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“Did I Not Bring Israel Out of Egypt?”: Biblical, Archaeological, and Egyptological Perspectives on the Exodus Narratives
The Hebrew Scriptures consider the exodus from Egypt to be Israel’s formative and foundational event. Indeed, the Bible offers no other explanation for Israel’s origin as a people. It is also true that no contemporary record regarding a man named Moses or the Israelites generally, either living in or leaving Egypt has been found. Hence, many biblical scholars and archaeologists take a skeptical attitude, dismissing the exodus from the realm of history. However, the contributors to this volume are convinced that there is an alternative, more positive approach. Using textual and archaeological materials from the ancient Near East in a comparative way, in conjunction with the Torah’s narratives and with other biblical texts, the contributors to this volume (specialists in ancient Egypt, ancient Near Eastern culture and history, and biblical studies) maintain that the reports in the Hebrew Bible should not be cavalierly dismissed for ideological reasons but, rather, should be deemed to contain authentic memories.
- GenresBiblical Studies
352 pages, Hardcover
Published May 19, 2016
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January 1, 2024
This is a high-level Old Testament Apologetics work by Old Testament/Egyptian scholars. It is an expensive book - about $70 on Amazon but well worth the price.
The book is a series of papers that were collected on the subject of whether or not there is good evidence that Israel did really come out of Egypt. It is common for minimalists to assert that the sojourn in Egypt was just a story invented for Israel during their Babylonian captivity.
Also - the lack of or very scant direct archeological evidence provides no positive evidence they were there. However, there are very good reasons to think that Israel did come out of Egypt circa the 13-14th century BC. Here is a short summary of each chapter.
1. Egyptian Religious Influences on the Early Hebrews - Exodus and Numbers reflect Egyptian culture in names, administrative offices, priestly titles and religious practices. It is impossible to imagine that writers living 600+ years after the events would get these down accurately.
2. Onomastics in the Exodus Generation in the Book of Exodus - numerous names (40) in Exodus have Western Semitic/Egyptian roots found in the 2nd and 1st millenium BC. No personal names that only appear in the 1st millenium BC - ie - none can be used to support a fictional document written in the middle of the 1st millenium.
3. Egyptian Loanwords as Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus and Wilderness Tradition - Exodus contains the highest ratio and frequency of Egyptian loan words. Exactly what you would expect if Exodus was a genuine account of events and not fiction. A good comparison is the same type of Persian loan-words in Ezra-Nehemiah - even minimalists do not deny the Babylonian captivity and Persian influence.
4. Significance of the Horns of Exodus 27:2 The Egyptian and Levantine Four-Horned Altars. The time period in which Egypt used 4-horned altars squares with the time of the Exodus and the Israelite altars reflect that. Again - not rational to think this was a made-up story to get that sort of detail correct.
5. The Practices of the Land of Egypt (Lev 18:3): Incest, Anat and Israel in Egypt of Rameses the Great - the comment in Leviticus would be very strange regarding incest at any other time but makes more sense if Israel came out of Egypt during or shortly after Ramses the Great given the incestual issues of his reign.
6. The Kadesh Inscriptions of Ramesses II and the Exodus Sea Account (Ex. 13-15) - The Song of the Sea bears striking resemblance and influence by Ramesses Kadesh inscriptions that would not make sense if the account were fictionalized six centuries later.
7. The Literary Unity of Exodus - contra to the Wellhausen-Graf JEDP theory - Exodus shows a remarkable literary unity and does not bear the marks of being stitched together.
8. Moses the Tongue-Tied Singer - Moses as a stammerer and also a singer. Stutterers can often sing well. Exodus and later Biblical writers did not hesitate to point out flaws in their heroes.
9. The Egyptian Sojourn and Deliverance from Slavery in the Framing and Shaping of Mosaic Law - the fact that the Law starts with how slaves are to be treated fairly makes more sense with the Exodus being a reality than simply as exiles from Babylon.
10. Exodus as a Cultural Memory - the entire Old Testament is saturated with and has the Exodus woven into its structure which makes more sense if it were based in reality rather than a later fiction created by unknown writers in the 6th century.
11. Recent Developments in Understanding the Origins of the Arameans - the writer compares current archeological/historical understanding of Aramean origins and uses them to show how an Egyptian origin of the Exodus account is more credible.
12. The Elusive Signature of Nomads in Sinai - this chapter is more of a recommendation of how to look for evidence in Sinai for any evidence of the Exodus.
13. Hosea's Use of the Exodus Tradition - against the minimalists - it is very doubtful that the historical milieu of the 8th century - given the favorability of Egypt at the time - would serve as an incubator for the exodus, anti-exodus and restoration as a new exodus.
14. Traditions in the Books of Amos and Micah - three times Amos cites the tradition of Israel coming out of Egypt and Micah contains lists of names from Numbers. It isn't realistic to see the Exodus story as made up during the Exile.
Highest possible recommendation for this book. An excellent companion to Kitchen's On the Reliability of the Old Testament.
The book is a series of papers that were collected on the subject of whether or not there is good evidence that Israel did really come out of Egypt. It is common for minimalists to assert that the sojourn in Egypt was just a story invented for Israel during their Babylonian captivity.
Also - the lack of or very scant direct archeological evidence provides no positive evidence they were there. However, there are very good reasons to think that Israel did come out of Egypt circa the 13-14th century BC. Here is a short summary of each chapter.
1. Egyptian Religious Influences on the Early Hebrews - Exodus and Numbers reflect Egyptian culture in names, administrative offices, priestly titles and religious practices. It is impossible to imagine that writers living 600+ years after the events would get these down accurately.
2. Onomastics in the Exodus Generation in the Book of Exodus - numerous names (40) in Exodus have Western Semitic/Egyptian roots found in the 2nd and 1st millenium BC. No personal names that only appear in the 1st millenium BC - ie - none can be used to support a fictional document written in the middle of the 1st millenium.
3. Egyptian Loanwords as Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus and Wilderness Tradition - Exodus contains the highest ratio and frequency of Egyptian loan words. Exactly what you would expect if Exodus was a genuine account of events and not fiction. A good comparison is the same type of Persian loan-words in Ezra-Nehemiah - even minimalists do not deny the Babylonian captivity and Persian influence.
4. Significance of the Horns of Exodus 27:2 The Egyptian and Levantine Four-Horned Altars. The time period in which Egypt used 4-horned altars squares with the time of the Exodus and the Israelite altars reflect that. Again - not rational to think this was a made-up story to get that sort of detail correct.
5. The Practices of the Land of Egypt (Lev 18:3): Incest, Anat and Israel in Egypt of Rameses the Great - the comment in Leviticus would be very strange regarding incest at any other time but makes more sense if Israel came out of Egypt during or shortly after Ramses the Great given the incestual issues of his reign.
6. The Kadesh Inscriptions of Ramesses II and the Exodus Sea Account (Ex. 13-15) - The Song of the Sea bears striking resemblance and influence by Ramesses Kadesh inscriptions that would not make sense if the account were fictionalized six centuries later.
7. The Literary Unity of Exodus - contra to the Wellhausen-Graf JEDP theory - Exodus shows a remarkable literary unity and does not bear the marks of being stitched together.
8. Moses the Tongue-Tied Singer - Moses as a stammerer and also a singer. Stutterers can often sing well. Exodus and later Biblical writers did not hesitate to point out flaws in their heroes.
9. The Egyptian Sojourn and Deliverance from Slavery in the Framing and Shaping of Mosaic Law - the fact that the Law starts with how slaves are to be treated fairly makes more sense with the Exodus being a reality than simply as exiles from Babylon.
10. Exodus as a Cultural Memory - the entire Old Testament is saturated with and has the Exodus woven into its structure which makes more sense if it were based in reality rather than a later fiction created by unknown writers in the 6th century.
11. Recent Developments in Understanding the Origins of the Arameans - the writer compares current archeological/historical understanding of Aramean origins and uses them to show how an Egyptian origin of the Exodus account is more credible.
12. The Elusive Signature of Nomads in Sinai - this chapter is more of a recommendation of how to look for evidence in Sinai for any evidence of the Exodus.
13. Hosea's Use of the Exodus Tradition - against the minimalists - it is very doubtful that the historical milieu of the 8th century - given the favorability of Egypt at the time - would serve as an incubator for the exodus, anti-exodus and restoration as a new exodus.
14. Traditions in the Books of Amos and Micah - three times Amos cites the tradition of Israel coming out of Egypt and Micah contains lists of names from Numbers. It isn't realistic to see the Exodus story as made up during the Exile.
Highest possible recommendation for this book. An excellent companion to Kitchen's On the Reliability of the Old Testament.
August 13, 2023
This is a perfect starting handbook for any student who wants to learn about the Exodus. The Exodus was a very historical event, and it occurred very similarly to (if not exactly) how the book of Exodus describes. Tons of fantastic data points in here! My favorite parts are about the Tabernacle and it’s similarities to Ramses’ military tent, and of course the analysis of Exodus 15. Super great stuff!
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