Well, I guess that chinches it. All our Bible translations are all messed up.  All those “thousands” actually refer to families or clans, and the actual numbers of the Israelites were nearly two orders of magnitude fewer than our translations say.

But wait. “The first to plead his case seems right, until another comes to question him.” (Prov 18:17) There are some serious Scriptural arguments against the lower population. Yes, they were the “fewest of all peoples” – back when God first chose and called Abram! He had no kids at all! Even when they first came to Egypt they only numbered 70 males. (Ex 1:5) When did God first set His love on them and begin to bless them? Back when they were the “fewest of all peoples.”

•  God told Abram (Abraham) that He would make of him a great nation, with descendents as the stars of the heavens and as the sands of the seashore. (Gen 12:2, 15:5, 22:17)

•  God told Jacob (Israel), “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there.” (Gen 46:3)

•  The seventy who came into Egypt (Ex 1:5) certainly did not grow into the Children of Israel all by themselves. I’m sure they also intermarried with the Egyptians and with others of the Kasdim (the family of Heber) who had come down to Egypt because of the famine. 

•  After Joseph died, Scripture says that “the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land (of Egypt) was filled with them.” (Ex 1:7)

•  Pharaoh quite agreed with that. “He said to his people, ‘Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we.’” (Ex 1:9)

•  The Israelites were probably not that numerous when they crossed the Red Sea. God had promised to make Abraham the “father of many nations.” (Gen 17:5) The census of Numbers 1 and 2 was not taken until a year later (Num 1:1; 10:11) when they were about to set out for Canaan. I have no doubt that the total number in the census included not only Egyptians but also Amalekites and Midianites who had repented, and had been purified and adopted into the families of Israel.

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