Did the israelites suffer terribly as slaves of the pharaoh?

Answer 1

One reason: because the Egyptians were taken aback by the high birthrate of the Israelites, and they used the slavery as part of an attempt at lowering the birthrate (see Exodus ch.1).

Deeper reason: as alluded in Deuteronomy 4:20, Egypt was the "iron furnace" in which gold is tested for dross. The hardships in Egypt tested the loyalty of the Israelites to God.

Community Answer

The people of Israel had fled to Egypt to escape a drought. At first they were welcomed, but over time they became too numerous. Pharaoh, fearing the Israelites would become too powerful, enslaved them.

Exodus 1:5 - 11 The total number of these people directly descended from Jacob was seventy. His son Joseph was already in Egypt. In the course of time Joseph, his brothers, and all the rest of that generation died, but their descendants, the Israelites, had many children and became so numerous and strong that Egypt was filled with them. Then, a new king, who knew nothing about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. He said to his people, "These Israelites are so numerous and strong that they are a threat to us. In case of war they might join our enemies in order to fight against us, and might escape from the country. We must find some way to keep them from becoming even more numerous." So the Egyptians put slave drivers over them to crush their spirits with hard labor. The Israelites built the cities of Pithom and Rameses to serve as supply centers for the king.

Answer 2

Yes, The Bible says so in genesis.

There are no Historical evidences that there were about 3 million Israelite slaves in Egypt during the alleged time of Exodus, therefore the Israelites never suffer as slaves in Egypt.

Answer 3

The Bible does not say what specific hardships the Israelites underwent in Egypt, although it does say that the pharoah ordered young children to be killed, because the Israelites were much more fertile than the Egyptians were.

Looking outside the Bible, the Egyptian records for the period the Israelites were said to have been in Egypt, contain no mention of large numbers of slaves, nor of a sudden exodus of slaves. For the Egyptians, life went on as normal throughout the late Bronze Age, both in Egypt itself and in its Palestinian colonies. In fact, Israel Finkelstein says that more than ninety per cent of scholars agree that there was no Exodus from Egypt.

Answer 4

The bible states that the Israelites came to Egypt due to famine in their homeland, and were accepted by the Pharaoh. Later, the Pharaoh feared that their growing in number in Egypt would allow them to take over. The bible states he had all the male newborns killed (if you recall, this is why Moses was sent away in his biblical birth story). After this mass-killing, he oppressed them in ways of slavery, and the bible states they built for Pharaoh. Things built include the entire cities of Pithom and Ramses. Many historians doubt this biblical story, and say that there was never a major increase in population during the time the bible places this story, and Jews (Israelites were Jews) were never recorded living in Egypt until a very long time after this story was supposed to happen. It is also proven that the pyramids and cities were never built by slaves, but in actuality volunteer workers of pharoah. In conclusion, the bible is the only known source that Israelites were oppressed in Egypt, and is highly doubted by most historians.

Answer 5

The Torah states that Pharaoh claimed that the high Israelite birth-rate could pose a potential threat (Exodus ch.1).On a spiritual level, the Egyptian slavery was brought about by God (see Genesis ch.15). It taught us the importance of loving the stranger (Deuteronomy 10:19), it showed us the power of God when He redeemed us (Exodus 10:2) as well as His personal concern for us (Exodus 2:24); and it served as the "iron furnace" (Deuteronomy 4:20) which smelted us (the Israelites) into a nation and separated the dross.

See also:

Timeline

The Exodus

Answer 6

Yes.