Exodus 1:1-15:21

Prayer

O Lord Jesus Christ, open the eyes of our hearts that we may hear your Word,and understand and do your will, for we are sojourners upon the Earth. On you do we set ouir hope, O God, that you shall enlighten our mind and understanding with the light of your knowledge; not only to cherish those things which are written, but to do them; For you are the enlightenment of those who lie in darkness, and from you comes every good deed and every gift. Amen.

Genesis 11:27-50:26 Review

What three characters dominate this part of the narrative?

How and where does the promise to Abraham take shape/develop in terms of its formulation by God?

What theme(s) unite the narrative? And how does it relate to the primeval history?

What is the chief obstacle to the fulfillment of promise in the Abraham cycle?

What is the chief obstacle in the remaining cycles?

What two theophanies frame Jacob’s “exile” from and return to the land? In what chapters?

How does the theme of “grasping” develop in the narrative?

How does the theme of the “beloved son” serve to illustrate the mystery of election and to test human trust in God?

What is figuration/typology and how does it characterize the narrative?

Introduction

Significance

“Exodus presents the seminal events in Israel’s history and the definitive institutions of its religion, themes that have reverberated through all subsequent Jewish and Western history. These include Pharaoh’s enslavement of the Israelites, the leadership of Moses, the beginnings of prophecy, the revelation of God’s name YHVH to Moses, the ten plagues, the Pesach (‘Passover’) festival, the splitting and crossing of the sea, the manna, the revelation of the Decalogue at Mount Sinai, the covenant formally constituting Israel as God’s people, the first of the Torah’s law collections and rules about the Sabbath and sacrificial worship, the sin of the golden calf, and the construction of the sanctuary.” The Jewish Study Bible, 2nd ed. p. 95

Behind the Text: An Exodus?

Early memories of:

•The Song of Moses & the Prophetess Miriam, Exod 15

•The Ten Commandments, Exod 20:2

•1 Kings 11-12

•The 8th century prophets Amos & Hosea

•Ps 77; 78 (pre-exilic?)

Egyptian records & Archaeological evidence (=none)

The character of Israel’s memory

•Development & exaggeration in

•Onomastics: Moses, Phineas, Miriam, Hur, (Aaron?)

•Historical plausibility of general outlines

•Convergences: Pithom and Rameses

•Oddities of the story if pure fabrication

Outline

Part 1: Israel in and out of Egypt, Exod 1:1-15:21

a) Plight and an Auspicious Birth, Exod 1:1-2:22.

b) Calling of Moses, Exod 2:23-6:27.

(Revelation of the divine name, burning bush, E Exod 3:13-15)

(Revelation of the divine name, P Exod 6:2-9)

c) Human negotiations/contest of the gods, Exod 6:28-13:16.

(Institution of Passover and Unleavened Bread, Exod 12:1-13:16)

d) The liberation/victory, Exod 13:17-15:21.

(The Song of Moses & Miriam, Exod 15:1-21)

Part 2: Sinai and Covenant, Exod 15:22-24:18.

a) An inauspicious journey, murmurings, Exod 15:22-18:27.

b) Revelation and (book of the) covenant at Sinai, Exod 19:1-24:18

Part 3: Sanctuary, Sin and Covenant Renewal, Exod 25:1-40:34.

a) Directions for worship in and the construction of the tabernacle, Exod 25-31

b) Rebellion and intercession, Exod 32-34

c) The tabernacle constructed, Exod 35-40

Exodus 1:1-15:21: Out of Egypt

Some Key Themes & Texts:

Multiplication, births and deaths: Exod 1:7.

midwives: Shiphrah and Puah

Moses’s mother, his sister (Miriam, 15:20), and Pharoah’s daughter

Moses and Zipporah

Israel is my firstborn son, Exod 4:22-23

God Remembers Israel and Reveals the Divine Name

Exod 3, the burning bush at Horeb 3:1, 12

Exod 3:13-15, “What is his name?”

Exod 6, the second calling of Moses, now in Egypt, after a failed request of Pharoah

Exod 6:2-3, “by my name ‘The LORD’ I did not make myself known to them”

The Tetragrammaton: Y-H-W-H (“one who causes to be,” “one who will be,” “one who is”?) Eng. “LORD” reflects the custom of pronouncing adonay whenever the divine name is encountered

Pharaoh’s Hard(ened) Heart and the Revelation of God to the Egyptians, Exod 7:1-7; cf. also Exod 9:16, 29; 10:1-2; 11:9; 14:4, 18.

God’s coming out party among the nations

Passover, Pesach, Unleavened Bread, and Redemption of the First-Born Exod 12:1-13:16.

“When your children ask” Exod 12:26.

“You shall tell your child...” Exod 13:8.

“When…your child asks you, ‘What does this mean’” Exod 13:14.

The Pillar of cloud and fire and the crossing of through the Sea 13:17-14:25

“Red Sea” is literally Yom Suph, Sea of Reeds, a reference usually to one of the arms of the Red Sea. LXX translates as “Red Sea”

The Song of Moses & Miriam, the Prophet

One of the oldest texts in the Bible, Exod 15:1-18

The plagues and exodus narratives as contest narratives: Exod 15:11; cf. Exod 12:12.

Hence the themes of creation, the evocation of Egyptian gods, the humiliation of the Egyptian priest/magicians; cf. https://www.thetorah.com/article/yhwhs-war-against-the-egyptian-sun-god-ra