Hello everyone,
Following up with my questions here, here, and here, I'm now posting my fourth question. It's not tied to a specific passage but to Exodus chapter 5 in general.
As I'm readying through, the first thing I notice is the use of the word "out" as opposed to "free", as in Exodus 5:2:
Source: https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo...pter-5.htm
In popular culture, most people assume the phraseology would use the word "free" instead of "out". We're all familiar with the 1956 Charlton Heston production of The Ten Commandments in which the phrase "Let my people free" rings loudly in our memories (or is it "Let my people go"? Either way, the choice of "out" is curious to me). This is undoubtedly a modern Western bias and I realize the choice of "out" is a matter of translation, but I have to assume that whoever the translators were (of my source at https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo...pter-5.htm) thought "out" was the best translation. Why?
One clue, which is emphasized heavily by Jordan Peterson in his series Exodus (https://www.dailywire.com/search/shows?query=exodus), is the often omitted addendum "...so they can sacrifice to Me in the desert." In other words, Moses is demanding not that the slaves be set free, but that they be handed over to a new "master", a master that would have them worship Him in the desert (though by all accounts, next to Pharaoh, this probably did count as freedom). After all, "exodus" means "out" (doesn't it?).
There's also this passage:
Pharaoh certainly sent them "out" (it even emphasizes the "entire" land of Egypt). It's almost as if Pharaoh was trying to kill two birds with one stone--to satisfy Moses's demands while at the same time not losing a ounce of productivity. If it's "out" they want, why not get them to gather the stubble while they're at it, freeing up time and labor for the "stubble gatherers". But by no means are they "free".
Putting that interpretation aside, I'm also wondering if the changes imposed by Pharaoh actually are in response to Moses's and Aaron's demands to let the Hebrews "go" (out/free/whatever). The way the text reads, one *could* interpret it as simply coincidental. Exodus 5:4-7 says:
It doesn't say that Pharaoh ordered this change because of the demands of Moses and Aaron. It could have just been a coincidence. I realize that verse 6 begins with "So..." (implying, "therefore", "because of that...", etc.) but in this context I'm thinking of this passage as a historical document, not as the ultimate truth of what happened--in other words, the author may have interpreted these events as connected but they may not have been. The chapter definitely concludes not only by linking these two events together but clearly depicts the Hebrews as making the link as well. Is there any reason, however, to assume this link is accurate (other than that it seems highly likely--which I agree with BTW)?
And finally, one last question: why did Moses and Aaron initially demand a "three day journey"? Surely, the plan was for more than three days. Indeed, wasn't it to free the Hebrews from the Egyptians forever? To form a nation as promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph*? Was this merely a ploy on their part? Something to trick Pharaoh (if it was, surely they could have done better than that)?
Looking for answers to this, I skimmed chapters 3 and 4 looking for what God precisely said to Moses and He said and I found:
So indeed Moses and Aaron are simply following through with what God told them to do. But why did God tell them to say this to Pharaoh? And if this is what Pharaoh heard, what of the order for the Hebrews to gather stubble for themselves? Was this too limited to three days?
* BTW, one thing I've been noticing is that when God cites the Patriarchs, he always omits Joseph. Example from Exodus 3:5: "In order that they believe that the Lord, the God of their forefathers, has appeared to you, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Why isn't Joseph listed? Joseph was the son of Jacob, wasn't he? Did the Hebrew slaves not descend from him?
Following up with my questions here, here, and here, I'm now posting my fourth question. It's not tied to a specific passage but to Exodus chapter 5 in general.
As I'm readying through, the first thing I notice is the use of the word "out" as opposed to "free", as in Exodus 5:2:
Exodus 5:2 Wrote:And Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord that I should heed His voice to let Israel out? I do not know the Lord, neither will I let Israel out."
Source: https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo...pter-5.htm
In popular culture, most people assume the phraseology would use the word "free" instead of "out". We're all familiar with the 1956 Charlton Heston production of The Ten Commandments in which the phrase "Let my people free" rings loudly in our memories (or is it "Let my people go"? Either way, the choice of "out" is curious to me). This is undoubtedly a modern Western bias and I realize the choice of "out" is a matter of translation, but I have to assume that whoever the translators were (of my source at https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo...pter-5.htm) thought "out" was the best translation. Why?
One clue, which is emphasized heavily by Jordan Peterson in his series Exodus (https://www.dailywire.com/search/shows?query=exodus), is the often omitted addendum "...so they can sacrifice to Me in the desert." In other words, Moses is demanding not that the slaves be set free, but that they be handed over to a new "master", a master that would have them worship Him in the desert (though by all accounts, next to Pharaoh, this probably did count as freedom). After all, "exodus" means "out" (doesn't it?).
There's also this passage:
Exodus 5:12 Wrote:So the people scattered throughout the entire land of Egypt, to gather a gleaning for stubble.
Pharaoh certainly sent them "out" (it even emphasizes the "entire" land of Egypt). It's almost as if Pharaoh was trying to kill two birds with one stone--to satisfy Moses's demands while at the same time not losing a ounce of productivity. If it's "out" they want, why not get them to gather the stubble while they're at it, freeing up time and labor for the "stubble gatherers". But by no means are they "free".
Putting that interpretation aside, I'm also wondering if the changes imposed by Pharaoh actually are in response to Moses's and Aaron's demands to let the Hebrews "go" (out/free/whatever). The way the text reads, one *could* interpret it as simply coincidental. Exodus 5:4-7 says:
Exodus 5:4-7 Wrote:4. But the king of Egypt said to them, "Why, Moses and Aaron, do you disturb the people from their work? Go to your own labors." 5. And Pharaoh said, "Behold, now the people of the land are many, and you are stopping them from their labors." 6. So, on that day, Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, 7. "You shall not continue to give stubble to the people to make the bricks like yesterday and the day before yesterday. Let them go and gather stubble for themselves.
It doesn't say that Pharaoh ordered this change because of the demands of Moses and Aaron. It could have just been a coincidence. I realize that verse 6 begins with "So..." (implying, "therefore", "because of that...", etc.) but in this context I'm thinking of this passage as a historical document, not as the ultimate truth of what happened--in other words, the author may have interpreted these events as connected but they may not have been. The chapter definitely concludes not only by linking these two events together but clearly depicts the Hebrews as making the link as well. Is there any reason, however, to assume this link is accurate (other than that it seems highly likely--which I agree with BTW)?
And finally, one last question: why did Moses and Aaron initially demand a "three day journey"? Surely, the plan was for more than three days. Indeed, wasn't it to free the Hebrews from the Egyptians forever? To form a nation as promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph*? Was this merely a ploy on their part? Something to trick Pharaoh (if it was, surely they could have done better than that)?
Looking for answers to this, I skimmed chapters 3 and 4 looking for what God precisely said to Moses and He said and I found:
Exodus 3:18 Wrote:And they will hearken to your voice, and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall say to him, 'The Lord God of the Hebrews has happened upon us, and now, let us go for a three days' journey in the desert and offer up sacrifices to the Lord, our God.'
So indeed Moses and Aaron are simply following through with what God told them to do. But why did God tell them to say this to Pharaoh? And if this is what Pharaoh heard, what of the order for the Hebrews to gather stubble for themselves? Was this too limited to three days?
* BTW, one thing I've been noticing is that when God cites the Patriarchs, he always omits Joseph. Example from Exodus 3:5: "In order that they believe that the Lord, the God of their forefathers, has appeared to you, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Why isn't Joseph listed? Joseph was the son of Jacob, wasn't he? Did the Hebrew slaves not descend from him?