Migdol

A tower remarable in Israel’s history, to which they arrived soon after their leaving Egypt. (Exod. 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 thetriumph more conspicuous in sight of his enemies. (See the history, Exod. 14:throughout.)

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, Exo 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.

Mig´dol, a place between which and the Red Sea the Israelites were commanded to encamp on leaving Egypt (Exo 14:2; Num 33:7) [EXODUS]. The name, which means a tower, appears to indicate a fortified place. In Jer 44:1; Jer 46:14, 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 Eze 29:10; Eze 30:6 [’tower’ in A.V.].

A tower, a frontier town in Northern Egypt towards the Red Sea, Jer 44:1 ; 46:14; Eze 29:10 ; 30:6. The Hebrews, on leaving Egypt, encamped between it and the sea, Exo 14:2 ; Num 33:7 .\par

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, Exo 14:2; Num 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. Eze 29:10; Eze 30:6. In the prophecy of Jeremiah, the Jews in Egypt are spoken of as dwelling at Migdol. Jer 44:1. It seems plain, from its being spoken of with Memphis, and from Jews dwelling there, that this Midgol was an important town.

("a tower".) Exo 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 Jer 44:1; Jer 46:14; Eze 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 Eze 30:6.

Migdol (mĭg’dol), tower. 1. A place near the head of the Red Sea. Exo 14:2; Num 33:7; Num 8:2. A fortified city in the northern limits of Egypt toward Palestine. Jer 44:1; Jer 46:14. This name is rendered "tower" in the phrase "from the tower of Syene," R. V. reads "Seveneh," Eze 29:10; Eze 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.

[Mig’dol]

Place near to which the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. Exo 14:2; Num 33:7. Apparently distinct from another Migdol in the north of Egypt. Jer 44:1; Jer 46:14. In Eze 29:10, margin , ’from Migdol to Syene’ implies from north to south of Egypt.

MIGDOL.—A Semitic word meaning ‘tower,’ borrowed by the Egyptians of the New Kingdom, and common as a word and in place-names. 1. Exo 14:2, Num 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. Eze 29:10; Eze 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 Jer 44:1; Jer 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.

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

1. Exo 14:2; Num 33:7:

In Exo 14:2; Num 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. Jer 44:1; Jer 46:14:

In Jer 44:1; Jer 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 Eze 29:10; Eze 30:6 (compare Eze 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 (Exo 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 II (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.