Were Did The Pharoahs Of Egypt Re-settle At After They Left Egypt And Why Did They Leave Egypt

How did the Hebrews end up as slaves in Egypt? Why did they leave Canaan?

[EDIT: The original question that I answered was “How did the Jews become slaves in Egypt?”]Just to be clear: no Jews became slaves in Egypt, just as no Canadians died in the Black Plague of the 14th century.The ancestors of the Jews, who were known as “Israelites” (since they were all descendants of Jacob, whose honorific was “Israel”) were enslaved, according to the Book of Exodus.The concept of “Jewish” (or “Judean”, to be exact, if we’re talking of biblical times) emerged only centuries later, following the settlement of the Israelite tribes in the Holy Land, in relation to the descendants of Judah (one of Jacob’s twelve sons)—more specifically, to the southern kingdom, following the split of the Israelite kingdom after King Solomon into two: “Israel” in the north, and “Judah” in the south.When the Israel kingdom was conquered around 725 BCE by the Assyrians, its population was scattered (forcibly relocated to other parts of the Assyrian Empire, in keeping with Assyrian custom, to minimise the risk of insurgency), and some managed to find refuge in the southern kingdom, where they and their religious traditions were absorbed into the Judean nation, at the instigation of King Hezekiah.Thus, the Judeans became the sole preservers of the original Israelite identity and tradition. As it happens, the Exodus tradition was one of those northern (Israel) traditions—which suggests that it was the northerners’ ancestors who had been in Egypt, not those of the Judeans, and that the story of the twelve brothers/tribes was conjured up during the integration of the Israelites into Judea as part of the effort to forge a joint mythology, to make it look as though they had been a single nation from the start.This explains, among other things, why we see no connection in the Bible between Jacob (the ancestor of the Israelites) and his putative grandfather, Abraham (the ancestor of the Judeans)—and why Jacob’s ancestral homeland, which he is sent to by his father Isaac, is Haran (southeastern Turkey of today), while Abraham’s is in Ur of the Chaldees, in modern-day southern Iraq.For more on the synthesis of Israel and Judah, see Shamai Gelander’s book From Two Kingdoms To One Nation - Israel and Judah.

How long did Jews live in peace in Egypt before Pharaoh began persecuting them?

According to information in the biblical account, probably around 100 years. The Bible has the Israelites (the family of Jacob who was the father of Joseph) moving into Egypt after the second year of the great famine (Gen. 45:6,11). Joseph was 30 when he stood before Pharaoh and quickly after this began the 7 years of plenty followed by the famine (Gen. 41:32,46), so Joseph was about 39 when his family moved to Egypt. It was only after Joseph died and all his brothers, and the rest of that generation that the Israelites were enslaved (Ex. 1:6-11) and the age at death recorded for Joseph was 110 (Gen. 50:26), so according to the text there was more than 71 years between their entry and the enslavement (from Joseph being 39 to 110).Additional information can be gained from Joseph’s brother Levi. The first 11 of Jacob’s 12 sons were born in Haran while Jacob worked for Laban. They were all born by year 14 of their stay there – Joseph being the last to be born (Gen. 30:25-34 Gen. 31:41). Levi lived to age 137 (Ex. 6:16) so he outlived Joseph by at least 17 years, since he was at most 10 years older than Joseph because he was Leah's third child while in Haran and Joseph was born in the 13th year in Haran (Gen. 29:32-34). Therefore, the family was in Egypt at least 88 years before being enslaved. The text does not say if any of his brothers lived longer, but it also says the rest of that generation died before they became enslaved, so an estimate of around 100 years before enslavement seems reasonable.This is also a clue to the correct interpretation of the 430-year sojourn. Exodus 12:40 records the sojourn as being exactly 430 years. Genesis 15:13 mentions enslavement and a period of 400 years for Abraham’s descendants. Genesis 15:16 says they would return to Canaan in the fourth generation. If the time in Egypt was 430 year, the slavery could not possibly be 400 years as many interpret these verses. Also three and some fraction of a generation don’t add up to 430 years years. These clues along with the genealogy in Exodus 6 show that the 430 sojourn included the time in Canaan and Egypt. They were in Egypt for the 4 generations recorded in Exodus 6, which shows they were in Egypt for only about half of the 430 years. While modern translations summarize Exodus 12:40, the correct interpretation is “The sojourn of the Israelites, who dwelt in Egypt, was 430 years. See more information in Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus.

Why did the Pharaoh mistreat the Israelites?

I think both of the answers here over look the fact that, according to the Bible, the Israelites were given the land of Caanan as an inheritance and, therefore, at some point had to return there. This was kown to Joseph who instructed them to take his bones with them when they eventually left.“And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying: 'God will surely remember you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.'”What apprently happened is that the Israelites became very comfortable in Egypt, so much so that they had no inclination whatsoever to return to the land promised to their fathers. To me, the simple answer is that a Pharoah came along who did what needed to be done in order to create a situation whereby the Israelites were forced to leave Egypt, mostly against their desires!The constant complaining on the journey to the promised land and the statements that it was better for them when they sat around the flesh pots of Egypt, clearly indicate that they were reluctant partakers in the whole Exodus undertaking. There are many lessons in this story beyond whether it is historically accurate or not for those who consider themselves Israelites.The scripture states:“And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph.”Those who knew of Caanan and the relationship the Israelites had with it were gone, and the new generations knew it not and had no desire to know it. Therefore, a king came who, in like manner, didn’t know Joseph, didn’t care about what he had done for Egypt and he put an end to the good life the Israelites had been living in his country. He made it clear that they were foreigners and caused them to feel that they were not welcome any longer in Egypt, and yet, in spite of all that he did against them, they would not have voluntarily left!This was all in the plan of the God of Israel.