"To Succoth" (Exodus 12:37). They were actual booths [sukkot], as it is said (Genesis 33:17), "And Jacob journeyed to Succoth"; these are the words of Rabbi Eliezer. And the Sages say: "Succoth" means nothing other than a place, as it is said (Exodus 13:20), "And they journeyed from Succoth and camped in Etham"; just as Etham is a place, so too Succoth is a place. Rabbi Akiva says: "Succoth" means nothing other than the clouds of glory, as it is said (Isaiah 4:5), "For over all the glory shall be a canopy." And I have this only for the past; for the time to come, from where? (Isaiah 4:6) "And a booth [sukkah] shall be for a shade by day," (and Isaiah 35:10) "And the ransomed of the LORD shall return" and so forth. Rabbi Nehemiah says: "Succotah" [with a final heh], because it requires a lamed at its beginning [meaning "to"], it was given a heh at its end. "About six hundred thousand on foot" (Exodus 12:37). About sixty myriads, these are the words of Rabbi Ishmael, as it is said (Song of Songs 3:7), "Behold, the bed of Solomon" "Behold the bed" of Him who spoke and the world came into being: sixty myriads of mighty ones from the mighty ones of Israel, "all of them girded with the sword" (Song of Songs 3:8), (Numbers 21:14) "therefore it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD," and it is written (Psalms 149:5-7), "Let the pious rejoice in glory, the high praises of God in their throat, to execute vengeance upon the nations, to bind their kings with chains." "Besides the little ones": besides the little ones and the women, the children and the small ones. Rabbi Yonatan says: a hundred and sixty myriads, besides the little ones, besides the women, children and elders. "And a mixed multitude also went up with them" (Exodus 12:38), a hundred and twenty myriads; these are the words of Rabbi Ishmael. Rabbi Akiva says: two hundred and forty myriads. Rabbi Yonatan says: three hundred and sixty myriads. "And flocks and herds, very much cattle" (Exodus 12:38). Concerning these the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Abraham our father (Genesis 15:14), "And afterward they shall come out with great substance": with their going out from Egypt I will fill them with silver and gold.
What Succoth Meant and How Many Marched From Egypt
Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 209:1
סֻכֹּתָה. סֻכּוֹת מַמָּשׁ הָיוּ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בראשית לג, יז) "וְיַעֲקֹב נָסַע סֻכֹּתָה", דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר. וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים, אֵין סֻכּוֹת אֶלָּא מָקוֹם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות יג, כ) "וַיִּסְעוּ מִסֻּכֹּת וַיַּחֲנוּ בְאֵתָם", מָה אֵתָם מָקוֹם אַף סֻכּוֹת מָקוֹם. רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא אוֹמֵר, אֵין סֻכּוֹת אֶלָּא עַנְנֵי כָּבוֹד, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "כִּי עַל כָּל כָּבוֹד חֻפָּה וְאֵין לִי אֶלָּא לְשֶׁעָבַר, לְעָתִיד לָבֹא מִנַּיִן (שם ו) "וְסֻכָּה תִּהְיֶה לְצֵל יוֹמָם", (שם לה, י) "וּפְדוּיֵי ה' יְשֻׁבוּן" וְגוֹ', רַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה אוֹמֵר סֻכֹּתָה, לְפִי שֶׁצָּרִיךְ לָמֶ"ד בִּתְחִלָּתוֹ נִתַּן לוֹ הֵ"א בְּסוֹפוֹ. כְּשֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת אֶלֶף רַגְלִי. כְּשִׁשִּׁים רִבּוֹא, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שה"ש ג, ז) "הִנֵּה מִטָּתוֹ שֶׁלִּשְׁלֹמֹה" "הִנֵּה מִטָּתוֹ" שֶׁל מִי שֶׁאָמַר וְהָיָה הָעוֹלָם שִׁשִּׁים רִבּוֹא גִּבֹּרִים מִגִּבֹּרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל "כֻּלָּם אֲחֻזֵי חֶרֶב", (במדבר כא, יד) "עַל כֵּן יֵאָמֵר בְּסֵפֶר מִלְחֲמֹת ה'", וּכְתִיב "יַעְלְזוּ חֲסִידִים בְּכָבוֹד רוֹמְמוֹת אֵל בִּגְרוֹנָם לַעֲשׂוֹת נְקָמָה בַּגּוֹיִם לֶאֱסֹר מַלְכֵיהֶם בְּזִקִּים" לְבַד מִטָּף לְבַד מִנָּשִׁים (טַף) וּקְטַנִּים, רַבִּי יוֹנָתָן אוֹמֵר, מֵאָה וְשִׁשִּׁים רִבּוֹא, לְבַד מִטָּף (וְנָשִׁים) לְבַד מִנָּשִׁים טַף וּזְקֵנִים. וְגַם עֵרֶב רַב עָלָה אִתָּם, מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים רִבּוֹא, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל. רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא אוֹמֵר, מָאתַיִם וְאַרְבָּעִים רִבּוֹא, רַבִּי יוֹנָתָן אוֹמֵר, שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת וְשִׁשִּׁים רִבּוֹא, וְצֹאן וּבָקָר מִקְנֶה כָּבֵד מְאֹד, עֲלֵיהֶם אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְאַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ "וְאַחֲרֵי כֵן יֵצְאוּ בִּרְכֻשׁ גָּדוֹל", עִם יְצִיאָתָם מִמִּצְרַיִם אֲנִי מְמַלְּאָם כֶּסֶף וְזָהָב.