An Introduction to Exodus

As we finish up the book of Genesis, we look forward to the sequel, the book of Exodus.  In Genesis, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has led the tribe of Jacob/Israel to Egypt, with a promise that someday they will return to Canaan.  The book ends with these descendants in Egypt, planning some future return.  In Exodus we see, some centuries later, God leading the descendants of Israel, now quite numerous, back to Canaan.

On the history of the Exodus

Exodus is central to the identity of the Hebrews; it is the setting for the entire Hebrew identity and beliefs.  For example Deuteronomy 26: 5-10 describes the mantra the Jew was to have at entering the land. "My father was a wandering Aramean." The events of the Exodus, both the confrontation with Pharaoh and the events afterwards, are repeated in the psalms and the writings of the prophets later.

When was the Exodus? There are usually two different periods suggested, depending on how one translates various Old Testament passages.  

The statement in I Kings 6:1 gives 480 years from the Exodus to Solomon's temple, but some have argued that this length of time might be describing 12 generations.  If Solomon's temple was built around 940 BC and the term in I Kings is an accurate account in years then the Exodus occurred around 1420 BC, in the 15th century. At that time, the Pharaoh lived at Thebes and controlled Canaan.  

Other commentators argue for a time in the the 13th century.  At that time the Pharaoh lived in lower Egypt and no longer controlled Canaan.   In Exodus 1:11, we have the Pharaoh building two towns, Pithom and Rameses.  If the builder is Rameses II, then we might date the Exodus to around 1270 BC.  If Israel left Egypt around 1270 BC then the Egyptian empire is centered near the Nile delta, in northern Egypt, a closer fit to the details of the text. But those who argue for the earlier date will point out that an earlier Pharaoh could have built two cities, one of which was later called Rameses.

How many Israelites left Egypt with Moses?  Although the NIV gives the population as 600,000  men in Exodus 12:37, this makes the population of Israel under Moses equal to that of a modern city such as Houston!  There are significant issues with this size, from communication and feeding of such a city to a variety of Old Testament references in which the people of Israel are outnumbered by their enemies. (For example, see Deuteronomy 7:7 where YHWH says "you were the fewest of all peoples".)  A moving population of two to three million would have easily conquered the much smaller tribes of Canaan! As Carmen Imes points out in her BibleProject course on Exodus, the translation in Exodus 12:37 relies on translating the Hebrew word eleph as "thousand" when that word is also translated "clan" or "military unit" in other places, such as Judges 6:15 where Gideon complains that his eleph is weaker than the other elephs.  So it is possible that 600 Israelite clans follow Moses into the desert.  

There are other suggestions on translating this number. If time warrants, I will spend some time on this question on the size of Israel on another Sunday.

Overview

The book of Exodus breaks naturally into two parts. 

Chapters 1-18 deal with the history of the exodus from Egypt of the descendants of Israel.  

• In chapters 1-4, we have the crisis of the Israelite people and the development of a human savior, Moses.  
• Moses then confronts the Egyptian king in chapters 5-11, a time that includes the famous "Ten Plagues" that finally forces the king's hand.  
• In chapters 12-13 we suddenly have an interruption as the people of Israel are told the details of the Passover (Pesach) and begin their exodus from Egypt. 
• In chapters 14 and 15, the Egyptians chase the Israelites and are destroyed in the Sea of Reeds.  Chapter 15 has the Song of Moses about that event, repeated by Miriam and the other women.
• In chapters 16-18, the Israelites travel to Mount Sinai.

Chapters 19-40 cover material strange to us but absolutely crucial for the people of Israel. In these chapters, we see YHWH (YaHWeH) expanding His covenantal promise from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to all the descendants of Jacob, and -- eventually -- to all nations. 

• In chapters 19-23, YHWH describes this Covenant, often called the Law (Torah.) 
• In chapter 24, the people confirm the Covenant, enthusiastically agreeing to be the People of YHWH. 
• In chapters 25-31, YHWH meets with Moses and describes the construction of the Tabernacle.
• Chapters 32-34 provide an ugly interlude -- while Moses is meeting YHWH, the people of Israel violate the most basic part of the Torah, building an idol to worship.
• In chapters 35-40, we recover the promise of the covenant and the Tabernacle is built.

Resources

As we study this ancient and strange (but beautiful) book, in addition to just reading the text and reacting to it, I will also lean on several references.  As always, the translation and notes of Robert Alter are invaluable.  

I have also worked through the outstanding online class by Dr. Carmen Imes (Biola University.)  I strongly recommend that class! (Previously, I have looked at a number of online classes on Genesis and have found none that I really liked.  Suddenly, in looking at Exodus, the class of Dr. Imes has leaped forward as the best class, by far, that I have looked at.)  The class by Imes includes about 30 half-hour videos on Exodus, totalling 14 hours, moving through the book in a small classroom setting, with notes and slides as aids.

Dr. Imes, herself, recommends the commentary on Exodus by Terence Fretheim and I have also relied on that as a source.

Of course, a wonderful short introduction to the book comes from the Bible project. There are many short videos on books of the Bible (see here). The two main Bible Project videos on Exodus  are here and here. They do an excellent job, not just of outlining the book but pointing out some underlying themes that relate to Genesis and Creation.  

The class by Imes is sponsored by the Bible Project.  I cannot say enough about the quality of materials made by the Bible Project!

There are also resources at overviewbible.com including these notes on Exodus.

There are online commentaries provided by EasyEnglishBible, a charity based in the United Kingdom. They have two online commentaries on Exodus:

1. The LORD with his people, by Ian Mackervoy (the online commentary begins here.) 
2. Israel becomes a nation, by Hilda Bright and Kitty Pride (the online commentary begins here.)

These commentaries are easy to read, with deliberately simple language intended for those for whom English is a second language. The Old Testament text is included in the commentary. 

(The daily material I post always has the Old Testament text, from the New International Version (NIV), italicized in blue.  My comments on the text will be in black, with hyperlinks in pink.)

The main point

As we read through Exodus, look carefully for the repeated emphasis on YHWH working with His People, the people of Israel.  He does this by revealing Himself in a series of "knowing" statements. He provides protection in Pesach and gives the Covenant at Sinai and then renews it again, despite the stubbornness of the Israeli people. He negotiates with Moses, again and again, molding Moses into the leader he needs to be.  Throughout it all, the people of Israel, for all future centuries, will look back on the Exodus as the seminal episode in YHWH's revelation of Himself to mankind.