Bible Strands
Exodus 12:38
And a mixed multitude also went up with them, along with great droves of livestock, both flocks and herds.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the Israelites' departure from Rameses to Succoth immediately after the Passover and the final plague. This moment captures the logistical reality of the exodus as the community prepares to leave Egypt.
The words — The text emphasizes עֵרֶב (‘ereḇ), translated as "a mixed company," and רַב (raḇ), meaning "numerous" or "great." These terms designate the non-Israelite group and the scale of livestock accompanying the departure.
The thread — This mixed group reappears in Numbers 11:4 as a "rabble" that triggers the Israelites' complaint over food. Zechariah 8:23 later inverts the motif by depicting foreigners voluntarily clinging to Israel in the end times.
Why it lands — The verse establishes that the exodus demographic included non-Israelites and extensive livestock, complicating a purely ethnic reading of the covenant community. Readers must account for this mixed population when evaluating later Israelite rebellion and identity formation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.
Cross-references
- Numbers 11:4 Meanwhile, the rabble among them had a strong craving for other food, and again the Israelites wept and said, “Who will feed us meat?
- Zechariah 8:23 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue will tightly grasp the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”