How long did it take the Israelites to get from Egypt to Mt Sinai?

Answer 1

Other answers from our community:

Based on the Torah verses, it apparently took a few hours.

Answer 2

I Believe It Was Around A Day Or Two, Or Just A Couple Hours.

Answer 2

No matter how long it took to cross. The Israel people might have camped in the open sea. The main thing is that as the whole group of people was exiting from the open sea, the Egypt army was already in the open sea being faster in their horses chariots, gave chase and perished.

Answer 3

As for how long it took the Israelites to reach the Red Sea... The Bible doesn't say... except for the subsequent "annualremembrance" in the early spring of this "memorable time" that God [Jesus Christ] commanded them to keep, perpetually, throughout their generations.

So, since God has shown us His intention in His Word to fulfill His plan of Salvation EXACTLY ON THE DAYS He has commanded in His Word for their observance by His people... it's probably safe to assume that the Israelite's journey to the Red Sea took "seven days" as they hastily ate the unleavened bread on their rushed and desperate escape from Egypt.

AnswerBecause the Pharoah's command was urgent, they left from Midnight onwards in the first Passover. This first (and subsequent) Passover was on the 14th day of the Hebrew month Nisan [or Nisan 14], and they reached the Red Sea at Ethan on Nisan 29. This means it took 15 days to reach the Red Sea. [See the link below for details]

Answer 4

The Bible does not really answer this question, although the story implies a fairly quick passage. But we can do some calculations to determine how long it would have taken.

I have interpreted this question as asking how long all the Israelites would take to cross, rather than how long each individual would take to cross from one side to the other. On that basis, we ask the total number of people who were crossing, and how many would pass a given point in an arbitrary period of time.

The Bible says that there were 600,000 fighting men. Scholars calculate that this would mean at least 2.5 million Israelites, including women, children, priests and the elderly. The Bible also says that the Israelites had cattle, which would also have been driven across.

Travelling several persons abreast, we could start by assuming that on average one person crossed every second, day and night for twenty four hours a day. Two and a half million people would take up to a month to cross. In a more practical calculation, it would take this many people, including the elderly, sick, inform and pregnant women anything up to a year to cross, taking their cattle and wagons with them, even with no obstacles on a firm seabed.

For more information, please visit:

http://christianity.answers.com/theology/moses-in-history-and-tradition
http://christianity.answers.com/bible/the-book-of-exodus

Answer 5

In order to address the Question, we would have to know the site and precise direction of the crossing of the Sea of Reeds. This is no longer known.See also the Related Links.

Link: The Exodus

Link: Archaeology

Answer 6

Since this question asks for a statement of historical fact, it is necessary to point out that almost all scholars believe that the Exodus of Moses and the Israelites from Egypt never happened as described in the Bible. It is now well accepted that the Hebrew people were actually Canaanites who migrated from the region of the rich coastal cities and settled peacefully in the hitherto sparsely populated hinterland. Moses was a mythical person and the stories of overcoming great challenges and of a glorious conquest only arose after the Hebrews had forgotten their real origins. There is therefore no historical answer to the question.

On the basis of accepting the biblical story as true, Exodus chapter 14 implies that the crossing took just one day, an incredible feat with 600,000 fighting men plus millions of women, young children, the elderly and infirm, as well as sundry flock, herds, carts and possessions. Even to have crossed in less than a month would normally be challenging.

Answer 7

Based on the Torah verses, it apparently took a few hours. Since miracles were involved (Exodus ch.14), the speediness of the crossing need not lead to doubting it.

Note that "Yam Suf" means Sea of Reeds, not Red Sea. The location and destination of the crossing are no longer known (though they were still known in Talmudic times [Talmud, Berahot 54a], two thousand years ago).

Some commentaries hold that the Israelites emerged on the same shore from which they had departed, since God's purpose in the Splitting of the Sea was to demonstrate His power and to destroy the Egyptians.

See also:

Evidence of the Exodus

Racial origin of the Israelites

Reliability of Israelite tradition

Answer 8

There were around 2 million people; the Red Sea has a surface area of about 174000, so it woukd take a full 24 hours of waking to get everyone through. ~:o)

Answer 9

A matter of hours.

Answer 10

It took 40 years