For 21 October 2008
Exodus is the foundational text for Judaism, like the American Constitution is for Americans. It's a reminder that freedom is based on a memory of bondage. Exodus has been the basis for "Liberation Theology," especially in Latin American countries.
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The book continues 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 foreigners. Slavery was acceptable in those days, just like in later Jewish law. But Jewish law included humane protections; but the Jews in Egypt are 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 equal to one's dignity. The following fulfills 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 Matthew's "slaughter of the innocents," in an effort to kill the infant Jesus. The female is more valuable because she can produce offspring. But there's irony too; because the women 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.
Moses is saved in an ark the same way Noah is. Note (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 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 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 motif in the Bible. It represents completion (seven-day creation, etc.).
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This is one of the key texts in the Bible and poses some issues. Famously, what does "I Am that I Am" mean? Probably pure existence. Also by not giving himself a 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, such as Deism). 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 (Eve uses the word first, when her child is born).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. Angel=God. The "holiness" motif is introduced here; this will become the basic motif of Jewish law: the separation of Jews from others through the law.
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?"
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.'"
20: 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."
God's "mighty hand" is a motif. This is a God of 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 scene of reward "now."
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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. Scholars are uncertain what Moses' speech problem was; possibly a stutter. 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."
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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.
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 before; let them 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 did you send me?
23: For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered them."
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."
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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: God calls himself Lord in several verses early in Genesis; Eve uses the name too.
9: Moses spoke to the people of Israel; but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their bondage.
Defeatism is part of the history of oppressed peoples.
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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 I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses.
22: But I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so no swarms of flies shall be there; that you may know I am the LORD.
These are the famous Ten Plagues (earlier versions in the Psalms have 7). This shows God's power in another nation (proving God not only has power among the Jews) and to show God's favor of the Jews:
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 again, and hardened his heart.
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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, a major Jewish holy day, 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. The food must be eaten as if in a hurry (v.11). Unleavened bread has no yeast; the yeast suggests agriculture. The food can't remain until morning because it's a sacrifice, not just 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 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. God calls Israel his "first-born," a type for Jesus (Hosea). Jesus replaces Israel, 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.
15: The LORD said to Moses, "Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.
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."
Perhaps 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. Below (v. 19), the "angel of God" must be 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.
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.
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."
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 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 daily bread. 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.
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.
Note a hint of henotheism; that is a religion that places one god above others. But this may be just a way of speaking 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.
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 only commandment not based on behavior (conduct) but on thought! It anticipates Jesus' thinking about sin, which is in the mind. The first murder 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.
This law allows capital punihsment.
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.
Joseph's brothers were guilty of this offense (v. 16).
17: "Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death.
It's doubtful if some of these laws were ever enforced.
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.
One of the most famous laws in the Old Testament, and one of the most misunderstood. It seems to preach revenge; but 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?"
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.
The owner of the ox is responisble because he knew the nature of his beast, like today's irresponsible dog owners.
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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.
In 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.
19: "Whoever lies with a beast shall be put to death.
20: "Whoever sacrifices to any god, save to the LORD only, shall be destroyed.
21: "You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
22: You shall not afflict a widow or orphan.
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. Interest is not allowed, except for 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 covering for his body; in what else shall he sleep?
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1: "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.
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.
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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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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.
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."
28: And Moses was 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 (see v. 35a).
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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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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