Q&A: The Number of People in the Exodus from Egypt
The Number of People in the Exodus from Egypt
Question
Hello Rabbi, and happy holiday,
I heard an estimate from the Bible scholar Maor Ovadia that the number of people who left Egypt was between 20,000 and 30,000. In another question you were previously asked about the issue of the typologies of the number 600,000, and there you wrote at the end of the discussion: “Your comments are correct. It is not likely that this is only typological.” If so, it seems quite possible that the numbers that appear in the Torah in the wilderness censuses are simply inflated, as was customary to inflate things in ancient literature. Do you think this has any significance? Perhaps it affects the determination of a public domain on the Sabbath according to Rashi's view, based on the number of the Israelites in the wilderness?
In addition, why do you think the Torah devotes so many verses to this matter—two full chapters, Numbers 1 and 26—and gives such precise numbers for each tribe if this is inflation? After all, if the goal is to inflate, one could just give a round number for the Jewish people as a whole and that would be that, as is done in the book of Exodus: “about six hundred thousand men on foot.”
Best regards,
Answer
I don’t know what he is basing this on, but I don’t see much significance in it. As for the public domain, I’m not sure. The Torah chose to present things this way, so from our standpoint 600,000 left, and therefore that is the definition of a public domain. Just as the Torah chose to present the creation of the world as taking place in six days, and therefore the Sabbath is on the seventh day, even if in my view historically it did not happen in six days.
As for the space the Torah devotes to it, perhaps those numbers themselves are saying something. I seem to recall that Copenhagen came up here once in that direction. But you are right that if Maor is correct, then it really is difficult.
Discussion on Answer
And what is your personal opinion?
The scholarly considerations and the archaeological data discovered so far are indeed important, but they are still incomplete, and I would not rely on them to draw a conclusion at this stage.
For anyone who wants to see an orderly presentation of the idea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5rQrWSnZCs
And yes, I am still skeptical about our ability to say with certainty what is really realistic and what is not. But when discussing it from the scholarly side alone, you discuss it from the scholarly side…
1. I said that if you look at the current findings and population estimates, that is the order of magnitude that emerges from them. This is just a description of what follows from the existing scholarly material, nothing more. It does not mean that what is currently known is correct, or that I personally think it is.
2. The very fact that the numbers are not round is not an objection to this possibility. It is also important to note that no one thinks this is merely exaggeration; rather, these are numbers with meaning, and that meaning needs to be discovered.
3. Even if these are special numbers—and that is a big if—there is no objection to the rabbinic exposition. The rabbinic exposition is built on what appears in the verses, and if that is what appears, then no matter what symbolic reason the number appears that way, the text on which the exposition was made is what determines the Jewish law.