FACT #5: ‘More and Mightier than We’
The estimated population of Egypt between 1650-1150, is roughly 2.5 to 5 million souls, respectively. One source claims that 100,000 people belonged to the temple estates of Ramesses III. James Henry Breasted claims that these individuals made up less than 2% of the entire population, giving an upper limit of 5 million individuals from between 1189-1155.
The population of Israel at the time of the Exodus has been estimated to have been between 1.8 million to 2.5 million souls. One estimation is based on the following statistic that the ordinary proportion of people fit to go to war in a general population, is one in four.
Granted this statistic is based on a population suited for war, rather than all men aged twenty and above, some of whom would not be suited to wage war due to advanced age.
The other estimation is based on 600,000 men + a 1:1 ratio of women equaling 1,200,000. Assumingly, not all those men and women above the age of twenty would have children. A 2:1 ratio of children would bring the population to 1.8 million, a 2:2 ratio would bring us to 2.4 million.
However, when Pharaoh remarks, “for they are more and mightier than we”, this is 80+ years before the Exodus, which means the population at the time the new king arose would have been less.
Ex. 1:12 "But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel."
For example, the 12 sons of Israel had 54 children collectively.
Gen. 46:7 He [Jacob] took with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons, and his daughters and granddaughters—all his offspring. [26] All those belonging to Jacob who came to Egypt—his direct descendants, besides the wives of Jacob’s sons—numbered sixty-six persons.
Gen. 46:9-25, recounts Jacob’s children and grandchildren by name with only two females recorded: his daughter Dinah and Asher’s daughter Serah. Yet it is clear by verse 7 that all Jacob’s descendants went to Egypt. Except for the wives, females were not excluded from the 66 headcount. This shows that Jacob and his descendants had almost exclusively male births. If this genetic disposition continued on through multiple generation, it may be one reason why Pharaoh ordered all the male children to be killed.
We don’t know how many male children were slain by Pharaoh, but over time the male dominant births would have equalized. By time Israel reached the wilderness, we see that Zelophehad (a descendant of Joseph) had all daughters--5 total.
If Jacob had a total of 54 grandchildren, male and female, and we assume that upon entering Egypt, each grandchild was as prolific as their grandfather and had 12 children each (and they all lived into adulthood) then the second generation would consist of 648 souls.
If we assume the new king’s administration occurred between the 4th and 5th generation (since generations are staggered per family) we’re looking at an approximate population with an upper limit of one million.
According to Karl Butzer’s estimates, the (approximated) Egyptian population was between 2 and 3 million from B.C 2000-1000. However, the population could have been as high as 3 to 5 million between the same time-frame according to the grey areas on the graph below.
The population of native Egyptians was therefore greater than that of Israel at the time of the new king’s inauguration. Why then does Pharaoh say that the children of Israel are ‘more and mightier than we’?
Ex. 1:10 "Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land."
Avaris was the largest city in the world in 1670 BC with approximately 50,000-100,000 souls. Around 1557 BC Memphis took the lead as the most populous city; however the population is estimated between 75-100K. - Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth: A Historical Census by Tertius Chandler 1987.
Under Ramesses II the capital of Egypt was moved from Thebes to Pi-Ramesses. While the motives are unclear, Ramesses had lead multiple war campaigns into the Levant, sacking the Hittite empire; Edom-Seir; Moab; Jerusalem; Jericho; Hesbon; Damascus, to name a few. It’s possible that he moved the capital to remain close to the territories he was conquering and exacting tribute from.
Taking note of Ramesses II’s list of military campaigns, we can definitively say that he could not be the Pharaoh of the Exodus since his military campaigns are documented in Jerusalem.
His successor, Pharaoh Merneptah, recorded the victories of his ancestors on the Merneptah Stele:
“The Canaan has been plundered into every sort of woe: Ashkelon has been overcome; Gezer has been captured; Yano'am is made non-existent. Israel is laid waste and his seed is not; [Canaan] is become a widow because of Egypt.”
Ramesses II was celebrated as one of the greatest pharaoh’s who ever lived. He lived to around ninety years of age, with a reign estimated around 66 years. He made Egypt rich through his conquests of other empires.
David Rohl a specialist in biblical and ancient history, has proposed a new idea that Ramesses II was in fact Shishak of the bible, who ransacked the temple under Rehoboam.
Josephus records that at the time of the Hyksos expulsion, “not fewer than 240,000 people [left with their families and chattels] and crossed the desert into Syria.”
Mantheo writes: “[Salitis] rebuilt [Avaris] and fortified with massive walls, planting there a garrison of as many as 240,000 heavy-armed men to guard his frontier. Here he would come in summertime, partly to serve out rations and pay his troops, partly to train them carefully in maneuvers and so strike terror into foreign tribes.”
Israel, together with the native Egyptians who knew Joseph, would have numbered into the millions; the Hyksos were truly a minority in the region, even at 240,000 strong (which this author suspects is an exaggeration).
Josephus claims that the Hyksos and the Hebrews were one-and-the-same, but this author disagrees. In the following part, I will explain why.
- Ex. 1:8-10 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
The estimated population of Egypt between 1650-1150, is roughly 2.5 to 5 million souls, respectively. One source claims that 100,000 people belonged to the temple estates of Ramesses III. James Henry Breasted claims that these individuals made up less than 2% of the entire population, giving an upper limit of 5 million individuals from between 1189-1155.
The population of Israel at the time of the Exodus has been estimated to have been between 1.8 million to 2.5 million souls. One estimation is based on the following statistic that the ordinary proportion of people fit to go to war in a general population, is one in four.
- Ex. 12:37 "And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children."
Granted this statistic is based on a population suited for war, rather than all men aged twenty and above, some of whom would not be suited to wage war due to advanced age.
The other estimation is based on 600,000 men + a 1:1 ratio of women equaling 1,200,000. Assumingly, not all those men and women above the age of twenty would have children. A 2:1 ratio of children would bring the population to 1.8 million, a 2:2 ratio would bring us to 2.4 million.
However, when Pharaoh remarks, “for they are more and mightier than we”, this is 80+ years before the Exodus, which means the population at the time the new king arose would have been less.
Ex. 1:12 "But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel."
For example, the 12 sons of Israel had 54 children collectively.
Gen. 46:7 He [Jacob] took with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons, and his daughters and granddaughters—all his offspring. [26] All those belonging to Jacob who came to Egypt—his direct descendants, besides the wives of Jacob’s sons—numbered sixty-six persons.
Gen. 46:9-25, recounts Jacob’s children and grandchildren by name with only two females recorded: his daughter Dinah and Asher’s daughter Serah. Yet it is clear by verse 7 that all Jacob’s descendants went to Egypt. Except for the wives, females were not excluded from the 66 headcount. This shows that Jacob and his descendants had almost exclusively male births. If this genetic disposition continued on through multiple generation, it may be one reason why Pharaoh ordered all the male children to be killed.
We don’t know how many male children were slain by Pharaoh, but over time the male dominant births would have equalized. By time Israel reached the wilderness, we see that Zelophehad (a descendant of Joseph) had all daughters--5 total.
If Jacob had a total of 54 grandchildren, male and female, and we assume that upon entering Egypt, each grandchild was as prolific as their grandfather and had 12 children each (and they all lived into adulthood) then the second generation would consist of 648 souls.
- (2nd Gen) 54 souls x 12 children each = 648
- (3rd Gen.) 648 souls x 12 children each = 7,776
- (4th Gen.) 7,776 souls x 12 children each = 93,312
- (5th Gen.) 93,312 souls x 12 children each = 1,119,744
If we assume the new king’s administration occurred between the 4th and 5th generation (since generations are staggered per family) we’re looking at an approximate population with an upper limit of one million.
According to Karl Butzer’s estimates, the (approximated) Egyptian population was between 2 and 3 million from B.C 2000-1000. However, the population could have been as high as 3 to 5 million between the same time-frame according to the grey areas on the graph below.
The population of native Egyptians was therefore greater than that of Israel at the time of the new king’s inauguration. Why then does Pharaoh say that the children of Israel are ‘more and mightier than we’?
Ex. 1:10 "Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land."
Avaris was the largest city in the world in 1670 BC with approximately 50,000-100,000 souls. Around 1557 BC Memphis took the lead as the most populous city; however the population is estimated between 75-100K. - Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth: A Historical Census by Tertius Chandler 1987.
Under Ramesses II the capital of Egypt was moved from Thebes to Pi-Ramesses. While the motives are unclear, Ramesses had lead multiple war campaigns into the Levant, sacking the Hittite empire; Edom-Seir; Moab; Jerusalem; Jericho; Hesbon; Damascus, to name a few. It’s possible that he moved the capital to remain close to the territories he was conquering and exacting tribute from.
Taking note of Ramesses II’s list of military campaigns, we can definitively say that he could not be the Pharaoh of the Exodus since his military campaigns are documented in Jerusalem.
His successor, Pharaoh Merneptah, recorded the victories of his ancestors on the Merneptah Stele:
“The Canaan has been plundered into every sort of woe: Ashkelon has been overcome; Gezer has been captured; Yano'am is made non-existent. Israel is laid waste and his seed is not; [Canaan] is become a widow because of Egypt.”
Ramesses II was celebrated as one of the greatest pharaoh’s who ever lived. He lived to around ninety years of age, with a reign estimated around 66 years. He made Egypt rich through his conquests of other empires.
David Rohl a specialist in biblical and ancient history, has proposed a new idea that Ramesses II was in fact Shishak of the bible, who ransacked the temple under Rehoboam.
- 2 Chronicles 12:9 “When Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem, he carried off the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields Solomon had made."
- The 15th Dynasty, Under Foreign Hyksos Rule
c. 1674-1535 = 139 Years Duration
Capital: Avaris
Josephus records that at the time of the Hyksos expulsion, “not fewer than 240,000 people [left with their families and chattels] and crossed the desert into Syria.”
Mantheo writes: “[Salitis] rebuilt [Avaris] and fortified with massive walls, planting there a garrison of as many as 240,000 heavy-armed men to guard his frontier. Here he would come in summertime, partly to serve out rations and pay his troops, partly to train them carefully in maneuvers and so strike terror into foreign tribes.”
Israel, together with the native Egyptians who knew Joseph, would have numbered into the millions; the Hyksos were truly a minority in the region, even at 240,000 strong (which this author suspects is an exaggeration).
Josephus claims that the Hyksos and the Hebrews were one-and-the-same, but this author disagrees. In the following part, I will explain why.
