Not Freedom From...But Freedom To...

Though the film might well have ended with the Hebrews, finally free from Egypt, singing the final anthem, one more brief scene follows. Time has evidently passed, and Moses is walking with two tablets of stone in his arms. We can almost make out writing on them. He turns and looks down at his people from atop a great height. [1:32; one hour and thirty-two minutes into the film] And the film is over. This scene was added to demonstrate that there was a greater purpose to the freedom of the Israelites. The freedom really begins with the giving of the Law, as indicated in Midrash Rabbah and the Talmud. Rabbi Elliot Dorff, who helped develop one of The Prince of Egypt study guides for DreamWorks, has presented this conclusion: "...because then, when we are free to live by our own laws and do not have to obey others, we are indeed free."