Читать книгу The Exodus. Scientific line-by-line explanation of the Bible - Andrey Tikhomirov - Страница 10

1 And the LORD said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh and tell him: thus saith the Lord: let my people go, so that they may serve Me; (It is difficult to say for sure which Pharaoh is meant here, perhaps it is Amenhotep IV, who became Akhenaten (the time of his reign is unknown for sure, presumably the end of the XV – beginning of the XIV century BC, the difficulty lies in the fact that the chronology in Egypt went according to the years of the reign of the pharaohs, and it is extremely difficult to determine exactly how many years have passed from this or that event to the beginning of our modern Gregorian chronology. In addition, the ancient Egyptian «civil year» did not coincide with the solar one. It was divided into 3 seasons: «flood», «shoots», «dry», consisting of 4 months of 30 days, which was 360 days, to which 5 days of holidays were added. In addition, some lists of rulers were deliberately crossed out and forwarded, others completely disappeared from official lists, what happened to Akhenaten, many lists do not indicate the duration of the reign of certain kings, but only their chronological sequence is given, different kings could also reign simultaneously in different parts of Egypt), or someone the other one. Amenhotep IV was the youngest son of Amenhotep III. However, his elder brother Thutmose died during his father’s lifetime, as a result of which the succession passed to Amenhotep. Egyptologists disagree on whether Amenhotep IV was the co-ruler of his father, who was seriously ill in recent years, and if so, for how long. Initially, historians tended to conclude that Amenhotep IV had been his father’s co-ruler for quite a long time, presumably until the age of 12. Modern Egyptologists Eric Klein, Nicholas Reeves, Peter Dorman and others tend to conclude that if the period of joint rule took place, it could not have been longer than 2 years. Donald Redford, William Murnane, Alan Gardner and Lawrence Berman deny the possibility of joint rule of Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV. In 2014, the Egyptian Ministry for the Protection of Antiquities announced that the study of the inscriptions on the grave of Amenhotep III proves the joint rule of Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV for eight years. Regardless of the possibility of joint rule, Amenhotep IV was not depicted in the monuments created by his father. Akhenaten’s mother Teye (Erich Tseren, «Biblical Hills», Moscow, Pravda Publishing house, 1986, pp.404—405) was the daughter of the Mesopotamian king Mitanni (the state of Mitanni was located approximately at the junction of the current borders of Syria, Iraq and Turkey, where there are now battles with the IS troops). And Mitanni was in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC one of the most powerful states. Analysis of a number of proper names from Mitanni and surrounding areas, including the names of members of the royal dynasty, shows the presence of Indo-European elements in Mitanni, related to the Indo-European tribes of Northern India. This is even more clearly indicated by the mention in the treaties between the Hittite kingdom (the Hittite language is Indo—European) and Mitanni, among others, also Indian deities – Indra, Varuna and the twin brothers Ashwin, under one of their names – «Nasatya», as well as the presence of a number of Indian words in the Hittite translation of the treatise on horse breeding Mitanni Kikkuli).

2 But if you do not agree to let go, then, behold, I will strike your whole region with frogs; (Toads, most likely, have already begun to appear and the priest scares them with their appearance).

3 and the river will rise up with frogs, and they will go out and enter into your house, and into your bedroom, and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens, and into your sauerkraut (Frogs have come out of rivers and lakes because of the water in them deteriorated, which, in turn, is associated with the manifestation of volcanism).

4 Frogs will come up on you, and on your people, and on all your servants. (Toads can appear anywhere).

5 And the LORD said to Moses: Say to Aaron, Stretch out your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the lakes, and bring out the frogs on the land of Egypt. (The wand is a distraction here, in fact the toads have been on the way for a long time).

6 Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came out and covered the land of Egypt. (That’s what all magicians do).

7 The magi did the same with their enchantments, and brought frogs to the land of Egypt. (The Magi of Egypt can also do such «miracles»).

8 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, «Pray to the LORD that he will remove the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.» (Sooner or later toads will leave this territory, looking for the necessary clean water).

9 Moses said to Pharaoh, «Appoint for me a time when I will pray for you, for your servants, and for your people, so that the frogs will disappear from you, in your houses, and remain only in the river. (Supposedly prayer will solve the issue, in fact, here we are also talking about a distracting moment, the gods, having heard the appeal to themselves, will have mercy and remove the toads).

10 He said, Tomorrow. [Moses] answered: [It will be] according to your word, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God; (We need a demonstration that the god of Moses and Aaron is stronger than all other gods).

11 and the frogs will depart from you, from your houses, and from your servants, and from your people; only in the river will they remain. (Magma flows will come to the surface sooner or later and the water will gradually clear).

12 Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the LORD about the frogs that he had brought upon Pharaoh. (Toads should disappear).

13 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses: toads died out in houses, courtyards and fields; (Of course, after a while the toads who could not find clean water died).

14 and they gathered them in heaps, and the earth stank. (Now the earth also began to emit different odors and gases due to the numerous corpses of toads).

15 When Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, just as the LORD had said. (Pharaoh still does not believe in the god of Moses and Aaron).

16 And the LORD said to Moses: Say to Aaron, Stretch out your rod and strike the dust of the earth, and it will become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt. (The wand is again a distraction, in fact, midges appear over the remains of toads).

17 So they did: Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and gnats appeared on people and cattle. All the dust of the earth became gnats throughout the land of Egypt. (Male midges feed only on plant juices, females of most species are bloodsuckers, but at the same time they, like males, feed on plant juices, for the development of female eggs, blood sucking is necessary. Therefore, during the mating period, they accumulate in mass around people and animals).

18 The magi also tried to produce gnats by their charms, but they could not. And there were gnats on people and on cattle. (Nevertheless, midges are everywhere).

19 And the magi said to Pharaoh: this is the finger of God. But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said. (The Pharaoh should not have seemed weak in relation to other gods).

20 And the LORD said to Moses, «Get up early tomorrow and appear before Pharaoh.» Here, he will go to the water, and you tell him: Thus saith the LORD: Let my people go, that they may serve me. (The priest is bending his line, as he needs soldiers for conquests).

21 But if you do not let my people go, then, behold, I will send dog flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses, and the houses of the Egyptians will be filled with dog flies, and the very land on which they [live]; (There are many flies in Egypt and Judea, and one of these species, found by recent travelers near the Nile River and called the Abyssinian fly (zebub), is also as large as a bee and is so harmful to cattle and other animals that shepherds are often forced to leave their pastures and flee from those places where the said fly appears or to escape from the sting of it by throwing yourself into the sand or sea mud. Cattle are horrified at the sight of these insects; even an elephant and a rhinoceros, although their skin is covered with a copious layer of dirt, are unable to protect themselves from their sting. The annoyance and anxiety caused by these insects were so strong that the Canaanites even had a special deity, whose special purpose was to protect them from flies (Beelzebub is the god of flies).

22 And on that day I will separate the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, and there will be no dog flies, so that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth; (The manifestation of volcanism in Goshen, most likely, was not, and the priest knew about it).

23 I will make a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow there will be this sign. (Divide and conquer!).

24 So the LORD did: a multitude of dog flies flew into the house of Pharaoh, and into the houses of his servants, and over all the land of Egypt: the land was destroyed by dog flies. (As you know, it is very difficult to drive away flies, especially if there are food residues and excrement, flies are also carriers of a huge type of diseases, among which are such genuine scourges of humanity as typhoid fever, dysentery and brucellosis. It is known that in Goethe’s «Faust» Mephistopheles is called the god of flies. In the Sumerian legend of the flood, Ut-Napishtim also sacrificed to the gods, who gratefully circled over the smoke, flying «like flies». The ancient Egyptian military commander Amenemheb was awarded the Order of «Two Flies» for his military services. It seems that the gods were hungry for the sacrificial fragrance that served them as food, and expressed gratitude for the resumption of the custom).

25 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, «Go and sacrifice to your God in this land.» (Pharaoh released the Jews).

26 But Moses said, This cannot be done, for our sacrifice to the LORD our God is abominable to the Egyptians: if we offer a sacrifice abominable to the Egyptians in their eyes, will they not stone us? (Someone else’s sacrifice, and this is the rule of talion, does not bring relief).

27 We will go into the wilderness, three days’ journey, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he tells us. (It is necessary to go to the desert, which proves that the ancestors of the Jews came from deserts, former nomads).

28 And Pharaoh said: I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but do not go far away; pray for me. (Pharaoh also wants to join the «strong» god).

29 Moses said, «Behold, I am going out from you and I will pray to the LORD, and the dog flies will depart from Pharaoh, and from his servants, and from his people tomorrow, only let Pharaoh stop deceiving, not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord. (The solution seems to have been found).

30 And Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. (Moses already fully believes his patron-leader).

31 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses, and removed the dog flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people: there was not one left. (After a while, the flies leave the territory, the corpses were filled in, the water was purified).

32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time, and did not let the people go. (So trust the rulers after that, they are so crafty!).