Inasmuch as Moses designates the kings of Egypt only by the general title “Pharaoh” (see on ch. 12:15), it is most difficult to correlate Biblical statements relative to Egyptian history with known dates and events of secular history.

Among Biblical scholars who believe in the historicity of Joseph there is general agreement that his activities in Egypt occurred during the first half of the second millennium B.C. Many believe that he held office under one of the Hyksos kings.

Under the illustrious kings of the powerful Twelfth Dynasty (1991 to about 1780 B.C.), Egyptian art, architecture, and literature flourished. The national economy was sound. Egypt exerted a strong influence in Western Asia to the north and in Nubia to the south, and carried on an extensive trade with various foreign countries. The two succeeding dynasties were weak, and lost ground before advancing Asiatic armies, whose leaders called themselves Heqa’-cha’śut, “rulers of foreign countries.” The Greek transliteration of this title is rendered in English as Hyksos. Josephus explains the name as meaning “Shepherd Kings,” but this is doubtful. The names of the various Hyksos rulers indicate that most of them were Semitic, though a few bore Indo-European names. Some of these kings were able to extend their power over most of Egypt, whereas others found it necessary to tolerate local rulers in various parts of the country.

Since Greek times the Hyksos rulers have been traditionally divided into two dynasties, the 15th and 16th, which ruled Egypt from their capital Avaris, in the Delta, from about 1730 to 1580 B.C. During the latter part of this period the local Egyptian rulers of Thebes gradually extended their influence over the whole of Egypt, pushing the Hyksos northward. They finally conquered Avaris and drove the Hyksos from the country. The latter held out for another three years in the stronghold of Sharuhen in southern Palestine, but were again defeated and finally disappeared to the north. Thus ended the Second Intermediate Period, the Thirteenth to the Seventeenth Dynasty, which had lasted some 200 years. The native rulers of Egypt who waged the war of liberation against the Hyksos, Kamose, and Sekenenre, belonged to the Seventeenth Dynasty. Their successors, the powerful kings of the Eighteenth Dynasty, founded the Empire, or New Kingdom, during which the Exodus occurred.

The Asiatic Hyksos were intensely hated by the Egyptians, who, upon their return to power, destroyed all Hyksos monuments and records, with the result that very little is known about them. The names of their kings, a few sarcastic remarks about them, and a few brief episodes from the war of liberation are all that remain. Evidence for placing Joseph in the Hyksos period is, in brief, as follows:

 1. Bible chronology. If we reckon back to the Exodus from the 4th year of Solomon (1 Kings 6:1)—which is located by the chronology of the kings based on the generally accepted date of 853 B.C. for Ahab’s death—thence 215 years before the Exodus to Jacob’s entry into Egypt (see pp. 184, 186), when Joseph was 39 (see on Gen. 27:1), that will place Joseph near the middle of the Hyksos period.

 2. The horse and chariot were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos, and were unknown in the land prior to their invasion. Since horses and chariots are repeatedly mentioned in the Joseph narrative (chs. 41:43; 46:29; 47:17), his activities in Egypt cannot have taken place before the time of Hyksos supremacy.

 3. The statement that Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s bodyguard, was “an Egyptian” (ch. 39:1) would have significance only at a time when it was the exception to find native Egyptians occupying high office.

 4. It is more likely that a Semite like Joseph would be advanced to the high position of prime minister under the Hyksos kings, of whom a majority were Semites, than under a native Egyptian monarch.

 5. Avaris, the residence of the Hyksos kings, lay in the northeastern section of the Nile Delta, near the land of Goshen. This fact agrees with inferences in the Joseph narrative to the effect that the capital was not far from where Jacob and his sons settled (ch. 45:10). Avaris and Goshen are only about 25 mi. apart.

 6. The statement that a new king arose who did not know Joseph (Ex. 1:8) can be explained best by assuming that reference is made to a Pharaoh of the Seventeenth or Eighteenth Dynasty, who had expelled the Hyksos and naturally hated all who had received favors from them.

 7. The silence of all Egyptian records regarding Joseph would be most significant if Joseph lived in the time of Hyksos supremacy, for their records were systematically destroyed.

 8. Egyptian records of the pre-Hyksos period show the existence of private enterprise and private ownership of land and livestock. All this changed during the time of the Second Intermediate Period, and we find that when the native Egyptians regained power, lands and cattle, with the exception of ecclesiastical property, were considered possessions of the crown. The explanation for this change is found in Gen. 47:18-26.

Arguments that seem to oppose placing Joseph’s term as prime minister in the time of the Hyksos will be dealt with in the comments that follow.

 Resuming the thread of the Joseph narrative, interrupted by insertion of the incident involving Judah and Tamar, Moses repeats in essence what he had stated in ch. 37:36. The only important addition is the statement that Potiphar was an Egyptian. This seems to suggest that Joseph arrived in Egypt at a time when it was unusual to find an Egyptian in a responsible government position.