Exodus 12:29

How could 2 million people cross the Red Sea in such a short time?

PROBLEM: According to the account of the crossing of the Red Sea, the massive group of fleeing Israelites must have had no more than 24 hours to cross through the portion of the Red Sea which God had prepared. However, according to the numbers given, there were some 2 million of them (see Numbers 1:45-46). But, for a multitude of this size, a 24-hour period is just not enough time to make such a crossing.

SOLUTION: First, although the passage may give the idea that the time that the nation of Israel had to make the crossing was short, this is not a necessary conclusion. The text states that God brought forth an East wind which drove back the waters “all that night” (Exodus 14:21). Verse 22 seems to indicate that it was the very next morning when the multitude of Israelites began their journey across the sea bed. Verse 24 then states, “Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians.” Finally, according to verse 26, God told Moses to “stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians.” There is no time reference to this command, however, and it is not necessary to conclude that Israel had completed their crossing that very morning.

In Exodus 13:18, the sea is called the Red Sea. The Hebrew isyam suph, which should be translated, “Sea of Reeds.” This was probably a reference to a body of water farther north than what is identified today as the Gulf of Suez. This seems to be the case for several reasons. First, the Gulf of Suez was not known for having reeds. Second, the Gulf of Suez is much farther south than Pi-hahiroth and Migdol where Israel camped by the sea according to 14:2. Third, for Israel to reach the northern most tip of the Gulf of Suez, they would have had to cross a large expanse of desert, and this type of trip is not indicated in the text.