manhood?  And yet Joshua was unable to complete his conquest!  Again, the first subjugation of a part of the newly-conquered territory as noted in the book of Judges, was Judah and Simeon by a king of Edom.[FN#232] If Judah could put an army into the field of 76,500, and Simeon 22,500, their subjugation by a king of Edom is incredible, and the story absurd.  Next comes King Eglon of Moab and subjugates the tribes of Reuben and Gad, east of the Dead Sea and the Jordan.  And yet Reuben has an army of over 43,000, and Gad 45,000.  And so on.

With an army of 60,000 only, and an aggregate of half a million of people led out of Egypt, all the history becomes instantly rational and trustworthy.

There remains one more bubble to be exploded.

Look at these figures, in which a quadruple increase—­at least 25 per centum too great—­is granted.[FN#233]

1st Generation, the Patriarchs, in number. . . . . . . . . . . 12
2nd  Generation,  Kohath, Pharez, etc. . . . . . . . . . . . ..48
3rd  Generation,  Amram, Hezron, etc.. . . . . . . . . . . . .192
4th  Generation,  Aaron and Moses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .768
Aggregate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,020
Minus 25 per cent. for deaths, children, etc.. . . . . . . . .255
Actual number of Bene Jacob. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .765

But Jacob and his sons brought with them herdsmen, shepherds, servants, etc.  Bunsen puts the number of all, masters and men, at less than 2,000.

Let the proportion in this case be one able-bodied man in four persons, and the increase triple.

1st Generation, the Patriarchs, in number. . . . . . . . . . .500
2nd  Generation,  Kohath, Pharez, etc. . . . . . . . . . . .1,500
3rd  Generation,  Amram, Hezron, etc.. . . . . . . . . . . .4,500
4th  Generation,  Aaron and Moses. . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,500
20,000
Minus 25 per centum as above . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5,000
15,000
Add the real Bene Jacob. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .765

Aggregate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,765

Were these people, while Joseph is still alive, the subjects of slavery as described in Ex. i.?  Did they build Pithom and Ramses, store-cities?

The number is sufficient to lead in the great enterprise and to control the mixed multitude which was at Sinai, adopted as “Bene Israel,” “Seed of Abraham,” and divided among and incorporated with the tribes; but not sufficient to warrant the supposition that with so small a force the Hebrew leaders could for a moment have entertained the project of conquering Palestine.

A word more on the statement in Ex. i. 11:  “And they built for Pharaoh store-cities, Pithom and Ramses.”  All Egyptologists agree that these cities were built by Ramses ii., or certainly not later than his reign.  If the Hebrew genealogies are authentic, this was long before the coming of Jacob and his sons into Egypt.