think hard, think well

Numerous passages in the Hebrew Bible present Israel as having a unique relationship with YHWH. This relationship begins with the choosing of Abraham and the Patriarchs, and is cemented by the rescue from Egypt, the giving of the Law at Sinai, and the granting of the land of Canaan.

³² “For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. ³³ Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? ³⁴ Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? ³⁵ To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him. ³⁶ Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. ³⁷ And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, ³⁸ driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, ³⁹ know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.”

Deuteronomy 4:32-39 (ESV)

​¹ Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
² “You only have I known
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities.”

Amos 3:1-2 (ESV)

However, there are other passages that seem to point to Israel’s non-uniqueness in at least two of those areas. Other peoples are said to have been brought out the midst of certain nations, and some seem to be granted land near Israel’s allotment.

Amos 9:7, despite the special relationship between YHWH and Israel described in 3:1–2, draws parallels to similar exodoi from Caphtor and Kir by the Philistines and the Arameans, respectively:

“Are you not like the Cushites to me,
O people of Israel?” declares the LORD.
“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir?”

Amos 9:7

In Deuteronomy 2, Moses narrates the Israelites’ journey from the Sinai desert, up through the territory of Edom and Moab, and near Ammon, to their putative location across the Jordan from Jericho. On that journey, the allotments to Edom, Moab and Ammon—peoples descended from Terah—were off-limits to the Israelites. Additionally, the passage describes (from a later vantage point that knows of the Israelite conquest, 2:12c) that these peoples also destroyed/displaced the previous inhabitants, who were giants that the Israelites called Rephaim or Anakim.

The passage also notes that “Caphtorim from Caphtor” destroyed the Avvim who lived in/near Gaza (2:23). Elsewhere, the Philistines are said to come from Caphtor (Gen 10:14//1 Chr 1:12; Jer 47:4; Amos 9:7)

What to make of these other exodoi and conquests? Was Israel that unique among the nations? Yes, and no. We know nothing of these other migrations/departures orchestrated by YHWH, but Deut 4:32–34 would still indicate that they were nothing as spectacular as the salvation of Israel from Egypt. There is no record in Israel’s Bible of anything like a Sinai covenant or law given to these other nations.

Moreover, at least with the “conquests” and land-grants of Edom, Moab and Ammon: these allotments can be understood as “secondary blessing” because of these nations’ connection to Abraham. In Genesis 21:13 YHWH affirms to Abraham that even though his elder son, Ishmael, is not the child of promise, Ishmael will nevertheless be blessed and become a great nation for Abraham’s sake.

However, it is interesting to consider the Hebrew Bible’s reflections on YHWH-orchestrated exodoi, migrations and conquests, besides the Israelite exodus from Egypt and the conquest of Canaan. Later texts explicitly affirm YHWH’s sovereignty over the actions of great empires such as Assyria (Isa 10:5–19), Babylon (Isa 14:3–21) and Persia (Isa 45)—therefore, he could certainly have had a hand in the migration and liberation(?) of smaller peoples, as well.