Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Jonathan D. Safren" <yonsaf AT beitberl.beitberl.ac.il>]

Lloyd Barre wrote:

> Dear List Members:
>
> Freud's arguments that Moses was actually an Egyptian have recently been
> expressed again by Jon Assman and myself.  Moses' alleged Hebrew identity
> rest upon the episode of baby Moses' trip down the Nile.  However, it is
> well-known that this storyline is folkloristic, most famously illustrated
> by the Legend of Sargon.  Thus the historical discrediting of the basket
> episode leaves a fully Egyptian Moses, including his name, which is
> Egyptian as everybody knows and not Hebrew as the popular in the tale
> etymology claims.  Indeed, the function of the story seems intent on
> transforming Moses' ethnic identity from Egyptian to Hebrew.

Your posting raises the question as to whom and what can be considered 
Israelite in
this formative period. assuming there is any historical veracity to the Exodus
narratives.
The priestly names Aaron' Hofni and Phinehas have variously been interpreted 
as
Egyptian (my ignorance of Egyptian precludes my expressing any scholarly 
opinion on
this matter).

And don't forget the words of the anonymous "man of God" to Eli in 1 Sam. 
2:27: "Did I
reveal Myself to your father's house when they were in Egypt to Pharaoh's 
house?",
which has been interpreted to mean that the Elide priestly house was Egyptian 
in
origin' or at least in Pharaoh's cultic service.

That the Israelites were of heterogeneous ethnic origins can be easily 
demonstrated.

Sincerely,
Jonathan D. Safren
Dept. of Biblical Studies
Beit Berl College
Beit Berl Post Office 44905
Israel