Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peter AT qaya.org>]

On 31/12/2005 14:44, Read, James C wrote:

> I'd have to largely agree with Peter on this one. The miracles of
> the exodus account are charateristically recorded and so there is
> no need to read more miracles into the story than those already
> recorded for our benefit.
>
> Anyway, who said the path through the Red Sea was muddy? I thought
> the whole miracle was that Yah parted the waters and left and left
> dry terrain to cross.
Perhaps the point is that the path seems to have been muddy, or soft 
sand, enough for the Egyptian chariots to get stuck. Of course that 
could have been a separate miracle, but the simplest explanation is that 
the path across the bottom of the sea was suitable for foot traffic but 
not for wheeled traffic - and if not for the Egyptians' light chariots, 
certainly not for heavy oxcarts.

We may also need to consider the speed of oxcarts. The Exodus account 
tells us roughly how far the Israelites travelled per day, from the Reed 
Sea to Sinai. Could oxcarts have travelled fast enough, especially 
across rough and sometimes soft terrain?

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/