Texts in Conversation
1 Kings describes Solomon’s use of forced labor using the same language found in Exodus for Pharaoh’s own forced labor. This literary echo portrays and criticizes Solomon as a new Pharaoh, suggesting he imposed on Israel the same kind of burdens once used against them in slavery.
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Exodus 1:11
Hebrew Bible
10 Come, let’s deal wisely with them. Otherwise they will continue to multiply, and if a war breaks out, they will ally themselves with our enemies and fight against us and leave the country.” 11 So they put foremen over the Israelites to oppress them with hard labor. As a result they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread. As a result the Egyptians loathed the Israelites,
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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1 Kings 9:15
Hebrew Bible
15 Here are the details concerning the forced labor* King Solomon conscripted to build the Lord’s temple, his palace, the terrace, the wall of Jerusalem, and the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 (Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer. He burned it and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city. He gave it as a wedding present to his daughter, who had married Solomon.) 17 Solomon built up Gezer, lower Beth Horon,
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Exodus 1:11 ... Here in E the taskmasters are termed “commanders of work-companies” (Hebrew missim). King Solomon instituted work-companies in Israel. This phrase is part of a chain of elements that are critical of Solomon in E ..."
Friedman, Richard Elliott
The Bible with Sources Revealed: A New View Into the Five Books of Moses
(p. 119) Harper San Francisco, 2005
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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