Who was Enslaved in Egypt/2

Who was Enslaved in Egypt?

Exegetical Approaches

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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, Paroh's actions were not all that different from that of other monarchs who forced certain segments of the population to work for them for set periods of time.

Were the Israelites the only ones taxed? R"Y Bekhor Shor asserts that the rest of the Egyptians also paid a tax to Paroh, giving a fifth of their crops to the king.⁴  Precisely because the Children of Israel were exempt from this, they were instead forced to build the storehouses for this wheat.⁵  R"Y Bekhor Shor does posit, however, that with time the labor demands intensified and extended to other types of work including sowing and irrigation.

Own homes and possessions – This position easily explains the fact that the Israelites had their own homes and possessions,⁶ as it assumes that any individual Israelite was not always working for Paroh, and had time to support his own family as well.⁷

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.

"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.

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

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.⁸  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.

Harshness of the enslavement – R"Y Bekhor Shor and Ramban learn from the phrase, "וַיַּעֲבִדוּ מִצְרַיִם אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּפָרֶךְ" that the conditions during the periods of forced labor were unusually harsh and that the slaves were given no time to rest.  Ramban also posits that in a second stage of the bondage, Paroh allowed individual Egyptians to enslave Israelites to work for them personally when desired.

How was this to accomplish Paroh's goal? R"Y Bekhor Shor claims that Paroh hoped to tire out the people so they would not have the energy at night to have relations and reproduce.⁹ This, however, is difficult, considering that they could do so during the months that they were free from work totally.  One might explain instead that Paroh was not mainly concerned about the size of the Israelite population, but about the potential that they would fight against him in periods of war.  Having a decent portion of the nation enslaved at any one time reduced this concern.

Purpose of Punishment – This depiction of the slavery raises the possibility that Paroh was not being punished for extremely cruel treatment of the Israelites but rather for not recognizing Hashem and granting the Israelites leave to worship Him.

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.

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⁴ See Bereshit 47:13-26.

⁵ R"Y Bekhor Shor implies that the labor tax stemmed from the Egyptian people who were upset about the Israelite's exemption.  This suggests that Yosef's nepotism to his family unwittingly later led to the enslavement.  See Yosef's Economic Policies for more.

⁶ See Shemot 2:1-2, 9:6, 10:9 and Shemot 12 which speak of Isarelite residences and cattle.

⁷ 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. "

⁸ See Josephus in Reparations and Despoiling Egypt who explains that the Egyptians did in fact willingly give gifts to the Egyptians out of friendship.

⁹ In his comments to verse 11 he implies that during the periods of forced labor they did not return home at all, let alone come home tired at night.