My tweet of the day, and the Hyksos-Joseph and Hyksos-Moses theories

OK, I wrote this tweet myself, but there's no harm in a little self-promotion here and there.

gen 47:24. the mark of complete slavery is a 20% tax rate and eminent domain.

To see the verse in context, read Genesis 47:13-26.

Or see commentaries at Enduring Word (favorable to Joseph), lewrockwell.com (not favorable to Joseph).

However, that noted theological site salon.com reminds us that we also have to look to Genesis 41:33-36, when the 20% tax was initially instituted (and when the Egyptians still owned their land). Although not explicitly stated, the original "fat years" tax was apparently sunsetted at the end of the seven years, and the Egyptian people were presumably not taxed during the first years of the famine.

Not that you can necessarily use Egyptian government as a model for American government today. Heck, there isn't even universal agreement on who the Egyptian governors actually were.

Sphere: Related Content