![]() 2 The Levite sources alone require circumcision, which was practiced in Egypt. 1 Their ark has parallels with Egyptian sacred barks. The Levites alone reflect Egyptian material culture: Their Tabernacle has parallels with the battle tent of Pharaoh Rameses II. Note that only Levites have numerous Egyptian names (e.g., Phinehas, Hophni, Hur, Merari, Moses). Moreover, there is good evidence that only the Levites were in Egypt it was they who left and then merged with the rest of Israel. The earliest Biblical sources-the very early Song of Miriam (Exodus 15) and the text known in critical Biblical scholarship as J-don’t mention any numbers. Ninety percent of the arguments against its historicity are not about the event itself but about the size of the event: All of Israel! Two million people (as suggested by Exodus 12:37–38)! Impossible!īut the evidence of a real but smaller exodus is a different matter. We have to start by going all the way back to the Exodus, which the combination of archaeology and text has led me to argue was historical it actually happened. Instead of being inclusive, it’s actually exclusive. One interpretation of this verse that has been making the rounds for years turns this grand idea on its head: The claim is that the verse means to love only one’s fellow Israelites as oneself. A remarkable proposition coming out of ancient Judah, which was embedded in the Near Eastern world of wars, slavery, class and ethnic divisions and discriminations of all kinds. Capable of a thousand interpretations and raising 10,000 questions. It’s one of the most famous lines in the Bible: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). Levites like Moses fled Egypt to form a new nation of Israelites who were to “love your neighbor.” All of them are referred to in the Bible’s Levite sources (E, P and D of the Documentary Hypothesis). Despite Moses’ obvious Semitic heritage, the name “Moses” is actually Egyptian, like that of other Biblical figures (Phinehas, Hophni, Hur, Merari). ![]() Moses, pictured here in a painting by 17th-century Baroque artist Guido Reni, is one of the most iconic figures in the Hebrew Bible.
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