8 Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. 13 The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, 14 and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20 So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.”
2 Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. 2 The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. 3 When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. 4 His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.
5 The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. 6 When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him.” This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. 10 When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”
In Exodus 1:8-2:10, we have an account of the birth of Moses that scholars will say reflects the J, E, and P documents that represent differing traditions within Israel that the canonical text unites.
As J moves to the story of Israel as oppressed in Egypt, we need to remember that he is writing at a time of peace between these two countries. Solomon has married one of the daughters of Pharaoh as a political arrangement between the two countries. The story of Joseph affirms an historic connection between the two countries that was positive. The story in Exodus and Numbers, however, describes a new dimension of the relationship of Yahweh with Israel. In contrast to the gentle forms of guidance during the previous period, Yahweh acts with deeds and wonders historically to bring liberation from Egypt. As J presents this story, he does so based on traditions he knew from Moses and the Tribal Federation period. In particular, the pattern of the people experiencing oppression, crying out to Yahweh, Yahweh sends a deliverer, and Yahweh delivering through deeds and wonders, is a theme. Whenever J notes that the Lord delivered the people from Egypt, he is offering a confession of faith. This theme has been theologically worked up into a sublime chorale. In the deliverance from Egypt, Israel saw the guaranteed for all the future, the surety for the will of the Lord to save, something like a warrant to which faith could appeal in times of trial. This appeal to an event is something from which theology ought not to cut itself adrift from what might seem to be the comfort of timeless philosophical reflection. The chief events that make up the notion of redemption from Egypt are the miracle at the Red Sea, the revelation of the name of the Lord in the E and P documents, the revelation at Sinai, and the wandering in the wilderness.[1] Moses becomes the supreme example of what a deliverer is to be like. He is obedient to Yahweh, he intercedes in prayer for a stubborn people who do not understand Yahweh, he is an administrator of justice, he listens to wise advice, he has courage to trust Yahweh when the opposition is stronger, he speaks only what Yahweh wants as the ideal prophet, and Yahweh “appears” to him in intimacy and friendship. J will use some of the images of his time to shape his view of such matters. J is telling a story of a people discovering who they are, who their God is, and even the spirituality they must fashion their lives around if they wish to become the people, and eventually the nation, the Lord is calling them to be. For J, Moses will become the pattern of deliverer and the pattern for kings to follow. Despite all this, it would be wrong to view Moses as the leader. As J sees the role of Moses, the Lord is the leader, for these are the mighty deeds of the Lord J is relating. The prophetic style as related by J is consistent with the early view of the prophet. He was an inspired shepherd whom the Lord used to make the will of the Lord known to Israel and to Egypt.[2]
When we learn about the Lord is not through calm philosophical reflection. Rather, what we learn comes through stories that place Moses and Israel in encounter with each other. We see mercy, anger, holiness, and power from the Lord. We also see a stubborn people who resist the Lord and the commandments of the Lord. J has told of this resistance throughout his story of both the beginnings of humanity and the stories of the Patriarchs. The images are powerful as J paints a picture of an oppressed people, a reluctant hero, a dramatic deliverance through plagues, a dramatic deliverance through the Sea of Reeds, the disclosure of the Ten Commandments, the dramatic breaking of the first two commandments with the construction of the golden calf, and remarkable perseverance through the wilderness. Behind it all is a story that captures the modern imagination because it is the story of freedom. We move through a story that begins with divine absence, oppression of a people, the vocation given to Moses, confrontation with Moses, liberation of the Hebrews, provision for them through the wilderness, the creation of a people at Sinai, revelation of the divine will at Sinai, rebellion by the people, and the preparation of a people to enter the land promised by the Lord to their ancestors. J is telling a story of the importance of leaving, the way of freedom, the way of a leader in Moses, and the way through the testing in the wilderness.
The J document has material that seems influenced by prophetic legend in its story of Moses. I am not sure what to make of this historically. J was aware of prophetic communities, so it may be that he wanted to make Moses into a prophet. One could also speculate that J is much later than supposed. One could also speculate that there were two phases of the J tradition, one in the time of David and Solomon and the other sometime before the fall of Samaria or even in the exile. Although other texts than the following could be included, I have focused upon the prophetic stories about Moses that reflect legend.
Exodus 1:8-12, 2:1-22 is an account of the birth of Moses. 8 Now a new king, likely Seti I (1305-1290), arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” He is fearful of the number and power of the Israelites. His fear is that they could join with the enemies of Egypt. We learn that the clan has become a large people. Little of consequence occurs between 1700 and 1300 BC. Scholars know from other sources that Egypt had to deal with “resident aliens” in their midst, due to migration and prisoners of war. In this new historical moment, Egyptian leaders drew upon them for slave labor. While among the arts the new king needed to learn is to keep the peasant class happy enough not to rebel, another skill is that the leaders will want as much wealth and comfort for themselves as they can get. If the upper three per cent of the population makes the mistake of pushing many of their people into a type of unclean or expendable class, they run the risk of creating the environment for revolution. In addition, “Sea peoples” settled along the coast and creates some problems for Egypt. Even though the new king oppressed the Israelites, the number of Israelites expanded. 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. In the context of the story J is telling, here is a consequence of the previous act of Joseph, where he utilized the crisis of famine to make slaves out of the Egyptian population (Genesis 47:13-26). For J, actions have consequences. This oppression will cause a movement on the part of the Lord that will bring dramatic change for the people and become a story that has inspired generations of people longing for freedom. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. If we remember the promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Lord promised their descendants would be numerous. In this historical moment, we find the fulfillment of that promise. In Genesis 51:2-7, after giving the names and the small number of the family of Joseph, we find the Israelites grow fruitful and strong to the point where the land of Egypt was full of them. In Psalm 105:23-25, the Lord made the Israelites fruitful and stronger than were their enemies. In Deuteronomy 26:5-7, their ancestor Jacob went to Egypt, lived as a resident alien as few, but grew to become a great, mighty, and populous nation. Oppression by Egypt is also a theme of these two texts, referring to the hatred Pharaoh would have for the Israelites and the harsh treatment and affliction he imposed on them through forced labor. The tradition of Egyptian oppression is comparable to that of the enslavement of non-Israelites by Solomon. Further, in I Kings 11:14-22, David committed genocide against Edom, resulting in the escape of Hadad. Although the formulation for the oppression arises out of the abuse of power by Solomon, this does not mean that oppression did not occur. The Pharaoh needed to suppress the population and thus perform hard labor to construct the store-cities. Out of this context, two Levites marry who become the parents of Moses.
The “E” document in Exodus 1:15-20, 22 is part of the story of the birth of Moses. In its canonical context, it provides a description of the second stage of the oppression of the Hebrews. 15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew (an old term for Israelites, usually used when contrasting this group with other peoples, and thus, its connection with “Apiru in ancient Near Eastern sources is problematic since it refers to a social class of outcasts rather than an ethnic group) midwives one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah,learning that Egyptians were midwives to Hebrew families, 16 “When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.” The fear of the “king of Egypt” in the growing power of the Hebrews leads him to urge them to kill the male babies. This act would eliminate potential Israelite military power. In such a time of terror, we can see the biblical story dealing again with the perceived absence of God to the faithful. Yet, part of the faith of the faithful involves confidence that God is active, even when we have difficulty perceiving it. Thus, we learn that God was at work at work among these women. 17 But the midwives feared God, restrained by an awareness that murder would bring divine retribution; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” God was working quietly and silently in the lives of the Hebrews and in the lives of these gentile midwives to prepare the ground for the preservation of the deliverer of the Hebrew people. God gives them courage to disobey their king. Later Jewish practice would refer to them as “righteous gentiles.” When Pharaoh asks why, they lie to him. Luther would refer to this example to say that this is how Christians should act in persecution. Yes, in certain situations, God is at work in a lie. God blesses these righteous gentiles. 20 So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. …
Here is an irony in the story. Pharaoh's target was male children. He assumed the females were no threat. He completely fails to see those two Hebrew women, the midwives, have defied him and saved many children. He does not realize that it will be a Hebrew woman, the mother of Moses, who will foil his plans with a simple woven basket. He does not know that it will be a Hebrew girl, Moses' sister, who will have the savvy to propose to Pharaoh's daughter, who finds the baby, that Moses' actual mother be employed as a wet nurse for him -- and she will get paid for doing it! Pharaoh does not even realize that his own daughter, an Egyptian woman, has saved a Hebrew baby -- and that it is this baby who will grow up to undo Pharaoh's designs on the Hebrews.
Returning to the J document, 2:1 Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. While the powerful Pharaoh is at work in oppression, God is at work quietly and silently in the preparing of one who, many years later, will be the agent of deliverance. The Lord is at work in the birth of a child. The Lord is at work through the wisdom and creativity of a young woman. 2 The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. 3 When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket (tebah, used only here and earlier in Genesis, where it is translated "ark") for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river.
In the Disney animated film The Prince of Egypt (1998) Jochebed, Moses’ mother, sings to her infant son as she wraps him in a blanket and places him in a basket in the river
“ Yal-di ha-tov veh ha-rach [My good and tender son]
Al ti-ra veh al tif-chad [Don’t be frightened and don’t be scared].
My son, I have nothing I can give
But this chance that you may live.
I pray we’ll meet again
If he will deliver us.
Hush now, my baby.
Be still, love, don’t cry.
Sleep as you’re rocked by the stream.
Sleep and remember my last lullaby
So I’ll be with you when you dream.
River, O river,
Flow gently for me.
Such precious cargo you bear.
Do you know somewhere
he can live free?
River, deliver him there ...”
4 His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him. 5 The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. The Lord is at work through another woman. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. 6 When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him.” This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. 10 When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.” The pattern for this story appears to be the birth of king Sargon that dates from 2334 to 2279 BC.
Sargon, the mighty king, king of Agade am I.
My mother was a changeling, my father I knew not.
The brothers of my father loved the hills.
My city was Azupiranu, which is situated on the banks of the Euphrates.
My changeling mother conceived me, in secret she bore me.
She set me in a basket of rushes, with bitumen she sealed my lid.
She cast me into the river which rose not over me.
The river bore me up and carried me to Akki, the drawer of water.
Akki, the drawer of water, lifted me out as he dipped his ewer.
Akki, the drawer of water, took me as his son and reared me.
Akki, the drawer of water, appointed me as his gardener.
While I was a gardener, Ishtar granted me her love,
And for four and … years I exercised kingship.
The function of the oracle was to determine the future by binding it to the past. It was an introduction to a blessing oracle.[3] In the biblical story, however, it prepares us for the future by showing the exceptional care the child will receive. It has differences from the Sargon story. Moses receives exaltation, but the story then humbles him by identification with his people. The story has an Egyptian coloring from a Hebrew perspective. A princess rather than a goddess rescues the baby, and she just “happens” to have an acquaintance with Hebrew ways. The etymology of the name is a typical Hebrew part of the story not found in the Sargon story. Such a story would arise within the wisdom tradition. Divine activity is implied rather than stated directly. Moses is “a brand plucked from the burning,” as John Wesley would refer to himself. What this infant becomes as an adult is what will matter. In Disney’s animated film based on the story of Moses, The Prince of Egypt (1998), young Miriam, Moses’ older sister, sings this song as she watches the princess take her baby brother from the basket in the river to adopt him as her own:
“Brother, you’re safe now
And safe may you stay
For I have a prayer just for you:
Grow, baby brother,
Come back someday,
Come and deliver us, too ...”
Moses will be like Joseph in that he rises to heights within the house of Pharaoh. Its portrait of the Egyptian princess is positive.
The setting provides yet another opportunity in our reflections upon the Bible to consider the silence of the Lord. In Isaiah 45:15, we read that the God of Israel is one who hides himself. We find it difficult to perceive God amid troubled situations. In II Samuel 22:12, darkness gathers around the Lord. In Job 9:11, the Lord passes by Job, but he cannot see or perceive the Lord. In Psalm 10:1, the Lord seems to stand far away during a time of trouble. In Acts 17:27, Paul observes that people grope after God as in the dark, even though God is near to each of us. We have a passage before us that will refer to a time of trouble that involves political oppression through slavery and the death of male infants. Pharaoh terrorizes the people of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We have a holocaust, and God provides no comfort or help. Yet maybe another way to think of this is that in a time of trouble, God is at work quietly, in a way you will not expect. In the time of terror, the Lord is preserving the life of an infant who will become the deliverer of the Hebrew people. To use a computer analogy, the computer has many programs, especially anti-virus programs, working in the background. They work in ways most of us do not understand nor care to understand. They help the computer function better by doing so. This passage suggests that sometimes, the activity of the Lord is like that, working quietly and silently in the background. In the story of the liberation of the Hebrew people from Egypt, moments come when the Lord is obviously present and active. However, that period follows a long number of years when the Lord is working silently and quietly. Part of having faith is to live in the confidence that the Lord is active in ordinary and troubling times, even when we have difficulty perceiving it, just as much as when divine activity seems obvious.
Thus, the actions of the Egyptian princess show that the Lord is at work in her, preparing her to receive this Hebrew infant. We even see the child returns to the mother who sought to save her child by putting the child into the Nile. The Lord is silently and quietly at work in these circumstances. The Lord is at work behind the scenes, preparing the stage for the primary activity in the deliverance of the Hebrew people. The Lord is making sure that Moses and the Hebrew people will have the best light and the best props available. The Lord is providing everyone with what they need to “perform” on stage, when deliverance will come. However, at this moment, a time of terror and incredible suffering, faith says that the Lord is still working, even if quietly and behind the scenes. This story will provide the biblical and theological context for Matthew 2 and the story of the birth of Jesus. We learn that the plan of the Lord has a fragile beginning, even while the powers of this world seem impressive. We see an unexpected rescue. When redemption comes, the price is the senseless murder of children. The deliverance that will come is not one the powerful will welcome. In Matthew, of course, the antagonist shifts from the Egyptian king to the Jewish king. If you want to continue this line of thinking, Revelation 12 will have this story in the background as well.[4]
Nice take on God working behind the scenes. I thought in a previous study you placed the exodus at 1550. I have seen it both around 1550 and 1300. 1300 actually 1279 was a time of great upheaval in the ancient world. The "sea peoples" moved into the eastern Mediterranean. Some historians feel the exodus was part of this general movement and major change in the world. I think I like 1550 better.
ReplyDeleteYou may be right about the dating. The one in this article points to some evidence I find compelling. As to God working behind the scenes, yes, it was not new to me but it hit me a little more forcefully this time.
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