PerryDox – BeJustAChristian

I have been told I am wrong. To be honest, none of the translators agree with me. By strict definition I could be right, but apparently everyone thinks I am wrong. So I invite you to do a little exercise with me, one that will hopefully make us better Bible students, one that will encourage us to think beyond what is expected. Did the Israelites “plunder” the Egyptians? I am going to say, “no.”

Exodus 3:21-22 HCSB  And I will give this people such favor in the sight of the Egyptians that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. (22) Each woman will ask her neighbor and any woman staying in her house for silver and gold jewelry, and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and daughters. So you will plunder the Egyptians.”

Exodus 11:2-3 HCSB  Now announce to the people that both men and women should ask their neighbors for gold and silver jewelry.” (3) The LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. And the man Moses was feared in the land of Egypt, by Pharaoh’s officials and the people.

Exodus 12:35 HCSB The Israelites acted on Moses’ word and asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. And the LORD gave the people such favor in the Egyptians’ sight that they gave them what they requested. In this way they plundered the Egyptians.

“This command and its execution have frequently given occasion to the opponents of the Scriptures to throw contempt upon the word of God, the asking being regarded as borrowing, and the spoiling of the Egyptians as purloining.” (Keil and Delitzsch, v.1, p.446)

Keil and Delitzsch defend the translation of “ask” as not being borrowing or lending on the part of the Egyptians to the Israelites. After all, you can’t honestly borrow what you never intend on returning. Therefore the Egyptians did not expect the Israelites to return their property. But they, like most others, go on and explain the “plundering” as just that. They call it spoils of war, victorious trophies. Others call it wages rightfully due to the Israelites’ wrongfully slaved labor.

In looking at the definition of the Hebrew for our English translation of “plunder,” we find:

1) to snatch away, deliver, rescue, save, strip, plunder. A primitive root; to snatch away, whether in a good or a bad sense.

Every translation I looked at gave a negative definition such as spoiled, or plundered, although as you can see, the definition allows for something quite different, something we will examine later. Therefore I wonder. Considering that the text also says that the Egyptians looked upon the Israelites with “favor,” and that the Israelites were to “ask” their Egyptian neighbors for these treasures, this appears as a free will offering on the part of the Egyptians. Citing that the Egyptians feared Moses (Ex.12.25) doesn’t take away from my point since we are to fear God and yet serve Him with our free will offerings.

Knowing that the God intended these gifts to be used in His Tabernacle, which included sacrifices, makes me wonder again about what exactly happened when the Egyptians gave all of these gifts to the Israelites.

So what else could be the understanding? Well, could it be that the Egyptians were delivered and rescued by their gifts? That is, after all, one of the meanings of the word translated as “plundered.”

Let’s do a little research into the wider context. When reviewing the plagues, we see two main distinctions. With the 4^th (flies) and 5^th (livestock) plagues, the text says God made a distinction between the Israelites and the Egyptians (Ex.8.22-23; 9.4). And with the 9^th, there is again some difference stated between the Israelites and the Egyptians (10.23). And of course the most important distinction is made with the 10^th plague (11.7).

This distinction is not said about the 1^st (Nile), 2^nd (frogs), 3^rd (gnats), 6^th (boils) nor the 8^th plagues, although I feel confident a distinction was made also because only the Egyptians are said to suffer.

The second stage starts with the 7^th plague (hail). Notice what new distinction God now allows:

Exodus 9:18-21 HCSB  Tomorrow at this time I will rain down the worst hail that has ever occurred in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.  (19) Therefore give orders to bring your livestock and all that you have in the field into shelters. Every person and animal that is in the field and not brought inside will die when the hail falls on them.” (20) Those among Pharaoh’s officials who feared the word of the LORD made their servants and livestock flee to shelters, (21)  but those who didn’t take the LORD’s word seriously left their servants and livestock in the field.

We could call this new provision grace given to those Egyptians who had faith and fear.

When Israel left Egypt, more than just Israelites left – Exodus 12:38 HCSB  An ethnically diverse crowd also went up with them, along with a huge number of livestock, both flocks and herds.

“Ethnically diverse crowd” is more literally, “mixed crowd.” Who were the “mixed crowd?” Suggestions are they are non-Israelite Egyptian slaves, people of mixed marriages with the Israelites and their children (Lev.24:10), mercenaries (Ex.13:18), and maybe others. I would not be surprised that it included Egyptians who came to believe in Yahweh. After all, wasn’t the purpose of the plagues to prove that Yahweh was the God? And doesn’t Exodus 9:18-21 prove that some Egyptians believed in Yahweh?

Now this is not to say that the Egyptians became monotheists. So yes, the Egyptians were polytheists, but so were the Israelites according to Acts 7 and even during most of their history. There is a difference between monotheism and monolautrism. It is probably only after the Babylonian captivity that monotheism finally became entrenched among the people, although it was among the prophets and righteous kings prior to that. That is why they reverted back to idolatry so often. Also, as to fear, that is considered in the OT a major motivation for worshiping God. Therefore I am not sure how the Egyptians would be much different than the Israelites. Isn’t finding favor more intensely positive than simply wishing the people to leave?

Knowing that some Egyptians had faith, possibly even exited with the Israelites, and looked favorably upon the Israelites makes we wonder if “plunder” is the wrong translation. Do you plunder people who like you? Maybe this was the Egyptians’ sacrifice to the God of the Israelites and therefore through this sacrifice, God saved them from further destruction. After all, after the exodus, the only further destruction mentioned is on those pursuing the Israelites in the Red Sea.

Therefore I wonder, is this how we should translate the text – Exodus 12:35 HCSB The Israelites acted on Moses’ word and asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. And the LORD gave the people such favor in the Egyptians’ sight that they gave them what they requested. In this way they rescued the Egyptians.

And by the way, this is the exact same word used of God delivering the Israelites:

Exodus 3:8 HCSB  I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey–the territory of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

Exodus 6:6 HCSB  “Therefore tell the Israelites: I am Yahweh, and I will deliver you from the forced labor of the Egyptians and free you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment.

Whether I am right or wrong, this is a good exercise in thinking.

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This entry was posted by PHall on Friday, February 18th, 2011 at 5:13 pm and is filed under Exodus. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.