DID YOU KNOW?

The story goes that the Israelites fled Egypt with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Does the Bible say they left carrying Egyptian silver, gold and clothing?

The answer

In the Bible. Before they leave, the Israelites ask their Egyptian neighbors for jewelry of silver and gold and for clothing. The Egyptians hand it over: "And so they plundered the Egyptians" (Exodus 12:36). They did leave in a hurry, with no food prepared (Exodus 12:39), but not empty-handed.

Why it’s interesting

The request comes three times: a promise at the burning bush (Exodus 3:22), an order before the last plague (Exodus 11:2), and the night itself (Exodus 12:35). Philo was a Jewish writer of the first century AD. A note in the New Oxford Annotated Bible, a study Bible, says he defended the plunder as payment for the years of slavery.

Scholarly consensus

Learn the Bible.

Not just the stories, but the history, authorship, and scholarship behind it.