Goshen

Exegetical Approaches

THIS TOPIC IS STILL IN PROGRESS

Northeastern Delta

The Israelites settled in the northeastern portion of the Nile Delta, near the city of Pelusium.¹

Pelusium – Pelusium, identified with Tell el-Farama, was a port city on the end of the Pelusiac distributary of the Nile.²

Motivation – This approach identifies Goshen with "אֶרֶץ רַעְמְסֵס" (see below), and identifies "אֶרֶץ רַעְמְסֵס" with Pelusium based on Targum Yerushalmi (Yonatan)Bereshit 47:11About Targum Yerushalmi (Yonatan).

Goshen and grazing –

"בְּמֵיטַב הָאָרֶץ" –

"וְהָיִיתָ קָרוֹב אֵלַי" – Pelusium is about sixty to seventy kilometers away from the various capitals of Egypt which were located in the Nile Delta.

Goshen and "אֶרֶץ רַעְמְסֵס" – In Bereshit 47:11 we are told that Israelites received an estate in "אֶרֶץ רַעְמְסֵס", and that "אֶרֶץ רַעְמְסֵס" is "בְּמֵיטַב הָאָרֶץ" ("in the best of the land"), the same term used about Goshen. This supports the identification of Goshen with רַעְמְסֵס.

Goshen in Yehoshua – This approach allows for the possibility that the land of Goshen mentioned in Yehoshua is in the northern Sinai, and is a continuation of the Egyptian Goshen in Bereshit and Shemot.³

Eastern Delta

The Israelites settled in the eastern part of the Nile Delta, in Wadi Tumilat.⁴

Wadi Tumilat – Wadi Tumilat is a fifty kilometer long valley, which leads from Bubastis on the Nile in the west, to Lake Timsah in the east. The Wadi was the location of the Canal of the Pharaohs, an ancient precursor to the Suez Canal.

Motivation – Placing Goshen in Wadi Tumilat allows the Israelites to have both grazing and farming lands.⁵ In addition, Wadi Tumilat is at the end of the Way to Shur ("דרך שור"), one of the major roads into the Delta; this allowed Yaakov to arrive via wagon (see Bereshit 45:19).⁶ Lastly, the Septuagint Genesis 46:28-29Genesis 46:28-29About the Septuagint⁷ and Josephus Antiquities 2:7:5Antiquities 2:7:5 (184-186)About Josephus⁸ identify Goshen with Heroonpolis (also Heroopolis, lit. City of Heroes), which is identified with Tell el-Retaba in Wadi Tumilat.

Goshen and grazing – While Wadi Tumilat itself is not suited for grazing, the region of the Bitter Lakes on the east end of the valley includes good grazing land.

"בְּמֵיטַב הָאָרֶץ" – Wadi Tumilat is filled with silt from the Nile, making it one of the best areas in Egypt for growing crops.

"וְהָיִיתָ קָרוֹב אֵלַי" – Wadi Tumilat is between forty and sixty kilometers from the various capitals of Egypt in the Delta.

Goshen and "אֶרֶץ רַעְמְסֵס" – In Bereshit 47:11 we are told that Israelites received an estate in "אֶרֶץ רַעְמְסֵס", and that "אֶרֶץ רַעְמְסֵס" is "בְּמֵיטַב הָאָרֶץ" ("in the best of the land"), the same term used about Goshen. This supports the identification of Goshen with רַעְמְסֵס.

Western Egypt

The Israelites settled west of the Nile, in the area of Bahr Yussef.⁹

Bahr Yussef – Bahr Yussef ("the waterway of Yosef" in Arabic) is a canal leading from the Nile to the city of Faiyum in southwest Egypt.

Motivation – The Ipuwer Papyrus mentions "the West to diminish". This approach assumes that the Ipuwer Papyrus to be a historical account of the Exodus, and understands these words to imply that the Israelites lived in the west of Egypt. In addition, Bahr Yussef is upriver from the capital Memphis, which matches Bereshit 46:29 where Yosef "goes up" ("וַיַּעַל") to Goshen.

Goshen and grazing –

"בְּמֵיטַב הָאָרֶץ" – Bahr Yussef waters the Faiyum Depression, making it into a large oasis, with over 1000 square kilometers of fertile land.

"וְהָיִיתָ קָרוֹב אֵלַי" – Bahr Yussef is between forty and seventy kilometers from Memphis, one of the capitals of Egypt.

Goshen and "אֶרֶץ רַעְמְסֵס" –

¹ This position is adopted by R"Y Kil in Da'at Mikra Bereshit Vol. I (Jerusalem, 1997): 68-71.

² While the city existed well into medieval times, it is currently not settled.

³ See A. Brawer, "ארץ גשן שממזרח לדלתה", Beit Mikra 11:4 (1966): 91-92 [cited in Daat Mikra Bereshit Vol. I (Jerusalem, 1997): 71].

⁴ This position is taken by many scholars. See its development by M. Harel, "וישב ישראל בארץ מצרים בארץ גשן", Beit Mikra 34 (1968): 104-108, and in his book, קדמוניות נופי ארץ ישראל‎ (Or Yehuda, 2005): 528-534.

⁵ See M. Harel who develops this at length.

⁶ See M. Harel who points this out.

⁷ The SeptuagintGenesis 45:10Genesis 46:34About the Septuagint on two other occasions translates "אֶרֶץ גֹּשֶׁן" as "the land of Geshem of Arabia". M. Zipor, תרגום השבעים לספר בראשית (Ramat Gan, 2005): 555 understands "of Arabia" to be a later addition to the Septuagint, based on Nechemyah 6:1, and "Geshem" to be a simple substitution of the phonemes "m" and "n".

⁸ Note, though, that Josephus Antiquities 2:7:6Antiquities 2:7:6 (187-188)About Josephus identifies Goshen with Heliopolis, also in the Eastern Delta, but south of Wadi Tumilat.

⁹ This position is taken by D. Levy and Y. Rothstein, מקרא וארכיאולוגיה: האם תואמות תגליות המחקר את הכתוב בתנ"ך (Jerusalem, 2011): 23-25.