"... there is a series of intertextual connections between Exodus and the entity usually delimited as the Deuteronomistic History, Deuteronomy–2 Kings. These connections are not easily explained as contact points between independent works; instead, they suggest a context of contiguous works. First, the situation of Israel’s forced labor in Egypt presented at the beginning of Exodus has a parallel in the presentation of the Solomonic period in Kings. With the exception of Chronicles, the expression ערי מסכנות (“storage cities”) in Exodus 1:11 only appears in the context of Solomon’s construction activity. The same is true for the expressions used for forced labor, מס (1 Kings 9:15) and סבל (1 Kings 5:29 or 5:13; 11:28). Although these data have been viewed as an argument for the early Solomonic dating of J, an internal literary explanation is more compelling. The word choice in Exodus 1:11 apparently is intended to cast a negative light on Solomon’s building activities. On this point, Solomon was no better than the Egyptian pharaoh of the exodus ..."