Timothy P. Mahoney, Investigative Filmmaker
To the James Hoffmeier books on Israel, add Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times by Donald B. Redford (Penn State).
No scholars hold that Moses wrote the Bible. They hold to the documentary hypothesis.
The documentary hypothesis is a model used by biblical scholars to explain the origins and composition of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible.
Wikipedia entry: Documentary Hypothesis
Collapse of the documentary consensus
The consensus around the documentary hypothesis collapsed in the last decades of the 20th century.[5] The groundwork was laid with the investigation of the origins of the written sources in oral compositions, implying that the creators of J and E were collectors and editors and not authors and historians.[30] Rolf Rendtorff (1925–2014), building on this insight, argued that the basis of the Pentateuch lay in short, independent narratives, gradually formed into larger units and brought together in two editorial phases, the first Deuteronomic, the second Priestly.[31] This led to the current position which sees only two major sources in the Pentateuch, the Deuteronomist (confined to the Book of Deuteronomy) and the Priestly (confined to the books Genesis-Exodus-Leviticus-Numbers).[32]
The majority of scholars today continue to recognise Deuteronomy as a source, with its origin in the law-code produced at the court of Josiah as described by De Wette, subsequently given a frame during the exile (the speeches and descriptions at the front and back of the code) to identify it as the words of Moses.[33] Most scholars also agree that some form of Priestly source existed, although its extent, especially its end-point, is uncertain.[34] The remainder is called collectively non-Priestly, a grouping which includes both pre-Priestly and post-Priestly material.[32] The final Torah is increasingly seen as a product of the Persian period (539–333 BCE, probably 450–350 BCE), possibly as a product of the Persian imperial practice of authorizing local, autonomous law codes for conquered populations.[35] Some scholars would place the final formation of the Pentateuch somewhat later, in the Hellenistic (333–164 BCE) or even Hasmonean (140–37 BCE) periods.[36] This latter dating remains a minority view, but the Elephantine papyri, the records of a Jewish colony in Egypt dating from the last quarter of the 5th century BCE, show no knowledge of a Torah or of an exodus.[37] There is also a growing recognition that Genesis developed separately from Exodus-Leviticus-Numbers, and was joined to the story of Moses by the Priestly writer.[10]
A revised neo-documentary hypothesis still has adherents, especially in North America and Israel.[38] This distinguishes sources by means of plot and continuity rather than stylistic and linguistic concerns, and does not tie them to stages in the evolution of Israel’s religious history.[38] Its resurrection of an E source is probably the element most often criticised by other scholars, as it is rarely distinguishable from the classical J source and European scholars have largely rejected it as fragmentary or non-existent.[39]
Timothy P. Mahoney, Investigative Filmmaker
Did Moses have the ability to write the book of Exodus as an eyewitness account?
The system of writing that Moses used must have been in use at 1450 BC.
The Patterns of Evidence Are in This Sequence:
Arrival
Multiplication
Slavery
Judgment
Exodus
Conquest
= = =
600 BC – Silver Scrolls of The Lord Bless You and Keep You. This is earlier than the Dead Sea Scrolls.
There was literacy because the Hebrews were writing on their doorposts and gates.
Pick up at 33: 32.
Did Moses see a wall of water on his left hand and on his right hand–and then write it in the Books of Moses?
Moses picked up traditions from the Israelites[–like the tradition of the expulsion of the Hyksos and the Thera eruption which were added to his account].
Believing in the god of the Bible is a tradition for many. Others have found the theology wanting, whether it is the Hebrew Bible or the Christian Bible which generally includes the Hebrew Bible.
So far, Moses could not have written the Torah in Hebrew because Moses lived 1450 BCE, not 900 BCE when Hebrew writing begins.
Pick up 42: 57
The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology in London is part of University College London Museums and Collections. The museum contains over 80,000 objects and ranks among some of the world’s leading collections of Egyptian and Sudanese material.
Proto-Sinaitic Script at Serabit El-Khadim and Wadi El-Hol date to the Middle Kingdom.
Proto-Sinaitic is also known as Northwest Semitic. It could also be Proto-Canaanite
There are several languages in the Northwest Semitic family:
1) Ugaritic
2) Phoenician
3) Aramaic
4) Hebrew
5) Ammonite
6) Canaanite
7) Moabite
8) Edomite
The Phoenecians did not invent the alphabet, they standardized it.
= = =
Peter Gentry, Prof of Old Testament Interpretation / Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
On the Documentary Hypothesis
There are scholars who are “fundamentalists” and they have their “consensus”. They are not interested in and close their minds to evidence–that can call their consensus into question. But “get the microscope out and check” their consensus.
= = =
William Dever, Archaeologist, Professor Emeritus – Univ of AZ
I am an agnostic, I am not a theologian.
= = =
Timothy P. Mahoney keeps making the mistake that Rohl is pushing Egyptology forward to align with the Exodus, pushing the Middle and New Kingdom forward instead of pulling the Exodus back into the Middle Kingdom. The case has already been made that the dark period in Egypt’s past is too long, it is not too short.
pick up at 1: 06: 38
Douglas Petrovich, author of The World’s Oldest Alphabet: Hebrew as the Language of the Proto-Consonantal Script
Symbols ARE borrowed from Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Amen-emhat III matches the arrival of the biblical Joseph
Amenemhet III, also called Amenemmes III, king of ancient Egypt (reigned 1818–1770 bce) of the 12th dynasty, who brought Middle Kingdom Egypt (c. 1938–1630 bce) to a peak of economic prosperity by completing a system to regulate the inflow of water into Lake Moeris, in the Al-Fayyūm depression southwest of Cairo.
Consensus creates paradigm (a pattern of thinking, a model, or school of thought)
* * *
Timothy P. Mahoney’s position is that there was a decent during the 12th Century BCE and the Exodus was the Expulsion of the Hyksos.
Here is the flaw.
He says the Hyksos lost their strength and the population suffered. With the poverty came slavery. The Thebans could not trust the lower class Hyksos and the Hyksos upper class could not trust the lower class Hyksos. The Lower Class Hyksos wanted out, to go back to Canaan.
The flaw is that the lower class Hyksos were not slaves under a Building Pharaoh who oppressed them. The only thing that needed to be built when Sequenen-re Tao and Ahmose I came for the Hyksos was a fortification.
* * *
The Proto Sinaitic script could have been used to write part of the Torah.
John 5: 45-47
Question: Where does Moses write of Jesus?
Deuteronomy 18:15-19 New International Version (NIV)
15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”
17 The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.
= = =
Exodus 19: 3-5 (add 6)
3Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, “This is what you are to tell the house of Jacob and explain to the sons of Israel: 4‘You have seen for yourselves what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. 5Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.…
= = =
Douglas Petrovich, _Origins of the Hebrews_ (2021), 314pp.
An enormous amount of research and the synthesization of historical events and archaeological artifacts has led the author to verify Israelite residence in Egypt from 1876–1446 BC.
This research is connected to the unexpected discovery of interconnecting archaeological, epigraphical, and iconographical evidence that attests to the presence of Israelites in Egypt over virtually the entire 430 years.
By the sheer volume of verifiable evidence of complementary historical data―when comparing the biblical text and the artifactual and epigraphical record―the author attempts to demonstrate convincingly to objective readers that the biblical story of the Egyptian origins of the Israelite ‘nation’ is reliable as a factual account.
Never again will students of the Bible have to listen to uninformed university professors denounce the story of Israelites in Egypt without a ready defense for its validity.
How would you improve upon this timeline?:
Israelites in captivity in Egypt: 1876 – 1446 BC
Philistines arrived in Canaan: ~1175 BC
years from the Israelite exodus to the beginning of Saul’s reign: ~400 years
1446 – ~400 = ~1046
start of King Saul’s reign: ~1057 BC.
Douglas Petrovich, _Origins of the Hebrews_ (2021), 314pp.
amazon .com/Origin-Hebrews-Douglas-Petrovich/dp/0999040952/
An enormous amount of research and the synthesization of historical events and archaeological artifacts has led the author to verify Israelite residence in Egypt from 1876–1446 BC.
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The number of years between the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and the reign of King Saul is a subject of debate among scholars.
According to 1 Kings 6:1, the time from the exodus to the fourth year of Solomon’s reign is given as 480 years.
However, this period includes the time spent in the wilderness, the conquest of Canaan, the period of the judges, and the reigns of Saul and David.
Some scholars interpret the 480 years as 12 generations, each estimated at 40 years, which would be a general approximation rather than a precise timeline.
The exact number of years from the exodus to the beginning of Saul’s reign is not definitively established, but it is estimated to be around 400 years based on various interpretations and historical reconstructions.
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The Philistines arrived in Canaan around 1175 BC during the Late Bronze Age collapse, according to archaeological evidence and genetic research.
They are believed to have originated from a Greek immigrant group from the Aegean, specifically from Crete, as mentioned in the Bible and supported by historical records.
They settled in Canaan and established a confederation of city-states known as Philistia, which included Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath.
Their arrival marked the end of Egyptian dominance in the region and the beginning of a new era characterized by their unique culture and military prowess.
======================
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King Saul’s reign is a subject of debate among scholars.
According to some interpretations, Saul reigned for around 12 years, with David being anointed king after the third year of Saul’s reign.
This timeline suggests that David’s reign began around 1054 BC, assuming Saul’s reign started around 1057 BC.
However, other interpretations suggest Saul’s reign could have been longer, possibly around 20 to 30 years, making David’s reign start later.
David’s reign is more clearly defined.
He ruled for 40 years, with the first seven years as king of Judah in Hebron and the remaining 33 years as king of the united kingdom of Israel and Judah in Jerusalem.
David’s reign began around 1050 BC, according to most scholarly timelines.
Thus, Saul’s reign likely ended around 1050 BC, when David was anointed king of Judah in Hebron.
David then became the king of the united kingdom of Israel and Judah in 1017 BC, ruling until around 977 BC.
How Archaeology Affirmed the Historic Stature of a Biblical King
Once, the House of David seemed like a folk tale.
Now, the rocks testify to its historic significance.
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In 2022, a team of researchers used new technology to read a stele set up in modern-day Jordan by a Moabite king more than 800 years before Christ was born.
The stone had been damaged, but these scholars were able to reconstruct the writing with a 3D rendering.
It just has 34 lines, but on line 31 they saw the words _House of David_.
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The Tel Dan stele, discovered in 1993, is the oldest known extra-biblical archaeological evidence of King David.
It consists of several fragments containing an Aramaic inscription that mentions the “House of David,” providing historical corroboration of his existence.
The stele was found in Tel Dan, northern Israel, and is now on display at the Israel Museum.
It was also exhibited at the Jewish Museum in New York until January 5, 2025.
Other archaeological finds that provide evidence for King David include:
Seal impressions: Seal impressions bearing the names of Davidic kings, such as Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Manasseh, have been discovered, confirming the existence of these rulers.
Qeiyafa Fortress: This fortress, located near Gath, was constructed during the time of King David and shows evidence of central planning and outside labor, indicating the presence of a powerful administration.
These discoveries support the biblical accounts and provide tangible evidence of King David’s reign and the power of the early Israelite kingdom.
David Ford
How would you improve upon this timeline?:
Israelites in captivity in Egypt: 1876 – 1446 BC
Steve Campbell, Author of Historical Accuracy
I wouldn’t and didn’t start with “captivity.”
I started with Descent into Egypt–Jacob and his sons.
Then I went into slavery and exodus.
“Petrovich… How did he explain Labaya/u in the Armana Letters?”
His book’s index lacks both terms.
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Labaya, also known as Labayu or Lib’ayu, was a ruler or warlord in the central hill country of southern Canaan during the Amarna Period (c. 1350 BC).
He lived contemporaneously with Pharaoh Akhenaten and is mentioned in several Amarna Letters (EA 252-254).
In one of his letters (EA 252), Labaya defends himself against complaints from other city rulers, such as accusations that he hired mercenaries from among the Habiru and invaded Gezer.
He was active over the whole length of Samaria and slightly beyond, giving land to the Habiru and threatening powerful towns like Jerusalem, Gezer, and Megiddo.
Labaya/u was also the closest thing we have to an historical Saul.
He was not a contemporary of King David.
The Bible does not mention his culture.
So the Bible tells us how David interacted with Saul but the Bible needs to tell us about how the Labayu culture evolved to the time of King David whose story steals biography from Psusennes I.
The Exodus pharaoh Thutmose III * Ahmenhotep II dies year 1400BC.
Exodus begins within +-40 years timeframe from 1400BC
King Saul reigns 480 years (12*40) afterwards. 1 Kings 6:1
1400-480=920
The reign of King Saul begins year 920BC +-40 years.
920-40=880 BC. 👇👇👇 there is always a lost generation somewhere.
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This reference has the reign of Saul beginning year 879BC.
The Exodus pharaoh Thutmose III * Ahmenhotep II dies year 1400BC.
Exodus begins within +-40 years timeframe from 1400BC
King Saul reigns 480 years (12*40) afterwards. 1 Kings 6:1
1400-480=920
The reign of King Saul begins year 920BC +-40 years.
920-40=880 BC. 👇👇👇 there is always a lost generation somewhere.
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This reference has the reign of Saul beginning year 879BC.
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