Exodus is in many ways an even more important book than Genesis for the Jewish faith. It is the foundational text for Judaism, in the same way that the American Constitution is. It's a reminder that all freedom is based on a memory of a lack of freedom, as with the American experience or other liberation politics. Exodus has served as a basis for what has been called "Liberation Theology," especially in Latin American countries: that is, a use of the Bible for the purpose of liberation rather than accomodation (in other words, demanding freedom now rather than hoping for freedom in Heaven; as the saying used to go: "pie in the sky by and by" or "We'll get our reward in Heaven soon").
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The book begins as a continuation from Genesis, with the twelve tribes (12 sons of Jacob/Israel). This is a reminder of God's command and promise to be fruitful and multiply. Remember the main promise: that Israel would become a numerous people and a great nation.1: These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household:
2: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
3: Is'sachar, Zeb'ulun, and Benjamin,
4: Dan and Naph'tali, Gad and Asher.
5: All the offspring of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt.
6: Then Joseph died, and all his brothers, and all that generation.
7: But the descendants of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew strong; the land was filled with them.
8: Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
9: And he said to his people, "The people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us.
10: Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war befall us, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land."
This is the usual fear of too many foreigners. Note that slavery was acceptable in those days, just like in later Jewish law. But slaves should be treated well, not abused. So Jewish law included humane protections; but now the Jews in Egypt are being abused.
11: Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens; and they built for Pharaoh store-cities, Pithom and Ra-am'ses.
The idea throughout Exodus is that one begins slaving for a human god (the Pharaoh) and ends worshiping a God worthy of one's respect. The following seems to be in fulfillment of God's promise to make Israel "many people":
12: But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.
13: So they
14: made their lives bitter with hard service.
15: Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiph'rah and the other Pu'ah,
16: "When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, she shall live."
This became the type for the Roman "slaughter of the innocents," in an effort to kill the infant child, Jesus. Note that the sacrifice here is the same as for animal sacrifice: the female is always more valuable because she can produce more offspring. But there's irony here; because it's the women, intended to help Pharaoh, who help God's plan.
17: But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.
22: Then Pharaoh commanded his people, "Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live."
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1: Now a man from the house of Levi went and took to wife a daughter of Levi.
2: The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.
The above might be an echo of Genesis: "she saw that he was good" the way God "saw that it was good." There are many echoes in the Bible.
3: And when she could hide him no longer she took for him a basket made of bulrushes, and daubed it with bitumen and pitch; and she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds at the river's brink.
4: And his sister stood at a distance, to know what would be done to him.
5: Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, and her maidens walked beside the river; she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to fetch it.
6: When she opened it she saw the child; and lo, the babe was crying. She took pity on him and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children."
7: Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?"
8: And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." So the girl went and called the child's mother.
9: And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him.
10: And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son; and she named him Moses, for she said, "Because I drew him out of the water."
11: One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.
It's not explained how Moses knew he was Hebrew.
12: He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
13: When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together; and he said to the man that did the wrong, "Why do you strike your fellow?"
14: He answered, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid, and thought, "Surely the thing is known."
15: When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh, and stayed in the land of Mid'ian; and he sat down by a well.
Note that the source of death becomes the source of life for Moses. Also Moses is saved in an ark the same way as Noah is. The water motif becomes strong here too (see below). Moses' name is related to water too. Note too (above) the repetition of the sibling rivalry motif; the Jewish brothers (though not real brothers) cause more problems for Moses than the Egyptians. It's not clear, by the way, when Moses learns he's Hebrew. Note some ironies: the Pharaoh killed males, but it's the females who work out God's plan here and later (Miriam's song, for example). Another irony of course is that the child ends up back at its true mother's breast, reflecting the moral of the Joseph story: that God works out everything for the best. Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery but they themselves became slaves to Joseph, until forgiven! "Seven" (below) is a common number motif in the Bible. Usually it represents completion (seven-day creation, etc.).
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This is one of the key texts in the whole Bible and poses some issues. Famously, what does "I Am that I Am" mean? Probably pure existence. Also by not giving himself a real name, God prevents magical control. In another sense, "I Am that I Am" comes close to a more modern definition of God as "Cause of Itself" (which goes back to Aristotle but survives in modern philosophies that don't wish to worship a personal God). Other issues include when God was first known as "Lord." Exodus suggests the revealing of God's name as Lord appears here for the first time, but we know that Lord was used several times in Genesis, as with the J writer. The question of Moses' humility (or lack of confidence) is another matter. God it seems always chooses the lowly person and brings out the best in them (up to the Virgin Mary or St. Peter, though weak becoming the "Rock" on which the Christian church was built). Moses' speech defect has also been an issue of debate. Either he was not good with words or stuttered, or something like that. This should give confidence to those taking speech classes!1: Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
2: And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
3: And Moses said, "I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt."
4: When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here am I."
Note that first it's the angel in the bush, then God. The redactor couldn't make up his mind which version to keep.
5: Then he said, "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."
6: And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7: Then the LORD said, "I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings,
8: and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Per'izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb'usites.
9: And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
10: Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt."
11: But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?"
12: He said, "But I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain."
It's not clear what the sign is: perhaps it means the future sign of the covenant through worship in the tent/tabernacle.
13: Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, `The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, `What is his name?' what shall I say to them?"
14: God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, `I AM has sent me to you.'"
15: God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, `The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you': this is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
16: Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, `The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, "I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt;
17: and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Per'izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb'usites, a land flowing with milk and honey."'
Note the vision motif (see, saw, observed) throughout this book. The phrase "milk and honey" is now part of the language.
19: I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.
20: So I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all the wonders which I will do in it; after that he will let you go."
Issues here: God's "mighty hand" is a motif too. This is a God of history; not merely of intervening in one man's life (say, Abraham's) but in all history. Moreover, the goal is to reveal God to other nations too. So God becomes universal from the beginning (God was universal in Genesis too). The Jews did not believe in an afterlife: so history was the only place of redemption, of hope; there was no Heaven or "pie in the sky by and by" as we say; meaning people should wait for Heaven to get their reward. Also, Exodus is the basis of what we now call Liberation Theology, especially used in Latin American countries. That means a biblical theology preaching freedom rather than mere resignation, hoping for one's reward in an afterlife. One message beginning with Exodus down to the prophetic writings is that justice must be on this earth. Martin Luther King did not quote from the New Testament but from the Old when he preached social justice: "Let justice roll down like rivers, righteousness like a never-ending stream" (Amos, the prophet). Or in the words of the spiritual he quotes, "Ain't gonna let nobody turn me around!"
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Two motifs below: the magic staff and Moses' speech problem. All heroes have magical weapons, such as Excalibur. But the weapon here is of minor importance, merely to show God's power. As for Moses' speech problem: scholars are uncertain what it was; whether lack of eloquence, power, or a stutter. Anyway, the real point is that God chooses the least likely to succeed and makes them succeed, even against their will.1: Then Moses answered, "But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, `The LORD did not appear to you.'"
Note two excuses Moses uses (vv. 1 & 10).
10: But Moses said to the LORD, "Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either heretofore or since thou hast spoken to thy servant; but I am slow of speech and of tongue."
11: Then the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
12: Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak."
13: But he said, "Oh, my Lord, send, I pray, some other person."
This is a Bible motif: God chooses weak people to speak for him; Jesus continues this idea, as did Isaiah's "Suffering Servant."
14: Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses and he said, "Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite?
15: And you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth.
16: He shall speak for you to the people; and he shall be a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God.
17: And you shall take in your hand this rod, with which you shall do the signs."
God requires Moses to return to Egypt but then tries to kill him. His wife prevents this by quickly cutting off the prepuce (foreskin) of their child and touching Moses' feet (presumably, his sex organ) with it.
24: At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to kill him.
25: Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin, and touched Moses' feet with it, and said, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!"
26: So he let him alone. Then it was that she said, "You are a bridegroom of blood," because of the circumcision.
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1: Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, `Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'"
2: But Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should heed his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover I will not let Israel go.
The book of Exodus introduces Yahweh to the world (Pharaoh does not know him). From now on God will work through history.
5: And Pharaoh said, "Behold, the people of the land are now many and you make them rest from their burdens!"
This could be a pun on the Sabbath motif ("rest").
6: The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen,
7: "You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as heretofore; let them go and gather straw for themselves.
9: Let heavier work be laid upon the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words."
19: The foremen of the people of Israel
20: met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came forth from Pharaoh;
21: and they said to them, "The LORD look upon you and judge, because you have made us offensive in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us."
22: Then Moses turned again to the LORD and said, "O LORD, why hast thou done evil to this people? Why did you send me?
23: For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he has done evil to this people, and thou hast not delivered thy people at all."
Pharaoh thinks he's in control, but God is. (Psychologically, we think we're in control, but our unconscious is, working to destroy us, as in the Greek saying (from Euripides): "Whom the gods wish to destroy, they make mad": that is, "mad" with willful passion. All tragedy is based on this theme: Antony and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Oedipus the King, etc.
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2: And God said to Moses, "I am the LORD.
3: I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.
This is another argument for source critics since God calls himself Lord in several verses early in Genesis.
6: Say to the people of Israel, `I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment,
8: And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.'"
9: Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel; but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their bondage.
10: And the LORD said to Moses,
11: "Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land."
These verses became the source of the Black spiritual, "Let My People Go" (Go Down, Moses): "Go down, Moses; way down in Egypt land, tell old Pharaoh, let my people go!"
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10: So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the LORD commanded; Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.
11: Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same by their secret arts.
13: Still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them; as the LORD had said.
20: Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded; in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, he lifted up the rod and struck the water that was in the Nile, and all the water that was in the Nile turned to blood.
21: And the fish in the Nile died; and the Nile became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile.
22: But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts; so Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them; as the LORD had said.
23: Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not lay even this to heart.
24: And all the Egyptians dug round about the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.
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5: And the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, `Stretch out your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the canals, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come upon the land of Egypt!'"
8: Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, "Entreat the LORD to take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the LORD."
13: And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; the frogs died out of the houses and courtyards and out of the fields.
15: But when Pharaoh saw respite, he hardened his heart, and would not listen to them; as the LORD had said.
16: Then the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, `Stretch out your rod and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.'"
19: And the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them; as the LORD had said.
20: Then the LORD said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning and wait for Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, `Thus says the LORD, "Let my people go, that they may serve me.
21: Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand.
22: But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there; that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.
These are the famous Ten Plagues (earlier versions in the Psalms have 7). The purpose is to show God's power in another nation (proving that God not only has power among the Jews) and to show God's favor of the Jews:
24: And there came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants' houses, and in all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by reason of the flies.
[Pharaoh now allows the Hebrews to worship.]
32: But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go.
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6: And on the morrow all the cattle of the Egyptians died, but of the cattle of the people of Israel not one died.
7: But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.
8: And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Take handfuls of ashes from the kiln, and let Moses throw them toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.
9: And it shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and become boils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt."
12: But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them; as the LORD had spoken to Moses.
22: And the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch forth your hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man and beast and every plant of the field, throughout the land of Egypt."
34: But when Pharaoh saw the rain and hail and thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.
35: So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go; as the LORD had spoken through Moses.
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20: But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.
21: Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt."
22: So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days;
23: they did not see one another, nor did any rise from his place for three days; but all the people of Israel had light where they dwelt.
27: But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go.
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4: And Moses said, "Thus says the LORD: About midnight I will go forth in the midst of Egypt;
5: and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die.
7: But against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, not a dog shall growl; that you may know that the LORD makes a distinction between the Egyptians and Israel.
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1: The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
2: "This month shall be for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you.
3: Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they shall take every man a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household;
This is an etiological story for Passover, one of the major Jewish feasts, which later became the Christian Easter: God's deadly angel "passed over" the Jewish homes but killed the first-born in the Egyptian homes. John's Gospel makes a point of having Jesus killed on Passover. Jesus becomes the sacrificed Lamb of God; the "blood" that saves the Christian as the blood of the lamb saved the ancient Jews.
7: Then they shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat them.
8: They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.
9: Do not eat any of it raw or boiled with water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts.
The idea here seems to make the year NEW, leaving the past completely behind: a main theme in both Testaments. Jesus said, "Anyone who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God." We know the story of Abraham who, on command of "Go" goes! It's also an eternal reminder that we are all travelers on this earth on the way to salvation. Note verse 11: the food must be eaten as if in a hurry. The unleavened bread means no yeast; again, the yeast suggests stable agriculture. Why the food can't remain until morning is because it's intended as a sacrifice, not merely as food. A sacrifice is holy, not to be thrown away like garbage.
10: And you shall let none of it remain until morning, anything that remains until the morning you shall burn.
11: In this manner you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD's passover.
12: For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD.
13: The blood shall be a sign for you, upon the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall fall upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
14: "This day shall be for you a memorial day.
15: Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; on the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses, for if any one eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
30: And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where one was not dead.
31: And he summoned Moses and Aaron by night, and said, "Go forth from my people, you and the people of Israel; serve the LORD, as you said.
41: And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.
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1: The LORD said to Moses,
By saving the first-born of the Jews and killing the first-born of the Egyptians, God is claiming the right to life in the womb. Therefore whatever comes out of the womb first belongs to God. In fact, God calls Israel his "first-born," which becomes a type for Jesus, the first-born (in fact, the only born) of God; though Jesus is not considered born but "begotten"! Still, Jesus replaces Israel, which then becomes a type fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus will have his Wilderness struggle for 40 days instead of 40 years, etc.
2: "Consecrate to me all the first-born; whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine."
21: And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
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8: And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he pursued the people of Israel as they went forth defiantly.
10: When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were in great fear. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD;
11: and they said to Moses, "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, in bringing us out of Egypt?
12: Is not this what we said to you in Egypt, `Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness."
Note the rhyming on the word "Egypt" for emphasis. Note the constant fear and "murmuring" of the people: this is called the "mumuring motif." It's true today; when there's a setback people start complaining.
13: And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD.
14: The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be still."
15: The LORD said to Moses, "Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.
Always the message is the same: GO. GO FORWARD. DON'T LOOK BACK, as in the Gospel song, "Don't Let Nobody Turn You Around."
16: Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go on dry ground through the sea.
17: And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen.
18: And the Egyptians shall know I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen."
As in the case of the Ten Plagues, scholars suggest "natural" causes of the ten plagues, including a chain reaction: one problem leading to the next. Same with the parting of the Red Sea. Regardless what the sea was, it seems like a strong wind blew the water onto the land and by some lucky chance when the Egyptians followed the wind blew the water back. Of course, it could also be the "outstretched arm" of God. Note below (v. 19) that the "angel of God" must be understood as being the same as God.
19: Then the angel of God who went before the host of Israel moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,
20: coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness; and the night passed without one coming near the other all night.
21: Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
22: And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
23: The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
24: And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down upon the host of the Egyptians, and discomfited the host of the Egyptians,
25: clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily; and the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from before Israel; for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians."
26: Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen."
27: So Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its wonted flow when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled into it, and the LORD routed the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
28: The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not so much as one of them remained.
29: But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
30: Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore.
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1: Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, "I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
Scholarship agrees that this, Song of the Sea, may be the oldest text in the Bible.
2: The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.
3: The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name.
4: "Pharaoh's chariots and his host he cast into the sea; and his picked officers are sunk in the Red Sea.
5: The floods cover them; they went down into the depths like a stone.
6: Thy right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, thy right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy.
7: In the greatness of thy majesty thou overthrowest thy adversaries; thou sendest forth thy fury, it consumes them like stubble.
8: At the blast of thy nostrils the waters piled up, the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
9: The enemy said, `I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.'
10: Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them; they sank as lead in the mighty waters.
11: "Who is like thee, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like thee, majestic in holiness, terrible in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
Note the suggestion there are other gods, an idea the classical (book) prophets (Isaiah, Amos, etc.) will mock.
12: Thou didst stretch out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.
13: "Thou hast led in thy steadfast love the people whom thou hast redeemed, thou hast guided them by thy strength to thy holy abode.
The motif of redemption will become stronger in the Bible. We already know the first-born must be redeemed among children (that is, exchanged with money).
17: Thou wilt bring them in, and plant them on thy own mountain, the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thy abode, the sanctuary, LORD, which thy hands have established.
18: The LORD will reign for ever and ever."
19: For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought back the waters of the sea upon them; but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea.
20: Then Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and dancing.
21: And Miriam sang to them: "Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea."
22: Then Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur; they went three days in the wilderness and found no water.
23: When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.
Some more of the "murmuring" motif. Jesus doesn't murmer during his 40 days in the Wilderness. Thus Jesus "fulfills" Israel with perfect obedience. The "tree" might even be read "typologically" in terms of the Cross (it's open to the imagination of the reader!).
24: And the people murmured against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"
25: And he cried to the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.
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2: And the whole congregation of the people of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness,
3: and said to them, "Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."
4: Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or not.
5: On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily."
Note the reference to the Sabbath; so they gather twice as much on the 6th day. This daily feeding may be like the "daily bread" of The Lord's Prayer, which Jesus teaches in 2 of the Gospels "Give us this day our daily bread." This in turn resembles the famous analogy with the "lilies of the field, which toil not nor spin." That is, trust God to give the bread daily. Live day to day in faith.
13: In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning dew lay round about the camp.
14: And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as hoarfrost on the ground.
15: When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.
This is the famous "manna," meaning "What?" Jesus again "fulfills" this miracle, since he is the "bread of life," as he says in one of his famous "I am" sayings in the Gospel of John.
19: And Moses said to them, "Let no man leave any of it till the morning."
20: But they did not listen to Moses; some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them.
35: And the people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land.
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1: All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin [pronounced "Seen"] by stages, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped at Reph'idim; but there was no water for the people to drink.
2: Therefore the people found fault with Moses, and said, "Give us water to drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you find fault with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?"
3: But the people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured against Moses, and said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?"
4: So Moses cried to the LORD, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me."
5: And the LORD said to Moses, "Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand the rod with which you struck the Nile, and go.
6: Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb [in other words, Sinai, called Horeb in another source]; and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, that the people may drink." And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.
St. Paul gives a typological reading of this scene: Jesus was the Rock in the wilderness! In another source telling of this story, Moses does not follow God's instructions carefully and is punished by being denied entry into the Promised Land.
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16: On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.
17: Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God; and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.
18: And Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.
19: And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.
24: And the LORD said to him, "Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest he break out against them."
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1: And God spoke all these words, saying,
2: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
These are the famous Ten Commandments known as the Decalogue ("Ten Words").
3: "You shall have no other gods before me.
Some see a hint of henotheism; that is a religion that places one god above others. But this may be just an expression warning against idolatry. Note the next commandment is violated by Christians! But this too can be understood as images that are actually worshipped, as v. 5 suggests.
4: "You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
5: you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,
6: but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
The next commandment is a warning against false witness; that is accusing someone without basis. Jesus fulfills this too, by saying that one should not swear at all: let your "yes" be enough and your "no" be enough/
7: "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
8: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9: Six days you shall labor, and do all your work;
10: but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates;
The foreigner and servant are included in the Sabbath. By resting on the Sabbath we become like God; we see the world as it is; probably the command not to do any work forces people to see what really is in front of them, because nothing new will be added during that day. In any case, the real meaning of the Sabbath has long been lost; to most people it is not a time to see God's creation with love and admiration, but a time to sleep (rather than rest) or a time to work twice as much (!), called "overtime"!
11: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.
12: "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
13: "You shall not kill.
In Hebrew the word is "murder."
14: "You shall not commit adultery.
15: "You shall not steal.
16: "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
This commandment means accusing your neighbor outside of court judgment; whereas the other one, about taking God's name in vain, means sworn testimony.
17: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's."
This (v. 17) is oddly written; since it puts "wife" in the middle of the sentence, as if she were of little value (after "house"). This is the commandment that Paul refers to in the Letter to the Romans as impossible to fulfill (Romans 7:7). The basic idea is that the commandment not to covet (desire another's possession) actually makes one do just that; moreover, envy is universal (as we saw in Genesis: sibling rivalry, etc.). In any case, this is an unusual commandment since it is not based on behavior (conduct) but on thought! In this sense it anticipates Jesus' thinking about sin, which is in the mind before it's in the flesh. Psychologically this is a profound commandment; for all desire comes from the mind before it is acted upon. The first murder in fact can be traced to "covetousness" (Cain's envy of his brother).
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1: "Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them.
2: When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing.
Note the Sabbath year, like the Sabbath day. The idea in this religion is always to begin again. To start over. This was the idea of the weekly Sabbath too.
12: "Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.
13: But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee.
This refers to the accidental killing of a person and the cities of refuge in which no one could take revenge against this person, until judgment has been pronounced on him, whether he is innocent or guilty.
15: "Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.
16: "Whoever steals a man, whether he sells him or is found in possession of him, shall be put to death.
Note that Joseph's brothers were guilty of this offense (v. 16).
17: "Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death.
Students must bear in mind that laws and enactment are two different things. It's doubtful if some of these laws were actually enforced.
18: "When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but keeps his bed,
19: then if the man rises again and walks abroad with his staff, he that struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.
This type of damages is still true today; though it would be considered a crime to hit a man today, even in an equal quarrel.
23: If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life,
24: eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25: burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
This is one of the most famous laws in the Old Testament, and also one of the most misunderstood. It seems to preach revenge; but actually it was intended to limit revenge; as if to say, "Look, he only knocked out your tooth, yet you want to kill him for it. Why should you ask more than his tooth for your tooth," etc.
28: "When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be clear.
29: But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.
Notice that the owner of the ox is responisble because he knows the nature of his beast; like today's dog owners.
33: "When a man leaves a pit open, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or an ass falls into it,
34: the owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his.
This type of liability is still true today. A person is responsible for his property and making it safe for others.
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2: "If a thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him;
3: but if the sun has risen upon him, there shall be bloodguilt for him.
That's because in the daytime there's help available and less reason to kill.
18: "You shall not permit a sorceress to live.
This law caused great suffering in Colonial New England, where supposed witches were drowned based on it.
19: "Whoever lies with a beast shall be put to death.
20: "Whoever sacrifices to any god, save to the LORD only, shall be utterly destroyed.
21: "You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
This is one of the key laws in the Old Testament, because it refers to the preface of the Ten Commandments.
22: You shall not afflict any widow or orphan.
23: If you do afflict them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry;
24: and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.
This, one of the most strongly worded laws (v. 24) pleads for the weak.
25: "If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor, and you shall not exact interest from him.
Some humane money laws. Note that interest is not allowed, except in money loaned to foreigners.
26: If you take your neighbor's garment in pledge, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down;
27: for that is his only covering, it is his mantle for his body; in what else shall he sleep? And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.
Another humane law: people need their pajamas!
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1: "You shall not utter a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man, to be a malicious witness.
2: You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you bear witness in a suit, turning aside after a multitude, so as to pervert justice;
3: nor shall you favor a poor man in his suit.
4: "If you meet your enemy's ox or his ass going astray, you shall bring it back to him.
5: If you see the ass of one who hates you lying under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it, you shall help him to lift it up.
6: "You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his suit.
7: Keep far from a false charge, and do not slay the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked.
8: Take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the officials, and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.
9: "Don't oppress a stranger; you know the heart of a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
10: "For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield;
11: but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the wild beasts may eat.
12: "On the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your ass may have rest, and the son of your bondmaid, and the alien, may be refreshed.
13: Make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let such be heard out of your mouth.
Here again is a suggestion of henotheism, or the worship of many gods.
14: "Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me.
15: You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread; as I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt.
16: You shall keep the feast of harvest, of the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the feast of ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor.
17: Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord GOD.
18: "You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning.
19: "The first of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
The idea here seems to be not to mix life and death (the mother's milk is life and eating is death). Anyway, this became the basis of one of the kosher laws, which is that one could not mix meat and milk products, though the law does not really say this.
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12: The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tables of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction."
13: So Moses rose with his servant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God.
18: And Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
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8: And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.
9: According to all that I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.
40: And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain.
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21: In the tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the LORD. It shall be a law to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel.
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13: "Say to the people of Israel, `You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you."
18: And he gave to Moses, when he had made an end of speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, the two tables of the testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
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2: And Aaron said to them, "Take off the rings of gold which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me."
3: So all the people took off the rings of gold which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
4: And he received the gold at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made a molten calf; and they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!"
5: When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD."
6: And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
19: And as soon as Moses came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tables out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.
20: And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it upon the water, and made the people of Israel drink it.
21: And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you have brought a great sin upon them?"
22: And Aaron said, "Let not the anger of my lord burn hot; you know the people, that they are set on evil.
23: For they said to me, `Make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'
24: And I said to them, `Let any who have gold take it off'; so they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and there came out this calf."
25: And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose,
26: then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Who is on the LORD's side? Come to me." And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.
27: And he said to them, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel, `Go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.'"
28: And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses; and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.
29: And Moses said, "Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of the LORD, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, that he may bestow a blessing upon you this day."
God comes above family, just like Jesus will later say.
4: Moses cut two tables of stone like the first; and he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tables of stone.
5: And the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
These (v. 6) are the famous "13 attributes of God": "merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, faithfulness," etc.
6: The LORD passed before him, and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
7: keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation."
27: And the LORD said to Moses, "Write these words; in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel."
28: And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
"40" is a magical number in the Bible: 40 days and nights of the flood; 40 years in the wilderness; 40 days with Moses and God; Jesus' temptation lasted 40 days.
29: When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tables of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.
30: And when Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.
This is a famous mistranslation. Michelangelo's statue of Moses shows him with "horns" (see picture, left) because the text was mistranslated as "horns," instead of "rays.
31: But Moses called to them;
33: And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face;
34: but whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the people of Israel what he was commanded,
35: the people of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone; and Moses would put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
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43: And Moses saw all the work [of the tabernacle], and behold, they had done it; as the LORD had commanded, so had they done it. And Moses blessed them.
Note, in this verse about the building of the Tabernacle, the reference to Genesis, as if Moses were God.
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38: Throughout all their journeys the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.
This vision keeps the original epiphany (=God appearance) in the burning bush: both fire and smoke.
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