Welcome! Today we are gonna dig into the Exodus of Israelites from Egypt. We will focus on 3 main questions- Was it Historical or a myth to represent YHWH and second Date of Exodus and who was the Pharaoh ruling at this time period.
Was it a Historical Event : Let’s read Deuteronomy 26:1-9. This passage tells how central the exodus event is to Israelites identity. Think about India's Independence, it was a new era for us that gave us some value. Same for Israelites. This Story tells who Israelites are, their father (Jacob or Joseph) was a wanderer and they went to Egypt, became great in number then oppressed then saved by YHWH and now they are remembering it back.. If you look at these other passages, Joshua 24, Isaiah 43, Psalm 105, each of these is a recital of Israel's history, and each of them has, as its centerpiece, God's rescue of Israel from Egypt. So it is repeatedly confessed in the bible so it is clear it happened. But when? So there are two dates on it - 13th Century and 15th century. One thing to remember is that these dates are in BC so 13 is older than 15th. The reason some scholars say the 15th is based on 1 Kings 6:1. Here Solomon builds the temple after 480 years of exodus. But the problem is that if we consider this date, according to records during this time pharaoh didn't live in northern Egypt which is lower Egypt but he lived about 400 miles away from where Moses and Aaron performed most of their things. So what is the problem with Pharaoh living in the North or South? Bible Mentioned that moses and aaron visited frequently almost everyday. So it is not possible unless god gives them some flying Power or bamboo to meet him. Another date is of the 13th century, which would be around the 1200s BC. On this date, Pharaoh lived in Rameses and Pithom, which were in lower egypt and these cities were built by hebrews. Also another point to note is that at this time pharaoh had lost control over canaan, where in 15th century, when pharaoh was living in thebes, Canaan was under egypt. And if they got out around this time then they had to fight the pharaoh in order to conquer Canaan. So The 13th Century date fit better as Egypt had lost control over Canaan and the bible mentions that israelites had conflict with locals rather than Egypt. Also an archaeological source which is Pharoah’s Merneptah, mentions Hebrew. This Stele is dated back to the 13th century, which again gives one point to the 13th Century date. But what about 480 years mentioned in 1 king. Scholars generally say that rather than a factual number it is the symbolic number representing 12 generations of 40 years per generation. So that even possible way to accept that one also.
The next Pharaoh ruled during this event. The Chronology of pharaoh is with us in a very vivid way.There is a lot of archaeological evidence for each pharaoh to construct their life and rule. But it would be easier for us to dig the time, if the author would tell us the name of Pharaoh. The author just mentions ‘The Pharaoh’, which was the title for king in Egypt. Another thing I noticed is that the author mentioned the names of midwives, who were doing very low job (yet significant) but our main head of state is unnamed in the book. I think it is a way of the author to reduce the authority of the pharaoh or to minimize his importance. We also have names of Jacob's sons. This is a way the author is trying to mute the Pharaoh's power in front of Joacob’s upcoming nations. That is really fascinating. Or the other way is that this Pharaoh ordered the killing of Hebrew boys and by the time Moses came back to egypt after wilderness, the previous pharaoh died and there was a new pharaoh in place of him. So in a certain way, the author is trying to show his readers that these two are actually one, same policies and same rules and both against YHWH and his people. So he doesn't name them so that our mind merges them into one. Me Myself was thinking that they are one, until I dug deep. You might also be thinking the same. Just see what the author has been really successful in doing.
