed and contradictory. Thus, in v.24, we are told that Ephraim's daughter built three villages in the land of Canaan. If we suppose this to mean that the descendants of Ephraim's daughter, after the conquest in the time of Joshua, did this, yet in v.22,23, we have this strange fact stated, that Ephraim himself, after the slaughter by the men of Gath of his descendants in the seventh generation, mourned many days,' and, then married again, and had a son, Beriah, | Canaan, but two hundred and fifteen years who was the ancestor of Joshua! KITTO remarks upon this point, Hist. of the Jews, p.146: 'It is impossible that Ephraim should have been then alive to mourn over the seventh generation of his descendants. Read 'Zabad' for 'Ephraim,' and all becomes intelligible.' This is, of course, mere conjecture, and it does not by any means dispose of the difficulty: for, by this correction, as a little consideration will show, Joshua will be made a descendant in the seventeenth generation from Joseph, to associate with Eleazar in the fourth generation from Levi. only after Jacob removed into Egypt. And he says of Moses, Ant.II.ix.6: Abraham was his ancestor of the seventh generation. And of Joseph, Against Apion,i.33:He died four generations before Moses, which four generations make almost 170 years. So, too, Archd. PRATT observes, Science and Scripture, &c. p.78 :— It was to be in the fourth generation that his seed were to return to Canaan. But 430, or even 400, years is very much longer than four generations, and therefore must include something besides the bondage in Egypt, viz. the sojourning in Canaan. This prediction regarding the fourth generation' was literally fulfilled. Moses and Aaron were sons of Jochebed, who was the daughter of Levi, N.xxvi.59, a text which incidentally confirms the correctness of our general outline. Eleazar, the Priest, the son of Aaron, was, therefore, of the fourth generation from Jacob. BERTHEAU suggests that the whole passage in v.20, and Bered his son, and Tahath his son, and Eladah his son,' may be parenthetical, carrying on the line of the first Shuthelah, so that, omitting this parenthesis, the words would run, and the sons of Ephraim-Shuthelah, and Ezer, and Elead,' &c., in which case Ezer and Elead, for whom Ephraim 'mourned,' would be the sons of Ephraim, elder brothers of Beriah, and younger brothers of the first Shuthelah, instead of the second. But why is not this important son of Ephraim, 110. From this it will appear that Beriah, the ancestor of so illustrious a per- it is impossible that there should have son as Joshua, mentioned in the list of the been such a number of the people of sons of Ephraim which is given in the Penta-Israel in Egypt, at the time of the teuch itself, N.xxvi.35 ? 108. Upon the whole we are justified in dismissing this statement in the book of Chronicles, about the genealogy of Joshua, as in its present form uncertain or erroneous, and as being of no consequence at all in reference to the question before us, since it is found in a book written more than a thousand years after the time of the Exodus, and it stands alone even in that book, directly at variance with so many testimonies from the Pentateuch and from the book of Chronicles itself, all tending to a different conclusion. 109. We believe, then, that the story, as told in the Pentateuch, intends it to be understood warriors in the prime of life, representing, at least, two millions of persons, it is impossible, if we will take the data of all ages and sexes,-that is to say, of the Pentateuch itself in their plain natural meaning, and not force into them a meaning of our own. Exodus, as to have furnished 600,000 CHAPTER XI. THE NUMBER OF ISRAELITES AT THE TIME OF THE EXODUS. 111. In the first place, it must be ob served, as already noted, that we nowhere read of any very large families among the children of Jacob or their descendants to the time of the Exodus. |