Who are the only people who left Egypt and survived the 40 years in the wilderness?

Answer 1

All of the Levites survived, as did all of the women and children. Plus Joshua and Calev.

The Levites survived: Talmud, Bava Bathra 121.

The women survived: Rashi commentary, Numbers 26:64.

The children survived: because the decree of dying in the wilderness applied only to men aged twenty and over (Rashi, Numbers 14:29).

All of the above is based upon Israelite tradition going all the way back.

Answer 2

There are only two biblical personages who were listed among those that departed Egypt in the Exodus and arrived at the Jordan River 40 years later: Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephuneh.

Answer 3

All of the Levites survived, as did all of the women and children. Plus Joshua and Calev.
The Levites survived: Talmud, Bava Bathra 121.

The women survived: Rashi commentary, Numbers 26:64.

The children survived: because the decree of dying in the wilderness applied only to men aged twenty and over (Rashi, Numbers 14:29).

All of the above is based upon Israelite tradition going all the way back.

See also the Related Links.

Link: The Exodus

Link: Biblical-criticism

Answer 4

The biblical Exodus remains a matter of controversy in spite of the accumulated evidence that the events portrayed in the Books of Exodus and Numbers never really occurred.

• Taken literally, The Bible says that only two persons over twenty years old at the time of the spies drama (or possibly at the time of the Exodus) were permitted by God to survive this trek and enter the land of the Canaanites. These were Joshua and Caleb (Numbers 14:24 (Deuteronomistic); 14:30 (Priestly Source)). In addition, those who were children at that time would be permitted to enter the land of the Canaanites. Women are not mentioned, but since Israel was a patriarchal society, women would have had no voice and therefore could not have been held responsible for the unwillingness to attack the Canaanite cities. Thus, a reasonable opinion could be that women would also have been allowed to survive the trek from Egypt to Canaan.
  
• Talmudic commentary of the Common Era, written centuries after the Old Testament was finalised, added Levites to this list, but without apparent biblical support. The basis of this opinion is probably that the Levites were not fighting men and would not have feared going to war against the inhabitants.
• Until archaeological evidence came to light, and until the science of biblical hermeneutics was developed, scholars accepted the primary biblical position that two adult persons left Egypt and entered the 'Promised Land'. This has changed almost totally. The respected Israeli archaeologist, Israel Finkelstein, says that over 90 per cent of scholars say there was no exodus from Egypt as portrayed in the Bible. So, historically, no one survived this period of 40 years in the wilderness.