Caravan near the Pyramids, Otto Heyden (1820–1897). Wikimedia
When the Exodus Is Your Story—but Egypt Is Your Homeland
As a Christian, the Exodus is my story of divine liberation and hope. As an Egyptian, it casts my homeland as the oppressor of God’s people—forcing me to wrestle with faith and identity.
Published: March 23, 2026
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Last Updated: September 7, 2026
In the El-Minia region, two hours north of El Amarna, for those who are familiar with the site. Some of the content in this piece originally appeared in Safwat Marzouk, “The Exodus: A Christian Egyptian Perspective,” HuffPost, February 14, 2015.
During my graduate studies at the seminary in Cairo and at Union seminary in NYC, taking the Bible at face value was brought under scrutiny. Historical critical scholarship on Exodus raises questions about the historicity of the biblical account of the exodus. Editor’s note: See Zev Farber, “The Torah’s Exodus,” TheTorah (2015).
Editor’s note: see Safwat Marzouk, “Pharaoh is a Monster: Ezekiel Decries Judah’s Ties with Egypt,” TheTorah (2021).
For a more detailed discussion of this dilemma, see Safwat Marzouk, “Interrogating Identity: A Christian Egyptian Reading of the Hagar-Ishmael Traditions,” Colonialism and the Bible: Contemporary Reflections from the Global South, ed. Tat-Siong Benny Liew, Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies in Religion and Theology (Lexington Books, 2018), 3-30 (5-7).
See, e.g., Philo, Questions and Answers on Exodus, trans. Ralph Marcus, LCL 401 (Harvard University Press, 1953).
For more on Origen’s writings and his influence, see Marko Marina, “Origen of Alexandria: Life, Writings, and Importance in Christianity,” The Bart Ehrman Blog.
Such readings are typical of Origen, who stressed in his writings the importance of understanding the inner, allegorical meaning of biblical texts.
Origen, Homilies on Genesis and Exodus, trans. Ronald E. Heine, Fathers of the Church Patristic Series (The Catholic University of America Press, 1982), 255. The homilies were originally written in Greek, and later translated into Latin by Rufinus in the late 4th century. The extant version of the text is Rufinus’s translation.
Ibid., 259.
Supersessionism (also called replacement theology) is the Christian theological view that the new covenant through Jesus Christ has superseded (replaced) the Mosaic covenant, and, correspondingly, that Christians have superseded (that is, replaced) Jews as God’s covenantal people. Editor’s note: For more on supersessionism and its impact on biblical interpretation, see Stéphanie É. Binder, “Tertullian: Father of Western Christianity’s ‘Answer to the Jews,’” TheTorah (2025); Amy-Jill Levine, “‘Twas the Blight Before Christmas: --Antisemitic Interpretations of the Nativity,” TheTorah (2025); Yedida Eisenstat, “Does Rashi’s Torah Commentary Respond to Christianity?” TheTorah (2018).
Safwat Marzouk, “A Christian Egyptian Reading of Isaiah 19,” Emerging Theologies from the Global South, ed. Mitri Raheb and Mark A. Lamport (Cascade Books, 2023), 287-301.
This has been noted by many scholars. See, e.g., Phyllis Trible, Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives (Fortress, 1984), 13; Tikva Frymer-Kensky, Reading the Women of the Bible: A New Interpretation of their Stories (Schocken, 2002), 232-237; Tammi J. Schneider, Mothers of Promise: Women in the Book of Genesis (Baker Academic, 2008), 30. Editor’s note: See also Shai Held, “Hagar: An Egyptian Maidservant’s Suffering is Seen by YHWH,” TheTorah (2021).
The two texts read:
בראשית טז:ו וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָם אֶל־שָׂרַי הִנֵּה שִׁפְחָתֵךְ בְּיָדֵךְ עֲשִׂי־לָהּ הַטּוֹב בְּעֵינָיִךְ וַתְּעַנֶּהָ שָׂרַי וַתִּבְרַח מִפָּנֶיהָ.
Gen 16:6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Your slave is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she ran away from her.
דברים כו:ו וַיָּרֵעוּ אֹתָנוּ הַמִּצְרִים וַיְעַנּוּנוּ וַיִּתְּנוּ עָלֵינוּ עֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה.
Deut 26:6 When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us…
Editor’s note: For a discussion of the range of meaning of the term ענה in the pi‘el, see Shawna Dolansky, “The Debasement of Dinah,” TheTorah (2015).
The texts read:
בראשית טז:ו …וַתְּעַנֶּהָ שָׂרַי וַתִּבְרַח מִפָּנֶיהָ.
Gen 16:6 …Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she ran away from her.
שמות יד:ה וַיֻּגַּד לְמֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם כִּי בָרַח הָעָם …
Exod 14:5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled…
The texts read:
בראשית כא:י וַתֹּאמֶר לְאַבְרָהָם גָּרֵשׁ הָאָמָה הַזֹּאת וְאֶת־בְּנָהּ כִּי לֹא יִירַשׁ בֶּן־הָאָמָה הַזֹּאת עִם־בְּנִי עִם־יִצְחָק.
Gen 21:10 So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.”
שמות יב:לט וַיֹּאפוּ אֶת־הַבָּצֵק אֲשֶׁר הוֹצִיאוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם עֻגֹת מַצּוֹת כִּי לֹא חָמֵץ כִּי־גֹרְשׁוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם וְלֹא יָכְלוּ לְהִתְמַהְמֵהַּ וְגַם־צֵדָה לֹא־עָשׂוּ לָהֶם.
Exod 12:39 They baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt; it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.
The texts read:
בראשית כא:יד וַיַּשְׁכֵּם אַבְרָהָם בַּבֹּקֶר וַיִּקַּח־לֶחֶם וְחֵמַת מַיִם וַיִּתֵּן אֶל־הָגָר שָׂם עַל־שִׁכְמָהּ וְאֶת־הַיֶּלֶד וַיְשַׁלְּחֶהָ...
Gen 21:14 So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away…
שמות ה:א וְאַחַר בָּאוּ מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֶל פַּרְעֹה כֹּה אָמַר יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל שַׁלַּח אֶת עַמִּי וְיָחֹגּוּ לִי בַּמִּדְבָּר. ה:ב וַיֹּאמֶר פַּרְעֹה מִי יְ־הֹוָה אֲשֶׁר אֶשְׁמַע בְּקֹלוֹ לְשַׁלַּח אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא יָדַעְתִּי אֶת־ יְ־הֹוָה וְגַם אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא אֲשַׁלֵּחַ.
Exod 5:1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel: Let my people go, so that they may celebrate a festival to me in the wilderness.” 5:2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is YHWH, that I should listen to him and let Israel go? I do not know YHWH, and I will not let Israel go.”
The texts in Genesis read:
בראשית כא:יד ...וַתֵּלֶךְ וַתֵּתַע בְּמִדְבַּר בְּאֵר שָׁבַע.
Gen 21:14 …And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.
בראשית כא׃יט וַיִּפְקַח אֱלֹהִים אֶת־עֵינֶיהָ וַתֵּרֶא בְּאֵר מָיִם וַתֵּלֶךְ וַתְּמַלֵּא אֶת־הַחֵמֶת מַיִם וַתַּשְׁקְ אֶת־הַנָּעַר.
Gen 21:19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
The Israelites are condemned to wander in the wilderness 40 years because of their faithlessness:
במדבר יד:לב וּפִגְרֵיכֶם אַתֶּם יִפְּלוּ בַּמִּדְבָּר הַזֶּה. יד:לג וּבְנֵיכֶם יִהְיוּ רֹעִים בַּמִּדְבָּר אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה וְנָשְׂאוּ אֶת־זְנוּתֵיכֶם עַד־תֹּם פִּגְרֵיכֶם בַּמִּדְבָּר.
Num 14:32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. 14:33 And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness.
God provides water for the Israelites during their time in the wilderness at Rephidim (Exod 17:1-7) and at Kadesh (Num 20:1-13). See also Deut. 8:15; Isa. 48:21; and Psalm 78:15-16, 20; 105:41.
For more on this, see Marzouk, “Interrogating Identity: A Christian Egyptian Reading of the Hagar-Ishmael Traditions,” 3-30.
A similar pattern is found in the book of Judges.
A play on the name for Egypt, מִצְרָיִם (mitzrayim), which derives from the stem צָרַר , to be bound, narrow, or restricted. The term מֵצַר means distress, straits (see, e.g., Ps 118:5).
David Huddart, Bhabha, Routledge Critical Thinkers (Routledge, 2006), 6. Homi Bhabha is a leading figure in postcolonial criticism, best known for his book The Location of Culture (Routledge, 1994).
