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Moses the Magician

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Israel's Exodus in Transdisciplinary Perspective

Abstract

Exodus 1–15 repeatedly shows familiarity with Egyptian traditions: the biblical motifs of the hidden divine name, turning an inanimate object into a reptile, the conversion of water to blood, a spell of 3 days of darkness, the death of the firstborn, the parting of waters, and death by drowning are all paralleled in Egyptian texts, and, for the most part, nowhere else.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Though clearly the Song of the Sea in the final chapter is an earlier poetic version (indeed most likely the oldest piece of literature in the entire Bible), predating the prose account in Exodus 14.

  2. 2.

    Translations of the Hebrew herein are my own. I also have translated the shorter Egyptian passages quoted, though for longer Egyptian texts I have relied on the translations of others, as indicated.

  3. 3.

    This short form may be alluded to in one other passage, Hos 1:9.

  4. 4.

    For the four other sources, all Ramesside, all from Deir el-Medina, see http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/literature/isisandra.html (along with transliteration of Pap. Turin 1993).

  5. 5.

    Adapted from the translation of Robert K. Ritner in COS, 1.33–34. For other versions, see Wilson (1969: 12–14) and McDowell (1999: 118–120). For the standard edition, see Pleyte and Rossi (1869–1876: 1.173–180) (with Plates CXXXI-CXXXIII, LXXVII+XXXI in vol. 2).

  6. 6.

    On the fear expressed by the Egyptian gods concerning the threat of magic directed against them, see Ritner (1993: 21–22).

  7. 7.

    Standard editions of the entire Papyrus Westcar are Blackman-Davies (1988) and (Lepper 2008). The translation here, excerpted from the second tale, is adapted from that of William Kelly Simpson in Simpson (2003: 13–16) (in particular pp. 15–16). The reader should be aware that the manuscript is much more fragmentary than my clean prose would suggest (especially in this selection, col. 2, line 15, through col. 4, line 3), though the narrative thread is clear nonetheless. For other English renderings, see Parkinson (1997: 102–109) (esp. pp. 107–108); and Quirke (2004: 77–81) (esp. pp. 78–80) (with transliteration). See also the German translation by Lepper (2008: 29–35) (esp. pp. 31–34) (with transliteration).

  8. 8.

    There is a debate amongst scholars concerning the meaning of the word תַּנִּין, though in my opinion “crocodile” is the only possible option here and in other Egyptian contexts (e.g., Ezek 29:3, 32:2). For those in agreement with this conclusion, see the references in Noegel (1996: 47, n. 12). For full treatment, notwithstanding a contrary view, see Cohen (1991).

  9. 9.

    The source-critical approach assigns Exodus 4:1–16 to the Yahwist account, which uses “snake” both here and in its creation account in Genesis 2–3, and Exodus 7:1–13 to the Priestly source, which uses “crocodile, sea-monster” both here and in the first creation account in Genesis 1, and which elevates Aaron to greater prominence. For convenient orientation, see Friedman (2003: 130 n. *).

  10. 10.

    For examples from Egypt, see Quibell (1898: pl. 30, no. 26) (from the Ramesseum); Petrie (1906: pl. 11, no. 222) (from Tell el-Yehudiyeh); and Petrie (1909: pl. 34, no. 92) (from Memphis). For seals of this sort from the land of Israel, see Keel (1997): Achsib, no. 115; Tell el-ʿAğul, nos. 200 and 996; and Akko, no. 115; and Keel (2010): Beth-Shan, no. 87; Beth-Shemesh, no. 10; and Dor, no. 26. For a general survey, including reproductions of some of the above seals, see Münger (2003: 69), fig. 2, nos. 11–15. I am extremely grateful to Dr Münger for directing my attention to these seals and for this wealth of bibliography.

  11. 11.

    For additional aspects of this episode, see Rendsburg (2006: 209–210).

  12. 12.

    For discussion of these matters, see Enmarch (2005, 2008), now the standard treatments of this important composition. English translations include Lichtheim (1973: 149–163), Parkinson (1997: 166–199), Nili Shupak in COS, 1.93–98; Vincent A. Tobin in Simpson (2003: 188–210); and Quirke (2004: 140–150) (with transliteration of the text).

  13. 13.

    For another reference to water turning to blood in an ancient Egyptian text, namely Setne II (on which see below, §5), see Lichtheim (1973–1980: 3.148); and Robert K. Ritner in Simpson (2003: 485). The parallel is less apt, though, since it is the Nubian magician’s mother’s water which will turn to blood, should he be defeated whilst performing sorcery in Egypt.

  14. 14.

    For the identification of ערב as “gnats, flies,” see Rendsburg (2003).

  15. 15.

    Translation of Godley (1921–1924: 1.319). For discussion, see Lloyd (1976–1988: 1.165–166).

  16. 16.

    Translation of Godley (1921–1924: 1.381). For discussion, see Lloyd (1976–1988: 1.382).

  17. 17.

    The standard editions are Goedicke (1977) and Helck (1992). For English translations see Lichtheim (1980: 138–151), Parkinson (1997: 131–143), Nili Shupak in COS, 1.106–110, Vincent A. Tobin in Simpson (2003: 214–220), and Quirke (2004: 135–139) (with transliteration of the text).

  18. 18.

    This includes the transformation of the title stm “priest” (>Setne) into part of the protagonist’s name.

  19. 19.

    In addition to which, one of the tales is known from an earlier Aramaic version found at Elephantine; see Robert K. Ritner in Simpson (2003: 471), with n. 1.

  20. 20.

    Translation of Lichtheim (1980: 138–151) (in particular p. 144). For another rendering, see Robert K. Ritner in Simpson (2003: 471–489) (in particular p. 480). The standard edition remains, Griffith (1900), with translation and transliteration on pp. 142–207.

  21. 21.

    For basic orientation into these two genres, see Hornung (1999: 1–6, 7–12), respectively.

  22. 22.

    For a different approach on how to render this passage, see Allen (2005: 51, 91). Eyre (2002: 85) includes nary a comment about this line.

  23. 23.

    The sigla for these coffins (S1C, B2L, etc.) are those employed by de Buck. In this particular case, for coffin B2P, de Buck did not supply a museum accession number, beyond indicating its current location in the Louvre.

  24. 24.

    As with Setne II discussed above, the standard treatment remains, Griffith (1900), with translation and transliteration on pp. 82–141.

  25. 25.

    Translation of Lichtheim (1980: 127–138) (esp. p. 130). For another translation, see Ritner in Simpson (2003: 454–469).

  26. 26.

    Translation of Lichtheim (1973: 216–217) (esp. p. 217). For other renderings see Parkinson (1997: 109–112) (esp p. 111), Simpson (2003: 16–18) (esp. pp. 17–18), and Quirke (2004: 81–83) (esp. pp. 82–83) (with transliteration). See also the German translation by Lepper (2008: 36–40) (esp. pp. 38–39) (with transliteration).

  27. 27.

    Translation of Godley (1921–1924: 1.375).

  28. 28.

    For further discussion, see Griffith (1909), Rowe (1940: 3–30), and Lloyd (1976–1988: 1.366–367).

  29. 29.

    For orientation, see Hornung (1999: 27–53, 55–77), respectively.

  30. 30.

    All to be seen in the unsurpassed magisterial edition of Piankoff and Rambova (1954).

  31. 31.

    Translation of Manassa (2007: 350).

  32. 32.

    For superb color images, go to: http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/database/image.asp?ID=14638, http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/database/image.asp?ID=14641, http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/database/image.asp?ID=14642, especially the middle one.

  33. 33.

    Given the centrality of the drowning motif in New Kingdom texts of the afterlife, I would argue that the presence of this trope in Exodus 14–15 is essential to the biblical tradition, and does not constitute a later development. For discussion, see Loewenstamm (1972: 101–120) (with English summary on pp. viii–ix).

  34. 34.

    See also Sarna (1991: 37).

  35. 35.

    To which Ritner added a footnote, “Compare the miraculous events narrated in Pap. Westcar, Setna I, and Setna II” (p. 9, n. 24), all of which have been discussed above. Ritner further commented that this Egyptian attitude to magic stands in contrast to the Greco-Roman world, in which magic was judged with skepticism and distrust (p. 9).

  36. 36.

    As intimated above on several occasions, I prefer a holistic approach to the narrative. As to its date, while a full treatment is not possible here, I would place the composition at the time of the early monarchy. For general background, albeit with a focus on the book of Genesis, see Rendsburg (2005).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Gary A. Rendsburg

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of California, San Diego, California, USA

    Thomas E. Levy

  2. The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

    Thomas Schneider

  3. University of California, San Diego, California, USA

    William H.C. Propp

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Rendsburg, G.A. (2015). Moses the Magician. In: Levy, T., Schneider, T., Propp, W. (eds) Israel's Exodus in Transdisciplinary Perspective. Quantitative Methods in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04768-3_18

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