By Daniel Abraham and Shmuli Phillips
The dramatic biblical description of Moshe’s early years and his rise to prominence as leader of the Jewish people at the Exodus has long fascinated biblical scholars. Attempts have been made to draw thematic and textual comparisons between the Torah’s account and those of other Ancient-Near-Eastern texts, with the strong implication that the Torah simply replicated earlier stories and literary themes when seeking to portray its heroic saviour. Last year, we examined the claim that Moshe’s birth story was copied from earlier Near-Eastern legends telling of the birth of Sargon (among others).
We must therefore examine the strength of the features common to these five stories. Do they demand us to conclude that Moshe’s journey from fugitive-to-hero was built upon a clearly identifiable mythical motif?
Greenstein tells us that:
“all these texts share a common fugitive narrative pattern: They tell of a national leader or hero who is compelled to leave his homeland, spends a period in exile, receives an instruction or encouragement from a deity to return home, achieves leadership or fame at home, and founds or renews a cult or ritual”.
He then breaks down these common features into fourteen points of comparison.
As readers of history will confirm, such a narrative pattern is quite unremarkable given the political manoeuvering and machinations in ancient times. Unless the theory can be fortified by demonstrating the duplication of specific or unexpected details, it remains speculative and weak. Bearing this in mind, it is deeply disappointing that the single such distinctive feature in the list of fourteen commonalities – an exile of specifically seven years – is acknowledged not to have been replicated in the Moshe narrative.
Aside from this inconsistency, several of the other thirteen commonalities between the Moshe episode and its apparent ancient predecessors do not hold up to scrutiny. Moshe does indeed marry a daughter of his host Yitro – but this only features in two of the five ancient stories on which the Torah is allegedly based.
When Greenstein is unable to match up claimed common features between the narratives, he instead wrongly represents the evidence. Regarding the claimed commonality of the fugitive hero being protected by females he writes:
“When Moses reaches Midian, to the east, he is brought home by the daughters of the local priest, and probably the chieftain, Reuel/Jethro (Exod 2:18-20).”
This in stark contrast to the Torah’s actual narrative which describes Moshe rescuing Yitro’s daughters who then leave him to return home – it is only their father who subsequently insists on offering Moshe protection.
Several of the other elements of claimed similarity between the Torah’s account and the other stories from the ancient world demonstrate that Greenstein possesses a creative imagination. While the fugitive heroes fight off attacks from rival armies, Moshe is the subject of a mysterious divine visitation. And when Moshe, the proposed fugitive-hero, specifically fails to loot and enrich himself, his identity is conveniently melded with that of the Jewish people who claim their promised riches on their way out of Egypt.
Greenstein himself seems to sense the lack of a smoking gun – a remarkable or unexpected common feature or clear indication that the Torah’s narrative drew upon these other tales. He attempts to fill this void when describing Moshe’s meeting with Aharon prior to his return to Egypt (albeit at a different point to such meetings in other ancient tales).
“There is little if any real purpose to this encounter, prior to Moses’ arrival in Egypt, but it follows the elements of the fugitive hero pattern.”
The implication is that the inclusion of this meeting in the Torah’s account can only be explained in view of the fact that it is drawing on the ancient motif of fugitive hero stories. What this claim fails to recognise, however, is that Aharon’s joyous greeting of Moshe was earlier presented by God as a sign to Moshe – seemingly to reassure him that Aharon does not harbour any jealously or resentment over his ascent to leadership (see 4:14 and Rashi there).
Having satisfied ourselves that the comparison between Moshe and the other ancient stories struggles or fails entirely in several of the claimed fourteen features, and contains no remarkable unexpected commonalities, we now turn to a broader historical question. Taking a look at the political realities which prevailed throughout the ancient world (and indeed the Middle Ages), what options were available to a member of the royal or political elite who feared imminent death or imprisonment? Would he or she not be likely to seek refuge from nearby rival nations? Such nations might be happy to oblige because, if their investment paid off, they would have a powerful ally ruling a neighbouring nation.
Such patterns are evident later in the book of Kings I (chap. 11), with King Haddad of Edom fleeing his country, taking refuge with the King of Egypt and marrying the princess before returning with an army to reclaim his country. There is no suggestion there that the Edomite monarch is being depicted as a biblical returning hero.
But even looking at the history of the British monarchy in recent centuries, this motif can be seen to have occurred repeatedly. Princess Mary (born 1662) was exiled to Holland where she married her fellow Protestant cousin, William. She later returned together with William and an invading army to depose the Catholic King James in what has become known as the “Glorious Revolution” in which the Bill of Rights set the stage for the first constitutional monarchy in Europe. Two centuries earlier, Henry VII spent most of his life in exile in France before returning to England at the head of an invading army and securing a military victory which is generally regarded as heralding the beginning of the modern era.
Most of Greenstein’s fourteen features are contained within these British royal stories too. Could this, by any chance be coincidental? An expected feature of palace intrigue and the political machinations of bygone eras?
Original article can be read here.
First posted on Facebook 23 December 2021, here.
