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Jewish Slaves and the Exodus
Sunday, December 28th, 2014 6:11pm
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One of the more interesting little revelations I've come across in the past number of years is in regards to the slavery of Israel in Egypt during the 430 years before the Exodus.  Popular culture, likely driven in some ways by Hollywood, believes that the Israelites in Egypt were slaves of the traditional sense.  However, I'd like to argue that they weren't.  But before you start grabbing the pitchforks and torches, allow me to explain what I mean first, and I will begin doing that by providing a few proofs from the bible.  Also, please note that what I am about to show you is not meant to diminish the suffering the Israelites went through in ancient Egypt, or to refute what the bible says, but rather to clarify it and correct your viewpoint more in line with what the bible really says.

Exodus 1:11 (KJV) - "Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses."

According to Strong's Concordance, the Hebrew word used here for "taskmasters" is "mas" or "mis", which is a "body of forced laborers or serfs."  Now grab a hold of that.  Serfs.  What are serfs?  They're indentured servants to a lord or king who are self employed, but not enslaved.  Serfs can own property, can choose their own course in life (ie, choose a wife for example), raise crops, raise cattle, buy and sell, travel whenever they choose to, etc.  They still have to answer to the call of the king and go wherever he sends them whenever they are summoned.  But when not in his service they're free to live their lives as they see fit.

Slaves however cannot.  Slaves are told what to do, where to go, they can't own property, can't move about or leave the property without their master's orders or blessing, nothing they have is theirs, they can't marry, they can't have a family, a house, etc.  There's a big difference there.  But you'll probably still argue that the Israelites were slaves, despite this fact.  Well, hold onto that thought while you read this verse.

Exodus 9:4, 6-7 (KJV) - "And the Lord shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel." ...... "And the Lord did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go."

Okay, hold on there.  The Israelites had cattle.  But slaves can't own cattle, right?  So how do you reconcile that to the idea of them being slaves?  Well, hold on, let's chew on something more before we go on.

Exodus 9:26 (KJV) - "Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail."

Okay, now think about this.  There was no hail in the land of Goshen, which was basically the prime agricultural land of Egypt, and if the Israelites are living there, what does that most likely mean?  They were raising crops.  You don't host slaves in your most fertile lands.  You put them out in the desert so your fertile lands can be used for raising crops.  And since the Israelites weren't relocated, it's safe to assume they also raised crops.  But what about the verse where the slaves weren't given any straw to make their bricks?  If they had crops wouldn't they have also had straw?  Yes, but let me ask you this.  Whose building project was this?  Pharaoh's.  So who would be responsible for providing the straw?  Pharaoh. 

So if there's no straw, that's Pharaoh's fault as he's responsible for providing the straw, and not the workers.  So even if the Israelites had their own straw to contribute, they would have neither shared it (as they needed it for their own animals) nor been allowed to use it.  But there's also proof that the Israelites had their own crops and cattle.

Exodus 10:26 (KJV) - "Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the Lord our God; and we know not with what we must serve the Lord, until we come thither."

Our cattle?  Yeah, Moses is clearly stating ownership by the Israelites.  That clearly kills the idea that they were slaves.  They were serfs.

Exodus 12:5 (KJV) - "Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:"

You remember the passover lamb, right?  They took those from THEIR OWN FLOCKS.  So yes, they had crops, they had cattle, and they had possessions, some degree of freedom, and get this, they had arms.  Yes, every make Jew not only had a sword, but knew how to use it.  Slaves are never armed, nor are they trained on how to use arms.  Servants and Serfs can be, depending on the choice of the king or ruler of the land.  So why do I say they are armed?  What proof do I have?

Exodus 13:18 (KJV) - "But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt."

Harnessed?  What does that have to do with swords?  Well, let's look at the Strong's word for this.  The world "harnessed" here is Strong's word #2571, the Hebrew word "chamushim" which means "to go up arrayed for battle".  In those days that meant armor, shields, swords, spears, etc.  In other words, these guys left Egypt packing heat.  Slaves can't have swords or armor.  Servants and serfs can.  Slaves can't be trained in combat arms.  Servants and serfs can.  Does that mean that the bible is lying when it says the Israelites were oppressed?

Absolutely not!  Servants and serfs can be just as brutally oppressed as slaves can.  If you want proof of that, simply crack open a history book and look at how the serfs of the middle ages were treated.  They were often called up for battle (and ultimately used as cannon folder by the knights to protect their backs), they were trained how to fight, allowed to have arms or at least provided them per need, they had their own animals, their own crops, etc.  So in the end the Israelites were serfs in Egypt, not slaves.

So what's the purpose of this whole teaching?  The purpose of this article is merely to clarify, but not diminish the events of Exodus or the suffering of the Israelites.  What they went through was horrible.  But even more horrible is when an outright lie, or in this case a cultural tradition or misunderstanding of the true meaning of the text leads to an incorrect understanding of the text which can, and likely will, cause people to draw into question other parts of the bible, ultimately shaking their faith unnecessarily.  Therefore the purpose of this article is to help clarify an otherwise overlooked detail in the scriptures in hopes that it will not weaken or shake your faith, but rather to strengthen it. :)

PS, as an extra bit of homework, read about all the battles of the exodus, post Egypt, that Israel was involved in, as well as all of the battles in the book of Joshua.  These clearly show that the Israelites were armed, and quite considerably too.

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