Rhea

After seeing a Discovery piece on the natural possibilities behind Moses, it struck me. I'd be interested in info on...


So if you're wandering. In the Desert. For 40 years.
How do you survive?

People who wander in the mojave usually die in a couple of days. If they find a place that can support them (water, food) they usually stop wandering.

Were tthe hebrews that monumentally foolish about the desert that it took them 40 years to get out, but they were so competent that they managed to feed themselves for 2 generations?

What's the pravailing story about this passage?

philechat

1. There is no archeological evidence on the wanderings. 40 years is a symbolic concept that recurs again and again in the Bible, from Davidic rules to the years of peace for each Judge. 40 days is the shorter version of the 40 years and I think there are occult significance in some of the OT numbers.

2. According to the Bible the people ate manna for 40 years by the miracles of Yahweh. Manna was a bread-like food that was sweetened which the Hebrews were required to pick every day except in the Sabbath. There were several times about quails raining down from the sky though it seemed to disappear later until the Hebrews complained to Yahweh again, leading to several thousands dead in the matter.

3. I think 4000 years ago the Middle-Eastern regions were mostly NOT desert. It only became desert because of over-development of agriculture in the region. The reason the Middle-East was the cradle of civilization was due to its abundence of natural resources (of large-seeded plants and large herbivores for domestication), earning the region the famous name of "fertile crescent".

Rhea

Thanks!

The documentary was about some people claiming some evidence, that's what made me wonder.

But food falling from trhe skies answers a lot.

But if it wasn't really desert at the time (the area on the way from Egypt to Jerusalem, that is) is there any documentation you know of (or web sites or something) that might have a picture of how lush or not it was?

No real reason, just wanting to satisfy my curiosity about something Christians call "wandering in the desert"

Thanks (I'm just asking what might be known off-hand. Don't go doing a web search for me, I can do that, didn't want to sound like I was asking someone else to... )