Joseph Sarandos
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Legitimate questioning as to the veracity of Hebrew Torah-writers
In response to several requests by E-mail, I've duplicated this essay as I'd posted it in the " "Know thine enemies" forum, since it is somewhat buried in the thread titled; "PREFACE of this forum section," at:
http://com3.runboard.com/btheowlsnest.fknowthineenemies.t1
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Authored by Joseph Sarandos
November 10, 2002
Were the Jews Captive Slaves in Egypt?
If the ancient Jews had in fact been held as captive slaves in Egypt, what could be a pausible explanation for the Jews possessing so much pure gold following their "release"?
THE SLAVERY IN EGYPT
Ex. 12:40 “The length of time that the Israelites lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years”.
THE ARK OF THE COVENANT
Exod 25:10-22 "And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height."And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of gold all around."You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side."And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold."You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried by them."The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it."And you shall put into the ark the Testimony which I will give you."You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width."And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat."Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat."And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat."You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you."And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.(NKJ)
THE GOLDEN ALTAR OF INCENSE
Exod 30:1-8 And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of ****tim wood shalt thou make it.A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about. And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal. And thou shalt make the staves of ****tim wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.
THE GOLDEN CALF
Exodus 32:1-6 1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, "Up, make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." 2 And Aaron said to them, "Take off the rings of gold which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." 3 So all the people took off the rings of gold which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made a molten calf; and they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD." 6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
THE EXPLANATION GIVEN BY THE PRIESTS:
Exod 3:20-22 "So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go. "And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed. "But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians."
Exod 12:35-36 "Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians."
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Now in all seriousness, how can this explanation make sense in light of the fact that "Moses the Lawgiver" had chiseled into stone; "Thou shalt not steal"?
Plun•der v. plun•dered plun•der•ing plun•ders v. tr. 1. To rob of goods by force, especially in time of war; pillage. 2. To seize wrongfully or by force; steal. v. intr. 1. To take booty; rob. n. 1. The act or practice of plundering. 2. Property stolen by fraud or force; booty.
---American Heritage Dictionary
ADDENDUM:
Excerpt from
A Brief Chronology of anti-Semitism
(Source: "Anti-Semitism", Keter Publishing House,
Jerusalem, 1974, ISBN 0 7065-1327 4)
CHRONOLOGY:
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3rd cent. B.C.E._ _ _ _ Manetho, Greco-Egyptian historian, says Jews were expelled from Egypt as lepers.
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38 B.C.E._ _ _ _ Anti-Jewish riots in Alexandria (Egypt): many Jews were killed, and all the Jews were confined to one quarter of the city.
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<Snip>
So, which is it; Had the Jews "escaped from 400 years of captive slavery," or were they "expelled as lepers"?
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