Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - [b-hebrew] Miracles & Oxen in Exodus

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: <tladatsi AT charter.net>
  • To: Peter Kirk <peter AT qaya.org>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Miracles & Oxen in Exodus
  • Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2005 19:49:15 -0500

Peter,

Not to beat a dead ox, but text of Exodus 12:36 clearly
states that Yahweh intervened in some fanatastic way to
cloud the minds of the Egyptians.

*The L ORD caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the
Israelites, and they gave the Israelites whatever they
asked for. So, like a victorious army, they plundered the
Egyptians!*

The Israelites were able to plunder the Egyptians because
of divine intervention,i.e. a miracle. The very possession
of the cattle was the result of a miracle.

I will certainly grant you the existance of the carts is an
open question. On the one hand, wagons are not mentioned
in the plundering and the 600,000 men were explicity *on
foot*. On the other hand, it is only the men who are
described as being on foot, not the women and children. I
think the *implication* is that the women and children did
not walk. They could have wrode wagons or donkeys, or
camels, etc. There are great herds mentioned without
identifying what sort of herds other than that they were in
addition to the cattle.

There is precsious little wood in the Sinai suitable for
building carts. So even if the Israelites built the wagons
in the Sinai, the availability of suitable wood is
something of a miracle, although I will confess, I am not
certain that the author's intent was to convey that
particular aspect as miraculous, it would in fact be one.




Jack Tladatsi




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page