"Besides, if they did not take it with them out of Egypt, where did they get the armour with which, about a month afterwards, they fought the Amalekites (Ex., xvii. 8-13), and 'discomfited them with the edge of the sword'? It may, perhaps, be said that they had stripped the Egyptians whom they 'saw lying dead upon the sea-shore' (Ex., xiv. 30). And so writes Josephus (Ant., ii. 16, 6):—'On the next day Moses gathered together the weapons of the Egyptians, which were brought to the camp of the Hebrews by the current of the sea, and the force of the winds assisting it. And he conjectured that this, also, happened by Divine Providence, that so they might not be destitute of weapons'. * * The Bible story, however, says nothing about this stripping of the dead, as surely it must have done if it really took place. * * * And even this supposition will not do away with the fact that the stubborn word
חֲמֻשִׁים exists in the text before us. Besides, we must suppose that the whole body of six hundred thousand warriors were armed when they were numbered (N., i. 3) under Sinai. They possessed arms, surely, at that time, according to the story. How did they get them unless they took them out of Egypt?
"If, then, the historical veracity of this part of the Pentateuch is to be maintained, we must believe that six hundred thousand armed men (though it is inconceivable how they obtained their arms), had, by reason of their long servitude, become so debased and inhuman in their cowardice (and yet they fought bravely enough with Amalek a month afterwards), that they could not strike a single blow for their wives and children, if not for their own lives and liberties, but could only weakly wail and murmur against Moses, saying: 'It had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness' (Ex., xiv. 12)—(pp. 50, 51.)
The substance of this objection may be compressed into a few words. It is stated in the Pentateuch that the Israelites went up armed out of Egypt. Furthermore it is stated that the number of armed men among them was 600,000. But these statements are utterly inconsistent with other facts contained in the same book. Therefore the narrative cannot be regarded as historically true.
To estimate the value of this argument, it will be necessary to inquire if Dr. Colenso has proved that these two statements are really to be found in the Pentateuch. We maintain that he has not. For the first, he appeals to the words of Exodus, xiii. 18: "The children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt". This text is indeed conclusive, if it be shown that the Hebrew word
חֲמֻשִׁים (Chamushim), which is here translated harnessed, must mean armed, and can mean nothing else. But has Dr. Colenso adduced any satisfactory evidence to establish this point, so essential to his argument? Far from it. In the whole Hebrew language there is not a single word of which the meaning is more uncertain. It occurs but four times in the Old Testament, and never later than in the Book of Judges. We must, therefore, be content to conjecture its meaning partly from its etymology, partly from the authority of early versions, and partly from the context of those passages in which it is found. We do not, however, mean to inflict upon our readers the dry details of a philological discussion. Nor could we presume to set up our own judgment in these matters against the opinion of Dr. Colenso. It will be less tedious, and more satisfactory, to appeal to the authority of those who have made the Hebrew language the subject of their special study, and who have availed themselves of all the means which the science of philology can supply, to determine the precise signification of every word in the Bible.
It is quite clear, notwithstanding the ingenious shifts of Dr. Colenso, that the authors of the English Protestant version regarded the word
חֲמֻשִׁים (Chamushim) as one of obscure and doubtful meaning. In the text it is here rendered harnessed, and elsewhere (Jos., i. 14; Jud., vii. 11) armed. But in the margin a very different idea is suggested,—"by five in a rank", "marshalled by five". The Septuagint is by far the oldest translation we possess of the Hebrew text. It dates almost from a time when the Hebrew was still a spoken language; and therefore the biblical scholars by whom it was produced must have enjoyed many advantages, which all the learning and research of modern times cannot supply. No one, certainly, will maintain that, if the meaning of an important Hebrew word were clear and certain, that meaning could have remained unknown to the authors of this celebrated version. Yet the seventy interpreters appear to have been curiously perplexed about the very word on which Dr. Colenso is so flippant and so confident. Four times it occurs in the text, and each time we find a different translation. Nay, of the four translations, not one corresponds with the translation of Dr. Colenso. First it is rendered in the fifth generation— πέμπτῃ δὲ γενεᾷ (Ex., xiii. 18). Next, girt as for a journey— εὔζωνοι (Jos., i. 14). Then, prepared, furnished— διεσκευασμένοι (Jos., iv. 12). And in the fourth place it is translated of the fifty— τῶν πεντήκοντα (Jud., vii. 11).
Perhaps, however, Dr. Colenso would appeal to the authority of modern Hebrew scholars. If so, we can assure him he would appeal in vain. Amongst lexicographers we may refer to Gesenius. Under the root
חָמֵשׁ (Chamash) we find the following explanation:—"Hence, part. pass. plur.