Debunking Viral Claim About the Talmud and Minors
3 min read
Thank you very much for all your wise and interesting writings. For the last two years, I've been teaching an adult seminar called "Discovering the Beauty of Judaism" at a Reform congregation, and I use Aish HaTorah material.
Now my question: I remember that the number of Jews leaving Egypt was 600,000. But I read recently that the number was in the millions! Is this true?
It is written in the Torah, "The Children of Israel journeyed... 600,000 adult males on foot, besides the children." (Exodus 12:37)
Since the verse only includes the number of men who were 20 till 60 years of age, we can extrapolate the total population by including the women, children and elderly as well.
A plausible estimate, commonly propounded, is three million. (See Targum Yonasan (by Rabbi Yonasan ben Uziel, cir. 1st century CE, author of an Aramaic translation on the Pentateuch), to Exodus 12:37. He writes that each of the 600,000 had (on average) 5 children (under the age of 20). This implies a total of 600,000 men + 600,000 women + 3,000,000 children = 4.2 million (not including the elderly). However, some understand that it means there was a ratio of 5 to 1 of everyone else to the men, implying 3.6 million or more simply that the total population was 5 times the men = 3 million. See also Igros Moshe O.C. V 29.)
It is true that the number seems extraordinary for that era. In fact, some estimate that the Egyptian population itself at that time was in the exact same range as the Jewish one (3-4.5 million). But that is certainly plausible. In fact, when Pharaoh first enslaved the Jews, he complained to his nation that the Jewish people are "greater and stronger than we" and that if there would be war they would join Egypt's enemies and defeat them (Exodus 1:9-10).
On a related note, even if the Jewish population was actually larger than the Egyptian, it is not difficult to imagine how the Egyptians were able to enslave them. If you look at the antebellum Deep South, and especially the West Indies, you will find that smaller white populations enslaved larger black ones, using weapons and intimidation. Even though there were of course no firearms in Biblical Egypt, the Sages attest that the Egyptians were especially adept at cowing their slaves into meek submission. Escape was also near impossible since Egypt is surrounded by deserts.
By the way, the Talmud says that 80 percent of the Jews never even left Egypt. They were so steeped in Egyptian culture that they were unwilling to join the Exodus. As such, they were lost to the Jewish nation forever.
Best of luck in your Torah studies – and teaching!
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Thanks for this valuable information!
There were actually zero Jews that took part in the Exodus. They were all Israelites.
They were 70 people when they came to Egypt and left in the forth generation.
Moses was Levi’s grand grandchild.
Beside I have read that archaeologists think 3 -5 millions lived along the Nile when Josef lived.
So how could this 70 people become millions in FOUR generation?
Thank you. I am here studying the same question.
They left 210 years later - which is really at least 7 generations. Most of the 70 original Jews took non-Jewish wives, as very few of the original 70 were girls (conversion was a simpler process before the Torah was given). So if there were about 50 families at the start of the exile, then assuming large (but hardly miraculous) families of 8-10 children, the total would be several million by the end of the exile.