Exodus 12:37

_AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL JOURNEYED FROM RAMESES TO SUCCOTH, ABOUT SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND ON FOOT THAT WERE MEN, BESIDE CHILDREN._ The children of Israel journeyed from Rameses. This city, which is now generally identified with Heroopolis (cf. Genesis 47:11 with Septuagint, Genesis 46:28), was an important place in the land of Goshen, situated in the middle part of the valley of the ancient canal, between the Pelusiac arm of the Nile and the northwestern extremity of the Bitter Lakes, at a spot now occupied by the ruins of Abu-Keisheid (Robinson's 'Bib. Research.,' vol. 1:, p. 79; Hengstenberg's 'Egypt and Books of Moses,' pp. 47-55). This position agrees with the statement, that the scene of the miraculous judgments against Pharaoh was "in the field of Zoan." And it is probable that, i

37._And the children of Israel journeyed. _Although it is probable that they were more widely dispersed, since that district could not have contained so great a multitude, especially when the Egyptians occupied it together with them; still because the recollection of the promise remained among them, from whence some hope of their redemption always was preserved, it is not wonderful that they should have preferred to be kept within narrow bounds, to their great inconvenience, rather than, by seeking other habitations, to separate from the main body. That this was the peculiar abode of the nation is plain also from what has gone before, where Moses related that they were forced to servile tasks in building those fortified cities wherein they might be shut up, as in prison. In the number of men which he reports, he commends the incredible miracle of God’s favor in increasing and multiplying...

37-42 The children of Israel set forward without delay. A mixed multitude went with them. Some, perhaps, willing to leave their country, laid waste by plagues; others, out of curiosity; perhaps a few out of love to them and their religion. But there were always those among the Israelites who were not Israelites. Thus there are still hypocrites in the church. This great event was 430 years from the promise made to Abraham: see Galatians 3:17. So long the promise of a settlement was unfulfilled. But though God's promises are not performed quickly, they will be, in their season. This is that night of the Lord, that remarkable night, to be celebrated in all generations. The great things God does for his people, are to be not only a few days' wonder, but to be remembered throughout all ages; especially the work of our redemption by Christ. This first passover-night was a night of the Lord, m...

Verse Exodus 12:37. _FROM RAMESES TO SUCCOTH_] Rameses appears to have been another name for _Goshen_, though it is probable that there might have been a chief city or village in that land, where the children of Israel rendezvoused previously to their departure, called Rameses. As the term Succoth signifies _booths_ or _tents_, it is probable that this place was so named from its being the place of the first _encampment_ of the Israelites. _SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND_] That is, There was this number of effective men, twenty years old and upwards, who were able to go out to war. But this was not the whole number, and therefore the sacred writer says they were _about_ 600,000; for when the numbers were taken about thirteen months after this they were found to be _six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty_, without reckonin

RAMESES - See Exodus 1:11 note. Rameses was evidently the place of general rendezvous, well adapted for that purpose as the principal city of Goshen. The Israelites were probably settled in considerable numbers in and about it. Pharaoh with his army and court were at that time near the frontier, and Rameses, where a large garrison was kept, was probably the place where the last interview with Moses occurred. The first part of the journey appears to have followed the course of the ancient canal. The site of Succoth cannot be exactly determined, but it lay about halfway between Rameses and Etham Exodus 13:20. The name Succoth (i. e. “tents” or “booths” in Hebrew), may have been given by the Israelites, but the same, or a similar word, occurs in Egyptian in connection with the district

EXPOSITION THE DEPARTURE. There are, no doubts, great difficulties in conceiving the departure on one day, from one place, of "six hundred thousand that were men, beside children." The difficulty is increased when we find (from Numbers 1:3) that by "men" is meant males above twenty years of age. The entire body of Israelites is thus raised from over half a million to over two millions. The whole narrative, however, supposes some such number; and it is accepted by the best critics, as Ewald, Kalisch, Kurtz, Canon Cook, and others. As these two millions must have lived dispersed over a considerable space, and there could have been no advantage in their all assembling at Rameses (Tunis), we are probably to suppose the main body with Moses and Aaron to have stared from that place, while the others, obeying orders previously given, started from all p

AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL JOURNEYED FROM RAMESES TO SUCCOTH,.... Rameses was a place in Goshen, or rather the land of Goshen, from whence the country was so called; Genesis 47:11. The Targum of Jonathan takes it to be Pelusium, or Sin, now called Tinah, formerly the strength of Egypt, and which lay at the entrance of it, and says it was one hundred and thirty miles to Succoth; and Jarchi says one hundred and twenty. But the distance between these two places was not so great; for Succoth from Rameses it is computed was eight miles f only. The latter place is so called by anticipation; for it was now a desert, as Josephus g says, which he calls Latopolis, but had its name Succoth from the children of Israel pitching their tents there; for the word signifies tents or tabernacles. The number of the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt were about six hundred thousand o

5. REDEMPTION BY BLOOD, THE PASSOVER AND THE LAW OF THE FIRSTBORN CHAPTER 12 The Passover Instituted and Kept, the Death of the Firstborn and the Exodus _ 1. The Passover instituted and the feast of unleavened bread (Exodus 12:1)_ 2. The command given to the people and obeyed (Exodus 12:21) 3. The death of the firstborn in Egypt (Exodus 12:29) 4. The departure of the children of Israel (Exodus 12:31) 5. From Rameses to Succoth (Exodus 12:37) 6. The fulfillment of the 430 years ...

EXODUS 12:37 - EXODUS 18. FROM EGYPT TO SINAI. Exodus 12:37 J. THE EXODUS. From Rameses (Exodus 1:11_ b_ *) the first stage of the journey took the people 10 miles W. to Succoth (Eg. Thikke), the district round Pithom (Exodus 1:11_ b_). The number 600,000 (_cf._ Numbers 11:21), not including children (rather little ones, _i.e._ women and children, as Exodus 10:10;...

RAMESES. City of the Sun. See note on Exodus 1:1. Succoth. booths. MEN. Not _'ish_, males, but Hebrew. _geber,_ with art.. the strong men; or, men of military age. Numbers 14:29. See App-14....