Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863)
of the Israelites from Egypt. C. 1491, deriving it in this way:—In (1 Kings 6:1) it is stated that the building of the temple, in the forth year of Solomon, was in the 480th year after the exodus. C. 1012. C. 1491 as the date of the exodus. C. 1300. Which date is right depends chiefly on the interpretation of the Scripture period of 430 years, as denoting the duration of the bondage of the Israelites. The period of bondage given in (Genesis 15:13,14; Exodus 12:40,41) and Gala 3:17 As 430 years has been interpreted to cover different periods.
The common chronology makes it extend from the call of Abraham to the exodus, one-half of it, or 215 years, being spend in Egypt. Others make it to cover only the period of bondage spend in Egypt. St. Paul says in (Galatians 3:17) that from the covenant with (or call of) Abraham the giving of the law (less than a year after the exodus) was 430 years.
But in (Genesis 15:13,14) it is said that they should be strangers in a strange land, and be afflicted 400 years, and nearly the same is said in (Exodus 12:40) But, in very truth, the children of Israel were strangers in a strange land from the time that Abraham left his home for the promised land, and during that whole period of 430 years to the exodus they were nowhere rulers in the land. So in (Exodus 12:40) it is said that the sojourning of the children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was 430 years.
But it does not say that the sojourning was all in Egypt, but this people who lived in Egypt had been sojourners for 430 years. (a) This is the simplest way of making the various statements harmonize. (b) The chief difficulty is the great increase of the children of Israel from 70 to 2,000,000 in so short a period as 215 years, while it is very easy in 430 years. But under the circumstances it is perfectly possible in the shorter period. See on ver. C. 1300. in either case special difficulty is brought into the reckoning.
(d) Therefore, on the whole, it is well to retain the common chronology, though the later dates may yet prove to be correct. The history of the exodus itself commences with the close of that of the ten plagues. [Plagues, The Ten, THE Ten Commandments] In the night in which, at midnight, the firstborn were slain, (Exodus 12:29) Pharaoh urged the departure of the Israelites. vs. (Exodus 12:31,32) They at once set forth from Rameses, vs. (Exodus 12:37,39) apparently during the night v. (Exodus 12:42) but towards morning on the 15th day of the first month.
(Numbers 33:3) They made three journeys, and encamped by the Red Sea. Here Pharaoh overtook them, and the great miracle occurred by which they were saved, while the pursuer and his army were destroyed.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
EX'ODUS, THE. The date, the geography, and the history of this "great turning-point in biblical history" will be considered. Date. — There is a difference of opinion among biblical scholars as to the name of the two kings who oppressed the Israelites and are mentioned in the book of Exodus under the generic name of Pharaoh. (1) Some hold that Amosis or Aahmes I. was the Pharaoh of the Oppression, and that Thothmes or Tutmes II. was the Pharaoh of the Exodus, who perished in the Red Sea. c. 1485. His reign is known to have been short and inglorious.
But the difficulties in the way of this view are numerous. c. , was the Pharaoh of the Exodus. c. 1325 or 1322. He marks a period of decline in which the conquests of his two great predecessors were gradually lost. Few monuments were erected in his reign, and even his father's tomb was left unfinished. This is just what we would expect after the catastrophe in the Red Sea. " This reads like a confused reminiscence of the overthrow in the Red Sea. c. 1317, on the fifteenth day of the first month, A bib or Nisan, our April. Geography. " Gen 14:2.
With these notices must be compared the list of camping-stations which Moses gives. Num 33:2-10. e. " Moses intended to go by the way of the wilderness, but when he turned southward, by divine command, he was shut in by the waters of the Red Sea, which then probably extended farther north, to the Bitter Lakes. We may thus identify the places mentioned in the itinerary. Rameses, the place of general rendezvous, is Zoan (Tanis). Succoth, which Ebers considers an Egyptian word (fields), must have been halfway between Rameses and Etham.
Etham was probably Pithom (Pitum); Pi-hahiroth is Ajeudot Agrad, a fortress on the way from Etham to Suez; Migdol is Bir Sitweis, about 2 miles from Suez; Baal-zephon is perhaps identical with Mount Atakah. Baal was the chief deity of the Phoenicians, who had at a very early period a settlement in Lower Egypt. There are two prominent theories about the locality and mode of the miraculous passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea: (1) The usual theory, which locates the passage several miles south of Suez, where the sea is about 10 miles broad.
This theory fits in best with the literal meaning of the narrative, for in this case the waters must have been actually divided for several miles, and have stood like walls on either hand. But the difficulties the view raises are more numerous than those it solves. Could the host of Israel, encumbered as they were, have crossed in one night through such a channel? Would the Egyptians have followed them through the deep sea, and in view of such an amazing interposition of God? Could any wind have had such an effect upon so wide a sea? And if not, why is it mentioned at all as an agent?
An accumulation of miracles is called for by this theory. (2) The second theory puts the crossing at the head of the gulf, near or some distance north of Suez. In Moses's time the gulf may have extended as a reedy marsh as far as the Bitter Lakes. The crossing was made possible by a special providence and a miraculous adaptation of the laws of nature.
The east, or rather north-east, wind drove off the waters from the small arm of the sea which runs up by Suez; this would leave the water on the more northern part of the arm, so that there would be waters on both sides to serve as an entrenchment. This would meet the Sketch-map of the Route of the Exodus. exigences of the narrative, Ex 14:22. But even in this case the passage of two millions of people, with all their cattle, was an astounding miracle. It has its counterpart in the crossing of the river Jordan at the end of the journey through the wilderness.
For a third theory advocated by Brugsch Bey, and more recently by Prof. A. H. Sayce, see Red Sea. 3. History. — The Exodus was the execution of a divine plan. God sent ten plagues upon the land in punishment. The last was the severest: the first-born in every house lay dead. But while the destroying angel went through the midst of Egypt the Israelites were gathered in their respective houses, ready at any moment to hear the command, "Go! " their loins girded, their shoes on their feet, their staffs in their hands, eating hastily the lamb which they had roasted.
Thus they observed the Passover. " Then followed in quick succession the midnight call of Pharaoh for Moses and Aaron, the command to depart, the urgent co-operation of the nation to hasten their departure, and the actual leaving of the house of bondage and start upon the momentous journey. Practical Lesson.
— The history of the exodus of the Israelites from the land of bondage — their wanderings through the dreary wilderness under the guidance of the Law of God, the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, with many resting-places in delightful oases, and the constant services of the tabernacle, and their final entrance into the Promised Land — has always been regarded as a most instructive type and illustration of the history of the Christian Church and of the individual believer, his deliverance from the bondage of sin, and his passage to the heavenly land of rest and peace.