Archaeology

Pharaoh Kills Babies

Could it be true? Did the Jewish people once dwell as slaves in Egypt, and did Pharaoh kill the male babies of the Israelites?
Recommend To A Friend
Audio Options: MP3

Pharaoh Kills Babies

Article#: 1005

So many problems. So many questions. So many inequities, and amazingly enough, all have a singular answer. Colossians 1:12-20:

12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

Whether man likes it or not, Jesus Christ is the center of the universe. Everything revolves around Him. He is the center of our molecular structure. Every thought and every deed revolves around Him. The Word of God declares the perfect commandment or precept, and mankind lines up either for or pro- Christ, or against or antichrist. Like it or not, that is how it works. Believers wear with pride the carnal ridicule that Christians are simple-minded, and uneducated enough to believe that Jesus Christ is the answer to every issue.

I once told a skeptical inquirer that I knew where he was, but that he didn’t know where I was. The arrogance of God’s detractors is so very futile and infantile. Being that all Christians were once unbelievers, we fully understand their debate and mindset. Because of this, we are able to quickly assess their issues and dismiss them as foolishness. Understanding the infinite wisdom that Jesus Christ is the center of all things, visible and invisible, is a glorious product of the fear of God, and that is the beginning of wisdom. The spiritually blind cannot see.

Are you ready for solutions to your problems? Are you ready for answers to your questions? Are you ready for the answer to life’s inequities? Are you ready to meet Jesus Christ? Click onto "Further With Jesus" for a single, perfect remedy. Enter the invisible dimension of the kingdom of God. Now for today’s subject.

GOD SAID, Exodus 1:8-22:

8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.

9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:

10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to 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.

11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.

13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:

14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.

15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:

16 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.

17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.

18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?

19 And the midwives said unto 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.

20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.

21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.

22 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.

MAN SAID: There is not one shred of evidence that the children of Israel ever dwelt in the land of Egypt, or that any of the miracles recorded in Exodus ever really happened!

Now THE RECORD. How desperately carnaldom strives to discredit the magnificent and inerrant word of God. If the scriptures are true and righteous altogether, they will stand before an angry God in a soon coming judgement to give an account of their blasphemies and how they handled the cross of Christ. Don’t be surprised when you see their vigorous, consistent challenges.

Why didn’t someone tell the Egyptian professor that Jews never really served under the cruel bondage of the Pharaohs? The following paragraphs are from the GodSaidManSaid feature article titled "Moses Challenged:"

The following report is found in The International Jerusalem Post, November 28, 2003, p 31:

The recent publicity garnered by the Egyptian professor who intends to file a lawsuit against the Jewish people and the State of Israel for the return of the gold, silver, and clothing taken by the Israelites when they left Egyptian bondage over three millennia ago caused me to think how ancient scores are never really settled — at least when they involve the Jews. The academic who claims to be filing this class-action suit is perhaps unaware that this tactic was attempted before — in fact, it was employed over 23 centuries ago, when Alexander the Great ruled both Egypt and the Land of Israel.

The Talmud in tractate Sanhedrin relates that Egyptian representatives appeared before Alexander and asked that he demand from the Jews the return of all of the wealth taken by them when they left Egyptian slavery a millennium earlier. Alexander sent a notice to the Jewish elders in Jerusalem asking for a representative to present the Jewish side of the dispute.

The rabbis sent a man by the name of Gavha, who was small in stature but very clever. His defense was that if one were to start down the slippery road of adjudicating ancient claims, then the Egyptians still owed the Jews for centuries of slave labor. Alexander, no fool himself, realized the morass that he had placed himself in by agreeing to judge the case, and decided to dismiss the matter altogether. [End of quote]

Exodus 3:20-22:

20 And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go.

21 And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty:

22 But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

Could it be true? Could the Bible actually be a perfect and reliable historical record? Author David Rohl conducted an exhaustive search of existing archaeological findings and ancient history and concluded with a resounding yes! David Rohl, who holds a degree from University College of London in Egyptology and ancient history, and is the author of the best seller, "A Test of Time: The Bible From Myth to History," as well as the 454-page tome, "Legend, the Genesis of Civilisation." Rohl was also the presenter of the internationally acclaimed three-part television documentary titled "Pharaohs and Kings: A Biblical Quest," which premiered in 1995. He currently chairs the Institute of the Study of Interdisciplinary Sciences, and is president of the Sussex Egyptology Society.

Did the Jewish people once dwell as slaves in Egypt, and did Pharaoh kill the male babies of the Israelites? The following is from Rohl’s book, Pharaohs and Kings: A Biblical Quest:

In the New Chronology, these Asiatics have to be the proto-Israelites. Our Israelite population — that is to say the Asiatic peoples whose historical existence formed the basis of the traditional history of late Genesis and Exodus — occupied strata H and G/4 to G/1, the first levels of the Asiatic town. The later strata F to D/2 also represent an Asiatic settlement but these people, although culturally similar, were distinct from the earlier group of H to G/1. Bietak notes that the early Asiatics were highly "Egyptianised." The later Asiatics, whom I shall subsequently identify with the Hyksos invaders who entered Egypt during the late 13th Dynasty, were very different. According to Bietak, the tombs of this group were "purely Canaanite ... and showed little Egyptian influence" — in other words, newcomers from the Levant. Why were the early Asiatics so much more Egyptianised than their later cousins? Now that we can identify the former with Joseph’s brethre,n the answer is obvious. It is clear from the Bible that Joseph himself was highly Egyptianised and readily accepted the influences of Egyptian culture for his people. However, adopting a partly Egyptian way of life did not mean sacrificing the most important Hebrew cultural traits which were of religious significance — in other words, their burial practices.

It is readily apparent that there was a clearly defined settlement break between Stratum G/1 and F. For the historical model being developed here, it is important to note that this break marks the biblical Exodus in the archaeology of Tell ed-Daba as will become clear in the next chapter.

Let us look in a little more detail at the inhabitants of the earlier strata H to G/1. There are several interesting aspects to this settlement group which merit discussion. First, an anthropological analysis of the skeletal remains by Eike-Meinrad Winkler and Harald Wilfing shows that more adult women were buried in the settlement than adult men. This could simply indicate that there was a disproportionately high female population at Avaris. In the context of the Sojourn tradition, this might be explained by the culling of the Israelite male children — an act of the "pharaoh who did not know Joseph" in fear of the perceived political threat resulting from a strong Asiatic population in Egypt.

In the context of this same story, it was discovered that there was a higher percentage of infant burials at Tell ed-Daba than is normally found at archaeological sites of the ancient world. Sixty- five per cent of all the burials were those of children under the age of eighteen months. Based on modern statistical evidence obtained from pre-modern societies we would expect the infant mortality rate to be around twenty to thirty per cent. [End of quote]

Rohl continues:

In the previous chapter, I noted that an analysis of the graves at Tell ed-Daba has shown that there were more females than males in the burial population of Avaris. I suggested this could conceivably reflect the story of the culling of the Israelite males described in Exodus 1:15-22. A similar picture emerges from the Brooklyn Papyrus. In his commentary, William Hayes (the editor of the document) remarks on the problem of determining the origins of this large Asiatic slave population and then goes on to ponder the high proportion of female slaves listed in the papyrus.  [End of quote]

Rohl continues:

Perhaps the most surprising circumstance associated with these Asiatic servants is that an Upper Egyptian official of the mid Thirteenth Dynasty should have had well over forty of them in his personal possession. If a comparable number of similar servants was to be found in every large Egyptian household, one wonders by what means such quantities of Asiatic serving people found their way into Egypt at this time and how they chanced to be available as domestic servants for private citizens.  The ratio of women to men, which is here about three to one, might further suggest that they were the spoils of war taken during military campaigns or raids in which most of the local male population went down fighting. We know, however, of no large-scale Egyptian military operations in Western Asia at any time during the Middle Kingdom and certainly of none during the Thirteenth Dynasty.

By applying the New Chronology model for the SIP, it is now possible to explain the quandaries highlighted by Hayes. The reduction in the male Asiatic population is not due to a series of (unattested) wars in the north, but rather as a result of a deliberate policy on the part of the Egyptian state to reduce the perceived Israelite threat by means of male infanticide (as described in Exodus 1:15- 22). The origin of these foreigners is also explained: they entered Egypt in the years following the arrival of Jacob and his immediate brethren into the land of Goshen. During their long sojourn these disparate Asiatic groups (which we could give the overall classification of "Hebrews/Habiru/Apiru" — including the Israelites themselves) would gradually forge nationhood through the common burden of slavery under the late 13th Dynasty pharaohs.

Conclusion. The bonded Asiatic servants recorded in various documents of the 13th Dynasty (especially Papyrus Brooklyn 35.1446) are to be identified with the "mixed multitude" of Asiatics who eventually left Egypt under the leadership of Moses [Exodus 12:38]. The Israelite population, descended from Jacob, formed the major part of this group and a number of Hebrew/Israelite names can be recognised within the documents of the period. [End of quote]

When God’s Word speaks, wise men and women get in line. God’s Word is true and righteous altogether.

GOD SAID, Exodus 1:8-22:

8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.

9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:

10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to 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.

11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.

13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:

14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.

15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:

16 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.

17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.

18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?

19 And the midwives said unto 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.

20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.

21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.

22 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.

MAN SAID: There is not one shred of evidence that the children of Israel ever dwelt in the land of Egypt, or that any of the miracles recorded in Exodus ever really happened!

Now you have THE RECORD.


References:

Authorized King James Version

GodSaidManSaid, "Moses Challenged," 1/1/2004

Rohl, D.M., "Pharaohs and Kings: A Biblical Quest," Crown Publishers, 1995, pp271,277,278

 

Visits: 27370