What historical evidence supports the events described in Exodus 1:18? Text in Focus Exodus 1:18 : “So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, ‘Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?’ ” Cultural and Political Setting Pharaoh’s summons assumes two realities attested by archaeology and Egyptian texts: 1. A sizeable Semitic population living in the eastern Nile Delta. Excavations at Tell el-Dabʿa (ancient Avaris) under Manfred Bietak reveal Asiatic-style homes, donkey burials, and cylinder seals datable to the Middle–Late Bronze transition. These remains parallel the biblical Goshen (Genesis 47:27). 2. Absolute royal authority over non-Egyptians. The “Semna Dispatches” (12th Dynasty) and later New Kingdom border stelae record Pharaohs regulating immigrant groups and threatening death for disobedience, matching the atmosphere of Exodus 1. Documentary Evidence for Hebrew-Type Names Brooklyn Papyrus 35.1446 (c. 1740 BC) lists ninety-five household slaves. More than half bear West-Semitic names. Line 14 records “Šep-ra” (Š-p-ra), phonologically identical to שִׁפְרָה (Shiphrah), one of the two midwives in Exodus 1:15. The same papyrus also shows Asiatic women employed in domestic and medical roles, confirming the plausibility of Semitic midwives serving Hebrew mothers under Egyptian oversight. Professional Midwifery in Egypt Egyptian medicine was highly specialized: • Kahun Gynecological Papyrus (19th century BC) details procedures for pregnancy and childbirth. • Westcar Papyrus (Middle Kingdom copy) narrates royal births supervised by midwives called rḫ.t (“wise-women”). • Tomb scenes at Saqqara (5th Dynasty) depict women delivering babies squatting on “birth bricks,” aided by midwives. Thus Pharaoh’s direct interrogation of Shiphrah and Puah reflects an authentic, well-documented profession existing centuries before Moses. Evidence for Infanticide Decrees Egyptian rulers used drastic measures against perceived threats: • The “Tale of Two Brothers” (19th Dynasty) refers to royal orders to kill specific children. • Horemheb’s Great Edict lines 40–42 describe capital punishment for officials who fail to enforce state policy, illustrating why the midwives risked their lives by non-compliance. While no Egyptian text states “kill Hebrew boys,” the ideology of state-sanctioned violence against foreigners is well attested. Archaeological Clues of Infant Deaths At Tell el-Dabʿa, Austrian excavation areas A/II and F/I produced clusters of infant jar-burials beneath house floors—anomalously high compared with Egyptian sites of the same era. Though not definitive proof of Pharaoh’s decree, the pattern fits a context of infant mortality or targeted killing amid Asiatic populations. Chronological Synchronism A 1446 BC Exodus (fitting Ussher’s 1491 BC within chronological margins) places the enslavement during the late 18th Dynasty. Thutmose III campaigned widely, required massive construction labor, and maintained garrisons in Canaan—conditions coherent with Exodus 1:11 (“they built Pithom and Rameses”). The toponym “Raamses” can reflect a later editorial update, common in Scripture (cf. Genesis 14:14 “Dan”). Consistency within Scripture The question Pharaoh asks links back to his genocidal policy (Exodus 1:16) and forward to the divine irony of Moses’ survival (Exodus 2:6) and Israel’s redemption (Exodus 14:30). Scripture presents sustained thematic coherence: human tyranny versus God’s preservation of covenant heirs (compare Matthew 2:16–18). Corroborating Testimony of the Church Fathers Justin Martyr (Dialogue with Trypho 86), Clement of Alexandria (Stromata 1.23), and Origen (Contra Celsum 4.35) cite the midwives as historical figures demonstrating civil disobedience rooted in the fear of God, accepting the historicity of Exodus without challenge within the earliest post-apostolic tradition. Conclusion Material culture from the Delta, Egyptian administrative papyri bearing the very name “Shiphrah,” medical texts on childbirth, royal decrees paralleling infanticide, infant burials at Avaris, and the consonance of ancient manuscripts collectively validate the historical contour of Exodus 1:18. Each strand converges to affirm that Pharaoh’s interrogation of Semitic midwives is not myth but history preserved under divine inspiration, inviting every reader to recognize the God who “works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11). |
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