Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJames Hastings Dictionary of the Bible: Mixed Multitude
Subjects in this Topic:
MIXED MULTITUDE.—A description given (1) to certain persons who joined Israel in the Exodus from Egypt (Exo_12:38), and who fell a lusting at Kibroth-hattaavah (Num_11:4); (2) to those who were separated from the Israelites after the return from the Captivity (Neh_13:3).
In Exo_12:38 those referred to are probably strangers of non-Israelitic or half-Israelitic origin. The Hebrew consonants (differently pointed) mean either ‘mixed’ or ‘Arabian,’ and some have suggested that we ought here to translate ‘Arabians.’ In Jer_25:20; Jer_50:37, Eze_30:5, the same Hebrew word is translated by the expression ‘mingled people,’ where it has been supposed by some to refer to foreign mercenaries. In Eze_30:5 at least ‘Arabians’ gives a better meaning. The Hebrew word in Num_11:4 is a different one, and is probably a contemptuous term signifying the mob, the rabble.
The context in Neh_13:3 leaves no doubt as to the meaning. The reference is to the strangers with whom the Israelites had intermarried and the children of such alliances.
W. F. Boyd.