I'm working on a story that tells the story of Exodus from the viewpoint of a Hebrew slave who freed himself before Moses shows up by pledging himself to Hathor, the Egyptian goddess. At the time the sixth plague (boils) occurs, he's still working in Hathor's temple.

My question:

well, they mostly all did worship egyptian gods, at least in part. Isn't that the essence of the golden calf episode? This story is pre-decalogue.

I am unsure whether you could 'convert' to some egyptian style worship, not that you couldn't but more like it wouldn't be thought of in those terms.

There were shades of grey in worship.

Your character would probably be seen by strict Hebrews in a way similar to how they would view someone having an adulterous affair. Even though they are married they are having fun with someone else. Who cares how long it will last or how intense it is? When it boils down to it it is an illegitimate relationship. That is because being Hebrew was as much about race as religion.

( Remember that the pharaoh that caused problems at the time of Moses was described as one that "knew not Joseph." That means he probably had no sense of who the Hebrews were, nor the previous pharaoh's promise that the sons of Jacob should "eat the fat of the land of egypt", nor the Hebrews past contributions to Egypt. Hmmm That's a lot to forget. Because the pharaohs of Joseph's time were probably Hyksos --a semitic race-- and were similar to the Hebrews in appearance and had similar languages etc, a pharaoh that arose who "knew not Joseph" probably indicates one of different racial descent to previous pharaohs. )

So to my mind, the problem is more one of racial identification, than religious identification. Your character's dilemma will arise less at the time of the plagues than it will at the time of the 'destroying angel' when the Hebrews had to identify themselves with the blood of a lamb on their lintels/doorposts. To me, that seems the more likely the time of crisis for your character "Do I -- or don't I?"

Remember too, that his 'conversion', 'pledging' or 'dalliance with hathor' does not mean the character has lost his family connections. His family will probably be sending him warnings and messages, begging him to "do the right thing" and relaying to him the things that Moses has said and how to protect himself.

answer to your question IMO: One interesting point is the mention that the Hebrew quarter, as a sign from God, would be the only place in Egypt unaffected by the plagues (Exodus 8:22 -- it's one of those 'Aha!' verses.). So you may want to consider that living outside the Hebrew quarter would be the deciding factor in whether this character is susceptible to the plagues. I reckon that the character gets boils if he lives outside of Goshen.

But that's the modern version, after the Babylonian captivity and all that followed and developed. Possibly their version of who was Hebrew and who wasn't might not have been as strict.

quote:

---

God who was setting his hose straight

---

I bet God's hose never run. After all why would she bother if pantyhose were as flawed as they are here?

As for the main question, insofar as this "Hebrew" was able to be accepted as an Egyptian at the time of the plagues, and was living as one, he would probably be accounted one for purposes of the plagues. The thing about the immunity being localized is a good point too.

If you think about it, there were probably a lot Israel's descendants amongst the Egyptians. Given how the sons (and grandsons) of Jacob are described earlier in Genesis, I find it hard to believe that they didn't take full advantage of being close to the throne of Egypt back before Israel fell from favor. Okay, I'm not even trying to believe it, because it's silly.

I didn't think there needed to be anything more said about this character -- I thought the question was abstract -- but here it is.

He was born an Israelite in the land of Goshen and raised in Judaism as it existed at the time. His family before and all through the story are faithful, but my MC begins questioning God's actions in allowing his "chosen people" to remain in slavery to the Egyptians. An event I have yet to decide on occurs that convinces him he'd be better off free even if he's working for an Egyptian god than a slave worshipping a god who obviously doesn't care about his people. My research so far says that, according to Egyptian law, a slave could free himself by seeking sanctuary in a temple. So, that's what he does.

He doesn't serve Hathor because he believes in her. Her "branch" was the closest at the time. Plus, there's the fertility rites. However, at the time the story begins, he's found a purpose there in helping women get ready for birth (Hathor was also a goddess of motherhood), so he's not as self-centered as my description originally makes him seem.

That's pretty much the backstory. At the time the story begins, he's at peace with his life. And then his family tries to tell him about Moses and the plagues come and everything gets turned upside down. And my MC is once again questioning God's character and his justice/mercy.

Maybe to know how G*D identifies the character... in your world... you first have to know how the character identifies himself. It matters less whether he gets boils or not because either eventuality will tend to confirm the character's latent view of himself.

PS Keeley:

quote:

---

...the sixth plague is just a part of the questioning. The final plague is the climax of my story where he finally makes his decision.

---

Perhaps that may be because he is the firstborn of his family?

J: I'll keep your words in mind.

Also, don't forget the racial issue. If this guy is from an established Hebrew family, he's going to have real trouble avoiding the persecution. It's like being black in the ante-bellum South. Yeah, you could get out of slavery, there were free black men around. But you didn't stop being black.

Is you point whether he would try to make himself appear to have boils? Did he suffer the thirst and hunger along with the rest of the Egyptians? Did he pretend to have the lice?

The whole situation with Moses being adopted by the daughter of Pharaoh has been interpreted in vastly different manners as well. Though I tend toward the idea that he had a workable disguise or the equivalent thereof at the time a taskmaster was beating a Hebrew in front of him and he killed him. But there are situations where you don't really need a disguise- someone's assumption about you often fills in the details.

On the difference between this and 10 Comm.: I haven't written the first draft yet, so I can't give a detailed answer. I know this focuses more on the Egyptian, non-Pharoah response to the plagues and the reaction of those who sympathized with the Egyptians. I didn't see much sympathy in the Ten Commandments. Stone Tables did a much better job but I wanted to go at this from the idea of Egyptian redemption, if that makes any sense.

Thank you for your answers. They've helped me figure out what to do... see what comes out in the first draft then answer my own question.

How long had Israel been in Egypt? I don't actually know the answer to that. Several hundred years? Over a thousand? I really don't know. I guess I have a vague recollection from somewhere that it was 14 (?) generations from Abraham to Moses. Take away Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph and we are talking 10 generations, or 200 ish years by the "Generation X" theory (Generation X is the 10th generation living in America. But do they mean since the revolution or since... uh, see, I basically don't know.) I view it as a sort of "dark age" for the tribes of Israel. However, serving the Egyptians and being fed their grain did allow them to multiply which was a key aspect of the covenant.

So I guess there was a purpose to it, if one accepts that. I don't know if it would be visible to one living in that time. When you are there in it, the notion that things have not always been as they are or will continue to be is less than obvious. A resource like the Nile delta is always going to be the object of hot competition, or ruled by an overwhelming foe. The only way to get access to its fruits was for Israel to serve there. If Israel had simply been given mastery of that land, they would have always been losing people in war. (this is pretty much stream of consciousness.)

So I guess I'd say Egypt had a critical role in the fulfilling of God's promise to Israel, but being a defender of the river and by cultivating their slave population. I mean, slaveholding is an ugly business, but again as a nation in that situation, if you are doing it you want them to multiply and be healthy enough to work.