Exodus

Exodus is possibly one of the famous books of the Bible. Exodus recounts the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt, including the plagues and the parting of the red sea. When I think of Exodus, I automatically think of Moses. The word Exodus is an anglicized version of the Greek word meaning "departure."

Introduction

Exodus is possibly one of the famous books of the Bible. Exodus recounts the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt, including the plagues and the parting of the red sea. When I think of Exodus, I automatically think of Moses. The word Exodus is an anglicized version of the Greek word meaning "departure"^[1].

Brief Overview

Exodus takes place well after Joseph's death, 400 years after the Israelites arrival to Egypt (just as God told Abraham in Genesis). Based on dates given in the Bible, the Israelites where probably held captive until 1446bc^[6][7]. This would have been during the 18th Dynasty of Egypt, thus the Pharaohs of Moses' time would have been Amenhotep I (1514—1493bc)^[2], Thutmose I (1493 — 1482bc^[3]), Thutmose II (1482 — 1479bc^[4]), and Thutmose III (1479 — 1426bc^[5]).

And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;Genesis 15:13 KJV

There are four key points in Exodus:

• God reveals His name to Moses
• God answers the Israelites prayers to be liberated
• God gives us laws to live by
• God specifies how the temple is to be constructed

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Authorship

Being one of the 5 books included in the Pentateuch, Exodus is generally considered to be written by Moses. This assumption is confirmed many places in scripture (see the post on Genesis for a list of these verses).
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Date of Authorship

Scholars agree that Moses wrote the Exodus during the last 40 years of his life, while searching for the promised land with the Israelites—a logical conclusion since the events in the book cover the exodus and subsequent wandering. Since Moses is estimated to have live between 1526 and 1406bc, we can assume Exodus was written between 1445 and 1406bc.

People Discussed in Exodus

Prominent Individuals

Moses

Moses is the primary character in Exodus, as well as the author of the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, and Numbers). While many others had the pleasure of speaking with God before Moses, he is the first to be in God's undisguised physical presence.

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Aaron

The brother of Moses, Aaron and his sons are appointed to the priesthood by God during the Exodus.

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Other Individuals

Some of these people were mentioned for genealogies. More information on the significance of these people can be found on the People page.

1. Abihu
2. Carmi
3. Eleazar
4. Hanoch
5. Hezron
6. Ithamar
7. Jachin
8. Jamin
9. Jemuel
10. Jethro/Reuel
11. Joshua
12. Kohath
13. Nadab
14. Ohad
15. Puah
16. Reuben
17. Reuel
18. Shaul
19. Shiphrah
20. Simeon
21. Uzziel
22. Zipporah
23. Zohar

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An Overview of the Book of Exodus

1. Exodus Overview
2. Exodus 1: A New King
3. Exodus 2-4: Raising Up A Leader
4. Exodus 5-13: The Ten Plauges (and the Passover)
5. Exodus 14-17: Leaving Egypt
6. Exodus 18-20: God's Commandments
7. Exodus 21-23: Expansion of the Law
8. Exodus 23: Feasts
9. Exodus 24-27: The Tabernacle
10. Exodus 28-31: The Priesthood
11. Exodus 32: The Golden Calf
12. Exodus 33-35: Repentance & the Second Set of Tablets
13. Exodus 35-40: The Tabernacle & Priesthood Part 2
14. Lessons Learned: A reminder of Where We Came

References

[1] Holman Bible Publishers. Holman KJV Study Bible. pg 97. 2014
[2] "Amenhotep I". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2015
[3] "Thutmose I". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2015
[4] "Thutmose II". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2015
[5] "Thutmose III". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2015
[6] 1 Kings 6:1[7] Judges 11:26 Top