Dear Mr Rawlinson of the 19th century, which is the last century most people ever get to for their schoolings:
I have a hard time believing no Jew ever questioned the scriptures, given how often the scriptural authors complain the regular folks aren't listening to them and how "they knew not the Lord".
Mr. Rawlinson ... seriously? If you read ancient Chinese texts, like Journey to the West, and find a bunch of locations and cultural things that are verifiable, does that mean a pig and a monkey and a river demon joined a monk on an adventure to India?
It is a love letter that Yahweh will offer a single family shelter in a vast fertile paradise, only to go to sleep for about 400 years while their descendants get (supposedly) treated like crap.
You don't depend on 19th century scholarship desperate to justify belief in scripture?
Just as long as they don't have iron. God is apparently a pokemon weak against steel attacks.
Egypt, prior to Bablyon, also represents the most hated thing the prophets/authors could think up: civilization. They idealized the nomadic life where THEY were the ones the little people went to for problems. In civilization, you need more than a simple prophet who spouts off things every once in awhile when the mood strikes him/her. They hated freedom, really.
Or maybe just mindwipe the guy so the Hebrews can just leave and Pharaoh won't even realize it?
Exactly. It's a political metaphor for what was going on at the time written, except it was written mostly by people who, if alive today, would be anchoring at Fox News.
It's not so much that they left as that most of them were never there in the first place, unless you count territories IN Canaan as Egypt since Egypt ruled it at certain times.
Archaeology.
Again, the Exodus is also popular with the CSA people (as well as the people those people tried to screw over). It got reused as a metaphor for 19th century (oh, look, it's THAT century again, see above) where Africans used it as a message of hope over slavery and Europeans used it to tell themselves they freed themselves from evil black people.
I'm a huge fan of the movie. Basically have it memorized. Cecil B. DeMille is not a biblical prophet and even at the beginning of the movie, you see he used multiple sources for his ideas. But deep down, especially when you understand the decade it was filmed, you have lily white Moses defeating a really tan Ramses, who had been technologically, legally, and ethically superior to just about every civilization in the area, at least according to Egyptian documentation. This is a film for those white "sovereign citizens" who think they don't need a government telling them what to do. He also did one in the 20's which was ALSO a high time for the post Civil War KKK and eugenics cancers of society.
Because God apparently doesn't know how to resolve things diplomatically or with any kind of sense.
Moses: Let's go, homies. Back to the land of our fathers!
Hebrews: Supposedly our fathers are from here and have been for 400 years.
Moses: No, you gotta go WAY back. I'm getting you free from slavery.
Hebrews: So, you have some territory set up?
Moses: Nah. We'll have to kill people and take their stuff.
Hebrews: We are slaves without weapons and they'll be mighty ticked off.
Moses: It's cool, though. I have a magic fire tornado and a magic stick. Just wipe some lamb's blood on your doors so God won't kill you and we'll sneak out later.
Hebrews: We're God's chosen people?
Moses: Exactly.
Hebrews (head tilt): He doesn't know who we are? We have to tell Him? What's to stop Egyptians from seeing what we're doing and putting lamb's blood on THEIR DOORS?
Moses: God's not an idiot. Don't be stupid.
Hebrews: He wants us to go out with few supplies into a land filled with bandits and angry future victims of your raids with a very angry army behind us and He's NOT stupid?
Moses: God will provide!
Hebrews: HE could provide NOW. Where's He been for 400 years?
Moses: He's heard your cries of bondage!
Hebrews: Longest. Wait. Times. Ever. If modernity is ever invented, we hope no one ever has to wait centuries to get something useful done that could be solved in about 10 minutes or less.
