Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Harold Holmyard <hholmyard AT ont.com>]

Dear Yigal,

> While the Merneptah stele (which is usually now dated to c. 1207 BCE) is 
> certainly significant, it does NOT really "prove" any of the biblical story. 
> It speaks of the Pharaoh "destroying" Israel WITHIN the land of Canaan. This 
> is, of course, an exaggeration, but the text does NOT mention the Israelites 
> in Egypt or the Exodus, and the Bible makes NO mention of any battles 
> between Israelites and Egyptians within Canaan. So while the stele does 
> "prove" the existence of a people called "Israel", living within Canaan at 
> the end of the 13th century, it actually contradicts the "main line" of 
> biblical history.

HH: The biblical history dates the Exodus to about 1440 B.C., so 
Merneptah's raid would have been long after Israel had settled in the 
land of Canaan after the Exodus. I don't think it contradicts the "main 
line" of biblical history because the historical narrative at several 
other points mentions attacks from Egypt on Israel. The fact that this 
one is not recorded in Scripture need not be surprising. It was during 
the period of the Judges when there was confusion and a lot of 
independence among the tribes. If the event did not contribute directly 
to the spiritual history of the nation, it could fail to find a place in 
Scripture, just as other events did (Ahab's participation in the battle 
of Qarqar (Karkar), for example):

http://www.jewishhistory.com/jh.php?id=Assyrian&content=content/shalmaneser_kurkh

Yours,
Harold Holmyard