I am YHWH
- God breaks the boredom of Moses’ desert shepherding by lighting up a bush that isn’t consumed.
- God’s “offer you can’t refuse” to Moses achieves its result, Moses and Aaron carry the message to Pharaoh.
- The outcome of the message was disastrous if we imagine it’s goal was to relieve the suffering of Israel.
- The “bricks without straw” order comes down the chain of command with the necessary beatings and the people’s oppression grows worse.
- The chain of complaint (which works in reverse of the chain of command) goes back through Moses back to Yhwh. “You’re just making things worse!”
- Yhwh ups the ante by assuming a language Empire understands.
A quick visit to the Ancient Near Eastern library reveals that God is employing stock terms in his speech.
Other ancient Near Eastern texts also record deities speaking in this way, although such statements are not common in Egyptian texts. Part of the “Sphinx Stele” from the time of Thutmose IV states: “See me, look at me, my son Thutmose. I am thy father, Harmakhis-Kepri-Re-Atum, I shall give thee my kingdom upon earth.” Assyrian texts from the 600s B.C. ascribe the following statements to the goddess Ishtar: “I am the great divine lady, I am the goddess Ishtar of Arbela, who will destroy your enemies from before your feet.… I am Ishtar of Arbela. I shall lie in wait for your enemies”; “I am Ishtar of Arbela, O Esarhaddon, king of Assyria. In the cities of Ashur, Nineveh, Calah, protracted days … unto [you] shall I grant.”
Walton, J. H. (2009). Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (Vol. 1, p. 183). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Similarly Yhwh’s talk about his “strong arm” also echoes Egyptian empire:
This phrase can just as easily be translated, “my strong arm.” It appears to have a direct parallel in royal rhetoric from ancient Egypt. For instance, there is an Egyptian account of the epic battle of Qadesh (c. 1275 B.C.), in which Ramesses II led his army against the Hittites near Qadesh in Syria. The Egyptians escaped with a narrow victory but proclaimed their triumph in grandiose terms. Ramesses boasts:
Then, when my troops and my chariotry saw me,
that I was like Montu, my arm strong,
Amun my father being with me instantly,
turning all the foreign lands into straw before me,
then they presented themselves one by one,
to approach the camp at evening time.…
Then my army came to praise me,
their faces [amazed/averted], at seeing what I had done.
My officers came to extol my strong arm,
and likewise my chariotry, boasting of my name.
Walton, J. H. (2009). Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (Vol. 1, p. 181). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Pharaoh asked “who is Yhwh” and he is about to get his answer.
Moses dutifully delivers the message designed to encourage the people, but Pharaoh’s tactic seems successful. They are too discouraged to respond.
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