Canaanites

[Sriracha]

I am having trouble wrapping my brain around something: How was it justifiable that the Israelites exterminate the Canaanites because "God had promised them the land?" How is this any different than any other culture/nation taking over a nation that what not theirs to begin with in order to increase their power (this region especially b/c it was the gateway between two continents for trade.) The more I read, the more clearly I am seeing the perspective in text, the same way Fox News or CNN will comment so differently on the same story.

Besides the stories and scripts that have been handed down for generations by people of one religious faith (which forcibly attempts the masses to sympathize their enslavement and exile), has there ever been texts written by Persian, Assyrian or Babylonian point of view regarding this history? I find it strange how we frown upon genocide in history, but the Canaanite extermination was okay because it was done in the name of God by Jews?

The Canaanites, with whom the Israelites came into contact during the conquest by Joshua and the period of the Judges, were a sophisticated agricultural and urban people. The name Canaan means "Land of Purple" (a purple dye was extracted from a murex shellfish found near the shores of Palestine). The Canaanites, a people who absorbed and assimilated the features of many cultures of the ancient Near East for at least 500 years before the Israelites entered their area of control, were the people who, as far as is known, invented the form of writing that became the alphabet, which, through the Greeks and Romans, was passed on to many cultures influenced by their successors--namely, the nations and peoples of Western civilization.

The religion of the Canaanites was an agricultural religion, with pronounced fertility motifs. Their main gods were called the Baalim (Lords), and their consorts the Baalot (Ladies), or Asherah (singular), usually known by the personal plural name Ashtoret. The god of the city of Shechem, which city the Israelites had absorbed peacefully under Joshua, was called Baal-berith (Lord of the Covenant) or El-berith (God of the Covenant). Shechem became the first cultic center of the religious tribal confederacy (called an amphictyony by the Greeks) of the Israelites during the period of the judges. When Shechem was excavated in the early 1960s, the temple of Baal-berith was partially reconstructed; the sacred pillar (generally a phallic symbol or, often, a representation of the ashera, the female fertility symbol) was placed in its original position before the entrance of the temple. http://history-world.org/canaanite_culture_and_religion.htm

 

[SealHammer]

It's different because God did it. The same line of thought applies to every other awful act committed by/for the Lord Almighty in that book. God is the ultimate exception to all earthly morals and ethics, so to invoke Him in your cause is to be above reproach.

 

[Sriracha]

It's different because God did it. The same line of thought applies to every other awful act committed by/for the Lord Almighty in that book. God is the ultimate exception to all earthly morals and ethics, so to invoke Him in your cause is to be above reproach.

Not necessarily. Like I mentioned, you learned your information from information handed down by people from the Jewish faith. How unsurprising it is that a culture of people who were responsible for the Phoenician alphabet have no tablets, scrolls or information regarding what was taking place from their point of view. This is what I am asking, for a different point of view.

BTW, I'm not invoking God by questioning the motives of people who "claim" their act was justified because "God said so."

 

[the]

I am having trouble wrapping my brain around something: How was it justifiable that the Israelites exterminate the Canaanites because "God had promised them the land?" How is this any different than any other culture/nation taking over a nation that what not theirs to begin with in order to increase their power (this region especially b/c it was the gateway between two continents for trade.) The more I read, the more clearly I am seeing the perspective in text, the same way Fox News or CNN will comment so differently on the same story.

Besides the stories and scripts that have been handed down for generations by people of one religious faith (which forcibly attempts the masses to sympathize their enslavement and exile), has there ever been texts written by Persian, Assyrian or Babylonian point of view regarding this history? I find it strange how we frown upon genocide in history, but the Canaanite extermination was okay because it was done in the name of God by Jews?

*isrealites

 

[just me]

Numbers 14: Defeat by Amalekites and Canaanites40And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned. 41And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper. 42Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. 43For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you. 44But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp. 45Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.

Numbers 16 regarding Korah and God's wrath on his own people that sinned

17 The Tribe of Levi; Aaron's staff buds

20 Edom Refuses Passage14And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us: 15How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers: 16And when we cried unto the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border: 17Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.18And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword. 19And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing any thing else, go through on my feet. 20And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. 21Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.

Numbers 21 Victory over the Canaanites1And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners. 2And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. 3And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.The Bronze Serpent4And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. 5And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neitheris there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.6And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 7Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 8And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.The Journey to Moab10And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth. 11And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ijeabarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising. 12From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zared. 13From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which isin the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.14Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,15And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab.16And from thence they went to Beer: that is the well whereof the LORD spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water.17Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it:18The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah:19And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth: 20And from Bamoth in the valley, that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon.The Defeat of Sihon21And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, 22Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king's high way, until we be past thy borders. 23And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel. 24And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammonwas strong. 25And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof. 26For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon.27Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared:28For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon.29Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites.30We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.The Defeat of Og31Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites. 32And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there.33And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at Edrei. 34And the LORD said unto Moses, Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. 35So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land.

 

[just me]

As you will see, God's people were first attacked by those you cannot understand were destroyed. God also dealt with His own people accordingly.

Many things amaze me of the Israelites to this day.

The Canaanites were sworn to revenge the deaths of their own, no matter which generation.

 

[the]

As you will see, God's people were first attacked by those you cannot understand were destroyed.

this sentence doesn't really make sense.

God also dealt with His own people accordingly.

is this supposed to excuse God?

 

[just me]

Who are you; who are we, to excuse God?

Consider six million Jewish people; were they not killed? Were they not gassed to death? In modern times? Yet, there are those already trying to rewrite history. There are those that say this never happened. Shall not the Jewish people make certain it is not forgotten? If the world denies this, the Jews will remind their generations after them.

Is there not a certain man claiming Jesus was a Palestinian? See how history of the Jewish nation is constantly mocked and changed? How shall a non-believer sit and mock such a generation? They were returning to their homeland. They asked to pass in peace.
There are lessons in these historical passages for those that would seek them. There are messages in these records for those that would hearken to them.

 

[Sriracha]

I can understand the points made; however I am separating human behavior from God's true will. What we have written before us is a one-sided story of history. For example, if all Native Americans were annihilated by the colonies, we might only be in understanding of what the colonies wrote about the experience.

I understand the context by which they killed Canaanites for their own selfish reasons, but I don't see the logic believing one-sided text that claims actions are justified because it's "God's Will."

Other examples of Religious Wars:

A religious war or holy war (Latin: bellum sacrum) is a war primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. The account of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites in the Book of Joshua, the Muslim conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries, and the Christian Crusades (11th to 13th centuries) and Wars of Religion (16th and 17th centuries) are the classic examples but a religious aspect has been part of warfare as early as the battles of the Mesopotamian city-states. In the modern era, arguments are common over the extent to which religious, economic, or ethnic aspects of a conflict predominate: examples include the Yugoslav Wars and the civil war in Sudan. In several ongoing conflicts including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Syrian civil war, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, religious arguments are overtly present but variously described as fundamentalism or religious extremism depending upon the observer's sympathies. At the same time, members of many religions have been and are active members of the modern anti-war movement. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_war

... and then comes the story of Jesus, a Jew who's life depicted radical obedience to God. If Jesus was the only Jew who followed the direct will of God, doesn't that make all contradictory behaviors NOT the will of God?

 

[just me]

I can appreciate that you do not understand. Had I not had questions, and studied to find the answers, I would be sitting beside you with the level of your understanding. To say I have understanding is far from me, for who am I to say I have understanding. I would that we could possibly learn together.

Genesis 23, Beersheba, that is part of the Negev, marking the southern part of Hebron: Abraham bought a cave and a field to bury his wife, Sarah. Though it was offered him freely, he insisted on paying for it. The Hittites that dwelled in Canaan honored Abraham by doing this. Abraham loved Sarah. He loved God. In verse 20, the field and cave were deeded to Abraham as his burial site. It was considered by Abraham to be a holy site.

Beersheba was a sacred shrine. "Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of Yahweh, the Everlasting God" Genesis (Genesis 21:33). Theophanies occurred there to Hagar (Genesis 21:17), to Isaac (Genesis 26:24), to Jacob (Genesis 46:2), and to Elijah (1 Kings 19:5). By Amos (Amos 5:5) it is classed with Bethel and Gilgal as one of the rival shrines to the pure worship of Yahweh, and in another place (Amos 8:14) he writes "They shall fall, and never rise up again," who sware, "As the way (i.e. cult) of Beersheba liveth." The two unworthy sons of Samuel were Judges in Beersheba (1 Samuel 8:2) and Zibiah, mother of King Jehoash, was born there (2 Kings 12:1 2 Chronicles 24:1).

 

[just me]

Genesis 17 God speaks to Abram

The Covenant of Circumcision1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty[SUP]a[/SUP] ; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”3Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4“As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5No longer will you be called Abram[SUP]b[/SUP] ; your name will be Abraham,[SUP]c[/SUP] for I have made you a father of many nations. 6I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

 

[SealHammer]

Not necessarily. Like I mentioned, you learned your information from information handed down by people from the Jewish faith. How unsurprising it is that a culture of people who were responsible for the Phoenician alphabet have no tablets, scrolls or information regarding what was taking place from their point of view. This is what I am asking, for a different point of view.

BTW, I'm not invoking God by questioning the motives of people who "claim" their act was justified because "God said so."

So you want the people who were murdered to explain why the murderers murdered them, or what?

Why isn't "They wanted the land, so they invoked God to justify taking it" an acceptable explanation? It's proto-geopolitics. We've been doing exactly the same thing for at least two thousand years.

 

[just me]

If we look back, we will find the promise of God regarding the land of Canaan. It was long before we are currently talking about. The land of Canaan would be given to the Israelites an an everlasting possession. This goes way back before 1967, if you are reading this.

Radical obedience? Is this the two words that do not fit together?

 

[just me]

Please post a "continued" if you are not finished with your posts.

Adding this: "and then comes the story of Jesus, a Jew who's life depicted radical obedience to God. If Jesus was the only Jew who followed the direct will of God, doesn't that make all contradictory behaviors NOT the will of God?" might change my response.

 

[just me]

Sodom and Gomorrha destroyed, Genesis 19: 29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.

 

[just me]

Jonah was sent to Ninevah, after he ran from God. God was going to destroy Ninevah. The people listened to Jonah and repented. Ninevah was spared.

Genesis 12: The Calling of Abram(Genesis 26:1-5)1Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.4So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. 5And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. 6And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. 7And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. 8And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD. 9And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.
Genesis 13: God Renews the Promise to Abram14And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 15For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. 16And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. 17Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. 18Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.

Genesis 14: Melchizedek Blesses Abram(Hebrews 7:1-10)17And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, whichis the king's dale. 18And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.19And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:20And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.21And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. 22And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, 23That I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: 24Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

Genesis 15: God Confirms His Promise(Numbers 34:1-15; Romans 4:13-25)8And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? 9And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. 10And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. 11And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.12And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. 13And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 14And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.16But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.17And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.18In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:19The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, 20And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, 21And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

I ask continued
Genesis 6: The Wickedness of Man(Matthew 24:36-51; Mark 13:32-37; Luke 12:35-48)1And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. 4There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.5And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

 

[Cornerstone]

There are some who would argue the Bible represent a coming to consciousness from animal to human to divine, or from Eden to Israel with a lot of mess along the way.

Since the whole process is divine, and it would be well known that shit gets real down here and that these people weren't Buddhas or Christs, I can see how this would happen.

This notion is fairly new to me, however.

 

[Sriracha]

So you want the people who were murdered to explain why the murderers murdered them, or what?

Why isn't "They wanted the land, so they invoked God to justify taking it" an acceptable explanation? It's proto-geopolitics. We've been doing exactly the same thing for at least two thousand years.

#1 I want direction to other texts about the history during this time, if there is such a thing. Possibly the only literature would be ancient Greek.

#2 I thought you were warning ME (myself or I) that I am invoking God in my quest to find answers to my questions. (Hence read your last statement, that was my interpretation ... just to clarify.)

#3 I don't think you see my point. An acceptable explanation would be: Israelite: "Hmmmm, which land will allow us to prosper from paupers? Oh YEAH that land of Canaan, that powerhouse economic slice of pie sandwiched between two continents ... where trade is prime and militias must pass. Their overall behavior is repulsive (so it must be repulsive to God) and doesn't fit into our way of life anyway, so we'll just get rid of them. And after destroying the people, we must destroy everything about them (literature, temples, etc) and obliterate them from history." Moses knew exactly what he was doing, he was well educated after having been raised as a prince. My point is that it is human behavior/the need to survive that calls us to take over nations, not the command of God. At the same time, there had to be people who feared questioning what had happened, thinking they would be subjected to God's wrath since they were brainwashed into believing it was "his command."

How would the story be different if Jesus (the embodiment of God) lead the Israelites out of enslavement?

 

[just me]

Back to Moses

Joshua 11: 19There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle. 20For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.21And at that time came Joshua, and cut off the Anakims from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel: Joshua destroyed them utterly with their cities. 22There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained. 23So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war.

 

[just me]

#1 I want direction to other texts about the history during this time, if there is such a thing. Possibly the only literature would be ancient Greek.
#2 I thought you were warning ME (myself or I) that I am invoking God in my quest to find answers to my questions. (Hence read your last statement, that was my interpretation ... just to clarify.)
#3 I don't think you see my point. An acceptable explanation would be: Israelite: "Hmmmm, which land will allow us to prosper from paupers? Oh YEAH that land of Canaan, that powerhouse economic slice of pie sandwiched between two continents ... where trade is prime and militias must pass. Their overall behavior is repulsive (so it must be repulsive to God) and doesn't fit into our way of life anyway, so we'll just get rid of them." Moses knew exactly what he was doing, he was well educated after having been raised as a prince. My point is that it is human behavior/the need to survive that calls us to take over nations, not the command of God. If Jesus (the embodiment of God) was leading the Israelites out of enslavement, I wonder what would have happened.

I studied the interlinear Greek of the NT, but found none of the OT. I did not look very far, as we did not have Google back then in those days. Thinks can be misunderstood with translations, though not the spirit of what is being said. That is the only reason for searching the Greek for me.
There were many promises made generations before Joseph led Israel to Egypt, and Moses and God brought them back. I think actually Moses was meant to learn from the Egyptians to better lead his people. This great exodus did not just happen: it was foretold. The land was promised. Foretold. The fame of God Almighty went through the land before Moses. A prudent king would have been as smart as the Hittites with Abraham. It was, and still is, all about promise and the will of God.