Exodus, Historicity

Around the Seder table with scholars.

“You shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a sojourner in that land” (Deuteronomy 23:8). Many biblical references to Israel’s sojourn in Egypt do not mention slavery and oppression and describe how the Israelites worked their own fields, owned homes, were friendly with neighbors, and had delicious food.

The Hyksos, the West Semitic rulers of northern Egypt in the late 16th century B.C.E., are the biblical Pharaohs and their lower-class subjects, the Hebrews. Here is the history behind the exodus.

The Elephantine Stele and the Great Harris Papyrus both describe Pharaoh Setnakhte’s war against the Levantine usurper Irsu in 1186 B.C.E. Reading these accounts together with Manetho’s story of the war against Osarseph offers us a possible historical context for what eventually became the Bible’s story of the exodus of Israel from Egypt.

The Torah implores us to remember and teach the exodus, yet surprisingly, some biblical passages seem unaware of this event and describe an alternative tradition: God found Israel in the wilderness.

The evidence for the Levites leaving Egypt and the introduction of YHWH into Israel.

The hidden polemic in the Torah’s note that “Israel did not escape by way of the Philistine coastal route”

Reading the plagues of locust, darkness, and firstborn in their ancient Egyptian context.

Ten observations about the Song of the Sea and what it is really about.

Exodus as cultural memory of the demise of Egypt’s 400-year rule over Canaan.

Egyptian records and archaeological findings shed light on the toponyms (place names) that appear in the exodus account: Ramesses, Pithom, Pi-Hahiroth, Baal-Zephon, Migdol, Sukkot, and Yam Suf.

Weighing the historicity of the exodus story entails more than addressing the lack of archaeological evidence.

Doing history one better