Page 23 - Biblical Backgrounds student textbook

numbers given in Exodus 38:26 (which indicates that there were 603,550 men over twenty years old),
45
Vos estimates that there were about one-half to two million people in total.

This wandering was a period of great significance in the life of Jewish nation. Indeed, we can say that
46
this was the period that the Israelites truly became a nation. God specifically established them as his
people by giving them the law, the priesthood, the sacrificial system, and the tabernacle.

The journey and the location:

According to Vos, the Sinai Peninsula is shaped like a wedge which has been driven between Africa and
Arabia. There are two gulfs that separate it on either side—the Gulf of Suez, which separates it from
47
the African mainland and the Gulf of Aqaba, which separates it from Arabia. It is a rugged region—
48
though Vos notes that there is striking and beautiful
features that characterize the region. Vos also states
49
that there are three regions within the region: the
high mountains of the south, the a-Tih Plateau in the
center (about 60 percent of the total), and the
northern plain along the Mediterranean.
50

Mount Sinai, where Moses received the law, has
historically been thought to be a peak now known as
Jebul Musa (the mountain of Moses). Other locations,
51
however, have been suggested for its location. The
Israelites could have taken multiple routes to get to
Sinai. One potential route would have been along the
Sea. Another route would have been across central
Sinai. 5253 The map to the right shows both the route
of Abraham as he came from Ur to Canaan as well as
the traditional route of the Jews from Egypt back to
Canaan.

There has also been considerable scholarly debate
over precisely where the Israelites went after they left
Egypt. Overall, this debate is related to the precise
meaning of the Hebrew phrase yam suph, which is
often translated “Red Sea” (i.e., the King James

45 Voss, Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Manners and Customs, 84.
46 Ibid.
47 Ibid., 85.
48 Ibid., 83.
49 Ibid.
50 Ibid.
51 Ibid.
52 Ibid.
53 Clark, Samuel, and George Grove. “THE CHIEF PLACES MENTIONED IN THE HISTORY OF THE PATRIARCHS AND OF
THE EXODUS. Plate III., Nos. 6, 7, 8.” The Bible Atlas of Maps and Plans. London: Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge, 1868. 14.

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