The Passover Story - Myth?
I grew up a pretty observant Jew, and just took a lot of the biblical stories for granted. Once I went to Duke and took some religion courses, I really questioned the historical accuracy of a lot of what I had taken for granted (i.e. the Massada myth). I don't think that weakened my faith, as religion and reality are two very separate things.
However, the other night I was watching a show on the history channel (called Bible Battled, if anyone is interested in watching it ever) that was pretty interesting. The entire premise was that the Jews were not actually slaves in Egypt. Rather, they had been allowed to come and settle in a key strategic access point to Egypt (roughly the Northeastern corned of Egypt), and serve as mercenaries. They were to protect Egypt from invaders. This is not too implausible, and ancient Jews were pretty well known warriors (and the bible reads like a slasher film script). The program went on to say that the Jews ultimately became the equivalent of day laborers, and when they did not like that - they left.
The reason Pharoah chased them into the desert was not because he wanted his slaves back, but rather because the Jews ransacked an Egyptian town. This interpretation comes from Exodus 12:35/36 which says the Egyptians "gave" the Jews gold and silver for their journey - a highly unlikely scenario.
Anyway, I found the idea interesting, and was wondering if we have any Duke Div graduates who can comment on that theory one way or the other, or anyone else who has an idea.
Happy Passover!
My Quick Smells Like French Toast.