Migdol

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A tower, a frontier town in Northern Egypt towards the Red Sea, Jeremiah 44:1; 46:14; Ezekiel 29:10; 30:6 . The Hebrews, on leaving Egypt, encamped between it and the sea, Exodus 14:2; Numbers 33:7 .

Easton's Bible Dictionary

A place mentioned in the passage of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:2; Numbers 33:7,8 ). It is probably to be identified with Bir Suweis, about 2 miles from Suez.

Copyright StatementThese dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.

Bibliography InformationEaston, Matthew George. Entry for 'Migdol'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/m/migdol.html. 1897.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

("a tower".) Exodus 14:2. Now Bir Suweis, two miles from Suez, having wells of water, for Magdal or Maktal (Migdol), visited by Sethos I returning from a Syrian campaign, was built over a large well (Chabas, Voyage d'un Egyptien, 286). Israel encamped between Migdol and the sea. (See EXODUS.) Migdol thus was between Pihahiroth and Baalzephon. Mentioned also in Jeremiah 44:1; Jeremiah 46:14; Ezekiel 29:10, "I will make Egypt desolate from Migdol (in the extreme N., translated so for 'tower') to Syene" (Seveneh in the farthest S.); so Ezekiel 30:6.

Holman Bible Dictionary

Exodus 14:20Jeremiah 44:1Jeremiah 46:13-14Ezekiel 29:10Ezekiel 30:6

Since migdol could be used as a proper name, Migdol, or as a common noun, “tower,” two questions remain unresolved. What is the exact location of the site of Migdol? Do all of the references to Migdol refer to the same site, or was there more than one site in Egypt named Migdol? More than one site may have borne the name Migdol, though the evidence we have at hand is inconclusive. The Amarna Letters from Egypt refer to an Egyptian city named Maagdali, but information about its location is not given. See Amarna tell el. For instance a papyrus manuscript mentions the Migdol of Pharoah Seti I. This Migdol was located near Tjeku, the location of which is still debated. Some prefer to identify Tjeku with Succoth, modern-day tell el-Maskhutah, while others identify it with tell el-Her located further north near Pelusium. For this reason we may assume with some certainty that there were at least two sites named Migdol: the Migdol referred to by Jeremiah and Ezekiel located near Pelusium, and the Migdol on the route of the Exodus located near Succoth. Both may have been part of a line of border fortresses or migdols designed to provide protection for Egypt against invasion from the Sinai. See Watchtower, Egypt.

LaMoine DeVries

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

A tower remarable in Israel's history, to which they arrived soon after their leaving Egypt. (Exodus 14:2) Here it was Israel was commanded to encamp before the sea, where the Lord meant to display such a miracle in opening a way through it for Israel's safety, and the Egyptians, overthrow. And as this was at the very mouth of the sea, namely, Pihahiroth, which signifies the opening of the Foramen, and where Baalzephon, the dunghill god of Egypt, was supposed to watch to catch runaway servants, the Lord here made the triumph more conspicuous in sight of his enemies. (See the history, Exodus 14:1-31 throughout.)

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

MIGDOL. A Semitic word meaning ‘tower,’ borrowed by the Egyptians of the New Kingdom, and common as a word and in place-names. 1. Exodus 14:2 , Numbers 33:7 , on the border of Egypt, near the spot where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea: probably a mere guardhouse on the road. 2. Ezekiel 29:10  ; Ezekiel 30:6 , where ‘from Migdol to Syene’ is the true reading, instead of ‘from the tower of Seveneh.’ Here Migdol is the N.E. extremity of Egypt, as Seveneh is the S. It may be identical with Magdolo in a Roman Itinerary, perhaps at the now deserted site of Tell el-Her, 12 miles south of Pelusium. 3. In Jeremiah 44:1; Jeremiah 46:14 Migdol is mentioned with Tahpanhes and Noph (Memphis) as a habitation of the Jews, and is probably the same as No. 2.

F. Ll. Griffith.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Place near to which the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. Exodus 14:2; Numbers 33:7 . Apparently distinct from another Migdol in the north of Egypt. Jeremiah 44:1; Jeremiah 46:14 . In Ezekiel 29:10 , margin , 'from Migdol to Syene' implies from north to south of Egypt.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Migdol (mĭg'dol), tower. 1. A place near the head of the Red Sea. Exodus 14:2; Numbers 33:7; Numbers 8:2. A fortified city in the northern limits of Egypt toward Palestine. Jeremiah 44:1; Jeremiah 46:14. This name is rendered "tower" in the phrase "from the tower of Syene," R. V. reads "Seveneh," Ezekiel 29:10; Ezekiel 30:6; but the margin correctly has "from Migdol to Syene"—i.e., Syene the most southern border of Egypt, and Migdol the most northern.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Mig'dol. (tower). The name of one of two places, on the eastern frontier of Egypt.

1. A Migdol is mentioned in the account of the Exodus, Exodus 14:2; Numbers 33:7-8, near the head of the Red Sea.

2. A Migdol is spoken of by Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The latter prophet mentions it as a boundary-town, evidently on the eastern border. Ezekiel 29:10; Ezekiel 30:6. In the prophecy of Jeremiah, the Jews in Egypt are spoken of as dwelling at Migdol. Jeremiah 44:1. It seems plain, from its being spoken of with Memphis, and from Jews dwelling there, that this Midgol was an important town.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

Moses writes, that when the Israelites came out of Egypt, the Lord commanded them to encamp over against Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-Zephon, Exodus 14:2 . It is not known whether this Migdol was a city, or only a fortress: probably the latter, in which a garrison was stationed.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

mig´dol , mig´dōl ( מגדּול , mighdōl  ; Μαγδώλον , Magdṓlon ): This name ("the tower") is applied to two places on the east frontier of Egypt.

1. Exodus 14:2; Numbers 33:7 :

In Exodus 14:2; Numbers 33:7 , the Hebrew camp, on the march from Etham after they had "turned" (apparently to the South), is defined as 'facing Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal - zephon' . It is thus to be sought (see Exodus ) West of the Bitter Lakes, and may have been a watchtower on the spur of Jebel 'Ataḳah . Israel was supposed to be "entangled in the land," and shut in in the "wilderness," between this range and the Bitter Lakes, then forming the head of the Red Sea. The exact site is unknown. In about 385 AD, Silvia, traveling from Clysma (Suez), was shown the sites above mentioned on her way to Heroopolis, but none of these names now survive.

2. Jeremiah 44:1; Jeremiah 46:14 :

In Jeremiah 44:1; Jeremiah 46:14 , a Migdol is noticed with Memphis, and with Tahpanhes Septuagint "Taphnas"), this latter being supposed to be the Daphnai of Greek writers, now Tell Defeneh , West of Ḳanṭarah . The same place is probably intended in Ezekiel 29:10; Ezekiel 30:6 (compare Ezekiel 30:15-18 ), the borders of Egypt being defined as reaching "from Migdol to Syene" (see the Revised Version margin), as understood by the Septuagint translators. The Antonine Itinerary places Migdol 12 miles South of Pelusium, and the site appears to have been at or near Tell es Samûṭ , the Egyptian name, according to Brugsch ( Hist , II, 351), being Samut. This Migdol was thus apparently a "watchtower" on the main road along the coast from Palestine, which is called (Exodus 13:17 ) "the way of the land of the Philistines," entering Egypt near Daphnai.

These Sites Not Identical.

We are specially told that this was not the route taken at the exodus, and this Migdol cannot therefore be the same as (1), though Brugsch, in consequence of a theory as to the exodus which has not been accepted by other scholars, has confused the two sites, as apparently does the Antonine Itinerary when placing Pithom on the same route leading to Zoan. Brugsch ( Geography , III, 19) supposes the Egyptian town name Pa - Ma'kāl (with the determinative for "wall" added) to stand for Migdol, but the prefix " Pa -" ("city") seems to show that this word is purely native, and not Semitic, to say nothing of philological objections. This town may, however, have lain in the required direction, according to a scribe's report of the time of Seti 2 (or about 1230 BC).

As much confusion has been created by quoting this report as illustrative of the exodus, the actual words according to Brugsch's translation may be given ( History , II, 132): "I set out from the hall of the royal palace on the 9th day of Epiphi, in the evening, after the two servants. I arrived at the fortress Thuku ( T - k - u ) on the 10th of Epiphi. I was informed that the men had resolved to take their way toward the South. On the 12th I reached Khetam. There I was informed that grooms who had come from the neighborhood (of the "sedge city") reported that the fugitives had already passed the rampart ( Anbu or "wall"), to the North of the Ma'ktal of King Seti Minepthah." As to the position of this "wall," see Shur .

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Mig´dol, a place between which and the Red Sea the Israelites were commanded to encamp on leaving Egypt [EXODUS]. The name, which means a tower, appears to indicate a fortified place. In; , it occurs as a city of Egypt, and it would seem to have been the last town on the Egyptian frontier, in the direction of the Red Sea; hence 'from Migdol to Syene,' in; ['tower' in A.V.].

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Migdol', מַגְדּוֹל , a tower; Sept. Μάγδωλον or Μαγδωλόν), a town in Lower Egypt (Jeremiah 44:1; Jeremiah 46:14), the northern limit of the country (opposite Syene, Ezekiel 29:10; Ezekiel 30:6). It is apparently the Magdolum of the Antonine Itinerary (p. 171), situated twelve Roman miles from Pelusium; and, as it is doubtless also the place mentioned (Exodus 14:2; Numbers 33:7) in the description of the passage of the Red Sea by the Israelites (see Gesenius, Thesaur. page 268; Ewald, Isr. Gesch. 2:55), a difficulty has been experienced from the statements of those texts that this occurred "between Migdol and the sea," and "before Migdol," arising from the much greater distance of this locality from Pelusium, which the explanation of Hengstenberg (Mos. u. Aeg. page 58 sq.), that these expressions simply refer to the general region within which the Israelites were hemmed, scarcely meets. It is therefore better to regard the distance given in the Itinerary as somewhat vague, so that Migdol may have been situated sufficiently near to be said to be opposite the scene of the miracle. (See Exode).

The name has been traced in the Coptic Meshtol, which signifies many hills (Champollion, L'Egypte sous les Pharaons, 2:79), and has been referred (see Niebuhr, Descr. Arabice, page 409) to the Meshtul of Arabian geographers, in the province of Sharkje, in Lower Egypt, on the island Myeephor (Rosenmuller, Alterth. 3:260); but it is better (with Forster, Ep. ad Michael. page 29) to consider it as alluding to a mountainous situation (suitable for a watch-tower on the frontier), and we may then (with Tischendorf, De Israel. per mare rubrum transitu, page 25 sq.; Kutscheit, Lepsius u. der Sinai, page 6 sq.; and other earlier travellers) identify it with Jebel Ataka (see Olin's Travels in the East, 1:350). The only objection to this identification that remains, worthy of consideration, is that, according to some travellers, a gentle slope, some two or three miles wide, intervenes between this range of hills and the sea-shore, containing many camel-paths, and offering an easy escape for the Israelites hemmed in by the Egyptians that came down upon them, through Wady Tuwarik (Aiton's Lands of the Messiah, page 120); but it is doubtful whether so extensive a shore existed here anciently (see ib. page 106), and even if this margin were not at that time covered by the waves, it may easily have been preoccupied by a detachment of the Egyptian troops sent round by way of the isthmus to cut off the retreat of the Israelites. Herodotus (2:159) doubtless alludes to this place under the name of Magdolum, which he describes as a frontier town towards Palestine, where Josiah was slain by Necho; evidently confounding it with Megiddo. (See Passage Of Red Sea).