History YMMV / BookOfExodus

** If a man dies without any [[HeirClubForMen male heirs]], his widow is to be legally married to his brother, and he will perpetuate the deceased man's lineage via the first son he has with her. No, the widow does not get a say in this...and if her brother-in-law refuses, she can publicly humiliate him and all his descendants.

** How much control the Pharaoh had over his own anger and pride? During the Ten Plagues, [[https://www.cracked.com/article_24512_6-bible-stories-proving-god-basically-insane-prankster.html it's implied that the Pharaoh was already caving in on letting the Hebrews go]] long before the final plague arrived. The famous line that appeared after each plague, "The Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart." essentially started this train of thought due to the numerous ways this statement could have been interpreted.

** Animal rights and environmentalism -- well, aside from the whole animal sacrifice business. There are precepts for returning lost livestock to enemies (Exodus 23:4-5), taking care of baby birds who fell to the ground (Deuteronomy 22:6-7), and avoiding deforestation unless you ''really'' need wood (Deuteronomy 20:19-20)

-->''Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD. Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour; I am the LORD. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but '''thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself'''''. (Leviticus 19:13-18)
** The Law contains precepts for defending the rights of foreigners living in the country. Translations vary between "sojourners" and "immigrants" but the point still stands.
** Animal rights and environmentalism - well, aside from the whole animal sacrifice business. There are precepts for returning lost livestock to enemies (Exodus 23:4-5), taking care of baby birds who fell to the ground (Deuteronomy 22:6-7), and avoiding deforestation unless you ''really'' need wood (Deuteronomy 20:19-20)

** [[http://biblehub.com/leviticus/19-19.htm Leviticus 19:19]], however, which commands us not to wear clothing made of two different kinds of material, is often held up as the up to eleven of absurd religious commandments, at least by Christians. Observant Jews still follow it, and even use microscopy to make sure a garment isn't shatnez.
** If you have a son or daughter who's disobedient, doesn't help with household chores (or tending crops and livestock), won't get a job, or whatever other pattern of repeated bad behavior, you can have him or her stoned to death.

** After the wedding night, the parents of the bride would go into the nuptial tent/hut/whatever, and retrieve a sheet or garment stained with blood (thought to be proof that the bride was a virgin), just in case the groom (or his family, or anyone else) tried to dishonor her (and her family) by SlutShaming her. If they ''are'' able to produce such [[RealityIsUnrealistic "evidence,"]], and it ''is'' the groom or his family trying to impugne her in this way, he is to publicly receive ATasteOfTheLash, and loses his right to divorce her.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The "Zipporah at the inn" episode. After God sent Moses in Egypt to deal with the Pharaoh, HE sends his angel to kill His prophet for unexplained reasons. Then Moses' wife Zipporah takes a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of their son. This apparently saves Moses. It's pretty obscure and no wonder why this is often ignored; according to Wiki/TheOtherWiki, even Biblical scholars are baffled by the purpose of this episode. It has notably only been included in one screen adaptation, the miniseries ''Series/MosesTheLawgiver'' starring Creator/BurtLancaster and there is a good reason why it is often omitted: it proves to be disturbing, especially with the child's screaming.

** Some theorize that the "crime" in Leviticus 20:13 is not homosexuality, but [[HenpeckedHusband emasculation]]. Others point out that the wording in the verse certainly refers to sexual acts, with some contention on the subject of which sexual acts are referred to (possibly pedophilia, ritual prostitution, and/or rape of POWs, all of which were quite common throughout the Ancient World.)

** Some theorize that the "crime" in Leviticus 20:13 is not homosexuality, but [[HenpeckedHusband emasculation]]. Others point out that the wording in the verse certainly refers to sexual acts, with some contention on the subject of which sexual acts are referred to (possibly [[PaedoHunt pedophilia]], ritual prostitution, and/or [[DoubleStandardRapeMaleOnMale rape of POWs]], all of which were quite common throughout the Ancient World.)

** [[http://biblehub.com/leviticus/19-19.htm Leviticus 19:19]], however, which commands us not to wear clothing made of two different kinds of material, is often held up as the UpToEleven of absurd religious commandments, at least by Christians. Observant Jews still follow it, and even use microscopy to make sure a garment isn't shatnez.

** The Israelites marching around Jericho seven times and blowing their horns to bring the walls down in ''Joshua''.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Thanks to extreme ValuesDissonance, Old Testament scholar Patrick D. Miller once remarked that in the Book of Joshua "there is no real way to make such reports palatable to the hearts and minds of contemporary readers and believers." What was written as a glorious, heaven-ordained victory of the Israelites against depraved heathen foes comes across to modern readers as conquest, colonialism, and genocide, considered the gravest of crimes in modern consciousness.

** Surprising as it may be, but "Love your neighbour as yourself" isn't something UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} coined in the New Testament. It comes from Leviticus 19:18. Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
-->''Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD. Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour; I am the LORD. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but '''thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself'''''. (Leviticus 19:13-18)

* UnintentionallySympathetic: The Egyptians come off this way to many modern audiences who feel the punishments all of them suffer is unwarranted, especially considering the crime of enslaving the Hebrews doesn't come off as particularly heinous compared to acts of genocide the Hebrews commit that are supposed to be in the right. It got to the point where modern-day adaptations such as ''Film/TheTenCommandments'' and the controversial ''Film/ExodusGodsAndKings'' make no bones about just how bad the Hebrews had it as slaves.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The "Zipporah at the inn" episode. After God sent Moses in Egypt to deal with the Pharaoh, HE sends his angel to kill His prophet for unexplained reasons. Then Moses' wife Zipporah takes a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of their son. This apparently saves Moses. It's pretty obscure and no wonder why this is often ignored; according to Wiki/TheOtherWiki, even Biblical scholars are baffled by the purpose of this episode. It has notably only been included in one screen adaptation, the miniseries ''Moses the Lawgiver'' starring Creator/BurtLancaster and there is a good reason why it is often omitted: it proves to be disturbing, especially with the child's screaming.

* WhatAnIdiot: Yahweh gives The Pharoah a last minute choice to free the Israelites and spare Egypt from the tenth plague. In his arrogance, The Pharaoh refuses and gets the children killed.

* ValuesDissonance: To the point ''most'' of the rules given in Leviticus are completely ignored by Christians, being seen as anything from needlessly vicious, to outdated or simply silly. At the times, however, they were the norm for most civilizations.

** People with various disabilities (visual impairments, missing or injured limbs, etc.), or [[CripplingCastration men whose testicles were crushed or cut off]], were not permitted to worship in the Temple.

** It is commonly argued that [[GodIsEvil Yahweh is the true villain in all of this.]] He kills masses of innocent people regardless of whether or not they had anything to do with the enslavement of the Hebrews, and even kills the Hebrews over reasons that to a modern audience come off as extremely petty. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment And no more will be said regarding this]].

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The "Zipporah at the inn" episode. After God sent Moses in Egypt to deal with the Pharaoh, HE sends his angel to kill His prophet for unexplained reasons. Then Moses' wife Zipporah takes a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of their son. This apparently saves Moses. It's pretty obscure and no wonder why this is often ignored; according to Wiki/TheOtherWiki, even Biblical scholars are baffled by the purpose of this episode.

* What An Idiot!: Yahweh gives The Pharoah a last minute choice to free the Israelites and spare Egypt from the tenth plague. In his arrogance, The Pharaoh refuses and gets the children killed.

** Moses parting the Red Sea is considered the most defining moment of ''Exodus.''