WVIncagold

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exodus numbers at 2 million or more given in the bible that’s not including livestock.
3 million walking 10 abreast with 6 ft between rows would extend for around 340 miles (3,000,000 / 10 * 6 = 1,800,000 ft. = 340 mi)
That’s 340 miles. To give a idea of distance that’s from Bunker Hill WV to 40 miles outside Columbus OH! That takes 6.5 hours to drive at 65 miles an hour. I know I drive it to visit my son there who is attending the university.
That’s ten abreast people. Better yet it is only 345 miles from Cairo to Jerusalem!
So being the civil war buff that I am I took some applied knowledge from southern troop movements considering they were less fed and equipped than union soldiers.
The Confederate authorities carefully outlined the expected rations in the army regulations issued in 1861. Each soldier was to receive per day .75 lbs. of pork or bacon or 1.25 lbs. of fresh or salt beef, and 18 oz. of bread or flour or 12 oz. of hard bread or 1.25 lbs. of corn meal. In addition, for each 100 rations, there was to be issued: 8 quarts of peas or beans, or in lieu thereof, 10 lbs. of rice; 6 lbs. of coffee; 12 lbs. of sugar; 4 quarts of vinegar; 1.5 lbs. of tallow candles; 4 lbs. of soap; and 2 quarts of salt. On marches, the bread ration was to be 1 lb. of hard bread.
However, the army began to have difficulty in supplying this ration almost immediately. Vegetables were very scarce during the winter of 1861-62, and in April 1862 the meat ration was reduced to a pound of beef or a half pound of bacon or pork, with some reductions also in the ration of flour and meal. During the retreat up the Peninsula, rations were limited to flour, meal and salt meat, and frequently troops received only parched corn, with four ears of corn per man as the standard issue

So taking into this that quail as the meat source and manna as the bread source I think most would find this acceptable “replacement”. So a one pound quail will give approximately .50 to .75 lbs of meat source that means every day they would have killed 3 million quail and 3 million pounds of bread per day just to keep the people moving. That comes out to being about half a pound of excrement a day per person. Never mind that quail could not keep that population suggested and that bread does not fall from heaven (if that is what manna is) that’s one and a half million pounds of poop a day just from the people.
I would also like to point out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acme_Bread_Company that it takes this bakery one week to produce 60,000 loafs.
Now lets look at 3 million birds per day and bread form the sky. What do birds do when you scatter bread? So the Hebrews would have been competing for the manna with not only the 3 million quail they would be killing that day but the 900,0000,000 birds needed in order to maintain this consumption for just one month. Since they only breed and can lay 300 eggs per year. It takes 17-18 days of incubation or 15 days to hatch depending on temperature. In any case 900,000,000 is a lot of birds doing what birds do best, eat and poop. So allot of that bread will not be usable because of loss to birds and just plain poop contamination. In any case that’s allot of poop. Keep in mind we are not talking the beast of burden included just the humanity and the birds god sent for them to eat. Also I would like you to consider this
An average six-ounce skinless quail contains about 123 calories, 40 percent of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of protein, 50 percent niacin, 30 percent vitamin B6, and 28 percent of iron. The same bird has only 1.2 grams of saturated fat, 1.2 grams monounsaturated fat, 1.1 grams polyunsaturated fat, and 64 grams of cholesterol. Not allot to go on per day. By the bible god was starving his people and they were knee deep in excrement. Great for today’s fat conscience not so go for starving people who need the fat a nutritional source.
Just a thought how would you like to be the last 10 people in line? Think about it traveling 6 miles per day. 10 abreast for 40 years. 1.5 million pounds of human feces per day. That’s 547,500,000 pounds of poop a year. For a grand total of 21,900,000,000 pounds of human excrement in 40 years if there population stayed at its constant of 3 million. That’s twenty one BILLION pounds of poop stretched from Egypt to the lands of Canaan. Anyone want to think about the flies?
Now what would this of done to the watersheds of the Nile? The fecal chloroform and nitrates from this much waste would have spoiled all the water in the area basically killing any in the back of the pack. Keep in mind we are not talking today’s world but the ability to get water from open running sources only or already dug wells. Water was even more precious in those days and is a pretty hard commodity even today in third world countries. Imagine a horde of people stretching as far as you can see that would take approximately 58 days to pass you by from beginning to end. All of them wanting your villages water source. No wonder they were not received well. Very quickly the water source would have been vile and polluted. One need only study Andersonville prison to see what the conditions would be like for the 58 days it took to “pass” you by.
I think this alone brings all of Exodus to a “never happened” and a mere myth. Look at a map and imagine an army column stretched from Columbus Ohio to Morgantown WV. The logistics and the mere amount of waste if we ignore the whole magic of food appearing in itself shows the mind boggling (excuse the expression) crap that the bible expects us to swallow and many inerrant believers expect us to swallow as truth.

Casper

Nice try, but if you had researched your original civil war reference further you'd know what hard tack was and why quail wouldn't eat it.

In fact, people don't eat it either, they just kind of go through the motions

But really, quail?

ksen

Why should 547MM pounds of poop a year in Goshen be no big deal but 547MM pounds of poop a year during the exodus is some huge natural disaster?

Roger Pearse

You've fallen into a common trap for atheists.

Firstly numerals in ancient texts are rarely transmitted accurately.

Secondly they often have symbolic as well as literal meanings (just as 'myriad' does in modern English; or try finding out how long a 'sar' is in Babylonian calculations).

Finally the truth or otherwise of a text is not likely to be determined by such crude methods, given the first two points. Instinctively people reject such simplistic arguments.

All the best,

Roger Pearse

Hex

Roger -

Mind 'enlightening' us as to which parts of the Bible should be taken 'literally' and which parts are 'figurative'? I don't see any key as to what's 'true' here.

What kind of numbers -should- we interpret this as, Roger?

Thanks, :wave:

- Hex

Darklighter

In the immortal words of Ian Malcom:

"That is one big pile of shit."

jeffevnz

If there's any history in Exodus, it's been exagerrated, twisted, and embellished beyond recognition.

WVIncagold

True only humans would eat hard tack. ever tried it. it is awful.
According to exodus god sent quail and mana for the Israelites to eat.

WVIncagold

I didnt say it would be a natural disaster but it would of choked out the known water supplies. remeber this is a column of people 340 miles long. it would take 58 days to pass the water hole. Also there is nobody removing the waste. as a modern person you realy have no concept the amount of effort it takes by humans just to remove our waste and treat it. this is just laying on the ground.

WVIncagold

Roger please enlighten me if i am wrong. Can you supply me with the legend of the bible that describes those things that should be taken as literal and those things that are not? Or is a denial of convenience when math does not support your belief? Truly what should i take as literal and what should i not in the book touted by the faithful as the book of truth? So your saying gods word lies? or is it true which is it?