Who was Enslaved in Egypt/2

Who was Enslaved in Egypt?

Exegetical Approaches

This topic has not yet undergone editorial review

Everyone

The entire Israelite nation was enslaved.

Sources:RashiShemot 1:11-13Shemot 5:4About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, Abarbanel, Seforno, ShadalR. S"R HirschShemot 1:11-14About R. Samson Raphael Hirsch

Rotation

The Israelites worked for Paroh in shifts.  Each labored at the palace for several weeks or months and then was free to go home until his next shift.

Sources:R. Yosef Bekhor ShorShemot 1:11-14About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, RambanShemot 1:10-14Shemot 5:4About R. Moshe b. Nachman

וַיָּשִׂימוּ עָלָיו שָׂרֵי מִסִּים – These commentators understand this to refer to a labor tax rather than a monetary one.¹

Biblical Parallels – R" Y Bekhor Shor compares this labor tax to that of Shelomo when building the Beit HaMikdash,² while Ramban compares it to Shelomo's taxing of the foreigners in his land (see Melakhim I 9:21).³  According to both, then, PAroh's taxation was not

Were the Israelites unique in Egypt? Though Ramban implies that the Israelites were singled out, R"Y Bekhor Shor suggests that they were not particularly unique.  The rest of the Egyptians also paid a tax to Paroh, giving a fifth of their crops to Paroh. Since the Children of Israel were exempt from this they instead were forced to build the storehouses for this wheat.  He does, posit, however, that with time the labor demands  intensified and extended to other types of work including sowing and irrigation.  Ramban also asserts that there was a second stage of enslavement, in which Paroh allowed even individual Egyptians to take Israelites to work for them personally.

Own homes and possessions – This position easily explains the fact that the Israelites had their own homes and possessions, as it assumes that any individual Israelite was not always working for Paroh, and had time to support his own family as well.⁴

Did women work as well? Though neither exegete addresses the question, they would likely posit that the building labor was limited to the men. 

Freedom of movement – This position could explain that Aharon had the freedom to meet Moshe in the desert because he was not working at the time.  Aharon would not have been unique; many others at any given time might also have been able to leave the country for a short period of time.

"לְכוּ לְסִבְלֹתֵיכֶם" – Ramban explains that when Moshe and Aharon had come to Paroh, they were accompanied by some of the laboring Israelites, and it was to these that Paroh said to return to work.

Relationship to other Egyptians – This position allows for the possibility that some lay Egyptians and Israelites might have been on neighborly terms as the Israelites were not necessarily viewed as particularly degraded members of society.  As such, this position might explain that the word "רֵעֵהוּ" in Hashem's command "יִשְׁאֲלוּ אִישׁ מֵאֵת רֵעֵהוּ וְאִשָּׁה מֵאֵת רְעוּתָהּ" refers to friends.⁵  Similarly, it might not view Paroh's daughter's offering of payment to Yocheved for her nursing of Moshe as unique, but rather a normal transaction made between free citizens.

Those Who Could Not Afford the Monetary Tax

The Israelites were expected to pay a monetary tax to Paroh; only those who could not afford it worked instead.

Sources:RalbagShemot Beur HaMilot 1:11-14Shemot Beur HaParashah 1:11-22About R. Levi b. Gershom

וַיָּשִׂימוּ עָלָיו שָׂרֵי מִסִּים – Ralbag understands "מִסִּים" to refer to a monetary tax.

וַיִּבֶן עָרֵי מִסְכְּנוֹת לְפַרְעֹה – Those who did not have the finances, substituted a labor tax, building store houses for Paroh.  Ralbag implies that the majority of the nation fell into this category, as it was possible that PAroh fined the people even daily.

Freedom of Movement – According to Ralbag,

¹ This is supported by other usages of the word in Tanakh where a labor force is explicitly mentioned. See, for example, Yehoshua 16:10, Melakhim I 5:27, and Melakhim I 9:21.

^{2 4}

^{3 5}

⁴ R"Y Bekhor Shor actually points to this as proof that they must have only worked shifts, writing, "והא ליכא למימר שהיו תדיר בעבודה, דאם כן, מתי יעשו לביתם ומי יפרנסם. "

⁵ See Josephus in Reparations and Despoiling Egypt who explains that the Egyptians did in fact willingly give gifts to the Egyptians out of friendship.