Papyrus was suitable for weaving into basket-like containers, and because its stems were highly buoyant it was also used to make small boats. It was an ideal material for the manufacture of a waterproof chest that would float safely among the reeds bordering the riverbank T. D. Alexander, Exodus (IVP 2017), 62.
So the account (Exod 2:1-10) has a natural setting. On the face of it, that's evidence for the historicity of the account. If this was a fictional story by a first millennium BC Jewish narrator in Israel, would we expect him to have that Egyptian botanical lore at his fingertips? Or is this realistic detail to more likely from a native of the Nile Delta?
Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
ReplyDeleteGenesis 13:10
Here we have Moses describing Israel in terms of Egypt so they would understand.