# The story of the Jews escaping slavery in Egypt and wandering the desert is fiction, right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 18, 2026, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800 "2026-01-18T16:14:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/241 "2026-01-27T03:54:18Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Second, if you count out all of the generations, Methuselah’s time of death would have been at the Flood, or very close to it, suggesting that that was maybe his cause of death, which seems relevant. You’re right about the math but not about the reason. Metuselah means “His death has sent/unleashed” and the story is that God waited 7 days after his passing (the mourning period of shivah) before unleashing the flood. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/242 "2026-01-27T04:30:54Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > As a rule of thumb, I just divide by ten, so the old guy maybe lived to be 96. So his dad Enoch conceived him when he was _6_ ? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/243 "2026-01-27T04:44:34Z")
There are a whole lot of biblical ages that make more sense of you divide them by 2. Like Sarah’s age when she conceives, and Ishmael’s age when he and Hagar are sent out into the brush by jealous Sarah. And I’ve read serious scholarly suggestions that there was a confusion between seasons (of which there were 2 a year) and years, and some of those stories should be read that way. But Methuselah was just miraculously old. And the number of Israelites who wandered around Sinai doesn’t make any sense. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/244 "2026-01-27T05:11:23Z")
Where is this story found? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/245 "2026-01-27T12:41:44Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > There was a recent episode of Expedition unknown, and they easily moved one of the big stones from the quarry up a mild hill with a sledge and like 20 guys. So, while they were “easily” moving SIXTY-NINE BILLION POUNDS of stone blocks, they didn’t question why someone who was supposed to be a GOD was preparing to die, and they didn’t wonder why their GOD didn’t move the damn things himself?! Talk about redefining “gullible”! 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/246 "2026-01-27T12:46:38Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > they didn’t question why > [@Jasmine](#): > > they didn’t wonder why It’s important to note that they were being paid in bread and beer. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/247 "2026-01-27T12:48:32Z")
Joke answer: If he did it himself how could they prove their faith, use their otherwise idle days between seasons and get paid in delicious nutritive beer? Serious answer: I suspect that the powers of the Pharaoh as god were not as extensive, he managed the flooding of the Nile, perhaps the rising of the sun, important stuff like that but was not omnipotent and could not move stones. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/248 "2026-01-27T12:52:18Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > I suspect that the powers of the Pharaoh as god were not as extensive, he managed the flooding of the Nile, perhaps the rising of the sun, important stuff like that but was not omnipotent and could not move stones. He can make the sun rise but can’t move a stone block?! Like I said, GULLIBLE! I think I would have been classified as a trouble maker back then. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/249 "2026-01-27T13:08:00Z")
If you’re getting paid well, at a time when you’d otherwise be unemployed, do you care? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/250 "2026-01-27T13:13:52Z")
That’s a valid question, and my answer is yes. It’s “yes” because the beer and bread could have simply been given to them because a ruler is supposed to take care of his citizens, and it is “yes” because those riches could have been used to enhance their society instead of being buried with a corpse. Because of the world in general and our nation in particular, I’m fed up with self-aggrandizement, greed, and the constant quest for power. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/251 "2026-01-27T13:24:25Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > and it is “yes” because those riches could have been used to enhance their society instead of being buried with a corpse. According to many historians that’s exactly what happened, “enhancing their society”, by the common effort of building the pyramids. They argue that it united and built the nation and state of Egypt, which became the longest lasting and cultural constant and unchanged empire in history. You can’t apply today’s standards and personal freedom to fellahin from 4500 years ago, especially don’t expect much critical thinking or doubting their and the Pharaos status. As someone else mentioned above, in their view the Pharao was responsible for the rise of the sun every day and the recurring Nile floods in spring. History shows that every time when climate changes caused droughts and the Nile floods failed to materialize, the Pharao and the whole Egyptian elite got into trouble, because those were the times when the people actually doubted the powers of the Pharao. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/252 "2026-01-27T13:30:11Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > nd it is “yes” because those riches could have been used to enhance their society instead of being buried with a corpse. How exactly? ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/253 "2026-01-27T13:32:02Z")
Your interpretation of the powers of gods and how they applied is very much a modern one I think, ancient people IMHO did not think that way. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/254 "2026-01-27T13:33:01Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > That’s a valid question, and my answer is yes. It’s “yes” because the beer and bread could have simply been given to them because a ruler is supposed to take care of his citizens, and it is “yes” because those riches could have been used to enhance their society instead of being buried with a corpse. And do you imagine that if you lived at the time your superior moral fibre would have just automatically _known_ that this was all unfair? Or do these ideas you hold come from a long line of political philosophical thinking that simply hasn’t happened yet in 2,000 BCE? Ancient Egyptians weren’t _stupid_ or even gullible, they were just working with significantly less complete information about how the world works than you are. This really reminds me of, of all things, an episode of SpongeBob. SpongeBob and Patrick find a baby clam (which in the SpongeBob world is the underwater equivalent of a bird) and SpongeBob points out that it can’t even fly yet, to which Patrick responds, “Why? Is it stupid?” ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/255 "2026-01-27T13:39:45Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Where is this story found? Many places, but one would be Rashi’s commentary on Genesis. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/256 "2026-01-27T13:48:33Z")
So that wouldn’t actually be in Genesis. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/257 "2026-01-27T13:53:22Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > So that wouldn’t actually be in Genesis You’re right! I never said it _was_ in Genesis, did I? _Checks prior posts_. Nope, I didn’t! It’s also not in _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_ or _Little House on the Prairie_. * * * I’ve never understood this “but that’s not in THE BIBLE ITSELF” retort; if you took all the Jewish beliefs and traditions that don’t come directly from Biblical text, you could fill a whole book. In fact, [_they DID_.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mishnah) ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/258 "2026-01-27T13:57:44Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > It’s also not in _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_ or _Little House on the Prairie_. Yes, and my _Harry Potter_ or _LHotP_ fanfic retconning doesn’t have any bearing on those stories either. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/259 "2026-01-27T14:02:03Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Yes, and my _Harry Potter_ or _LHotP_ fanfic retconning doesn’t have any bearing on those stories either Rabbinical Judaism has for its entire existence been at least as much about the Mishnah as it is about the literal text of the Torah. I’m sure it’s fun to be hyper edgy and dismiss all that as “fanfiction” though, so don’t let me stop you. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/260 "2026-01-27T14:25:18Z")
Any sufficiently-old religion has a lot of the beliefs and practices tucked away in places other than the primary scriptures. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800.md?page=14)