EXODE
407
EXODE
that on two occasions three daj's formed the period of transition between station and station, and therefore that not day's marches, but intervals of an indefinite number of days between permanent encampments are intended by that itinerary ; and as it is equally clear from Numb, ix, 22 that the ground may have been oc- cupied for " two daj's, or a month, or a j'ear," we may suppose that the occupations of a longer period only may be marked in the itinerary; and thus the diffi- culty of apparent chasms in its enumeration, for in- stance the greatest, between Ezion-Geber and Kadesh (xxxiii, 35-37), altogether vanishes. How, except by a constant miracle, two millions of people were sup- ported for forty years in the peninsula of Sinai, has been thought, under the actual circumstances of the case, to be inexplicable ; nor will such scanty supplies as an occasional well or a chance oasis do much to re- lieve the subject. Much of the difficulty experienced by commentators on this head, however, arises from a misconception of the nature of the so-called "desert"' (n3"I?)) which is rather an open uninhabited country than a desolate wilderness in the strict sense. Indeed, Jotbath (q. v.), one of the stations named in this part of the route, is explicitly called " a land of rivers of ■waters" (Deut. x, 8). Modern travellers through the region in question speak of many parts of it as well watered, and actually sustaining a numerous nomadic population (comp. Meth. Quart. Rev. April, 1863, p. 301 sq.). See Wilderness.
1. In the absence of detailed information, any at- tempt to lay down the path pursued b}^ the Israelites after their emerging from the 'Arabah can be little bet- ter than conjectural. Some authorities carry them quite over to the eastern bank of the Red Sea ; but the ex- pression " by the way of the Red Sea" denotes nothing more than the western wilderness, or the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea. The stations over which the Israelites passed are set down in Numb, xxxiii, 18 Bq. (comp. Deut. x, 6, 7), and little beyond the bare record can be given. Only it seems extraordinar}', and is much to be regretted, that for so long a period as eight-and-thirty j'ears our information should be so exceedingljr small. Raumer, indeed, makes a feeble effort {Beitrdge zur hibliache Geographic, Leips. 1843) to fix the direction in which some of the stations lay to each other, but he locates them all in the valley of the 'Arabah, without being able to identifj' one of the names with a modern locality (see his Paldstina, 1850, p. 440 ; also map). AVcre the interior of the peninsula thoroughly explored, we doubt not many of the an- cient names might be found still subsisting, which ■would serve as landmarks to determine the route. As it is, ■we do not altogether despair of finding some clew to the subject. [See below.] It may be of ser- vice to subjoin the following table of the places through ■which the Israelites passed (not all of them exactly stations) from the time of their leaving Egypt to their arrival in Canaan, which ■we take (with some altera- tions) from Dr. Robinson's paper m the Biblical Repos. for 1832, p. 794-797.
(2.) From f^rnai to Kadesh the. second HrM.
(1.) From Egifpt to Sinai.
tl.] [•2.] [3.] [4.] [5.J
rg.]
[7.] [S.] p.]
{Exodus xii-xix.) From Uiimeses (xii, ST). Saccoth (xii, 3T). F.tliam (xiii,20). Pi-hahiroth (xiv, 2). Piiagage through the
Red Sea (xiv, 22). Tliree days' march into
tlie desert of Shur
(XV, 22). Marah (xv, 23). Elim (XV, 27).
[10.] Desert of Sin (xvi, 1)
[11.]
[12]
[13]
\14.]
Kephidim (xvii, 1). Desert of Sinai (xj.x, 1).
(XiiMBEEs xxxiii.)
From Kame?es (ver. 3).
Succoth (ver. 5).
I'^thara (ver. G).
Pi-iiahirofli (ver. 7).
l^assage through the Red Sea (ver. S).
Three days' march in the des- ert of Etham (ver. 8).
Marah (ver. S).
Elim (ver. 0).
Encampment by the Red Sea
(ver. 10). Desert of Sin (ver. 11). Dophkali (ver. 12). AIiL^'h (ver. 13). Rppliidim (ver. It). Desert of Sinai (ver. 15).
(NUMUEES x-xx).
From the desert of Sinai (x, 1-J).
[15.] Taberah (xi, 3; [Deut. ix,2^2]).
[IC] Kihroth-hattaavah (xi, • 34), in the edge of the desert of Paran (x, 12).
[17.] Hazeroth (xi, 35).
[IS.] The desert of Arabah, by tlie way of Mount Seir [Deut. i, 1, 2].
[19.]
[20.] Kadesh, in the desert of Paran (xii, 16; xiii, 26) ; [Deut i, 2, I'J]. [Hence tliey turn back and wander for 3S years (Numb, xiv, 25 sq.) through the desert (Deut. ii, 1)].
[21.]
[22.]
[23.]
[21.]
[25.]
[26.]
[27.]
[•.iS.]
[29.]
[30.]
[31.]
[32.]
[33.]
[34.]
[■35.]
[36.]
[37.]
(NuMUERS xxxiii. From the desert of Sinai (ver. 10).
Kibroth-hattaavah (ver. 10).
Hazeroth (ver. 17).
Dieadful desert by the way of
the mount of the Amorites
[Deut. i, 19]. Rithmah (ver. 18).
Rimmon-parez (ver. 19X Libnah (ver. 20). Rissah (vLr. 21). Kehelathah (ver, 22). Mount Shaplier (ver. 23). Haradah (ver. 24). Makhelotli (ver. 25). Tahath (ver. 20). Tarah (ver. 27). Mithcah (ver. 2S). Hashmonali (ver. 29). Moseroth (ver. GO). Bens-jaakan (ver. 31). Hi)r-liagldga(l (ver. 32). Jotbathali (ver. 33). Ebronah (ver. 34). Ezion-geber (ver. 35), by tha
way of the Red Sea [Deut.
ii, i]. Kadesli, in the desert of 2ia