Till this last branch of the question is resolved, I shall take it for granted that no such difference of level exists, whatever Ptolemy’s engineers might have pretended to him; because, to suppose it fact, is to suppose the violation of one very material law of nature.
The next thing I have to take notice of, for the satisfaction of my reader, is, the way by which the children of Israel passed the Red Sea at the time of their deliverance from the land of Egypt.
As scripture teaches us, that this passage, wherever it might be, was under the influence of a miraculous power, no particular circumstance of breadth, or depth, makes one place likelier than another. It is a matter of mere curiosity, and can only promote an illustration of the scripture, for which reason, I do not decline the consideration of it.
I shall suppose, that my reader has been sufficiently convinced, by other authors, that the land of Goshen, where the Israelites dwelt in Egypt, was that country lying east of the Nile, and not overflowed by it, bounded by the mountains of the Thebaid on the south, by the Nile and Mediterranean on the west and north, and the Red Sea and desert of Arabia on the east. It was the Heliopolitan nome, its capital was _On_; from predilection of the letter O, common to the Hebrews, they called it Goshen; but its proper name was _Geshen_, the country of Grass, or Pasturage; or of the _Shepherds_; in opposition to the rest of the land which was sown, after having been overflowed by the Nile.
There were three ways by which the children of Israel, flying from Pharaoh, could have entered Palestine. The first was by the sea-coast by Gaza, Askelon, and Joppa. This was the plainest and nearest way; and, therefore, fittest for people incumbered with kneading troughs, dough, cattle, and children. The sea-coast was full of rich commercial cities, the mid-land was cultivated and sown with grain. The eastern part, nearest the mountains, was full of cattle and shepherds, as rich a country, and more powerful than the cities themselves.
This narrow valley, between the mountains and the sea, ran all along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, from Gaza northward, comprehending the low part of Palestine and Syria. Now, here a small number of men might have passed, under the laws of hospitality; nay, they did constantly pass, it being the high road between Egypt, and Tyre, and Sidon. But the case was different with a multitude, such as six hundred thousand men having their cattle along with them. These must have occupied the whole land of the Philistines, destroyed all private property, and undoubtedly have occasioned some revolution; and as they were not now intended to be put in possession of the land of promise, the measure of the iniquity of the nations being not yet full, God turned them aside from going that way, though the nearest, least they “should see war[168],” that is, least the people should rise against them, and destroy them.