Exodus 1: The new Hebrew generations in Egypt; the call for 1st born death. The timeline gap.

Exodus starts off with a big gap in the timeline. Genesis ends with the death of Joseph and 3 generations of his offspring being born in his lifetime. In Exodus 1 we are given a run down of the lineage of Israel in Egypt, and also told that Joseph AND his brethren have, at this point, already died.

• Where is the rest of the history? Is it not important?
• We had the offshoot narrative of Judah in great detail in Genesis, but nothing more with the remainder of the 12 sons?
• Suddenly nearly day by day details of the life of the children of Israel in Egypt disappear into an entirely new narrative

In a somewhat boastful statement that begs the typical question “Is there evidence of this in the material record of the history of Egypt?” we are told:

Exodus 1:7 – And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.

Surely there would be physical evidence of this population in Egypt. This begs even more questions:

• The famine was supposed to be for 7 years. Yet we are told multiple generations (well beyond 7 years) of children were born to Joseph AND Joseph’s generation (the 12 sons) have long passed. Why are the Hebrews still in Egypt?
• We know the name of all the Pharaohs of Egypt because each one left a material record of themselves in some fashion. Yet we are introduced to TWO Pharaohs (or at least 1 King and 1 Pharaoh) and are NOT given specific names. Why?

There is a strong clue as to what will be occurring in future verse when the author tells us that this new king “knew not Joseph”. So we can conclude that enough time has passed that the generations of Egyptians that treated the Hebrews well were long gone, AND did not pass on any sort of knowledge, treatise, customs, on how to treat the children of Joseph and his brethren. Did the Egyptians wake up one day and suddenly ask themselves “who are these Hebrew people?”

Of course, it must be realized that this author is telling a story, forming a narrative where some facts and points are not as important in the overall scheme of things. HOWEVER, if you are trying to make a case to non-believers or potential-believers that this Bible is factual and accurate, the author(s) is not doing himself a service by omitting very important facts in the timeline.

The King of Egypt speaks out regarding the growing Hebrew population in his realm:

1:9 (King of Egypt) – And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Rameses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:

In blue: another boastful if not fictional statement. Again, is there evidence you can beat down a population but it makes them stronger? So we can conclude the Hebrews are STILL servants/slaves to the Egyptians yet are seen as a threat. I still have to ask, why are they still slaves? Didn’t they go to Egypt for the purpose of being taken care of by Joseph for the duration of the famine (Genesis 50:21)?

Some more observations:

• Has there ever been a factual/historical case where the slave/servant population had outnumbered and become mightier than the civilization that owned it? This looks to be the first instance of such an event being claimed. Hence, a red flag of doubt has to be raised. This author is boasting about these people with a tint of fiction that makes me raise a giant red flag.
• The Hebrews went from being sheepherders to construction workers, after all, they built TREASURE CITIES Pithom and Rameses.
  • Surely the material record of Egypt could prove this to be true
  • Where did sheepherders and flock tenders get the skills to construct entire cities?

The Pharaoh, threatened by the waxing of this Hebrew population, calls for the death of every newborn male:

1:15 – And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiprah, and the name of the other Puah: And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. But the midwives feared Elohim*, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.

If the Pharaoh was in fear of a growing Hebrew population, why kill just the male children? Is it because the lineage of the Hebrews was passed down by the male side? A patrilineal culture? To be Hebrew you need to be of a Hebrew father? Seems to be the case, after all, many of the patriarchs in Genesis had wives that were not always of Hebrew origin. I also note that in the interlinear Hebrew translation of verse 17, “God” is translated from ha*elohim, not just elohim, for future reference.

We are told that the Hebrews are waxing great, flourishing in numbers, YET, we are told there are only TWO Hebrew midwives? Can two midwives handle a waxing population? Or is there some exaggeration going on here? It would’ve helped if we had actual numbers, however we once again run into a detail the author has chosen to omit.

The Pharaoh finds that the midwives are not doing as instructed, so he confronts them:

1:19 – And the midwives said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. Therefore ha*Elohim dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared Elohim, that he made them houses. And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.

So because the midwives didn’t follow the commands of the Pharaoh, he then instructs ALL of his people to cast every newborn son into the river.

First off, the two midwives are in open defiance of the Pharaoh and receive no punishment? Does this sound plausible to you? Secondly, the contrast between Hebrew and Egyptian in Genesis has done a complete 180 degree turn. NOW the Hebrews are the mighty ones and the Egyptians are weak (Pharoah’s instructions are not heeded AND while the Hebrew childbearing women are “lively”, the Egyptian women are not).

Again, does this sound plausible? Are we dealing with historical fact? Or a setup for the narrative to come where the initial facts or even any fact are of little importance? This is often the case in fictional narratives.

After reading Genesis, Exodus starts off with questions of epic importance in regards to validity. I even have to ask: Is the author of Genesis the same author as Exodus? I’m getting the feeling that they are not the same based on literary analysis and overall theme. To say this after reading only ONE chapter of Exodus means I might be in for a challenge in creating a straight and true linear connection between the validity of Genesis and Exodus.