Why Israel Did Not Leave Egypt After the Famine
Yoseph administered Egypt during the seven years of famine, which are interrupted in order to describe how his family came to settle in Egypt. In the first year of the famine, there was no bread in the entire country, since the famine was very severe and all the grain that they had set aside as a reserve during the seven years of plenty had gone. And because the people languished due to the famine, Yoseph opened the granaries of Egypt.
In Gen. 47:13-27, we learn that Yoseph had done more than just rescue Egypt from the famine. He instituted a new political system of Egypt by taking over all land as property of Pharaoh and making the people his servants. Yoseph uprooted the Egyptians from their places and moved from one end of Egypt to the other end, in order to disown them. Once the Egyptians were settled on land which was not theirs, they could not return to their lands settled by other people. We should recall that King Nevuchadnetsar of Babylon did exactly that with the peoples he conquered. Also, what we notice here is the first ever recorded tax collection in the history of mankind: a twenty percent tax imposed on the Egyptians. Thus, every Egyptian became a stranger in the land of Egypt and a slave to Pharaoh. No doubts that Yoseph knew the prediction Avraham handed down to Yitschak and Ya’akov, namely, the Hebrews were to be strangers in a land that was not theirs. With this in mind, Yoseph wanted to diminish the burden the children of Israel would bear, when they came later in Egypt.
Because the famine extended beyond Egypt’s borders, as dreamed in Pharaoh’s dream, Yoseph was able to gather wealth not only from Egypt, but from the neighboring lands, as well. Since Egypt was the superpower of that era, the wealth of the known world came to Egypt. Thus, when the time came for Israel to leave Egypt, the Israelites did not only take the riches of Egypt but also the riches of those nations. Meanwhile, when the brothers came to Egypt, Yoseph said to them,
And Elohim sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to give life to you by a great escape. (Gen 45:7)
Was that the Exodus that Yoseph had foreseen? Perhaps, he had another dream, or it was just a logical expectation of his that one day the descendants of Avraham would return to the land according to the promise? Alternatively, he was referring to the end of the famine and the deliverance from Egypt sometime after that. Perhaps.
And Israel and his family set out for Egypt leaving behind only graves and altars. First, he came to Be’ersheva, longtime home of his grandparents, Avraham and Sarah, to bring sacrifices to the Elohim of his father Yitschak (Gen 46:1). There the Eternal spoke to him, saying,
I am the El, Elohim of your father. Do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I shall make you there into a great nation. (Gen 46:3)
There was no necessity to tell Israel “Do not fear”, unless he was fearful to go down to Egypt. What was Ya’akov’s fear of going to Egypt? He must have remembered what the Egyptians did to his grandmother Sarah. Besides, Ya’akov knew what corruptible and idolatrous place Egypt was. So, when he came to Be’ersheva to offer sacrifices, he must have done so in the hope that he would receive the same answer as his father Yitschak had received from the Eternal: “Do not descend to Egypt”. He knew the prediction that the descendants of Avraham would go in a foreign land, for Avraham must have informed his son and grandson of this. However, as the time had now arrived to fulfill the decree, Ya’akov was told: “Do not fear!” But how would Israel become a great nation in Egypt, and how would that make him less fearful? Why could he not develop into a great nation in the land of Kana’an but in Egypt? The exile had already been decreed. In the famine, Ya’akov must have immediately recalled that. And Yoseph was there, how could he not? And the Eternal said to Israel,
I Myself am going down with you to Egypt and I Myself shall certainly bring you up again. And Yoseph shall put his hand on your eyes. (Gen 46:4)
After the exile to Charan (Gen 28:10), where he spent twenty years, he once again had to go into another exile, whose end was hard for him to foresee. Nevertheless, the implementation of the promise to Avraham, “Know well that your offspring shall be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years”, must begin. Yet Ya’akov knew that the promise on his way to Egypt would be kept, as the promise on his way to Charn was kept too. And Ya’akov set out from Be’ersheva for Egypt.
And when they arrived, Yoseph met his father and brothers with the words, which they should say to Pharaoh, so that they would dwell in the land of Goshen, the land Yoseph wanted to give them. Why did Yoseph tell them to say those words? Because every shepherd was an abomination to the Egyptians, and they would not want them among them. Thus, Yoseph sought to find the way to situate his family in a place separated from the Egyptian; the Israelites would be abominable to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians would be abominable to the Israelites. Besides, Yoseph must have been afraid that his brothers would be enlisted in Pharaoh’s army. In the words of Yoseph,
Your servants have been men of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and also our fathers. (Gen 46:34)
And when they presented themselves to Pharaoh, they said,
We have come to sojourn in the land, because there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the scarcity of food is severe in the land of Kana’an. And now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen. (Gen 47:4)
From the words they said to Pharaoh, “to sojourn” and “to dwell”, it became clear to Pharaoh that they intended to stay only temporarily. In Hebrew these words are: גּוּר gur, which means to turn aside from the road for a lodging or any other purpose, that is, to sojourn as a guest (Gen 20:1, Gen 21:23, Gen 21:34, Gen 32:4), and יָשַׁב yashav, to sit down specifically as judge or in ambush in quiet, by implication to dwell (See Gen 27:44, Exo 24:14, Lev 14:8, Num 22:19). By the usage of these words, it can be implied that at that time they did not intend to settle permanently in Egypt. This can also be implied by the reason for saying that there was no pasture in Egypt, and that the famine was as severe in the land of Kana’an. Yet, in the land of Egypt there was a little pasture left on account of the Nile and the canals.
And Ya’akov said to Pharaoh,
The days of the years of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not reached the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning. (Gen 47:9)
The Pharaoh must have undoubtedly realized at that time the gift of having not only Yoseph but the whole family as a blessing to Egypt, for if Yoseph was a blessing for Egypt, how much more blessing Ya’akov and his whole family would have been. He might have thought that as long as Ya’akov would live among them, there would be no longer a famine in Egypt. Yet, Ya’akov was careful in his choice of words; he said מָגוּר magur, “sojourning”, from the same word גּוּר gur, to sojourn temporarily, used together with “few days”. How did Ya’akov know that his years would be few? He did not, but he wanted to indicate to the ruler of Egypt that his intent was to stay only temporarily in his country. So Yoseph settled his father and brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Ra’meses, as Pharaoh had commanded (Gen 47:11). He settled them in the choicest land of Egypt and with possession, in the most fertile part of the country. In this province, Yoseph assigned their settlements near to himself (Gen 45:10), yet away from the Egyptians.
And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they had possessions of it and were fruitful and increased exceedingly. (Gen 47:27)
The Hebrew word vayei’achazu, “and they took possession of it”, literally means “and they took hold of it”, like in seizing, but also translates, “and they were held by it.” Rashi translates vayei’achazu as related to the word אֲחֻזָּה achuzah, “possession of land”, “homestead”, from אָחַז achaz, to seize, to imply that, “The land possess them”. If we agree with Rashi, the Israelites became totally attached to the land of Egypt. The Israelites no longer were seeing themselves as sojourners in Egypt but rather as residents, despite the intent of Ya’akov to stay there temporarily. They completely settled and did not wish to leave Egypt. They grew so comfortable in the foreign land that they became part of it.
Why did the family choose to settle more permanently in Egypt? One may suggest that once the famine was over, Israel and his family would return to Kana’an. But they did not. And why would they? The family initially received from Yoseph excellent conditions to settle in Egypt. This must have extended their stay. But for how long? For the land of Egypt eventually held its seizure onto them and influenced their decision. Or perhaps, Israel’s intent was not to stay permanently in Egypt, for he knew that his father never left the land of Kana’an for Egypt.
Pharaoh showed respect to Yoseph and Ya’akov while they were alive. But once Ya’akov and Yoseph died, the Egyptians changed. Yoseph must have seen this at the end of his life, for he did not request from Pharoah to be buried in the land of Kana’an. He knew that after his death, his brothers would not have had that influence he had to request such a burial. The brothers saw this change of attitude of the Egyptians as well. Even though, the brothers themselves did not endure actual servitude during their lifetimes, their children endured it. The new Pharaoh who came to power did not know Yoseph and what he had done for Egypt. He oppressed them and the slavery began.
While the sons of Israel were still living well in Egypt, and Yoseph bid them to take his bones with them, many years after the famine was over, they sensed that something was not going well for the family in Egypt. Yoseph said to his brothers,
I am dying, but Elohim shall certainly visit you and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Avraham, to Yitschak, and to Ya’akov. (Gen 50:24)
Yoseph made his brothers swear an oath that whenever the Elohim of their fathers would visit them and lead them out of the land of Egypt, they were to take his bones with them. He did not want to be left behind in Egypt. Yoseph did not ask that they should bury him in Kana’an upon his death as their father did, because he knew that once he had passed, there would be no one to influence Pharaoh to permit his burial. His brothers passed these words of Yoseph onto their sons to take his and their remains with them when they would eventually leave the foreign land. When the time of the Exodus came, however, the Eternal had to remove them by force. And those who did not put the blood of Pesach (Passover lamb) on their doorposts died during the three days of darkness.
So, what happened? It was Ya’akov’s intent to stay temporary in Egypt, seeing that this was his wish in his words to Pharaoh to come in Egypt only temporarily, to sojourn there, and to ascend from Egypt as soon as the famine in the land of Kana’an would cease. Evidently, the patriarch did not have plans of living permanently in Egypt. But Yoseph gave his family the choicest land for their flocks, when they settled in Goshen, which might have changed their plans and decided to settle permanently. And when the famine in Egypt ceased only five years after their arriving, they did not return to Kana’an. Instead, they settled in the foreign land, and thus they prolonged the exile. Or Ya’akov kept in mind the words of the Eternal: “Yoseph shall put his hand on your eyes”, which must have been a sign for him that the eventual exodus would come after his death.
Over time, the land of Egypt held onto the children of Israel and influenced their self-identity and culture. Ya’akov died there, and the family did not leave. Yoseph was then the first of the brothers to die, and consequently all his brothers died in the foreign land (Levi being the last one who died in Egypt). Thus, their children permanently settled in Egypt for four hundred years. On the other hand, Israel knew of the decree that his descendants would be sojourners in a foreign land. It was decreed.
What is to be learned from their story? Israel’s descent into Egypt alludes to the present exile in Rome. As then as it is now, the Jews are not coming up, but instead they prolong the exile. It was known that the Babylonian exile would last for a period of seventy years. There was also a term for the Egyptian exile of four hundred year. There was a term for the Roman exile, as well. The Roman officially exiled ended in May 1948 at the moment the first prime minister of Israel, Ben Gurion, announced that Medinat Israel (the State of Israel) had been established. Learn from Noach’s dove. Had the dove found a resting place the first time it was sent to find land for settlement, it would not have returned. When the dove indeed found such a place, it did not return to Noach. Likewise, the children of Israel.
We also learn that whenever Israel is in exile and found worthy, The Eternal remembers His Covenant and draws them out from there. If the people are not found worthy, He keeps them in exile until the time He originally decreed. If that time arrives, and yet they are not worthy of the great escape, the Eternal does not forget them, for He has said it, “Then will I remember My covenant with Ya’akov” (Lev 26:42).
Suggested reading:
The Early Exodus of Israel from Egypt
The Allotted Exile of Israel in Egypt
Knowledge known to only a few will die out. If you feel blessed by these teachings of Time of Reckoning Ministry, help spread the word!
May we merit seeing the coming of our Mashiach speedily in our days!
This page contains sacred literature and the Name of the Creator. Please, do not deface, discard, or use the Name in a casual manner.