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Passage of the Red Sea
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The Passage of the Red Sea refers to the Biblical account of the passage of the Red Sea by Moses, leading the Hebrews (Israelites) on their journey out of Egypt and across the Red Sea as described in the Book of Exodus, chapters 13:17 to 15:21, in order to enter the Promised Land (Canaan) following the stations of the Exodus.
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The Passage of the Red Sea refers to the Biblical account of the passage of the Red Sea by Moses, leading the Hebrews (Israelites) on their journey out of Egypt and across the Red Sea as described in the Book of Exodus, chapters 13:17 to 15:21, in order to enter the Promised Land (Canaan) following the stations of the Exodus. Moses somehow uses miracle powers and parts the sea.
Information on the site of the crossing is provided by the Priestly source, at Exodus 14:2, where God says to Moses: "Speak to the Children of Israel, and have them turn back and encamp before Pi-Hahiroth,(an Egyptian phrase) between Migdol (a semitic word meaning a height) and the sea, before Baal-zephon;('Lord of the North') you shall encamp opposite it, by the sea."
The stations of the Exodus after the crossing are in and around Elat at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba near Mt. Horab the place where Moses tended the flocks of his father in law in ancient Midian (i.e. on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Aqaba).
Cause
Though the Bible puts forward four differing views on the mechanics of the Israelites Exodus, there is considerable correlation to historical places and events. The stations of the Exodus refer to real places and the order in which they are listed provides a route. The context of the story provides dates both from the time of Abraham and before the time of Solomon which places it during the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt when the Hyksos were expelled and the capital of Egypt was established at Thebes. The first seven stations are located in Egypt in and around Thebes and its Red Sea port. The seventh involves the crossing of the Red Sea. The ninth through 13th stations are located across the Red Sea at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba near Mt. Horab where Moses tended the flocks of Jethro in Midian. Midian is described as having a border which runs up the border of Edomfrom Elat through Petra to Moab.
The Elohist source does not mention water at all, merely stating that the Israelites went via the Red Sea Wilderness, and that the wheels of the Egyptian chariots were "clogged". The Priestly source has the most dramatic image of all, and the one which has captured the public imagination, with Moses, on God's instructions, stretching out his rod to divide the waters in two great walls which God holds open to allow the Israelites to pass, and then causes to collapse upon the Egyptians.
There have been considerable and varied modern attempts to find a non-supernatural origin for the story. Some of the more popular include a tsunami produced by the explosion of a volcano on the island of Thera around 1550-1500BC or 1650-1600BC (the date is contentious), with the retreating waters before the large tsunami allowing the Israelites to pass and then returning to drown the Egyptians, or a wind drying out a shallow lake somewhere near the head of the Red Sea, around the Reed Sea so that the Israelites could cross on foot but the Egyptian chariots could not follow them.
Pillar of Fire
The account describes an extraordinary pillar of fire that served as a landmark during the approach toward the Red Sea crossing, which appeared as a pillar of smoke by day. This has been interpreted by some as the result of a volcanic eruption. The path of the Exodus may have tended in the direction of the lava fields of Midian, a volcanically active region in northern Saudi Arabia, and it is not impossible that an eruption could be seen from such distance. For comparison, an eruption near Medina on June 30, 1256 was reportedly visible from Bosra in Syria over 500 miles away. Lava fields and volcanic features mark many areas near the western edge of the Arabian plate, in Syria and along much of the western portion of Saudi Arabia. Though several passages are consistent with a distant landmark, Exodus 14:19-20 states, "The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long." No specific site has been identified for a volcanic Mount Sinai.
Historical arguments
Many archaeologists, including Israel Finkelstein and William G. Dever, regard the Exodus as non-historical, at best containing a small germ of truth. Others such as Trudy Dothans and Kenneth Kitchen attempt to show historical correlations. In his book, The Bible Unearthed, Finkelstein points to the appearance of settlements in the central hill country around 1200, recognized by most archaeologists as the earliest settlements of the Israelites. Others point to the settlements at Timna near Elat at the head of Aqaba which combine Egyptian artifacts with semitic settlements dating to the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt While Finkelstein Uses evidence from earlier periods, to show a cyclical pattern to these highland settlements, corresponding to the state of the surrounding cultures, The Dothans and Ken Kitchen have used textual artifacts such as the form of contracts, the price of slaves and the historical references to people and places to date the Exodus. Finkelstein suggests that the local Canaanites would adapt their way of living from an agricultural lifestyle to a nomadic one and vice versa. Kenneth Kitchen begins with Abraham and Edom and follows through the form of the several different contracts with the gods of Genesis, El Shaddai, Yahwah, El Roi and Moloch to show how the order of the blessings and curses correspond to the artifacts of historical ultures.
When Egyptian campaigns into Canaan there are five hundred years of semitic presence in Edom before the invasion of the Sea Peoples, following the expulsion of the Hyksos as mentioned in the Amarna letters refer to groups such as the Apiru being engaged in banditry are examined in the context of the battles of Genesis, the Conquest and Judges The central hill country could no longer sustain a large nomadic population, so they went from nomadism to sedentism. Dever agrees with the Canaanite origin of the Israelites but allows for the possibility of a Semitic tribe coming from Egyptian servitude among the early hilltop settlers and adds that "an exhaustive analysis of the topography of the northern Nile Vally in ancient times does not reveal any point where the water could have been easily forded," but also argues that any naturalistic explanation "misses the point of the biblical story" which is "The events are the magnalia dei, the 'mighty acts of God', or they are nothing."
Biblical minimalists, such as Philip Davies, Niels Peter Lemche and Thomas L. Thompson, regard the Exodus as ahistorical.
Biblical edits by authors J and P adding a role for God
The narrative in Exodus is the briefest and the least miraculous, although God is present: He leads the Israelites out of Egypt, not by "the way of the land of the Philistines," i.e. the Mediterannean coast, "which was near," but "through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea." The Egyptians pursue the Israelites, who complain to Moses that he has led them to their deaths; but "the angel of God which would go before the camp of Israel moved, and went behind them," and removes the Egyptian chariot wheels (or clogs them), "and drove them on heavily." KJV Exodus 15:22 lets us know that the children of Israel went into the midst (middle) of the sea on dry ground: and the waters were walled (like walls) unto them on their right hand and on their left.
J begins with the Israelites being led out of Egypt by God in a pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night. Pharaoh changes his mind about his decision to allow them to depart, and chases after them with his chariots. Moses tells the people not to be afraid, for God will aid them. The pillar of smoke then stands between the Israelites and the Egyptians all night, separating them, while God sends a wind to blow back the sea. In the morning "the looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud," the waters returned, "and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore." The J narrative ends with Moses leading the Israelites in singing the Song of the Sea.
P has the most elaborate account, and the most active role for God. It is P that introduces the itinerary of Pi-hahiroth, Migdol and Baal-zephon, who tells the reader that it is part of God's plan to send Pharaoh after the Israelites in order to demonstrate His power, and who shows God commanding Moses to stretch out his rod and divide the waters, "a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left," so that the Egyptians are destroyed when Israelites cross over and the two walls collapse.
The Song of the Sea
The Song of the Sea, which according to the hypothesis is the version the others are based upon, (together with lost oral traditions), is a song of triumph over the defeated enemy: "With the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, The floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea." The Song concludes with rejoicing at the effect that God's destruction of the Egyptians will have on the Israelites' future enemies: "Sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Philistia, the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. Fear and dread shall fall upon them."
The Documentary Hypothesis
The documentary hypothesis, which, in its various permutations, represents the consensus of modern biblical scholarship on the authorship of the Torah, is a hypothesis that the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament are composed from documents from different sources, and that the various narratives it contains were composed many centuries after the events they describe.
See also
Further Reading
- William H. Stiebing Jr., Ancient Near Eastern History and Culture (Longman, 2003)
- Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vols. I - III, trans. by Miriam Lichtheim (1973-1980)
- John Wilson, The Culture of Ancient Egypt (Chicago)
- Cyrus Gordon, The Ancient Near East (Norton)
- Henri Frankfort, The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man (Chicago)
- Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, 4 vols., ed. Jack Sasson.
- Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, 5 vols.
- The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, 3 vols., ed. Donald B. Redford.
- Nelson Glueck, Rivers in the Desert.
- Anchor Bible Dictionary, 6 vols.
- Encyclopaedia Judaica, 16 vols. plus yearbooks
- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [alias "ISBE"], fully rev. ed., 4 vols., ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley.
- Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, 4 vols. + Supplement.
- Hallo, William W., ed. The Context of Scripture, 2 vols. thus far of 3 projected.
- Pritchard, James B., ed. Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 3rd ed. (first published 1969) or the combination of Pritchard, James B., ed. Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 2nd ed., corr. and enl. (1955) and Pritchard, James B., ed. The Ancient Near East: Supplementary Texts and Pictures Relating to the Old Testament. (1969)
- Macmillan Bible Atlas, 3rd ed.
- Oxford Bible Atlas, 3rd ed.
- Religious and Theological Abstracts (limited free search)
External links
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- Exodus, with sources highlighted, according to the documentary hypothesis, at wikisource
- at Chabad.org
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- quotes readings and sources supporting a meaning of suph as "seaweed" and adduces other uses of yam suph in the Tanakh.
- The hieroglyphic El-Arish stone mentions escape of evil doers through parted waters and pinpoints location.
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