Introduction

Title of the book. The second part of the Pentateuch of Moses is called by the Jews in their Palestinian original language – “shemot” (names) or “eleh shemot” (these are the names), and by the Jews of Alexandria and by Christians predominantly by the title – “Exodus,” “Exodus,” “Exodus,” since it describes the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt.

Author of the book. It is evident from its contents that the author of the book of Exodus was Moses. After his victory over the Amalekites, he receives a command from the Lord to write down this event: “write this for a memorial in a book” (Exod 17:14). A similar command was given to Moses after the covenant, broken by Israel, was restored: “And the Lord said to Moses: write down these words for yourself” (Exod 34:27). Likewise, before the solemn conclusion of the covenant after the Sinai legislation, Moses, after recounting to the people all the words of the Lord and all the laws, “wrote down all the words of the Lord” (Exod 24:4). Jesus Christ himself testifies to Moses as the author of the book of Exodus in the well-known words to the Sadducees: “about the dead, that they will rise, have you not read in the book of Moses how God spoke to him at the bush?” (Mark 12:26). The account of God’s appearance to Moses at the bush is found in the book of Exodus, and it is this book that, according to the Savior, is the book of Moses. Of course, the expression “book of Moses” can mean: a book that speaks predominantly about Moses or is named after Moses. But such understanding cannot be correct, since in the book of Exodus Moses does not occupy the chief place and in the title, his name among the Jews is not mentioned. The expression “book of Moses” has only one meaning: a book written by Moses (see John 5:45-47).

In opposition to these testimonies, negative criticism rejects the Mosaic origin of the book of Exodus, breaks up its contents into several parts, assigning the origin of each to different times. Thus, according to one of the representatives of the “documentary hypothesis” – Ewald, the oldest part of Exodus is the Song of Moses (Exod 15:1-18); some 100 years after Moses, the “Life of Moses” was written by someone; in the last days of the judges there appeared the “Book of the Covenant” (Exod 20-23 ch.), in the age of Solomon the “Book of Beginnings,” which encompasses a large part of the contents of the book of Exodus; and its final editing falls to the time of Jotham, a contemporary of the prophet Isaiah. Reuss holds approximately similar views (the “Book of the Covenant” belongs to the time of Jehoshaphat), Delitzsch (most of Exodus appeared before the Babylonian captivity), and others. But the opinion about the different-time origin of the contents of the book of Exodus has no basis for itself. A multitude of details found in it speaks with certainty that the author of the book was a contemporary and eyewitness of the events described. Thus, the state of Egypt presupposed in the book of Exodus is precisely such as it turns out to be from Egyptian monuments contemporary to the age of Moses, completely different from the later situation, for instance, in the age of Solomon. In particular, the mention of certain Egyptian cities – Heliopolis, Ramesses, Pithom (I) and Ephah (Exod 13:20), without indication of their location, presupposes the reader’s and the author’s familiarity with them. Equally, only an eyewitness of events could report such precise information about the time of their occurrence, as the three-day journey through the wilderness of Sur from the Red Sea to Marah (Exod 15:22); arrival in the wilderness of Sin on the 15th day of the second month after leaving Egypt (Exod 16:1); the giving of manna on the next day; encampment at the foot of Sinai on the first day of the third month after the departure from Egypt (Exod 19:1); the appearance of the glory of God on the third day after Moses descended from Sinai (Exod 19:16) and so on. As a contemporary of the construction of the tabernacle in the wilderness, Moses notes that its wooden parts were made from acacia wood (the Arabian acacia), but not from some other material, for instance oak or cedar, which would be appropriate in the mouths of a later writer – an inhabitant of Palestine; mentions the leather “tahash,” unknown to other Old Testament writers, from which one of the coverings of the tabernacle was made, and so on. Finally, the preliminary remark before the exposition of certain laws: “when the Lord your God brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites” (Exod 13:5; Exod 23:23 and following; Exod 34:11 and following) leaves no doubt whatsoever that the book of Exodus was written in the wilderness, before the entrance of the Hebrews into Palestine.

Time and place of writing the book. Judging from the places cited above in the book of Exodus (Exod 17:14; Exod 24:4; Exod 34:27), it was not written at one time, but as Moses received various laws from God. The final edition of the book falls to the end of the forty-year wandering in the wilderness – at the time when the Hebrews were at the Jordan: “The children of Israel ate manna for forty years, until they came to a land that was inhabited; manna they ate until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan” (Exod 16:35).

The purpose of writing the book. The immediate purpose of writing the book of Exodus is to give the Hebrew people and to perpetuate in their memory the religious, moral, and civil laws (Exod 13:5, 8–11; Exod 34:11 and following); the more distant purpose is reduced to the indication of the fulfillment of the promises given to the patriarchs of the Hebrew people (Exod 5:2-8).

The period covered by the book of Exodus and the division of its contents. The book of Exodus covers the period of time from the beginning of the enslavement of the Hebrews in Egypt by the pharaoh, “who knew not Joseph” (Exod 1:8), to the first month of the second year after they left Egypt (Exod 40:17), that is, more than 400 years (on the duration of the Hebrew stay in Egypt, see the explanation of verse 12 of chapter 49). Its contents set forth the history of the people of Israel “from the moment when, under the pressure of the pharaohs, the Hebrews begin to feel mutual solidarity, drawing closer and closer in the feeling of common danger and the wonders that accompanied the departure from the land of bondage – until the giving of the law on Sinai, until the acquisition of full national life, concentrated around the chief sanctuary – the tabernacle.” Enclosed in these boundaries, all the contents of the book of Exodus can be divided into three parts:

• the first, after a brief introduction (Exod 1:1-7), which links the narrative of the book of Exodus with the book of Genesis, recounts the liberation of the people from Egyptian slavery (Exod 1:8-13:16);

• the second sets forth the history of the journey of the Hebrews to Mount Sinai (Exod 13:17-18:27);

• the third recounts the conclusion and renewal of God’s covenant with the chosen people (Exod 19-40).