How long were hebrews enslaved

One passage in the Mekhilta Bo, parasha 14 clearly recognizes that the figure of a year enslavement does not square with the notion of a mere four generation absence from the land of Israel and thus infers,.

Please support us. Cassuto attempts to square the years of Exod with the life spans given in Exod 6—7 for Levi, Kohath, Amram, and Aaron, but only by treating the figures sequentially and by arbitrarily lopping off precisely 60 years for the period of time that Levi and Kohath were not yet in Egypt.

See U. On the fusing of memories from various periods of Egyptian history in the Exodus tradition, see especially William H. See William H. Weis and David M. Carr eds. The number 60 and its multiples, particularly 12, probably attracted the attention of the ancients due to their astronomical significance. Already Spinoza in chapter 9 of his Theologico-Political Treatise dealt at length with the discrepancy between 1 Kgs and the scattered chronological notices in the books of Judges and Samuel.

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Gradually and stealthily, he forced them to become his slaves. He made the slaves build grand 'treasure cities', as shown in the picture. The Egyptian overseer in red, holding a stick, is giving instructions to the barefoot slaves, who are building a wall. In the left hand picture, the overseer keeps watch on top of a tower, while the slaves make bricks from clay and straw.

But Pharaoh was still worried that his Israelite slaves would rise up against him. So he ordered a terrible punishment - all the first-born male babies of the Israelites were to be killed.