The New Pharaoh Revokes Joseph’s Patronage of the Israelites

The description of Israel’s time in Egypt that is most familiar to us comes from the response to the Four Questions on the seder night: מַה נִּשְׁתַּנָּה הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה מִכָּל הַלֵּילוֹת, “why is this night different from all other nights?” The answer that the Haggadah offers comes from Moses’ speech to Israel before they enter the land:

^{דברים ו:כא} ...עֲבָדִים הָיִינוּ לְפַרְעֹה בְּמִצְרָיִם וַיֹּצִיאֵנוּ יְ־הוָה מִמִּצְרַיִם בְּיָד חֲזָקָה [תה"ש: וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה].

^{Deut 6:21} ...We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and YHWH freed us from Egypt with a mighty hand [LXX: and with an outstretched arm].^[1]

After quoting this passage, the Haggadah adds:

וְאִלּוּ לֹא הוֹצִיא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת אֲבוֹתֵינוּ מִמִּצְרָיִם, הֲרֵי אָנוּ וּבָנֵינוּ וּבְנֵי בָנֵינוּ מְשֻׁעְבָּדִים הָיִינוּ לְפַרְעֹה בְּמִצְרָיִם.

And if the Holy One, blessed is he, had not brought our ancestors out from Egypt, then we, our children, and our children’s children would have been/remained enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt.

Seder night is an intimate setting in which passages such as these are not only recited, but are also relived through active storytelling, including the consumption of matzah and marror (bitter herbs) to remember the hard times in Egypt. Many Haggadahs also include vivid illustrations of Israelite slavery, all reinforcing the narrative that Pharaoh simply enslaved the Israelites.

The slavery narrative is consistently reflected in films such as The Ten Commandments (1923, 1956), the less dramatic but more thoughtful Moses the Lawgiver (1974), and even Dreamworks’ animated Prince of Egypt (1998), particularly in its opening song, “Deliver Us.” And yet, this is not exactly what the story as told in Exodus says.^[2]

The Exodus Account

The story in Exodus describes how a new king of Egypt who did not know Joseph, concerned about the Israelites’ growing numbers, put them to work:

^{שמות א:יא} וַיָּשִׂימוּ עָלָיו שָׂרֵי מִסִּים לְמַעַן עַנֹּתוֹ בְּסִבְלֹתָם וַיִּבֶן עָרֵי מִסְכְּנוֹת לְפַרְעֹה אֶת פִּתֹם וְאֶת רַעַמְסֵס.

^{Exod 1:11} And they [the Egyptians] placed over him [Israel] officials of missim in order to oppress/humble him [Israel] with their siblot, and he [Israel] built store cities for Pharaoh, [the cities of] Pithom and Rameses.

Both words left untranslated refer to the same type of labor, as we can see from other contexts in the Bible and from their Akkadian cognates.

Mas

Throughout the ancient world, farmers working the lands would be taxed by representatives of central authorities (kings or deities) who were considered the actual owners.^[3] These taxes were rendered by delivering livestock, or agricultural produce, and/or through the performance of corvée labor, which could involve fieldwork, dredging canals, or work on construction projects. Hebrew mas (plural missim), is connected to this latter form of taxation. Mas refers to a unit of laborers drafted for corvée service, and is a cognate of Akkadian massu.

Typically, a government official would require a town leader to supply a number of skilled craftsmen, artisans, or laborers for a particular project. Local officials were responsible for delivering the required workers based on their knowledge of who was capable of doing the required work and who owed the time.

Usually, drafts of corvée workers were conducted in “off time” when the workers had completed harvesting, or when other seasonal tasks had been completed. The plural title “officials of missim” implies that many officers were involved and that each may have been responsible for a collection of different corvée groups, each with its own specialty, e.g., brick makers, bakers, etc.

Sebel

In Akkadian texts from Mari (an ancient city in Syria), sablu refers to small work units attached to the army.^[4] The verbal form appears in Jacob’s blessing of Issachar:

^{בראשית מט:טו} וַיַּרְא מְנֻחָה כִּי טוֹב וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ כִּי נָעֵמָה וַיֵּט שִׁכְמוֹ לִסְבֹּל וַיְהִי לְמַס עֹבֵד.

^{Gen 49:15} When he saw how good was security, and how pleasant was the country, he bent his shoulder to the burden (lisbol), and became a mas ‘obed (=a group of corvée laborers).

Here again, we see sebel and mas equated. Corvée labor, along with other forms of taxation, was a natural obligation, a given fact of life. We can see this in how Israel, once they became sufficiently powerful, subjected the Canaanites to this:

^{שופטים א:כח} וַיְהִי כִּי חָזַק יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיָּשֶׂם אֶת הַכְּנַעֲנִי לָמַס וְהוֹרֵישׁ לֹא הוֹרִישׁוֹ.

^{Judg 1:28} And when Israel gained the upper hand, they subjected the Canaanites to forced labor; but they did not dispossess them.^[5]

Both David and Solomon had an officer in their cabinet whose title was, ‘al ha-mas, “over(seer) of the corvée labor.” This illustrates that corvée labor, as it was elsewhere in the ancient Near East, was a standard part of Israelite society; it was not thought of as something unusually onerous or bad.^[6]

Parekh

The story in Exodus continues with the description of the labor, using yet a third term:

^{שמות א:יג} וַיַּעֲבִדוּ מִצְרַיִם אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּפָרֶךְ. ^א:יד וַיְמָרְרוּ אֶת חַיֵּיהֶם בַּעֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה בְּחֹמֶר וּבִלְבֵנִים וּבְכָל עֲבֹדָה בַּשָּׂדֶה אֵת כָּל עֲבֹדָתָם אֲשֶׁר עָבְדוּ בָהֶם בְּפָרֶךְ.

^{Exod 1:13} And the Egyptians worked the sons of Israel by means of [the institution of] parekh. ^1:14 And they [the Egyptians] embittered/toughened their lives [the lives of Israelites] by means of hard work, by means of clay, and by means of bricks, and by means of all work in the field [along] with all their work [the Egyptian work] that they [the Egyptians] worked by means of them [the Israelites] by means of [the institution of] parekh.

Traditionally, based on an incorrect etymology, parekh is understood to mean oppressive. This is reflected in Rashi’s gloss, based on one of the interpretations found in b. Sotah 11b:

^{רש"י שמות א:יג} בפרך – עבודה קשה המפרכת ומשברת את הגוף...

^{Rashi Exod 1:13} “Bepharekh”—hard work that crushes (mepharekhet) and shatters the body…

The word is better understood as identical to the Akkadian words pirku and pilku that also refer to corvée labor. What we see then is that the Israelites are not being enslaved; rather they are being compelled to provide corvée labor.

A New King of Egypt Perceives a Socio-economic Problem

Pharaoh’s sudden decision to subject the Israelites to corvée labor is explained in the preceding verses:

^{שמות א:ח} וַיָּקָם מֶלֶךְ חָדָשׁ עַל מִצְרָיִם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדַע אֶת יוֹסֵף. ^א:ט וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל עַמּוֹ הִנֵּה עַם בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל רַב וְעָצוּם מִמֶּנּוּ. ^א:י הָבָה נִתְחַכְּמָה לוֹ פֶּן יִרְבֶּה וְהָיָה כִּי תִקְרֶאנָה מִלְחָמָה וְנוֹסַף גַּם הוּא עַל שֹׂנְאֵינוּ וְנִלְחַם בָּנוּ וְעָלָה מִן הָאָרֶץ.

^{Exod 1:8} A new king who did not know Joseph arose over Egypt. ^1:9 And he said to his nation, “Look, the nation of the sons of Israel is many and (more) powerful than us. ^1:10 Let us act cleverly with regard to it [the nation] lest it increase. And in the event of war it will join our enemies and fight against us and go up from the land.”

The new king’s concern is that the populous Israelite nation might exploit a war situation to leave Egypt and that Egyptian forces would be unable to stop them. He wanted them to stay. The reason he thought they might leave can be found in the innocuous sounding phrase “did not know Joseph.”

The most common interpretations of the phrase are that the king did not have a personal relationship with Joseph, that he was not aware of what Joseph did, or that he did not feel especially grateful for it. Yet, I suggest that the phrase is not about a state of knowledge. It is rather about not recognizing, i.e., honoring Joseph’s blanket support of his brothers and their descendants as reflected toward the end of Genesis. This special recognition included the right to provisions from official food storage facilities, which Joseph first offers his family upon their reconciliation:

^{בראשית מה:יא} וְכִלְכַּלְתִּי אֹתְךָ שָׁם כִּי עוֹד חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים רָעָב פֶּן תִּוָּרֵשׁ אַתָּה וּבֵיתְךָ וְכָל אֲשֶׁר לָךְ.

^{Gen 45:11} There (= in Goshen) I will provide for you—for there are yet five years of famine to come—that you and your household and all that is yours may not suffer want.

Joseph settles his family in fertile territory and feeds them for free while the starving Egyptians sell themselves into servitude to acquire food:

^{בראשית מז:יא} וַיּוֹשֵׁב יוֹסֵף אֶת אָבִיו וְאֶת אֶחָיו וַיִּתֵּן לָהֶם אֲחֻזָּה בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם בְּמֵיטַב הָאָרֶץ בְּאֶרֶץ רַעְמְסֵס כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה פַרְעֹה. ^מז:יב וַיְכַלְכֵּל יוֹסֵף אֶת אָבִיו וְאֶת אֶחָיו וְאֵת כָּל בֵּית אָבִיו לֶחֶם לְפִי הַטָּף. ^מז:יג וְלֶחֶם אֵין בְּכָל הָאָרֶץ כִּי כָבֵד הָרָעָב מְאֹד וַתֵּלַהּ אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם וְאֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן מִפְּנֵי הָרָעָב.

^{Gen 47:11} So Joseph settled his father and his brothers, giving them holdings in the choicest part of the land of Egypt, in the region of Ramesses, as Pharaoh had commanded. ^47:12 Joseph sustained his father, and his brothers, and all his father’s household with bread, down to the little ones. ^47:13 Now there was no bread in all the world, for the famine was very severe; both the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.^[7]

The support of the brothers continued even after Jacob’s death, long after the famine in Egypt was over, when Joseph reiterates this promise in an open-ended fashion:

^{בראשית נ:כא} וְעַתָּה אַל תִּירָאוּ אָנֹכִי אֲכַלְכֵּל אֶתְכֶם וְאֶת טַפְּכֶם וַיְנַחֵם אוֹתָם וַיְדַבֵּר עַל לִבָּם.

^{Gen 50:21} And so, fear not. I will sustain you and your children.” Thus, he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.

Perhaps it is Joseph’s largesse that the riffraff among the exodus generation remember when they complain about the manna and general lack of food varieties in the wilderness:

^{במדבר יא:ה} זָכַרְנוּ אֶת הַדָּגָה אֲשֶׁר נֹאכַל בְּמִצְרַיִם חִנָּם אֵת הַקִּשֻּׁאִים וְאֵת הָאֲבַטִּחִים וְאֶת הֶחָצִיר וְאֶת הַבְּצָלִים וְאֶת הַשּׁוּמִים.

^{Num 11:5} We remember the fish that we used to eat gratis in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.

This is the grant that the Pharaoh canceled.

“To Know” as to Acknowledge an Agreement

The usage of the root י.ד.ע to mean “acknowledge an agreement” appears elsewhere in the Bible. For example, in Genesis, YHWH explains to the angels why Abraham must be informed of what will happen in Sodom:

^{בראשית יח:יט} כִּי יְדַעְתִּיו לְמַעַן אֲשֶׁר יְצַוֶּה אֶת בָּנָיו וְאֶת בֵּיתוֹ אַחֲרָיו וְשָׁמְרוּ דֶּרֶךְ יְ־הוָה לַעֲשׂוֹת צְדָקָה וּמִשְׁפָּט...

^{Gen 18:19} Indeed, I acknowledged/knew him [as legitimate, vis-à-vis a covenant agreement] so that he may instruct his children and his posterity to keep the way of YHWH by doing what is just and right…

Here, YHWH suggests that the agreement (knowing) with Abraham requires YHWH to inform him of his upcoming punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah.

In Amos, YHWH speaks of the covenant relationship with Israel in these terms:

^{עמוס ג:ב} רַק אֶתְכֶם יָדַעְתִּי מִכֹּל מִשְׁפְּחוֹת הָאֲדָמָה עַל כֵּן אֶפְקֹד עֲלֵיכֶם אֵת כָּל עֲו‍ֹנֹתֵיכֶם.

^{Amos 3:2} Only you have I known, of all the families of the earth. That is why I will call you to account for all your iniquities.

The verb “to know” implies an acknowledged relationship, a valid understanding, mutual agreement, or covenant between YHWH and Israel.^[8]

Finally, after Moses and Aaron, standing before the monarch of Egypt, declare: YHWH god of Israel said “Send out my nation…”

^{שמות ה:ב} וַיֹּאמֶר פַּרְעֹה מִי יְ־הוָה אֲשֶׁר אֶשְׁמַע בְּקֹלוֹ לְשַׁלַּח אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא יָדַעְתִּי אֶת יְ־הוָה וְגַם אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא אֲשַׁלֵּחַ.

^{Exod 5:2} Pharaoh said: “Who is YHWH that I should listen to his voice to send out Israel; I did not/do not know YHWH, and what’s more, I will not send out Israel.”

Here Pharaoh claims that he does not acknowledge YHWH’s authority, that he has no relationship with YHWH, and thus no obligation to send out the Israelites as YHWH commands. The plagues, at least in part, are intended as a quick course in theology for Pharaoh.^[9]

Pharaoh’s Plan

The new king cancels a food policy of long-standing that advantaged the Israelites and thus addresses the large population of disgruntled, non-Egyptians residing legally by decree of his predecessor on the eastern border of his domain. He seeks to do this cleverly through subjecting the Israelites to extensive corvée labor.

In Egypt, such labor was imposed, at least in theory, on almost all Egyptians except for those declared immune by royal charters, some of which had to be renewed periodically.^[10] The Egyptians would have resented the exemption of the Israelites from corvée labor, especially as they grew more populous, and they would have been relieved to see the Israelites finally share the burden with them.^[11]

Does Deuteronomy Contradict Exodus?

Given this understanding of Exodus, that the Israelites were not enslaved but subjected to corvée labor, it is possible that Deuteronomy 6:2 had a different conception of Israel’s experience in Egypt. Alternatively, the standard translation of Deuteronomy 6:2, עֲבָדִים הָיִינוּ לְפַרְעֹה בְּמִצְרָיִם as “we were slaves in Egypt” may be inaccurate.

The term עֶבֶד ʿeved (plural עֲבָדִים ʿavadim) does refer to slaves, that is to individuals who are owned by or in a contractual relationship with someone who controls their labor and to some extent even their bodies. But that is not always the case. It is also a relational term indicating that the individuals so identified are inferior to someone else.

For examples, the following are identified as עבד המלך (ʿeved hamelek), the servant of the king:

• Joab, David’s cousin and army commander (2 Sam 18:29);
• Naaman, commander of Aram’s army (2 Kgs 5:6);
• Nebuzaradan, chief guard of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon (2 Kgs 25:8).

None of these officials was the slave of those whom they served.

Nili Fox of Hebrew Union College points out that according to context, “[eved] can carry the meaning ‘slave, servant, subject, courtier’ or nuances thereof.” ^[12] It is also used to designate the relationship between Moses and Joshua with YHWH in the expression עֶבֶד י־הוה (ʿeved YHWH).^[13] Understood this way, the meaning of the phrase in Deuteronomy could very well be “We were subjects of Pharaoh in Egypt,” not “We were slaves.”^[14] If that is the case, Exodus and Deuteronomy are depicting the Israelite experience in Egypt in a similar fashion.