Exodus 1:8

1:8 Then a new king, ¹  who did not know about ²  Joseph, came to power ³  over Egypt.

Exodus 19:1

Israel at Sinai

19:1 ⁴ In the third month after the Israelites went out ⁵  from the land of Egypt, on the very day, ⁶  they came to the Desert of Sinai.

Exodus 40:2

40:2 “On the first day of the first month you are to set up ⁷  the tabernacle, the tent of meeting.

Exodus 40:17

40:17 So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month, in the second year.

Exodus 35:21

35:21 Everyone ⁸  whose heart stirred him to action ⁹  and everyone whose spirit was willing ¹⁰  came and brought the offering for the Lord for the work of the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. ¹¹ 

[1:8]  ¹ sn It would be difficult to identify who this “new king” might be, since the chronology of ancient Israel and Egypt is continually debated. Scholars who take the numbers in the Bible more or less at face value would place the time of Jacob’s going down to Egypt in about 1876 b.c. This would put Joseph’s experience in the period prior to the Hyksos control of Egypt (1720-1570’s), and everything in the narrative about Joseph points to a native Egyptian setting and not a Hyksos one. Joseph’s death, then, would have been around 1806 b.c., just a few years prior to the end of the 12th Dynasty of Egypt. This marked the end of the mighty Middle Kingdom of Egypt. The relationship between the Hyksos (also Semites) and the Israelites may have been amicable, and the Hyksos then might very well be the enemies that the Egyptians feared in Exodus 1:10. It makes good sense to see the new king who did not know Joseph as either the founder (Amosis, 1570-1546) or an early king of the powerful 18th Dynasty (like Thutmose I). Egypt under this new leadership drove out the Hyksos and reestablished Egyptian sovereignty. The new rulers certainly would have been concerned about an increasing Semite population in their territory (see E. H. Merrill, Kingdom of Priests, 49-55).

[1:8]  ² tn The relative clause comes last in the verse in Hebrew. It simply clarifies that the new king had no knowledge about Joseph. It also introduces a major theme in the early portion of Exodus, as a later Pharaoh will claim not to know who Yahweh is. The Lord, however, will work to make sure that Pharaoh and all Egypt will know that he is the true God.

[1:8]  ³ tn Heb “arose.”

[19:1]  ⁴ sn This chapter is essentially about mediation. The people are getting ready to meet with God, receive the Law from him, and enter into a covenant with him. All of this required mediation and preparation. Through it all, Israel will become God’s unique possession, a kingdom of priests on earth – if they comply with his Law. The chapter can be divided as follows: vv. 1-8 tell how God, Israel’s great deliverer promised to make them a kingdom of priests; this is followed by God’s declaration that Moses would be the mediator (v. 9); vv. 10-22 record instructions for Israel to prepare themselves to worship Yahweh and an account of the manifestation of Yahweh with all the phenomena; and the chapter closes with the mediation of Moses on behalf of the people (vv. 23-25). Having been redeemed from Egypt, the people will now be granted a covenant with God. See also R. E. Bee, “A Statistical Study of the Sinai Pericope,” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 135 (1972): 406-21.

[19:1]  ⁵ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive to form a temporal clause.

[19:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “on this day.”

[40:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “you will raise,” an imperfect of instruction.

[35:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “man.”

[35:21]  ¹¹ tn The verb means “lift up, bear, carry.” Here the subject is “heart” or will, and so the expression describes one moved within to act.

[35:21]  ¹² tn Heb “his spirit made him willing.” The verb is used in Scripture for the freewill offering that people brought (Lev 7).

[35:21]  ¹³ tn Literally “the garments of holiness,” the genitive is the attributive genitive, marking out what type of garments these were.