Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Peter Kirk"<peter_kirk AT sil.org>]

[JSafrem] A horde of 2,000,000 stretching out 100-200 km wouldn't have 
been able to see the pillar of fire, both because of the distance of 
most of the Israelites from the pillar and because of the curvature of 
the earth.

PK: Depends on how tall the pillar of fire was. We are not told. A 
pillar 10,000 metres high could be seen from a lot more than 200km 
away on a clear desert night. Flash flooding might even have allowed 
the Israelites to wash their clothes. Obviously the timing would have 
to be a wonderful coincidence. But please stick to arguments that are 
really sound. I accept that there is a problem with 2,000,000 people 
being assembling around the mountain. But the solution is not found by 
mocking the beliefs of many.

Peter Kirk