Exodus Begins – A Nation Redeemed by God’s Hand

Pharaoh finally summons Moses and Aaron and tells Israel to leave. The command he resisted is now granted under the pressure of the firstborn judgment: the people are to go, worship the LORD, and take their flocks and herds. Egypt urges them out so quickly that their dough is carried before it can rise.

The Israelites leave with silver, gold, clothing, livestock, and a “mixed multitude” or mixed crowd. The wording suggests that the departing company included people beyond a narrowly defined ethnic Israel, although Exodus does not explain the group’s precise makeup. The departure fulfills the broad pattern announced to Abraham in Genesis 15: affliction in a foreign land, divine judgment, and departure with possessions.

Verse 37 gives the famous figure of about six hundred thousand men on foot, apart from children. Taken in the ordinary numerical sense, that implies a population in the millions and has generated a major historical and linguistic discussion. Some readers defend that scale directly; others propose different senses for the Hebrew term translated “thousand,” scribal-number explanations, or literary stylization. The biblical number should be reported honestly while the reconstruction remains open.

The chapter also preserves a 430-year chronological statement. The Masoretic Hebrew text speaks of Israel’s residence in Egypt, while ancient Greek and Samaritan textual traditions include Canaan in the span; Galatians 3:17 naturally enters the same discussion. Exodus is clear about who delivers Israel—God acts, judges, protects, brings the people out, and commands them to remember—while several details of chronology and population deserve careful, evidence-graded study rather than symbolic shortcuts.