The "Ten Commandments": An American Exodus

Lecture of Dr. Nikolas Gvosdev

In last week's class, one of the things we looked at was the question of values in providing the basis for the "American way of life" and our system of government. The debate arose over whether such values should be labeled or termed "Christian", "generic Christian", "Judeo-Christian", "Western", etc.

In looking at this week's theme, the question of narrative within the American civil religion, it is interesting to look at someone whose films did much to create a sense of "generic" religiosity among Americans: Cecil B. DeMille. Speaking of his work in bringing biblical themes to the silver screen, DeMille wrote:

"... people are groping today for a foundation, for proven standards of acceptance. The ideals of the Man of Nazareth have persisted throughout all the centuries ... I am not referring only to those who are termed Christians. The fundamental truths brought out through the ministry of Jesus cannot be confined to belief, race, nationality, or social position. Whether he believes that Jesus was a divine being who descended to humanity or a human being who rose to divinity, it is not after all tremendously important in view of the fact that His ideals apply to all of us. Thus, it is our earliest desire to offend no one's religious beliefs, but to benefit uncounted millions of the world's population ..." ("The Screen as Religious Teacher," Theatre, June 1927, p. 45)

De Mille's assertion that there are universal values that go beyond specific denominational or religious affiliations was reflected in 1926 when he convened an ecumenical prayer service on the set of his movie, "King of Kings." Thirty different clergymen, including a Muslim and a Buddhist cleric, gathered at the studio to offer prayers at the start of filming.

De Mille's masterpiece, "The Ten Commandments" (here I am referring to the 1956 version), takes this point about universal values to its natural conclusion. The story of the Exodus under Moses is an excellent unifying narrative. the story of an escape from slavery to freedom. For religious Christians, Moses and the Exodus prefigure events in the New Testament but the story is also unoffensive to religious Jews and Muslims; moreover, secularists see in the story an important myth and parable which has influenced Western culture. Whether one sees Moses as prophet or leader, he remains an admirable, unifying figure. Moreover, the parable of the Exodus has been adopted by so many different groups so that that narrative is claimed by people as diverse as Jamaican Rastafarians to East Europeans struggling with the transition from communism to democracy and the free market.

While essentially following the biblical narrative, De Mille introduces elements that make it clear that in many ways the story he is describing is that of America, couched in biblical language. Leaving aside the deeper debate over the skin color and ethnicity of both Egyptians and Hebrews, the feel of the movie is very much that of 1950's Americans play-acting the biblical story, in contrast to more recent treatments, such as TNT's "Moses", which, in terms of location, costuming, and setting, very much feels "alien" to the modern world and much more authentically "Egyptian." Moreover, the setting of the biblical story has been reinterpreted. The Bible implies that the bondage suffered by the Hebrews was not merely economic and political oppression, but material and cultural--that is, that the Hebrews were in danger of succumbing to Egyptian "materialism" (the fleshpots of Egypt) that would take away their distinct spiritual heritage. The Bible also indicates that as a result of the corrupting influence of Egypt, the Hebrews had to spend forty years of "refining" in the desert wastes before becoming fit to enter the promised land. Early Christian authors often talked about "the Egyptian mindset", not referring to something related to ethnic Egyptians, but to the allure of things and the traps of sensualism, as being the real source of "slavery" in Egypt. The Biblical text constantly refers to the "broken spirits" of the people as a result of cruel bondage.

In contrast, the oppression depicted in "the Ten Commandments" is cast in terms of totalitarianism crushing the individual's social and political freedoms. The goal put forth is the attainment of freedom and liberty--the Israelites slaves are fully aware of these rights and only seeking the means to fulfill their destinies. To make the point clearer, in those days of the Cold War, Rameses was played by Russian-born actor Yul Brenner, complete with accent. Moses is the "deliverer", a primarily political revolutionary who will lead the Israelites out of totalitarian rule. The God of the "Ten Commandments" is much more akin to the generic God of civil religion than the God of the Bible. In the biblical narrative, God is intimately bound up with the process of deliverance; Moses is constantly speaking with God and seeking his counsel. For me, one of the most poignant passages in all the Bible is the description of God anxiously keeping watch to ensure that all His People escape by night from Egypt: "It was a night of watching by Yahweh, to bring them out of the land of Egypt." (Exodus 12: 42) In "Ten Commandments," God is a more distant figure. He commissions Moses at the Burning Bush; He gives the Law at Sinai. Elsewhere, it is Moses who is the active figure. Rather than depending upon God or being strengthened by Him, Moses in the movie seems to use God as a power source, a "deus ex machina" from which to perform the wonders needed to free Israel from Pharaoh's hand.

The Bible seems to indicate that Egyptians and Hebrews were distinct peoples. In the movie, Egyptians and Hebrews are indistinguishable and even speak the same language. What differentiates them is not national or racial criteria but ideological ones: Hebrews are people of faith who cherish freedom. As such, it is thus possible for non-Hebrews to join them; as when small groups of Egyptians and Ethiopians are permitted by Moses and Joshua to join the Exodus. At several points in the movie, it is implied that anyone could join the Exodus. The presence of "ethnic minorities" joining the largely white Exodus in the movie seems more to reflect American notions that while the core of the United States was provided by its largely Anglo-Saxon colonial inhabitants, that "all peoples" (in small numbers, at least) can join with them on this journey to freedom.

Where the civil religion aspect of the movie becomes most pronounced, however, is in comparing the depiction of the Exodus in the Bible with the way it is portrayed in the movie, and then to compare that with the founding events of American history.

Structure of the biblical narrative:

Slavery breaks down the Israelites of Egypt; they are in danger of losing their very identity

Commissioning of Moses/Ten Plagues

Arrival at Sinai/Lack of spiritual maturity and lure of "materialism" lead to Golden Calf

Giving of the Law

Complaining and grumbling of the people

Testing demonstrates people are unfit to enter the land/the generation of Egypt must die in the wildnerness

Entry into the Promised Land

Structure of the movie

Israelites already know who they are as a people, faced external oppression from totalitarian government

Commissioning of Moses/Ten Plagues

Freedom from Egyptian rule shows that people are not accustomed to freedom/misuse of freedom leads to debauchery

The Law is given to provide structure

Structure of the myth of the American revolution

Freedom-seeking colonists face tyranny of King George and his regime which threatens to "enslave" Americans

The American Revolution/British withdrawal

Threat of anarchy/dissolution of Union

The Constitution is promulgated and the Republic firmly established

One analysis of the American and current Israeli uses of the Exodus story says that Israelis concentrate on the last part of the Exodus narrative--the arrival at the Promised Land, while Americans focus on the delivery from slavery--the first part. Both narratives, however, leave out the middle--the judgment that the people who came out of Egypt were unfit to enter into the Promise.

Despite its biblical premise, therefore, De Mille's movie is much more about America than Israel: it is about a chosen people already prepared to be free struggling for political and economic liberation from a totalitarian system under the eye of a distant God whose primary role is to secure liberty for the people. The story of the Exodus, therefore, is not a prophetic challenge for reform, but instead is meant as reassurance that America indeed is favored of God.