Exodus 1-39

Exodus 1-13

Speaking of civil rights movements. . .

The Book of Exodus tells the story of what appears to be the world's first organized push for civil rights for a minority class.

The NJB says Moses is an Egyptian word short for Tutmoses. The footnotes also say that according to the Elohist tradition, this is the period in time when God first reveals his name of Yahweh. So what was he being called before that? The text likes to imply that he had no name, he was just "God" or "The God of our Ancestors" except where it calls him El Shaddai. Many mythologists say El refers to the high god of Canaan, where they'd lived previously and return after Egypt and Shaddai means, depending on the motives of the translator, either mountains, breasts or destruction. Shaddai/Shaddaim is definitely breasts in Hebrew, but I expect any minute now for someone to explain that it's just not that simple. If there really is just one true God, then there must have been a time when he was the only God around, so the earliest cultures must have all had gods who were either related to each other or were the same god called by different names. The Mesopotamian belief was that there was a family of gods, each assigned to rule over a particular area of the world. Moses asks who it is that is speaking to him.

"I am he who is, " says God. Some versions have him saying, "I am that is" or "I am who I am" (apparently God is Popeye.) More than one scholar has claimed this really means, "It's none of your business who I am".

Does Moses know anything about the Hebrew god at all? I liked the way the animated film "Prince of Egypt" handled it- Moses doesn't even know he's Hebrew, let alone anything about the slave's religion. The revelation triggers a major and realistic freakout. There were several scenes I liked in the movie but the burning bush scene was especially interesting. Moses goes into a cave and sees not a traditional "burning bush" but a sort of "holy fire", a pale, glowing substance that symbolizes the presence of God. The voice Moses hears in the cave is not one voice but at least two, a male voice and a female voice speaking in harmony. The male voice is more dominant, but the female voice initiates the conversation and echoes the male voice as it speaks. Later, on the night of Passover, when the Egyptian boys are…eliminated… when the filmy white substance that winds its way through the city finishes its task, it sighs, and that sigh is definitely a woman's sigh. In terms of evidence of the Divine Feminine, this is on par with Mary Magdalene appearing in the Da Vinci painting. It's not hard evidence; it's just evidence that the idea that God has a female side is a far more popular idea than you'd think. This is an interesting window into the personal theology of the people who made this movie.

In the NIV, contrary to what we usually hear, when Moses rescues the Hebrew slave, he makes sure no one is looking before he kills the slavedriver, then he buries the body in secret. This is more consistent with the characteristics of a shy man ("I am slow of speech and tongue") but not with that of a member of the royal family, who would likely not even face a reprimand for dispensing justice between two employees. In the cartoon, Moses' brother (who is now Pharaoh) offers to whitewash the entire incident, because the law doesn't apply to a prince. It's Moses' personal conscience that makes him run away, not fear of legal retribution.

Moses goes to live in the desert, which is where he meets his wife Zipporah. Her father is called Ruel on his first appearance in my NIV, then Jethro for the rest of the book. No it doesn't explain why. The NJB does explain, by saying that tradition varies as to what his name was. But in the text they pick a name and stick with it.

The NIV says God was "concerned" about the situation with the Hebrews. CONCERNED? God was only concerned? That seems inconsistent for a deity prone to flying off the handle over little things.

"I will take you as my own people and I will be your god, " says God. But hadn't he already done that?

God says that he will help Moses speak to Pharaoh, but that he'll harden Pharaoh's heart against Moses. Why would he decide to make things harder on everyone, when he has the power to make Pharaoh compliant to Moses' demands? Because, as he says a couple of pages later just before he drowns Pharaoh, "I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh." God is playing stupid political games with people's lives.

It's hard not to wonder what the secret was behind the Egyptian's massive architecture. It's not surprising that people wonder if it was aliens, or superior, advanced technology, and it's certainly not hard at all to believe that it was done with thousands of slaves driven to exhaustion (in spite of what a PR problem it is for Egypt, it's by far the most realistic answer and it's not like they were the first or last nation to do so). Try for a moment to grasp the scope of Egypt's power. There was a long period when they were basically the USA of the ancient Middle and Near East. Heck, they're still one of the most stable and powerful nations in their region. Surrounding nations were fighting with weapons they bought from Egypt, paying tribute to Egypt to secure their borders, often subject to Egyptian law whether they wanted to be or not. Mika Walteri's "The Egyptian" is an excellent chronicle of the time period the Moses story takes place in.

You know how in Genesis everyone's complaining about the Hittites all the time? In reading "The Egyptian" it's easier to understand why Everyone Hates the Hittites. At least according to that book, they seem a bit like land bound Vikings, but without the charm and sophistication and respect for other people's property. The book also describes a thorough, barbaric and bloody conquest by the Egyptians of a small tribe of people called the "Khabiri". I tried looking on Wikipedia, but there was no entry for "Khabiri". But a Google search revealed this- The tablets show the frequent use of the name Khabiri in speaking of those who were over-running the country. Many of the very finest scholars regard Khabiri as Egyptian for Hebrew and the whole framework fits in well with the early date (1400 BC) for the beginning of the Hebrew conquest of Canaan under Joshua ... The author of "The Egyptian" must have seen the tribal name in some documents, saw that they were from a certain area, and incorporated a scene with them, maybe without realizing that his entire novel revolves around them. Or perhaps he did know, and it's a nod to the AU aspects of his story. And it's Hittite warriors paid by Egyptians who do the most damage to the Khabiri in the novel. But then there's this too.

After God sends down ten plagues on Egypt, he prepares to help the Hebrews escape. This involves detailed instructions for the Passover meal, which they are to eat the night before they leave for good. God really hates yeast for some reason. Yeast improperly used can make people sick but honestly!

According to the NJB, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover were not originally the same event. The Feast of Unleavened Bread started in Canaan. Passover was a "pre Israelite festival", the "Destroyer" was a demon who threatened family and cattle, the blood gave protection against him. This puts a whole new perspective on mezuzahs, which I was told are symbolic of the blood on the doorposts. They would never have been needed after Egypt if the whole thing was just about the Angel of Death striking down Egyptians. Instead, they protect people against a primeval, visceral nightmare that was a concern way before the Egypt incident.

There are supposedly two versions of the reasons why the Hebrews left Egypt. In one, they run away, in the other they are kicked out. The flight story is dominated by the Moses figure. The two stories may historically belong to two different periods. That's probably why some people are convinced Moses had something to do with Ahkenaton, the Pharaoh who becomes a monotheist and nearly destroys Egypt in the process. I am not really sure this works, not just because I don't know enough about Egyptian history. Moses and his people left and struck out on their own across the desert, while Ahkenaton merely built another city a few miles down the Nile, experienced humiliating failure, and his family moved back when he died. If those people came back they can't be the Hebrews. But there are also many details that match up- in Walteri's novel, the "waters turning to blood" are caused by violence and war in the streets of Thebes, children are killed, "darkness fills the land" and the crops of Ahkenaton's people develops a disease. The children who eat this grain die in massive numbers and the loyalists of Ammon blame it on Aton, the "one God" of Akhenaton. In response, Ahkenaton becomes even more dictatorial, increasing the number of slaves he sends to the mines and putting people to death who criticize him.

Exodus 14-39

I'm going to leave off trying to figure out what is true and not true in the Moses story, because that's totally not the point of this project at all. It's all about the wisdom and spiritual insight I'm supposed to be getting, and playing Amateur Historian is only distracting me. Also, I'm trying to pretend I don't know what's happening next.

On the discussion list, someone brought up the connection Ishmael and Hagar have with Islam. I'm sorry I didn't mention it here, I didn't really know that story. In fact, I don't know much about actual Islamic theology at all, which is why I never discuss it. I talk about Judaism and paganism because I'm trying to learn to understand it so I can understand Christianity better.