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there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness ?

V. 15. And the Lord said unto Moses

V. 16.

Lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it; and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

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V. 17. And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

V. 21. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east-wind all that night, and made the sea dry-land, and the waters were divided.

V. 22. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

V. 23. And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea——

V. 26. And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea

V. 27. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea; and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared: and the Egyptians

fled against it: and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

V. 29. But the children of Israel walked upon dry-land in the midst of the sea: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. Ch. xv. ver. 22. So Moses brought Israel from the Red-sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur: and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.

V. 23. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah; for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.

V. 27. And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm-trees: and they encamped there by the waters.

What is in the 22d verse called the wilderness of Shur, was the same as the wilderness of Etham; as we learn from the sacred historian, when he is describing the same events in another place.

Numbers xxxiii. 1. These are the journeys of the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt

V. 3. And they departed from Rameses in the first

month

V. 5. And the children of Israel removed from Rameses, and pitched in Succoth.

V. 6. And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness.

V. 7. And they removed from Etham, and turned again unto Pi-hahiroth, which is before Baalzephon: and they pitched before Migdol.

V. 8. And they departed from before Pi-hahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea, into the wilderness, and went three days journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah.

V. 9. And they removed from Marah, and came unto Elim: and in Elim were twelve fountains of water, and threescore and ten palm-trees

Concerning the Place of their Departure.

It is said, when they left Egypt, that they journeyed from Rameses, which we know to have been Goshen under another name. The regular road to Canaan was downward, by the way which led to Gaza and Philistim. But it pleased God to lead them by a different direction, through the way of the wilderness of the Red-sea, Exodus xiii. 18. Upon leaving Rameses they passed by Latopolis, as we are informed by Josephus, and made their first encampment at Succoth, which, as we may infer from Antoninus, was little more than thir

ty miles. By the name of this place is signi fied an inclosure, consisting of pens and booths for cattle. It was probably built for a receptacle, in which the Egyptians secured and foddered their flocks and herds during the inundation of the Nile. The Grecians in Egypt called these places Μανδραι, and Σκηναι, and the Roman Scene; of which there are two mentioned by Antoninus, and other writers. The one was above Babylon in Upper Egypt, and called Scene Mandræ; both which words are of the same signification as Succoth. The other was stiled Scenæ Veteranorum; and from its situation, as well as the purport of the name, was probably the very place which the Egyptians called Succoth. For it lay directly in the road to the Red-sea, and was at a very proper distance for the Israelites to make their first station. In going this journey eastward, travellers are obliged to take a small circuit on account of a mountain, called by Herodotus the Mountain of Arabia. This mountain descends from Upper Egypt, and, after a long range, terminates in its direction downward, opposite to the pyramids and the point of Delta. It then turns eastward, but at the same

I P. 169.

time forms a bend to the north. Herodotus gives a very just description of its course, as it passed in respect to the ancient Heliopolis upwards towards the south, and from the same point to the east in the direction before mentioned. But the passage seems to be incorrect. • Από δε Ηλιοπόλεος ανω ιοντι δεινή εσι Αιγυπτος τη μεν γας της Αραβίης όρος παρατεταται, φέρον απ' αρκτε προς μεσημβριης τε και νοτ8· As people pass through the country upwards Egypt appears narrow. For the Arabian mountain extends itself all the way in a parallel direction towards the meridian and the south. All this is very plain; but he afterwards adds---a τεινον εις την Ερυθρην καλεόμενην θαλασσαν---the mountain all the way upwards tending towards the Red-sea. This is by no means true; for the mountain is never so near that sea as it is at the point of Delta. It is continually receding, and at its fountains in Abyssinia is at its greatest distance.

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The true reading therefore seems to be this. Instead of άιει ανω τείνον, we should read---και ανατείνον εις την Ερυθρήν καλεομένην θάλασσαν. The Arabian mountain passes from a particular point upwards to the south, but from that same

'Herodotus. 1. 2. c. 5. P. 106.

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