Biblical Hebrew Forum

["K Randolph" <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Oun:

On Mon, Jan 12, 2009 at 2:54 PM, Oun Kwon <kwonbbl AT gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Jim and
>
> I am reading your posts and replies. (still do not have clear hold on
> 'middle bronze' 'late bronze' allocation of those events in the O.T.)
>
>  I am not quite sure what year would be the Exodus from each one's
> point of view.  I know there are two opinions (around 1200's and
> 1400's B.C.), if I discount those claims that the Exodus is not
> historical.
>
> Thank you very much.
>
> Oun Kwon.


When I first read this posting, I decided not to answer it. But now that
Yigal has, I will add a bit.

First of all, I think this question is off subject matter for this list, as
it is a historical question, not a linguistic one.

Secondly, Jim has made it clear that he does not believe the Exodus
occurred. Therefore, no date can be assigned to it.

Thirdly, and this is a bit more serious, records surviving from ancient
times are very spotty, the further back one goes, the more questionable
their correlation with the modern calendar.

In connection with this, it is increasingly clear that the Egyptian history
is all messed up. I personally first heard of the revised history from
reading a book by a professional archaeologist and Egyptologist presently
working in Egypt. Since that time, I have heard of more examples, and since
I am neither a professional historian nor Egyptologist, I just sit back and
watch the dust fly.

The Bible gives dates starting with the creation, but its numbered sequence
ends with the end of the Babylonian Exile. There are no dates after that. We
don't know exactly how long after the Exile that Nehemiah or Ezra lived. We
don't have first hand records how long the Persian empire lasted. All we
have is something that is second hand, and could be wrong. Therefore it is
possible that the date 1446 BC for the Exodus is off by decades.

Both Yigal and Jim assume that the Egyptian dates as defined by the
mainstream scholars are correct, and by cross-referencing assigning other
dates to the ANE. That is why they give the answers they give. Other
scholars say that that assumption is invalid. We are not here to argue that,
rather the purpose of this board is to discuss the Hebrew language, so I
won't go further into this.

In closing, when was the Exodus? Somewhere around the mid 15th century is
close enough. Who was the Pharaoh of the Exodus? From the language used in
Exodus, he was either Hyksos or possibly the last pharaoh pre-Hyksos. These
answers are based on what the language actually says. Both Yigal and Jim
agree that the story of the Exodus and all history prior to the Exodus is
myth that might have a kernel of truth in it, Jim merely asserts that there
is a greater kernel than Yigal but that it is still untrustworthy myth.

Personally, I believe in the historicity of Exodus, but by agreement of this
list I do not push it. By this, I reject the mainstream history of Egypt,
because as Yigal said, the Biblical dates do not correlate with the
mainstream Egyptian dates. Or to put it this way, I go with the language of
the Bible, saying that it is trustworthy, while both Jim and Yigal agree
that it is not.

Karl W. Randolph.