The Exdous from Egypt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Exdous from Egypt - Essay Example Its final edition was written about 700 years after its actual occurrence, which is a major flaw in historiography 2. According to Egyptian history written by Manetho during the Hellenistic era, Jerusalem was built by Hyksos, who were expelled in Egypt and accordingly, Moses was a leader of lepers who rebelled against Egyptian who got help from Hyksos. In another historical account by Hecateus of Abdera, Jerusalem was built by people who were driven out of Egypt, whose leader is Moses. 3.Some biblical accounts can be corroborated by external evidence. The plagues narrated in chapters 7-12 could be paralleled to the epidemic in mid 4th century, commonly referred to as the Asiatic illness. 4.Some archaeologist believed that Exodus did took place but in a much smaller scale. The accounts of 600,000 who marched on to Read Sea is probably hyperbolic. 5.The story of Exodus reflects ancient metaphors, folklores myth and philosophy. The crossing of the sea is a metaphor to the defeat of the Pharaoh and his army and was probably composed in celebration of the Israelites liberation from the Egyptian slavery, rather than the actual drowning of the pharaoh and his armies. In Hebrew poetry, the imagery of sinking into water is used several times as a metaphor for distress, such as when Jonah is seemingly inside the belly of a whale and in the song of David when he called for divine intervention in Psalm 69. Therefore the sinking of the Pharaoh and his army is a metaphor to the defeat of the pharaoh and their army! Moroever, some Biblical scholars believed that the theophanies in Mt.Sinai, are not originally part of Exodus and that God’s? revelation through the phrase â€Å"I am who I am† is believed to have an undercurrent of the Greek philosophy’s? Absolute being. 6.YHWH is a warrior God that side with the weak which continue to inspire liberation movement of current history. 7.The sources of Exodus is a combination of several traditions namely Yahwist (J),Elohist(E),Deutoronomy (D) and Priestly (P). Exodus 4 which Collins believed to be taken largely from Priestly tradition describes vividly Moses stretching of his hand over the sea and causes the division of water. This should not be taken as a historical account but an attempt to provide concrete expression of YHWH powerful hand in rescuing the Israelites. On the other hand, the presentation of YHWH as a warrior God in Exodus 15 is a clear influence of E tradition in Exodus. My Personal Position in Relation to Arguments Presented Firstly,I fully agree with Mr. Collin’s main contention that it is difficult to establish the historical basis of the whole Exodus. The fact that the Book of Exodus was written about 700 years after its actual occurrence already presents a major flaw in historiography. Moreover, the very limited available non biblical evidence of Jewish history prior to the reign of King David which started around 1,000 BCE is a major challenge .Moreover, the B iblical accounts took place 2 to 3 thousand years before the science of archaeology came into our midst (Miller). But I also agree with him, that Exodus is a literature that speaks of bits and pieces of historical accounts. Previous and recent archaeological findings would attest to it. A.Chariots Found in Gulf of Aqaba in 1978 and 1988 In 1978,Ron Wyatt found numerous chariot wheels with some with axles still on, covered by corals in the Gulf of Aqaba. He also