The Book of Exodus describes how the Children of Israel in Egypt increased greatly, were oppressed by the Egyptians, came out of Egypt and wandered in the Wilderness where they received the Law.
[Exodus 1:1] NOW THESE ARE THE NAMES OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL , WHICH CAME INTO EGYPT ; EVERY MAN AND HIS HOUSEHOLD CAME WITH JACOB.
[Exodus 1:2] REUBEN , SIMEON , LEVI , AND JUDAH,
[Exodus 1:3] ISSACHAR , ZEBULUN , AND BENJAMIN,
[Exodus 1:4] DAN , AND NAPHTALI , GAD , AND ASHER.
[Exodus 1:5] AND ALL THE SOULS THAT CAME OUT OF THE LOINS OF JACOB WERE SEVENTY SOULS: FOR JOSEPH WAS IN EGYPT ALREADY.
The seventy souls of Israel paralleled the seventy national divisions of the Sons of Noah (Genesis chapter 10) according to which the whole of mankind may be classified.
[Exodus 1:6] AND JOSEPH DIED, AND ALL HIS BRETHREN, AND ALL THAT GENERATION.
[Exodus 1:7] AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WERE FRUITFUL, AND INCREASED ABUNDANTLY, AND MULTIPLIED, AND WAXED EXCEEDING MIGHTY; AND THE LAND WAS FILLED WITH THEM.
It is a good thing for Israelites to have many children.
[Exodus 1:8] NOW THERE AROSE UP A NEW KING OVER EGYPT , WHICH KNEW NOT JOSEPH.
[Exodus 1:9] AND HE SAID UNTO HIS PEOPLE, BEHOLD, THE PEOPLE OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL ARE MORE AND MIGHTIER THAN WE:
[Exodus 1:10]COME ON , LET US DEAL WISELY WITH THEM; LEST THEY MULTIPLY, AND IT COME TO PASS, THAT, WHEN THERE FALLETH OUT ANY WAR, THEY JOIN ALSO UNTO OUR ENEMIES, AND FIGHT AGAINST US, AND SO GET THEM UP OUT OF THE LAND.
The Book of Exodus describes how the King of Egypt persuaded his people to assist in him in oppressing the Hebrews who were enslaved. They were put to hard labour in building projects.
[Exodus 1:11]THEREFORE THEY DID SET OVER THEM TASKMASTERS TO AFFLICT THEM WITH THEIR BURDENS. AND THEY BUILT FOR PHARAOH TREASURE CITIES , PITHOM AND RAMSES.
The Bible tells us that Joseph had become the virtual ruler under Pharaoh of Egypt. Joseph induced all the clan of his father to leave the Land of Canaan and join him in Egypt. Pharaoh gave the Israelites the area of Goshen to settle in and appointed them as officers over his flocks. We thus have a picture of an Egyptian ruler encouraging Hebrew settlement in his land, granting them regions to settle in and positions of authority in his Kingdom. Joseph is depicted in both the Bible and traditional sources as heavily involved in the administration of Egypt and its social arrangements. Joseph caused all the land of Egypt to be considered the private property of pharoah and moved all the people of Egypt around from one city to another (Genesis 47:20-21). The Israelites in Egypt became very powerful and wealthy and increased exceedingly (Genesis 47:27) especially in the Land of Goshen to the east of the Nile Delta. A new pharoah arose who was unfamiliar with Joseph (Exodus 1:8). He enslaved the Hebrews,
causing them to build cities including Ramses. He also attempted to kill all of the male children. Eventually the Israelites under the leadership of Moses left Egypt and went back to the Land of Canaan .
The Biblical account about the Hebrews parallels what we know from Egyptian sources concerning the Hyksos .
In Egyptian records, the coming of the Hyksos entailed the arrival of the Habiru. The Hyksos and Habiru overlap each other. The Habiru were recalled in Hittite texts as belonging to the Land of Amurru meaning the Land of the Amorites, i.e. the Land of Canaan. The Bible (Exodus 1:8) relates that there arose a new king over Egypt who knew not Joseph and enslaved the Hebrews in order to reduce their numbers through oppressive labor. Egyptian inscriptions dating from the time when the Hebrews would have been enslaved according to Scripture refer to the “'prw” (“Apiru” or “Habiru”) as slaves. Later reports to Egypt (the Tel El Amarna tablets) after 1400 BCE show the land of Canaan being conquered by the Habiru i.e. Hebrews. The Habiru initially occupied the hill country just as the Book of Joshua ( 11:16 -23 cf. Judges ch.1) records the Israelites as having done. The Habiru according to Egyptian records included a tribe named “Benenima” (Benjamin ), an individual leader named “Iasuia” (i.e. Joshua) and other Biblical characters such as the people of Malchiel and Asher. Malchiel was a clan name of the Israelite tribe of Asher (Genesis 46;17). This tribe of Asher was considered in Egyptian text as synonymous with “MENTI” and elsewhere “MENTI” is identified with the Hyksos! The very name MENTI is an Egyptianised version of the Hebrew name Manasseh! Manasseh was an important Israelite tribe in the north adjoining the Tribe of Asher and the two intermerged to an extent. Classical sources considered the Hyksos to have been “Phoenicians ” and some Israelite tribes (e.g. Asher, Zebulon, Issachar, Dan, Nephtali, and western Manasseh) could in practice later have also been considered Phoenician. The Amarna tablets refer to members of the Habiru in the Land of Israel by Hebrew names such as “Ayab” equated with Joab and “Dadua” which is the same as David. After the Exile of the Ten Tribes the early Celtic inhabitants of Ireland and Britain called themselves “Iberi ” which is a variant of the appellation “Hebrew”!
For the purposes of definition we would say that the term “Hyksos” referred to Egyptian local rulers who befriended the Israelites together with Israelite administrators and executive personnel (including police and military) on behalf of the Egyptians . “Hiberi ” was the term for the Israelite masses who were mainly concentrated in the region of Goshen. “Hyksos” and “Hiberi” are therefore terms for the different social distinctions amongst the Israelites.
The Deliverance from Egypt
[Exodus 1:12] BUT THE MORE THEY AFFLICTED THEM, THE MORE THEY MULTIPLIED AND GREW. AND THEY WERE GRIEVED BECAUSE OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.
The Egyptians attempted to kill all the Hebrew male children at birth but not all the Egyptians co-operated and these attempts were only partially successful. Pharaoh decreed that every male child when born should be cast into the Nile [Exodus 1:22 ]. A woman from the Tribe of Levi gave birth to a son and hid him for three months after which she made a little reed boat and placed him in the Nile [2:2-3]. Miriam, the sister of the boy, stood by to see what would happen. The daughter of the king of Egypt came down to bathe in the Nile with her maidservants. She found the baby. She drew him out of the Nile and therefore called his name “Moses ” meaning “Draw Out” [ 2:10 ]. Miriam saw what had happened and suggested to the daughter of Pharaoh that she hire a Hebrew woman to nurse the infant. This suggestion was accepted and so the mother of the boy became his nurse and he was brought up in the palace of Pharaoh. When Moses grew up he saw the oppression of his people. He slew an Egyptian who was beating one of the Hebrews [ 2:12 ]. Moses then fled to the Land of Midian where he married Zipporah the daughter of Jethro the priest of Midian [ 2:21 ].
[Exodus 2:23] AND IT CAME TO PASS IN PROCESS OF TIME, THAT THE KING OF EGYPT DIED: AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SIGHED BY REASON OF THE BONDAGE, AND THEY CRIED, AND THEIR CRY CAME UP UNTO G-d BY REASON OF THE BONDAGE.
They prayed and G-d heard their prayer and cut their bondage short as we will show and delivered His people.
[Exodus 2:24] AND G-d HEARD THEIR GROANING, AND G-d REMEMBERED HIS COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM, WITH ISAAC, AND WITH JACOB.
[Exodus 2:25] AND G-d LOOKED UPON THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, AND G-d HAD RESPECT UNTO THEM.
Moses dwelt in the Land of Midian for forty years. He was keeping the flocks of his father-in-law in the desert when G-d appeared unto him [3:4]. G-d told him to return to Egypt and deliver the Hebrews from bondage. Moses went back to Egypt where he was joined by Aaron, his brother. The King of Egypt refused to let the Hebrews leave the country so Egypt was visited with ten consecutive plagues after which Pharaoh released them. The Hebrews borrowed the treasures and goods of the Egyptians and left the country.
[Exodus 12:36] AND THE L-RD GAVE THE PEOPLE FAVOUR IN THE SIGHT OF THE EGYPTIANS, SO THAT THEY LENT UNTO THEM SUCH THINGS AS THEY REQUIRED. AND THEY SPOILED THE EGYPTIANS.
[Exodus 12:37] AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL JOURNEYED FROM RAMESES TO SUCCOTH, ABOUT SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND ON FOOT THAT WERE MEN, BESIDE CHILDREN.
[Exodus 12:38] AND A MIXED MULTITUDE WENT UP ALSO WITH THEM; AND FLOCKS , AND HERDS, EVEN VERY MUCH CATTLE.
The Israelites when they came out of Egypt numbered around 600,000 males between the ages of twenty and sixty. This was apart from an even greater number of women, children, older men, and numerous non-Israelites (the “mixed multitude”) who joined them. After they had left Egypt , Pharaoh and the Egyptians regretted their release and pursued after them. The Egyptians overtook the Hebrews near the Red Sea which split open. The Israelites passed through the Sea and reached the other side. The Egyptians chased after the Israelites along the dried up sea bed but the sea returned to its former course and drowned them.
The Coming Out of Egypt in Anglo-Saxon Culture
The Passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea and the Exodus from Egypt in general became an important theme in early Anglo-Saxon Literature.
This biblical narrative of a dispossessed people’s journey to a new homeland was particularly resonant for the Anglo-Saxons because of their ancestral migration from continent to island" 2;.
After the American Revolution it was seriously considered using a picture representing the Israelites coming out of Egypt as a national emblem.
In 1776 Thomas Jefferson proposed that the seal for the newly declared United States of America should represent the children of Israel in the wilderness, led by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night; and on the other side, Hengist and Horsa, the Saxon chiefs from whom we claim the honor of being descended, and whose political principles and form of government we have assumed ì ;.
Hengist and Horsa were the Anglo-Saxon leaders who initiated the Anglo-Saxon invasion of England and its conquest from the Celts .
The Ten Commandments and the Golden Calf
The Israelites continued on their journey and came to the Mountain of Sinai where G-d appeared to all of them and gave them the Ten Commandments [Exodus 20:1-17]. The Ten Commandments are both specific injunctions as well as general categories that encompass all of the Law. Moses went up alone to Mount Sinai [24:15] and communed with G-d for forty days. The people thought Moses had disappeared in the mountain [32:1]. They created a golden bull calf [32:4] whose initial purpose was to replace Moses and serve as an intermediary for communication with the Almighty. In the eyes of G-d this was idolatry and G-d was angry [32:8-10]. Moses returned to the encampment and destroyed the idol. He led the Tribe of Levi in killing the ringleaders of the idolaters [32:28], and ritually purified the people.
The Tabernacle and Breastplate
The Israelites built a Tabernacle or traveling Sanctuary which became the model for the Temple at a later date. The High Priest served in the Tabernacle and wore special garments that included the breastplate with twelve precious stones embedded in it. In the Book of Exodus it says concerning the breastplate worn by the High Priest:
[Exodus 28:15] AND THOU SHALT MAKE THE BREASTPLATE OF JUDGMENT WITH CUNNING WORK; AFTER THE WORK OF THE EPHOD THOU SHALT MAKE IT; OF GOLD, OF BLUE, AND OF PURPLE, AND OF SCARLET, AND OF FINE TWINED LINEN, SHALT THOU MAKE IT.
[Exodus 28:16] FOURSQUARE IT SHALL BE BEING DOUBLED; A SPAN SHALL BE THE LENGTH THEREOF, AND A SPAN SHALL BE THE BREADTH THEREOF.
[Exodus 28:17] AND THOU SHALT SET IN IT SETTINGS OF STONES, EVEN FOUR ROWS OF STONES: THE FIRST ROW SHALL BE A SARDIUS, A TOPAZ, AND A CARBUNCLE: THIS SHALL BE THE FIRST ROW.
[Exodus 28:18] AND THE SECOND ROW SHALL BE AN EMERALD, A SAPPHIRE, AND A DIAMOND.
[Exodus 28:19] AND THE THIRD ROW A LIGURE, AN AGATE, AND AN AMETHYST.
[Exodus 28:20] AND THE FOURTH ROW A BERYL, AND AN ONYX, AND A JASPER: THEY SHALL BE SET IN GOLD IN THEIR INCLOSINGS.
[Exodus 28:21] AND THE STONES SHALL BE WITH THE NAMES OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, TWELVE, ACCORDING TO THEIR NAMES, LIKE THE ENGRAVINGS OF A SIGNET; EVERY ONE WITH HIS NAME SHALL THEY BE ACCORDING TO THE TWELVE TRIBES.
Each tribe had its own stone: The actual stones used were not necessarily those given in the above English translation. Which particular stone pertained to which tribe is uncertain. Different traditions and views are extant on the matter. In the Midrash quoted below each stones is equated with a specific tribe. This is according to one opinion. Other views exist and should also be considered.
Hebrew Names of the Stones
[Exodus 28:17] THE FIRST ROW SHALL BE A SARDIUS [Odem], A TOPAZ [Pitda], AND A CARBUNCLE [Berekat ]: THIS SHALL BE THE FIRST ROW.
[Exodus 28:18] AND THE SECOND ROW SHALL BE AN EMERALD [Nophech], A SAPPHIRE [Sapir], AND A DIAMOND [Yahalom].
[Exodus 28:19] AND THE THIRD ROW A LIGURE [Leshem], AN AGATE [Shevo], AND AN AMETHYST [Achlama].
[Exodus 28:20] AND THE FOURTH ROW A BERYL [Tarshish], AND AN ONYX [Shoham], AND A JASPER [Yashpeh]:
Tribal Stones and Symbols
Midrash Numbers Rabah: BaMidbar 2;7: <<Each Tribe had its own sign and colour on its standard. The color was the same as that of the Tribe’s precious stone [on the Ephod on the heart of Aaron]. Reuben had the Odem (“Ruby”) stone [in Hebrew “Odem” means red] and his flag was red. Dudaim [“mandrakes”] were depicted on it.
Shimeon had the pitda stone, his flag was coloured green and depicted the city of Schechem.
Levi had the bareket stone and his flag was one third white, one third black, one third red. The Urim and Tummin were depicted on it.
Judah had the nophech stone, the colour of his flag was like the sky. It showed a lion.
Issachar had the sapir stone, it depicted the sun and moon, as it says “AND OF THE CHILDREN OF ISSACHAR, WHICH WERE MEN THAT HAD UNDERSTANDING OF THE TIMES” [1-Chronicles 12:32].
Zebulon had the yeholam (diamond) stone. His flag was whitish and a ship was depicted on it as it says, “ZEBULON SHALL DWELL ON THE SHORES OF THE SEA” (Genesis 49;13).
Dan had the leshem stone, The colour of his flag was like a sapphire and it depicted a snake as it says, “DAN SHALL BE A SNAKE BY THE WAYSIDE” (Genesis 49;17).
Gad had the shevo stone. The colour of his flag was not white and not black but mixed black and white. It depicted an encampment, as it says, “GAD SHALL BE A TROOP: BUT HE SHALL OVERCOME AT THE LAST” (Genesis 49:19).
Naphtali had the achlama stone. The colour of his flag was like clear wine, reddish but not strongly so. A hind was depicted on it, as it says, “NAPHTALI IS A HIND LET LOOSE: HE GIVETH GOODLY WORDS” (Genesis 49:21).
Asher had the tarshish stone. The colour of his flag was like that of the precious stone women use to decorate themselves. An olive tree was depicted on it: “OUT OF ASHER HIS BREAD SHALL BE FAT, AND HE SHALL YIELD ROYAL DAINTIES” (Genesis 49:20).
Joseph had the shoham stone. The color of his flag was the deepest black. On the flag of Joseph for the two princes of Ephraim and Manasseh was depicted a representation of Egypt since their origins were in Egypt.
On the flag of Ephraim was depicted a bull: “HIS GLORY IS LIKE THE FIRSTLING OF HIS BULLOCK” (Deuteronomy 33:17). This was exemplified by Joshua who was from the Tribe of Ephraim.
On the flag of Manasseh was depicted a Raem [Unicorn] as it says:
AND HIS HORNS ARE LIKE THE HORNS OF UNICORNS (Deuteronomy 33:17). This was exemplified by Gideon who was from Manasseh.
[The complete verse says:
<<HIS GLORY IS LIKE THE FIRSTLING OF HIS BULLOCK, AND HIS HORNS ARE LIKE THE HORNS OF UNICORNS: WITH THEM HE SHALL PUSH THE PEOPLE TOGETHER TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH: AND THEY ARE THE TEN THOUSANDS OF EPHRAIM, AND THEY ARE THE THOUSANDS OF MANASSEH>> [DEUTERONOMY 33:17].
Benjamin had the Yaspa stone. The colour of his flag was like all the 12 colors. A wolf was depicted on it: “BENJAMIN SHALL RAVIN AS A WOLF: IN THE MORNING HE SHALL DEVOUR THE PREY, AND AT NIGHT HE SHALL DIVIDE THE SPOIL” (Genesis 49:27).
All of the above symbols are those of peoples and nations whom we have identified as possessing a large proportion of Israelites amongst them.
Remarks:
Reuben had the Odem stone which was red.
Some identify this with the ruby. The Dictionary says that the name “ruby” is derived from the Old French “rubi” from the Latin “rubeus” meaning red. Even so “Ruby” is a nickname for Reuben.
Nachmanides (Numbers 2:2) quotes other sources:
Nachmanides says:
"The Standard of Reuben depicted the form of a man as well as Dudaim (Mandrakes). {Some say that Dudaim were the root of a plant. The root was in the shape of a man. This would allow for both Dudaim and the form of man to be represented}. Ephraim had a bull. Judah had a lion. Dan had an eagle. These four figures (man, bull, lion, eagle) represented the four angelic forms in the Chariot of Ezekiel" (Ezekiel 1;10).
The Use of Tribal Symbols as Confirmation of Present-Day Israelite Identifications
Reuben, Ephraim, Judah and Dan were the heads of the other tribes. Each dominated a different direction: Reuben in the south (over Simeon and Gad); Ephraim in the west (over Manasseh and Benjamin); Judah in the east (over Issachar and Zebulon); and Dan in the north over Naphtali and Asher.
The Standard of Reuben depicted Dudaim (Mandrakes). Reuben dominated France the old symbol of France was the fleur-de-lis or water lily whose flower is similar to that of the mandrake. Simeon was prominent in Ireland and Wales. Green is the national color of Ireland and together with red and white appears on the standard of Wales.
Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) had a picture of Egypt. The Great Seal of the USA bears a pyramid and this symbol does represent Egypt. Ephraim had a bull. England is nicknamed “John Bull”. The very name England is derived from the Angles who were also known as “Aegloi” meaning “young bulls” in Hebrew. In the Book of Jeremiah a young bull (“aegel”) is a nick-name for Ephraim (Jeremiah 31:18, see Rashi). Manasseh had a unicorn. Two unicorns appear on the Standard of Scotland and one on that of the United Kingdom. From Scotland emerged many of the early settlers of the USA. Benjamin had a wolf and this was a symbol of the Normans descendants of Benjamin who conquered England. Benjamin was together with the sons of Joseph under one standard in their encampment.
Judah had a lion. The lion and the unicorn appear on the coat-of-arms of Britain.
Issachar had the sun and moon and his people were known for computing the calendar. Swiss watches still tell people the time.
The diamond of Zebulon recalls Dutch descended Boers who controlled South Africa the major source of diamonds and the Fleming section of Belgium that cuts and markets diamonds for all the world.
Dan had an eagle. Another source says that the symbol of Dan was a gryphon meaning a kind of winged serpent. The gryphon was the symbol of the Hyksos Hebrews in Egypt amongst whom Dan was prominent. Dan (together with Simeon) became prominent in Ireland. Irish legends emphasize the association of their ancestors with the Hyksos-Israelites in Egypt. Dan was also represented by a serpent or snake. Dan gave rise to the Viking Danes who frequently had the figure of a snake or serpent on the masthead of their ships. Dan was also prominent in Wales whose symbol is a serpent-like dragon.