The lectionary reading for today comes from Exodus 1. In this passage, a “new pharaoh” reigns over Egypt who does not know Joseph. To say that there has been a significant amount of debate over the years about who this pharaoh was and about the historicity of the Exodus would be perhaps the understatement of the century. With that said, the purpose of this post is to introduce the my readers to this debate, and as such the primary link in this post will present information that may be “old hat” to some professional academics (though depending on one’s area of specialization it could also be very helpful for academics like myself as well). For an introduction to the debate about the identity of the “new pharaoh” as well as the broader issues related to the historicity and dating of the Exodus, I would suggest that you begin with this set of posts on Higgaion, the blog of Dr. Chris Heard (begin reading from the bottom and see explicitly Part 2 of the Extended Review for the issue of the Pharaoh of the Exodus).

The posts are a response to a video entitled The Exodus Decoded.  I would recommend watching the video if you get a chance along with reading the blog posts (I believe that Chris links to the video on the History Channel website at some point in the posts).  However, I will preface this debate by saying that scholars generally fall somewhere on a sliding scale.  At one end of the scale are literalists who believe that the Exodus story happened exactly as the Hebrew Bible records.  At the the other opposite end are those that believe that the Exodus did not occur at all.  In the middle are more moderate scholars who believe there is some kernel of truth to the Exodus story, but that it did not happen as recorded in the Biblical story.  In terms of dating, there are scholars that hold to a 15th century date, a 13th century date, or no date at all (i.e. if they do not believe that the Exodus actually happened).  In my reading, I have found the 13th century date to be a consensus among those who believe there is some historical accuracy to the story.

I am no archaeologist.  And, I cannot read most of the primary source materials related to this issue in their original languages.  All that I am able to do for the most part is read the story in the Hebrew Bible and read the interpretations of this account provided by secondary sources (e.g. Dr. Heard).  And to state my position, I fall somewhere in the camp of the moderates.  I believe there is some historical kernel of truth to the story, but that it did not happen exactly as the Bible records it.  Some elements of the story simply do not make sense to me except as later theological reflection on some historical kernel (e.g. 2.5 million people leaving Egypt at the time of the Exodus).  Yet I think it is helpful to go through posts like those of Dr. Heard along with the video to be exposed to all sides of the current debate.

If you would like to explore this issue further using audio, I would recommend picking up Eric Cline’s audio course entitled A History of Ancient Israel in the Modern Scholar series from Audible.com.  His overall approach to the history of Ancient Israel is a moderate one.  He gives the Biblical stories a hearing, but also attempts to corroborate these stories with external sources.  To get this course free with a trial, click HERE.