I
just saw the movie "The Prince of Egypt." I must admit the crowd was a
little sparse for opening night. The movie was not your typical cartoon.
There is little humor, no funny animals...and no Mcdonalds tie-ins. I am
saving the movie postcard that I received since I won`t be able to get
a Moses figurine:) When God spoke from the burning bush, he didn`t
sound as masculine as I would`ve liked. In this movie he sounds more like
a kinder, gentler Almighty. The scene was still powerful, as was the parting
of the Red Sea. They modeled this movie after Cecil B.Demille`s vision
of what happened in his two earlier versions of "The 10 Commandments"(1923,1956).
As in the older version, there was no mention of the Divine
Name Jehovah or Yahweh which played an integral part of the original story,
which is unfortunate.
Example:Exodus 3:13-15,"Then Moses said to God,'If I go to the Isrealites
and tell them that the God of their forefathers has sent me to them, and
they ask me for his name, what shall I say? .....You must tell the Isrealites
this, that it is JEHOVAH the God of their forefathers, the God of Abraham,
The God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, who has sent you to them. This is my
name forever; this is my title in every generation." The New English Bible(Protestant
and Catholic).
The King James Version has,"And God spake unto Moses and said unto
him, I am the LORD: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob
by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to
them.(Exodus 6:2,3)
According to the preface in the American Standard Version of the Holy
Bible that the name Jehovah was removed from most translations because
of a Jewish superstition.
But in the age of Southpark and Beavis and Butthead, "The Prince of
Egypt" is still a welcome surprise.
And another thing, I have heard some complain that this
movie teaches a value system. So! No one complained when Pleasantville
told us to have unprotected sex to finally feel alive. Nobody ever complains
about something amoral.
Created January 6, 1998
Back to Bible Site
Heinz Schmitz