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Month 2
There is really no need to examine this article
any further. With the application of the first
month dispatched in light of the inspired
evidence we can safely disregard the remainder
of the conclusions that are based on the
flawed information from the first month.
But, knowing the possible outcry of some people,
we will examine a few points just to demonstrate
our conclusion.
In the second month the TMR article deals with
the story of the Manna in Exodus 16. There are
points in this month that are built on the
information from the first month. We have
adequately demonstrated (with evidence, not
assumptions) errors in the TMR conclusion for
the first month and this will naturally affect
the conclusion for the second month. Let us
examine a few examples:
TMR:
“1.
From the New King James Version above it
is not entirely clear that the Israelites had
arrived at the Wilderness of Sin on the 14th,
then murmured and complained of hunger on the 15th.
Below is a clearer rendering of the same event
from the Septuagint. Here a semicolon is
placed at the natural change in thought in the
Hebrew sentence structure known as an “atnach”.
“And they departed from Elim, and all the
congregation of the children of Israel came to
the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and
Sina; and on the fifteenth day, in the second
month after their departure from the land of
Egypt, all the congregation of the children of
Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron.” Ex 16:
1, 2 Septuagint”
p.16
Comment:
Such a criticism is unnecessary, and it is not
best to plead for a different translation unless
there is clear and urgent reason for so doing.
We do not have such a reason in this passage, as
it is plain from the Hebrew reading of the text.
It is only an assumption that states they
arrived on the 14th of the month;
there is absolutely no evidence to support this
idea. The Hebrew text places their arrival on
the 15th of the month (not on the 14th).
The reading of the King James Version is
accurate and without fault. A few literal
translations will demonstrate this fact:
Exodus 16:1
And they took their journey from Elim, and
all the congregation of the children of
Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin,
which is between Elim and Sinai, on the
fifteenth day of the second month after
their departing out of the land of Egypt.
(King James Version)
And they pulled up stakes from Elim. And all
the congregation of the sons of Israel came
into the Wilderness of Sin, which is between
Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the
second month after their going out from the
land of Egypt.
(Literal Translation of the Holy Bible)
And they journey from Elim, and all the
company of the sons of Israel come in unto
the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim
and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the
second month of their going out from the
land of Egypt.
(Young's Literal Translation)
And they took their journey from Elim, and
all the congregation of the children of
Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin,
which is between Elim and Sinai, on the
fifteenth day of the second month after
their departing out of the land of Egypt.
(The Jewish Publication Society)
The whole community of Israelites moved from
Elim and came to the desert of Sin, which is
between Elim and Sinai. This was on the
fifteenth day of the second month after they
had left Egypt.
(GOD’S WORD Translation)
This is in perfect harmony with the Masoretic
Text
as can be ascertained by examining an
interlinear Bible.
The weight of evidence certainly does not
support the Septuagint reading of this text or
the conclusion of the TMR article. It is
impossible to support the assumption of the
TMR article by any evidence. The arrival of the
children of Israel was on the 15th of
the month (not the 14th) as is
further confirmed by inspiration.
“On the fifteenth day of the second month
after their departure from Egypt, the
children of Israel came to the wilderness of
Sin; and there "the whole congregation
of the children of Israel murmured against
Moses and Aaron. . . . And the children of
Israel said unto them, Would to God we had
died by the hand of the Lord in the land of
Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, and
when we did eat bread to the full; for ye
have brought us forth into this wilderness,
to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”{Ellen
White, RH, August 30, 1898 par. 3}
“From Marah the people journeyed to Elim,
where they found "twelve wells of water, and
threescore and ten palm trees." Here they
remained several days before entering the
wilderness of Sin. When they had been a
month absent from Egypt, they made their
first encampment in the wilderness.
Their store of provisions had now begun to
fail.” {PP 292.1}
We saw earlier that the exodus from Egypt
happened on the 15th day of the first
month. Now, exactly one month later, they are
found arriving in the wilderness of Sin and
making their encampment. Why then does the
Septuagint give a different reading?
The differences between the Septuagint (LXX) and
the Masoretic texts are mostly expansions of the
text in the Septuagint and are indicative of
scribes introducing their comments of
harmonization.
While the Septuagint is a good translation for
the most part, we need to always be sure that it
is true to the Hebrew text and in harmony with
inspiration.
In this instance we have clear evidence that it
is not.
The Israelites travelled to the
wilderness of Sin on the 15th day of
the second month. Thus we see that this was a
travel day not a rest day. Therefore
it could not be a seventh day Sabbath.
TMR:
“2.
On the 15th day of the second month
of the year, after departing from Egypt, the
people murmured and complained of hunger. Ex
16:1-3” p.16
Comment:
This is an assumption that cannot be proved from
the text provided (see comments on previous
note). The text gives the date of their
arrival not their murmuring. It is only an
assumption that sees both events happening on
the same day. We are not told how much time
passed between their arrival and their
murmuring.
It cannot be proved that one or more days did
not elapse after Israel arrived at Sin, before
the manna began to fall.
The TMR article assumes that no time has passed
without any evidence.
TMR:
“4. Yahweh
told Moses and Aaron that He would send quail
that very night on the 15th, but on
the next morning He would rain down bread from
heaven, clearly identifying the 16th
of the month as the first day of the week. The 1st
& the 15th days of the month are the
calendation markers given for this second month.
From these two markers we can lay out the entire
calendar in both directions. Ex 16:6-7, Ex
16:12, 13” p.17
Comment:
This argument is built on the afore disproved
assumption. Further assumptions are added here
such as the 16th being the first day
of the week. First, it cannot be definitely
proved that one or more days did not elapse
after the arrival at Sin before the fall of the
manna; second, the murmuring cannot definitely
be proved as occurring on the 15th
day (arrival day); third, it was not necessary
that the first fall of the manna should be upon
the first day of this week.
All these things are the supposed markers
in support of the conclusion. But we see that
there is a fair share of assumptions to warrant
the conclusion highly questionable.
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