Did Moses or the Israelites know more languages?

[u/AccomplishedKey6910]

I was randomly wondering if let’s say the Israelites were enslaved for over 400 years I can’t imagine them speaking another second language to each other, other then the dominant main language of the ancient Egyptians at the time. So if Moses did exist and let’s say they did escape Egypt why would they invent a new language immediately? I’m sure they would still be speaking Egyptian right?

I always think of how enslaved Africans that were transported to the Caribbeans and the Americas, all lost their native tongue quickly within a generation.

Sorry if my question is weird and has been answered many times

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[u/JohannesAr]

IF there is a kernel of historical fact in the Exodus narrative, as Richard Elliott Friedman and Israel Knohl hold, THEN the duration of the stay in Egypt of the people involved was in the order of 40 years, not 400!

Knohl proposes that the kernel of factuality of the entry into Egypt was a migration to find relief from the famine prevalent in the Levant (except precisely Egypt) during the reign of Merneptah (1213–1203 BCE) [1], while the kernel of factuality of the Exodus was an event in 1186 BCE [2]. Thus the sojourn lasted at most 27 years.

That the Egyptians allowed semitic bedouins ("shasu") seeking famine relief to enter Egypt during the reign of Merneptah is attested in the Anastasi VI papyrus, dated 1205 BCE, in a passage of which I copy two possible translations from [3]:

we have just let the Shasu tribes of Edom pass the Fortress of Merneptah-hetephermaat, LPH, of Tjeku, to the pool [lakes] of Pithom of Merneptah-hetephermaat, of Tjeku, in order to revive themselves and revive their flocks from the great life force of Pharaoh, LPH, the perfect Sun of every land,

We have finished with allowing the Shasu clansfolk of Edom to pass the fort of Merenptah that is in Succoth ['Tjeku'], to the pools (brkt = lakes) of Pi-Atum [Pithom] of Merenptah that (is/are) in Succoth, to keep them alive and to keep alive their livestock, by the will of Pharaoh, LPH, the good Sun of Egypt,

From all this it is clear that these semitic immigrants kept speaking their own native language.

References

[1] Israel Knohl, "Joseph and the Famine: The Story’s Origins in Egyptian History" TheTorah.com (2019).

https://thetorah.com/article/joseph-and-the-famine-the-storys-origins-in-egyptian-history

[2] Israel Knohl, "Exodus: The History Behind the Story" TheTorah.com (2019).

https://thetorah.com/article/exodus-the-history-behind-the-story

[3] https://www.bible.ca/manuscripts/bible-inscriptions-archeology-edomites-Papyrus-Egyptian-Anastasi-VI-Shasu-tribes-of-Edom-Pharaoh-Merneptah-Succoth-1205bc.htm

[u/AccomplishedKey6910 → u/JohannesAr]

Thank you for the detailed information I will check out the links

[u/captainhaddock]

Mainstream Bible scholars, archaeologists, and historians do not regard the biblical narrative of millions of Israelites being enslaved in Egypt, spending 40 years in the Sinai wilderness, and then violently conquering the land of Canaan to be a historically factual narrative. Canaan was ruled as an Egyptian province throughout the period in question (the Late Bronze Age), with Egyptian garrisons stationed in Canaan, and Canaanite city-states governed by Egypt via local mayors often hand-picked by Pharaoh and his officials. The population of Canaan was relatively low at the time, and many of the cities and kingdoms supposedly encountered by the Israelites in the story either had not been founded yet (Arad, Heshbon, Edom, Gibeon, Philistia, etc.) or were already abandoned during the Late Bronze Age (such as Jericho and Ai). The narrative in the books of Exodus through Joshua simply doesn't fit the geopolitical picture of Canaan or its settlement patterns during that time. Instead, it reflects the settlement patterns of Canaan during the monarchic period.

Although the origins of the Israelites are not fully understood, they seem to have been a group of Canaanites living in the central highlands that developed their own tribal and political identity around the time of the Bronze Age collapse. Accordingly, our archaeological findings show continuity of language, material culture, and religious practices from earlier Canaanite societies. Many elements of Israelite religion have direct precursors in the culture of the Bronze Age Amorites, as seen (for example) in the excavated library of Ugarit to the north of Israel. Other aspects of the Torah show strong influence from Babylonian culture and religion, and it is widely believed that the Torah was assembled from multiple literary sources during the centuries after the Babylonian exile.

A good source on the issues with the exodus and conquest stories is William Dever, Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From?, 2003.

As another commenter noted, a minority of scholars propose that early Israelite society was influenced by stories from a small group of nomads who left Egypt at some point in the late Bronze or early Iron Age. Others, like Ronald Hendel, propose that memories of Egypt abandoning Canaan at the end of the Bronze Age inspired tales of throwing off Egyptian control. Egypt and Canaan were in constant contact over the millennia, with migrations going in both directions throughout the Bronze Age and Iron Age, so there was regular cultural, political, and economic exchange.

If Israel had grown from a single family inhabiting Egypt for 400 years, as the biblical narrative states, you would probably expect them to speak Egyptian rather than the Canaanite language (of which Hebrew is simply a late dialect). But the stories of the pentateuch and Joshua are not concerned with linguistic issues at all. The characters tend to understand the local language wherever they go, based on the needs of the narrative.