Exodus in Kings

Exodus in Kings September 24, 2005

Amos Frisch has a very good article in the JSOT (2000) where he examines the allusions to the Exodus in 1 Kings 1-14. There are many excellent and fruitful insights here:

1) Hadad the Edomite lives through an exodus story, and is a kind of Moses figure (1 Kings 11).

2) Solomon is described as a Pharaoh in 1 Kings 12: especially 12:4 (compare Exod 1:14; 6:9; Dt 26:6).

3) Jeroboam is a figure of “Mosaic proportions,” and Frisch notes that the name Jeroboam echoes the phrase “the people multipled” in Exodus 1:20.

4) Jeroboam’s golden calves are obviously connection to Aaron’s calf, in multiple ways.

5) Rehoboam experiences a “reverse exodus,” with an actual Pharaoh invading and plundering Judah as Israel once plundered the Egyptians.


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