after nearly a century of multiplication (see verses 12 , 20) yet 
to run, the people could muster but six hundred men-at-arms? 
Fancy a Pharaoh of martial Egypt quaking in mortal terror 
when he portrays what may happen from his having six 
hundred— no, the progenitors of six hundred — male aliens in 
his empire ! 
21. Pharaoh, however, stands not alone in his fear. At 
the close of the wilderness wandering, another king, Balak 
of Moab, sees the intrusion of the strange tribes into his 
smiling plains, and is “ distressed because of the children of 
Israel. Ho craves the supernatural aid of a remote prophet, 
saying, “ Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt : 
behold, they cover the face of the earth [six hundred men with 
their households^ ; come now, therefore, I pray thee, curse 
me this people, for they are too mighty for me [only six hun- 
dred warriors, remember !] ; peradventure I shall prevail, that 
we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the 
land. Surely this critical hypothesis of arithmetical expur- 
gation deals somewhat cavalierly with the prowess of ancient 
monarchs, if the sight of six hundred warriors (without 
weapons, too, according to Hr. Colenso) could cause their 
courage thus to ooze out at their fingers’ ends ! On the other 
hand, all is in thorough consistency with the inspired state- 
ments of the population of Israel. 
?2. Again, these statements themselves, neither few nor 
uniform, sustain the most perfect harmony inter se. Thus we 
find reiterated allusions to “ the thousands " of Israel. When 
Jethro visited his' illustrious son-in-law at the Mount of God 
(Ex. xviii.), he saw with regret that he was “ wearing himself 
away ” with judging the controversies of the people (pause a 
moment, and weigh the probability of the litigation of six 
hundred householders wearing the judge away !), and coun- 
selled ^ a transfer of subordinate spheres of the labour, by 
“placing over the people able men .... to be rulers of 
thousands , and rulers of hundreds," &c. And this advice 
Moses followed (vv. 21, 25; Deut. i. 15). Thenceforth such 
a subdivision is frequently recognized. The princes of the 
tribes, who at the first census were appointed to stand with 
Moses, are expressly designated (Numb. i. 16) “heads of 
thousands in Israel.” When the different modes of sounding 
the silver trumpets were described, and the significance of 
each was defined, it was ordained (Numb. x. 4) that “ if they 
blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads 
q , 10 t' L0U sands of Israel, should gather themselves.” So, to 
adduce no more, for the avenging expedition against Midian 
