"Phaorah's chariots and army He threw in the sea" (Exodus 15:4)
“Israel is laid waste, its seed is not.”
Merneptah stele (Merneptah may have been the Pharoah of the Exodus).
How to explain the inconsistency:*
(Merneptah, king of Egypt, with soldiers)
Soldier: We got a lot of dead Egyptians in the water, and the slaves escaped. Your majesty, how are we going to explain this to the folks back home?
Merneptah: O ye of little faith! As far as the folks back home were concerned, this will be a glorious victory!
Soldier: How so?
Merneptah: Do you see any Hebrew slaves?
Soldiers: Um, no.
Merneptah: Do you think anyone back home will see any Hebrew slaves?
Soldiers: Um, no.
Merneptah: So as far as they are concerned, the slaves might as well be dead. So we can just say they are dead!
Soldier: After all, there are not going to be any Hebrews around to contradict us!
Another soldier: OK, we lost a few more men than we expected, but this happens in war all the time.
Merneptah: So this is our story: the slaves had the bad manners to fight back, so we had to kill them. We lost a few of ours, but ultimately we laid waste to Israel. Hurrah for victory!
Soldiers: Hurrah!
(Indirect thanks to George Aiken.)
*Rabbi Hertz, author of the Hertz Chumash, has an alternative explanation: the stele refers to "Jezreel" rather than "Israel."
And Cecil B. DeMille says that Ramses II, Merneptah's father, was the Pharoah of the Exodus, in which case the Merneptah stele is obviously unrelated to the Exodus even if it discusses a battle against Israel.
Posted by lewyn
at 9:59 AM EST
Updated: Tuesday, 7 February 2006 10:00 AM EST
