Did pre-Christian Egyptians know that the Jews claimed to have escaped slavery in Egypt? Did they believe that, too? Did they ever comment on it?

by DontKillTheWarCrier
Particular-Second-84

Yes, there are a fair number of references to the Exodus in pre-Christian times. The earliest unambiguous reference appears to be from Hecetaeus of Abdera, writing about 300 BCE. He gives an account of Moses which is reasonably similar to the account given in the Bible.

His account tells us that there was a great plague in Egypt, and that as a consequence, many of the foreigners living in Egypt were driven out. One group, led by Moses, settled in Judea. Hecetaeus then goes on to describe how Moses was a lawgiver and established a system of priests, as well as leading the Jews in war against many nations, very similar to the Biblical account of the aftermath of the Exodus.

There’s no indication in Hecetaeus’ account that he viewed this account with any more scepticism than any other account he recorded. So yes, it looks like the Greeks accepted the story of the Exodus.

A more questionable reference to the Exodus may come from Herodotus. While describing Phoenicia and Syria, he states that some of the population were said to have originated from the coasts of the Red Sea but then migrated to Phoenicia long ago. Could Herodotus have been referring to the Jews and their tradition of the Exodus from Egypt? It’s possible, but no one can say for sure.