Exodus 1 & 2

[alon]

This one is a bit long. With many of these I intend to primarily develope 1 or 2 main points or topics. But I wanted to open with a more detailed reading to show how much can be gleaned, especially from these introductory chapters. Many times these are given short shrift, but there is so much here! I also want to acknowledge that I took a lot from Dennis Pragers' book, "Exodus." I don't agree with everything he says, but he does make a lot of good points; some very good insights.

This Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Exodus 1 & 2
Haftara- Is 27:6-13

D’rash: Aside from creation, the Exodus and the giving of the “law” are the two significant formative events in Torah, which makes liberty and morality mainstays of Torah.

Exodus 1:7 But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.
This echoes the opening of Genesis:
Genesis 1:28a And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it,
It also echoes the blessings to the Patriarchs (Gen 120,28 91,7 17 et all), implying these are now being fulfilled.

The Bible chronicles 4 attempts by God at creating a moral world:
1. Humans are created with a conscience, yet Kayin slew Avel and we see mass moral decline
2. The flood, yet God saved Noach and his family, gave them further instruction/revelation- but man soon still degenerated
3. Revelation to and through one nation created by God Himself; they were supposed to be a nation of priests but almost immediately fell    into sin
4. Now we can see need for rule with rod of iron in Rev 19:15
Without this progressive revelation we could miss this and say God is acting arbitrarily towards man.
Note this is not the same as the Dispensational theology so prevalent in Christianity today.

Exodus begins with forgetfulness:
Exodus 1:8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
However he had to know "of" Yoseph, the man who saved Mitzrayim and gave the pharaohs’ unlimited power.
The most common character flaw in humans is ingratitude. Any task or deed once highly valued is worth far less to those who benefit from it after it is accomplished than before. One of the major themes of the Bible is that we must learn to fight our nature and learn to value others as ourselves

Torah is a remedy for this state of ingratitude:
Exodus 2:24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
Exodus 12:14 “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.
Exodus 13:3 Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the Lord brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.
Exodus 20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Leviticus 26:42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
Numbers 15:39 And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to sleeper after.
Deuteronomy 5:15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

Nations too are their memories. The great key to the survival of the Jewish people are their memories; preserved in prayers, liturgies, stories told as though they were there! All reinforce the collective memory of the Jewish people.

Exodus 1:9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us.
Am B’nei Yisroel עַ֚ם בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל the nation of the children of Yisroel. 
"Goy" is Hebrew for a nation defined by/as a political unit. "Am" is one defined by blood/genetic characteristics. Pharaoh is engaging in racial politics here. He's saying the purity of Egyptian people is now threatened by an alien presence. Torah alternatively has always held less value on bloodlines and more on a heart for El Elohe Yisroel.
* Avram left most of his family behind to follow his God
* Ya’aqov is the third patriarch of the Jewish people, yet his twin brother is not even counted as a Jew
Exodus 19:6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
God tells Yisroel they are to be a ג֣וֹי קָד֑וֹשׁ, goy qadosh- a holy political nation. In that day, politics and religion were one and the same. The entire Bible as well as Judaism to this day holds that anyone can become a Jew

Exodus 1:10  Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.”
Now fear is introduced into the equation. The Philistines were a problem for the Mediterranean, and they shared the region where the b’nei Yisroel were from. Goshen, the land they occupied in Mitzrayim is also near the sea, so it’s an easy sell that they represent a ‘clear and present danger’ should they ally with the Philistines against Egypt.

There is however something else we must consider. The Egyptians would have known Yoseph had saved them from a famine, but he also took their lands selling them grain they had produced and gave those lands, along with their own freedoms over to Pharaoh. People tend to remember the injustices done them long after they remember the good. Their stomaches no longer rumbled with hunger, but their lands were still forfeit. So in effect, Yoseph made this easy for Pharaoh to oppress the Hebrews in their midst. Note this does not excuse them, it only informs us of the process.

Four times in the next four verses the Egyptian people are incriminated:
Exodus 1:11-14 (NASB) So (1) they appointed taskmasters over them to oppress them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out [broke forth], so that they dreaded the sons of Israel. (2) The Egyptians [with violence compelled] the sons of Israel to labor; and (3) they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which (4) they violently had them perform as slaves.
This would explain later why they suffered harshly for their crimes. One man (Pharaoh) may commence plans for mass evil, but it takes many people to carry out those plans. Torah stresses the collective guilt of those who just 'go along.'

Few people are truly evil. You don’t need many of these however, just:
* Many who accept the indoctrination of authority
* Others who benefit from the evil
* Insufficient courage in good people
Dennis Prager: “ I am convinced courage is the rarest of all good traits. There are far more kind and honest people than there are courageous people. Unfortunately, however, in the battle against evil, all the good traits in the world amount to little when not accompanied by courage.”

Exodus 1:15-16 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.”

Torah here stresses Pharaoh’s command to the midwives that they kill the male children of the women whom they serve in a capacity of great trust! This will emphasize their courage later when they defy the edict. Also, typically it is men who are named more than women, and especially we have a tendency to remember the names of evil men. But here, in order to preserve the deeds of these courageous women and hold them up as an example it is their names and not Pharaoh’s which are preserved in the Living Word!

Shemot 1:15 (OJB) And Melech Mitzrayim spoke to the meyalledot Ha’Ivriyyot (Hebrew midwives), of which the shem of the one was Shiphrah, and of the other Puah;

The term "meyalledot Ha’Ivriyyot" is a bit enigmatic. It could mean the midwives were Hebrews, or it could be translated “midwives of the Herews;” which would mean they could be of any nation. The term ‘Hebrews’ is most commonly used in Torah to contrast interactions with other peoples, which would lend itself to the latter idea. Also it would have been foolish for Pharaoh to expect Hebrew midwives to kill Hebrew children (though given the ego of most despots it is possible he would). But he accepts their explanation without question. So there is a good argument to be made the midwives were Egyptian.

If that is the case (and even if it is not) Torah is unique among most “holy” writings in that it holds up the morality of people of other nations, including women and youths as well as the good deeds of God’s people.

Exodus 1:17-19 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” 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.”

Dennis Prager: “Fear of God … is necessary to make a society of moral individuals. … There are moral individuals in the worst of cultures. But you cannot build a good world with a handful of individuals who happen to be a good people. You need a universal moral code from a universal God Who is the source of that moral code, and this God must judge all people accordingly. Consequently, “Fear of God” is as inevitable as it is necessary.”

Many will cite our duty to love God, yet deprecate or ignore their duty to fear God. Christians in Western society see “fear of God” as oppressive, yet the only way we can summon the courage to stand up to powerful men is to fear God more than we do them! Fear of God emancipates us from the crippling fear of evil.

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[alon]

Page 2

Note the midwives lied to Pharaoh, and that they were held up to us as a moral example. It is not always wrong to lie! We have in this a moral imperative to lie to evil governments and authorities in order to protect both the innocent and ourselves. “The notion it is always immoral to lie is itself immoral.” Dennis Prager.

Moral relativism- term describing philosophical positions concerned with differences in moral judgments across different peoples and cultures. Descriptive moral relativism holds only that people do, in fact, disagree fundamentally about what is moral, with no judgment being expressed on the desirability of this. Meta-ethical moral relativism holds that in such disagreements, nobody is objectively right or wrong. Normative moral relativism holds that because nobody is right or wrong, everyone ought to tolerate the behavior of others even when considerably large disagreements about the morality of particular things exist.
* Obviously MJ disagrees with this view
Doctrine of moral absolutes (objective morality/moral truth)- there is an objective moral standard which transcends personal or social opinion, thus lending itself to a more fair and much less chaotic system of justice. Unlike scientific or historical truths, moral truths require a supreme authority over all men and nations; to wit, God.
* We’d agree with this, calling it a profound truth
However the opposite of a profound truth may be another profound truth:
Situational ethics- takes into account the particular context of an act when evaluating it ethically, rather than judging it according to absolute moral standards. This does not necessarily stand in opposition to moral absolutism, but only when we understand the situation and honestly evaluate it can we know whether an act such as lying to authority is moral or immoral.

We'd also agree with this- another profound truth! ex: It is not wrong to lie to the Nazi saying there are no Jews hiding in your basement.

Exodus 1:20 So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong.
And here is the proof that the midwives acted in absolute morality before God- He “dealt well” with them.
“God, who makes of soft sand a strong barrier against the billows, can restrain man’s wrath by the humblest instruments. You may be obscure and weak, but if you fear God He will make use of you …” FB Meyer

Exodus 1:22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

The original Hebrew actually says they were to be “exposed upon the Nile.” There are ancient myths predating this in which babies were “exposed” in wicker baskets and floated downriver. These eventually sank, killing the child away from where the executioners had to see or hear their handiwork. It is though by many scholars that knowing of these, this is what Pharaoh commanded. Moshe’s mother would have had to have a good reason to float her son in a specially prepared basket which might have drawn the wrong attention had it not been a common sight. These myths may have also played a part in Pharaoh’s daughters’ rescue of Moshe, though we should not count out her own sense of morality here.

Exodus 2:10 When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

The name “Moshe” means ‘gave birth.’ It is shortened from “Thutmose and Ramses,” meaning “Thutmose and Ramses gave birth to this child.” However Torah gives an alternate explanation as Moshe can be taken from the root of the Hebrew m’shi-tihu, “I drew him out.”

Exodus 2:11 One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his [brothers].

Moshe knew he was Hebrew. Yet raised in Pharaoh’s court he would have learned about leadership. And seeing the treatment of his own people by the Egyptians he must have longed to help. He is genuinely abhorrent of any kind of injustice. He also has an affinity for his own- he chose to identify with the Hebrews. However unlike them he does not have a slave mentality. Where the Hebrew people have been pushed down to the point all they can do is cry out for a deliverer, Moshe is ready to take action when called for!

Torah here tells us three stories informing us what kind of man Moshe was and why God chose him to lead His people out of Mitzrayim. There are basically three ways to deal with evil and injustice:
1. Fighting back- Exodus 2:12 (YLT) and he turneth hither and thither, and seeth that there is no man, and smiteth the Egyptian, and hideth him in the sand.
Using a more literal translation, we can see there are a couple possibilities here. Most English translations are pretty damning, making it seem as though Moshe looked for witnesses before committing murder. Indeed, most of us were taught he did evil and was punished by having to leave his luxurious life in Egypt. However there was at least one witness he could not fail to see- the man he saved. And you know he was going to talk about the prince who killed for him! The other possibility is he looked for someone to help diffuse the situation and not seeing anyone he stepped in. Since this was an Egyptian abusing a Hebrew slave Moshe could have used the support of a good Egyptian. It was a serious offense to interfere with an Egyptian disciplining (or worse) a Hebrew slave. Once joined, the fight apparently became deadly and my opinion- Moshe had to kill the man to save not only the slave but himself also. But that is conjecture. At the very least the Egyptian would have accused Moshe formally, resulting in his expulsion, imprisonment, or quite probably death. Far from punishing Moshe God freed him and gave him a new and (as it will turn out) courageous and estimable wife.
2. Speaking out- Exodus 2:13-14 When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.”
He intervenes in an injustice amongst his own people. The response of the guilty party here is classic- attack the accuser and try to instill fear in him. And it worked. Even great leaders can know debilitating fear. What makes them great is that they overcome it and take whatever necessary action. And sometimes the right course of action is to flee: Exodus 2:15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.
3. Taking a stand- Exodus 2:16-17 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock.
What is remarkable in this is Moshe now stands against an injustice committed against women of another race. In fact, he is intervening between people of two races with which he as yet has no connection. He, like all Torah is more concerned with what is done than who it is being done to.

The quality to not only act, but knowing what action is necessary- knowing when situational ethics trumps the moral standard given by HaShem. Just as when dealing with the mitzvoth there are times when two or more are in conflict and we must choose which has precedence. The difference here is these judgements must often be made quickly and decisively, and (hopefully/quickly) prayerfully, not belabored and with much hand-wringing. Although as Yonah found out one can get an awful lot of praying done very quickly when in trouble (such as being swallowed by a fish). Prayer is good. Just saying one doesn’t have to stop to do it!

Mekorot: All scripture from the ESV unless otherwise specified; JPS Study TNK: Dennis Prager; Dr’s Schaser, Parker, and Eli of the IBC; FB Meyer; Green’s Interlinear: my father and others

Next Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Ex 3:1-4:13
Haftara- Is 40:11-19

* Apostolic references will be given in text

Well, like I said, a bit long. But really, we've just scratched the surface. As an example, I'll post a free "lesson" sent out by the Israel Bible Center. It's by Dr. N Schaser (pronounced 'Shazer'), and gves a whole new interpretation.
israelbiblecenter.com/login/?view=redirected

[alon]

Exod 1:14 Egypt is the New Babel Dr NJ Schaser
From a free promo-piece sent out by the Israel Bible Center

When the people of Babel decide to build a “city and a tower” in order to make a name for themselves (Gen 11:4), God confuses their language and scatters them over the face of the earth (11:7-8). In response to this mass dispersion, God chooses one person, Abram, whose lineage leads to the formation of Israel. Through this single nation, God resolves to bless “all the families of the earth” (Gen 12:3) – the descendants of those scattered at Babel. The beginning of Exodus recalls the Hebrew of Genesis 11 in order to show the reader that Egypt is the new Babel, and that God will choose Moses to carry on Abram’s call.

The people of Babel build their city and tower using “brick (לבנה; levenah) for stone, and bitumen for mortar (חמר; chomer)” (Gen 11:3). The next time that scripture mentions “brick” and “mortar” together is in Exodus’ description of the Hebrews’ slavery; the Egyptians “made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar (חמר; chomer) and brick (לבנה; levenah), and in all kinds of work in the field” (Exod 1:14). In this way, the biblical writer shows us that Egypt is a new Babel.

Casting Egypt as Babel anticipates God choosing Moses—and the entire nation of Israel—as the conduit to fulfill the divine promise to Abram. When Israel comes out of Egypt in the exodus (Exodus 14-15) and receives the Torah on Sinai (Exodus 20), it marks the formation of a “kingdom of priests, and a holy nation” (Exod 19:6). Ultimately, God’s love of Israel will lead to the chosen people being “a light for the nations” (Isa 49:6). The mention of “brick” (לבנה; levenah) and “mortar” (חמר; chomer) in Egypt tells the reader that, as with Abram, God is about to choose one man (Moses) and one nation (Israel) — just as God did after Babel — as the divine means to bless and regather the whole world.

When Pharaoh’s daughter finds a Hebrew baby in the river, she names him “Moses (משה; mosheh) because, she said, ‘I drew him out (משיתהו; meshitihu) of the water’” (Exod 2:10). According to Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses gets his name because it sounds like the Hebrew for “to draw out.” Yet, there is likely another reason why she made this choice: Moses was a common Egyptian name that gives us a clue into Moses’ identity and mission as God’s earthly representative.

In Egyptian, “Moses” means “child of” and formed pharaonic names like Thutmose (Thot + moses), a child “born of” the Egyptian god Thoth. When Pharaoh’s daughter names the Hebrew baby “child of,” it leaves the reader asking, “A child of whom?” Along with being the child of his earthly parents, Moses is a child of God whose clash with Pharaoh highlights his relationship with his heavenly Father.

Most scholars identify the pharaoh of Exodus as Rameses II (1279-1213 BCE), who built the capital city of Pi-Ramesses in Goshen. This building project aligns with the Bible’s description of the Israelites building the “storage cities named Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh” (Exod 1:11) while they lived in the “land of Goshen” (8:22; 9:26). The name “Rameses” (Ra + moses) means “child of Ra,” the Egyptian sun god. Thus, when Moses confronts Pharaoh, we have a showdown between Rameses the “child of Ra” and Moses the “child of Israel’s God”: the Moses of Ra vs. the Moses of the Lord. As the leader of Israel, Moses represents the people whom God calls “my firstborn son” (Exod 4:22). The God of Israel uses Moses as a “son” who defeats the son of Ra and, in turn, brings divine “judgment on all the gods of Egypt” (Exod 12:12; Num 33:4).


Q: That would certainly explain why an Egyptian woman, who would certainly NOT use a Hebrew name for her adopted son, would choose that name! My question now….when did the name ‘Moses” come to mean “drawn from the water” in Hebrew? Before or after Moses was named? Thank you for such interesting information.

Dr. Nicholas J. Schaser: The “drawn from water” connection likely would have come as a secondary (Hebrew) wordplay after Moses was named. It’s not so much that Moses (mosheh; מֹשֶה) means “to draw out” (mashah; מָשָה), but rather than the two words are built on the same Hebrew root: M-Sh-H.

Q: Do you mean that Pharaoh’s daughter named the baby “child of” as a way of referring to him as a child of God (i.e. other than one of their gods)?
Dr NJS: “Moses” was likely given his name because the Egyptians didn’t know whose child he was; thus, “Child of…” like a placeholder name. It wouldn’t have been a reference to him as a child of the God of Israel.

DC: So in Christian terms, Moses was a "type" of the Christ. I can see that. I also see that if biblical names are prophetic, and all true prophecy comes from the God of Israel, then even a pagan princess could have named her newfound baby at the unction of Israel's God. So your definition of the name Moshe as just "child of" as a place holder makes sense, as does it's having a Hebrew equivalent “to draw out.” Pharaoh's daughter could have had, and I believe HaShem does have a sense of irony and humor. I also like how you framed the clash of two disparate belief's around the names of the antagonist and protagonist. Enjoyed reading both the article and the Q & A. Thanks.

[jimmie]

There is however something else we must consider. The Egyptians would have known Yoseph had saved them from a famine, but he also took their lands selling them grain they had produced and gave those lands, along with their own freedoms over to Pharaoh. People tend to remember the injustices done them long after they remember the good. Their stomaches no longer rumbled with hunger, but their lands were still forfeit. So in effect, Yoseph made this easy for Pharaoh to oppress the Hebrews in their midst. Note this does not excuse them, it only informs us of the process.

I don't see this as an injustice. It is completely Biblical to have/hold/own everything in common during times of life threatening circumstances.

Acts 2:44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;

Acts 4:32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.


The injustice in the case was Pharaoh exempting the priest and later not redistribuition of the remaining land/goods after the life threatening circumstance has passed. This is was the Pilgrims did when they came to America and some of the Amish and Minonites did like wise.