The Road to Succoth

We know the Hebrew’s first stop on their Exodus journey was Succoth. But we don’t know a lot about it.

וַיִּסְע֧וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל מֵרַעְמְסֵ֖ס סֻכֹּ֑תָה כְּשֵׁשׁ־מֵא֨וֹת אֶ֧לֶף רַגְלִ֛י הַגְּבָרִ֖ים לְבַ֥ד מִטָּֽף׃

The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand fighting men on foot, aside from noncombatants.

Exodus 12:37

What do we know?

The Exodus begins on Nissan 15. The Hebrews make it to Mount Sinai on Sivan 1, 44 days later. After the crossing of the Red Sea and before reaching Mount Sinai, we have two more stated dates. Iyyar 15, when God first provides manna and quail for the group to eat and Iyyar 22, the first required marking of Shabbat. Nissan has 30 days and Iyyar has 29. The order of the Hebrew months is: Nissan, Iyyar, Sivan.

What we don’t know from Torah is how long each stage of the journey to Sinai took. A few of the legs give a number of days, but most do not. Nor do we know distances. Any assertion of distance or timing comes from Midrash or other commentaries (with some details coming from parts of the Bible other than Torah).

The first leg of the Exodus journey is from Rameses (the Nile Delta area where they lived for hundreds of years) to Succoth (a location that shares its name with a holiday (Sukkot) and the booths used for it). We have no idea where Succoth is, how far away it is, or how long it took to get there.

Location

Many sources put Succoth in the Sinai peninsula, quite far north, near the Mediterranean. Even though the Torah clearly states:

Now when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearer; for God said, “The people may have a change of heart when they see war, and return to Egypt.”

Exodus 13:17

The “way of the land of the Philistines” refers to the Bronze era trade route of Via Maris which runs from Egypt to Syria, along the Mediterranean coast. It makes sense that the Hebrews avoided it, because it would be filled with Egyptian military troops and others in service to Pharaoh. Egypt at the time (around 1313 BCE) controlled not only the Sinai peninsula but also much of the Middle East. It was also probably quite crowded and not suitable for as many people and animals as the Exodus entailed.

A Christian source run by Steven Rudd I’ve found useful puts Succoth instead about halfway down the Western edge of the Sinai peninsula, near the Egyptian controlled copper and turquoise mines at Serabit el-Khadim. The claim here is that the stop at Succoth was to complete the task (and part of Pharaoh’s decree) of taking every Hebrew with them by collecting the Hebrew slaves in the mines. While I do not agree with most of the assertions on this site, including dates, I find the author’s scholarship regarding locations to be compelling. He uses archeology, history, and geography to make his points, and he draws on many other commentators. The locations are not traditional ones but they’re not inconsistent with Jewish thought.

The road down the eastern side of the Gulf of Suez (the western side of the Sinai Peninsula) is flat and wide. The mine at Serabit el-Khadim is in the mountains but only a small group would need to make a side trip there to collect the Hebrew miners.

Distance

According to 11th Century commentator Rashi, the distance between Rameses and Succoth is 120 mil (which is 72-85 miles or 116-137 kilometers). His source is Mechilta, which says the distance is forty parasangs (96-114 miles or 155-183 kilometers). None of these distances are codified, so the conversions are approximations.

Rudd puts Succoth about 75 miles (120 km) south of the Port of Suez. Add perhaps another 40 miles to get to Rameses (as we don’t know exactly where that is either).

All of these sources are in the same ballpark. 72-115 miles. My estimated locations are 127 miles apart.

I put Succoth a couple miles off the main road, in a large flat area near Wādī al Jarf (an ancient harbor—so old it was ancient to the Hebrews—on the west side of the Gulf of Suez). This location though is on the east side of the Gulf of Suez, slightly inland.

Serabit el-Khadim is a known archeological site with copper and turquoise mines. It would be just shy of a 4 hour walk over 19 kilometers (12 miles). Easily done as a day trip (by unladen hikers).

Timing

Here’s the hard part. There isn’t any hint of timing in the Torah, aside from the fact that they need to go to several other places and cross the Red Sea within the first month of travel. So Rameses to Succoth is not going to be more than a few days.

Rashi uses the same Mechilta source to say that this leg happened in one day:

From Ramses to Succoth was a distance of forty parasangs…In an instant, Israel traveled from Ramses to Succoth… “And I bore you on eagles’ wings, etc.” “to succoth”: “succoth,” (“booths”) literally, as in (Genesis 33:17) “And Jacob traveled to Succoth, and for his cattle he made succoth (booths), for which reason the place was named Succoth.” These are the words of R. Eliezer. R. Akiva says: “succoth” refers to the clouds of glory…And the sages say: Succoth is a place, as in (Exodus 13:20)

Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael.  Tractate Pischa 14:1 on Exodus 12:37. 200 CE.  Israel.  A halakhic (legal) midrash on the book of Exodus.

With all due respect to these commentators, sometimes spiritual teachings don’t mesh well with practicality. My view is that the Hebrews had every reason to hurry. Pharaoh had a long history of telling them to go then changing his mind. They needed to be as far away as possible before that happened again and in a location that was not very populated and full of soldiers. Also, they wanted to be far enough away to make it less likely that some of the Hebrews would choose to turn back.

Nor do I have a problem with throwing some magic in there (God performing miracles). But instant transportation of over 100 miles (or even doing so on foot in one day) is a bit much. And unnecessary. It’s based entirely on the idea of God carrying the Hebrews on “eagles’ wings” even though that doesn’t tell us a lot.

Even the commentators use measurements that are based on timing that doesn’t match. A parasang [aka parasa] is based on a day’s travel. “Distance covered by an average man in a day’s walk is 10 parsa’ot. Time to walk a parasa is 72–96 minutes.” So 40 parasangs should be four days travel. A mil is also based on timing. 18–24 minutes each. Wikipedia talks about the parasang being “a historical Iranian unit of itinerant distance, the length of which varied according to terrain and speed of travel. The European equivalent is the league.”

Conclusion

So, my Succoth location for The Boat Children is the western Sinai peninsula, 110-150 miles from where the Hebrews lived in the Delta. Originally I allowed 3 full days of walking to get there, which represents a brisk but realistic pace. But I’ve changed it to 2 full days in order to allow them to cross the Red Sea on the 7th day (as counted from the day they leave Rameses), something many Torah commentators insist is correct.

References

• Via Maris. Wikipedia.
• The Exodus Route: The Succoth Stop.  Steven Rudd.  Biblical Archeology.
• Rashi on Exodus 12:37:1. M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, London, 1929-1934. Safaria. Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi) lived in Troyes, France, 1040-1105 CE.
• Biblical and Talmudic units of measurement. Wikipedia.
• Biblical mile. Wikipedia.
• Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael.  Tractate Pischa 14:1 on Exodus 12:37. 200 CE.  Israel.  A halakhic (legal) midrash on the book of Exodus. Translated by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein. Sefaria.
• Wadi al-Jarf. Wikipedia.
• Serabit el-Khadim. Wikipedia.
• Parasang. Wikipedia.