BORROWING OF THE EGYPTIANS.
By W. H. Poole
1. The word "borrow," which is shaal in Hebrew, means "to ask," "request," "demand," "require," and is not used to signify the act of loaning a thing. In the Greek text it reads, "She shall ask," and in the Latin it reads, "She shall demand." The same word, shaal, is used in Deut. 10:12, in regard to the requirements of God: "What doth the Lord thy God require [shaal] of thee." Also in Joshua 15:18, where Caleb's daughter was moved to ask (shaal) of her father a field. It is also found in Judges 25:23, where Sisera asked a drink of water. It also occurs in 1 Sam. 30:22, when speaking of property that David recovered from those who had violently removed it. In none of these passages could that word be understood to mean "borrow," as we understand that word. 2. The Egyptians had been enriched by the labor of the Israelites, and God, who judges rightly, now constrains them to refund a part of that which was justly due to them as wages. 3. The Lord inclined the Egyptians to remunerate them willingly. "The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians." 4. The Egyptians felt it to be a forlorn hope, and esteemed it a good bargain to repay them; to settle up with them in full, in order to secure their departure. It is recorded that an Egyptian prince came to Alexander the Great, soon after the conquest of Syria, and said to the conqueror, "Our nation has heard that you are so benevolent that you pay all the just debts of your poor subjects, and of those whom you have conquered. I am sent to inquire." Alexander replied that he did pay all lawful claims. Then said the prince, "The Jews, a long time ago, borrowed jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and costly plate, and never returned them. I demand, in behalf of my nation, both principal and interest." Alexander inquired as to the evidence supporting his claim. The prince referred him to the Jewish Scriptures, and to Egyptian records. Alexander asked three days to examine the evidence, and called in his secretary and treasurer, a learned Jew, named Mordecai. The secretary assured the parties that he was quite willing to entertain the case, but that the Egyptian prince must promise three things:— 1. To take the Jewish Scriptures and the Egyptian records as the only evidence for or against his claim. 2. To answer whether Egyptian law allowed servants a just and equitable compensation for services rendered, and how much? 3. To pay the balance, if due on the other side. To this the prince agreed. Mordecai then produced Gen. 46:6, where Jacob took their cattle and their goods, with their wealth, and their families. They were there 215 years, and gave their labor and their service, and received no return of lands or cities, save only their bread. Egypt owed its existence, its laws, its policy, and its opulence, to Joseph, and yet they did not so much as furnish him with a grave. He then requested the prince to value the property taken down to Egypt; the flocks and the herds; to count up the wages; to calculate the interest; to double the sum for the time they did double work; to value the materials for the time that Pharaoh refused to furnish them; to find the total amount due the Jews, and from that sum deduct the small amount they received on their departure; then tell the balance. In this way, at very low wages, he brought the young prince immensely in debt. He also reminded Alexander that the prince did not understand the language of the Jews; that they did not borrow the gold and silver plate and jewels, but that they demanded it as a small installment of the amount long since due as wages. The prince made his best bow, and retired.