404 
number of the children of Israel coming out of Egypt, we must accept it, or 
else we must strike out not one, but many statements, one after the other. 
Mr. Moule. — About sixty. 
Mr Masterman.—' We must certainly correct the Old Testament chapter 
after chapter, and the different tables of numbers altogether, so that the 
total may coincide with our ideas of what should be right, and not with 
what we find written. Therefore this number and many others stand on a 
different footing from those which are only mentioned once I hope 1 am 
quite conveying my meaning to the meeting. (Hear, hear.) Now I wish 
to say here that I agree in a great measure with Mr. Gosses paper. Of 
course no one here would ever care to sign his name to eveyy word that 
Mr. Gosse has written in that paper ; for in writing a paper of this nature 
there must occur almost of necessity some passages which would require 
amendment. But Mr. Gosse strongly asserts that if we begin to destroy the 
authenticity of the numbers of the Old Testament, we may just as well 
cut into the whole history, and alter any part which is not consistent with 
our ideas, or which we do not regard as likely to have occurred, or which may 
notsuitthe idiosyncrasies of our own disposition or of our own critical power. 1 
think that if we alter such numbers as those relatmg to the children of Isme , 
acknowledged as they are to be a most important part of the teaching of the 
Old Testament, we may just as well alter the whole text That is my 
feelino as to Mr. Gosse’s statements. Let me make one more observation, I 
see that Mr. Kow does not think that the 600,000 men were lineal descend- 
ants of Jacob. 
Mr Row.— Dr. Payne Smith says that— not I. 
Mr Masterman.— Well, I think we may allow that there were some who 
were adopted into the family of Jacob, and who received the rite of circum- 
cision But they must have been very few. The great mass of the chudren 
of Israel who went out of Egypt and through the wilderness into Palestine, 
are always spoken of as the children of Israel, and therefore they must have 
been the descendants of Jacob. Both Mr. Gosse and Mr. Graham have 
strongly put before us that there is no impossibility m the 600,000 men being 
descended from Jacob and his sons. , , , _ all 
Mr Graham.— Dr. Thornton fully admits that ; and it should be well i - 
derstood that he admits that that is not an impossible increase. AU that has 
been said on that subject does not touch Dr. Thornton at all. He doe 
exactly give that increase, but he admits, not only that it was possible, but 
he even goes further, and says that Israel in Egypt was exceptionally blessed 
wirincrease. Dr. Thornton says it is possible, but he thinks it is not 
Pr Mr b MASTERMAN.— Then I stand corrected. I was only saying that I do 
not think we have any reason to imagine that these 600,000 men were no 
lineal descendants from Jacob and his family ; and especially when you ref^ 
to the Old Testament you will see that when Jacob came int gyp , 
Ime wEh his sons and' his sons’ wives and his grandchildren Moreover 
a few asses sufficient to carry food for the whole party, and the total 
