Inter-Varsity Press

CONTENTS
General preface
Author’s preface

Introduction
The contents of Exodus
Exodus as a part of the Pentateuch
Exodus and Pentateuchal ‘sources’
Problems of the book of Exodus
Relevance of the book of Exodus

The Theology of Exodus
Excursus 1. The date of the exodus
Excursus 2. The site of the ‘Red Sea’
Excursus 3. The sources of Exodus

Analysis

Commentary

GENERAL PREFACE
The aim of this series of Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, as it was in the companion volumes on the New Testament, is to provide the student of the Bible with a handy, up-to-date commentary on each book, with the primary emphasis on exegesis. Major critical questions are discussed in the introductions and additional notes, while undue technicalities have been avoided.

In this series individual authors are, of course, free to make their own distinct contributions and express their own point of view on all controversial issues. Within the necessary limits of space they frequently draw attention to interpretations which they themselves do not hold but which represent the stated conclusions of sincere fellow Christians. Thus, for example, the author does not put particular stress on such debated questions as the date of the revelation of the divine name or of the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt. His aim is rather to point out the profound part these crucial historical events played in the life and theology of the Hebrews and thus of the whole of the Old (and later New) Testament. The book has many lessons for our own day.

In the Old Testament in particular no single English translation is adequate to reflect the original text. The authors of these commentaries freely quote various versions, therefore, or give their own translation, in the endeavour to make the more difficult passages or words meaningful today. Where necessary, words from the Hebrew (and Aramaic) Text underlying their studies are transliterated. This will help the reader who may be unfamiliar with the Semitic languages to identify the word under discussion and thus to follow the argument. It is assumed throughout that the reader will have ready access to one, or more, reliable rendering of the Bible in English.

Interest in the meaning and message of the Old Testament continues undiminished and it is hoped that this series will thus further the systematic study of the revelation of God and his will and ways as seen in these records. It is the prayer of the editor and publisher, as of the authors, that these books will help many to understand, and to respond to, the Word of God today.
D. J. Wiseman

... I am well aware (none more so) of the deficiencies of this commentary. I have deliberately striven to be explanatory and exegetic throughout, rather than devotional, judging that to be the main aim of the present series. It is not that I disagree in any way with the devotional use of the Old Testament (far from it), but that I must leave this task to others. One thing I do ask is that readers will turn first to the introductory section on ‘The Theology of Exodus’ (pages 22ff.): this is designed to give the framework upon which the whole of the rest hangs. A prior reading of this section will not only mean that the reader will get more out of the commentary, but also more out of the book of Exodus itself (which is far more important). ...

From the INTRODUCTION

1. The contents of Exodus

The book of Exodus derives its English name, not from the Hebrew (which simply calls it ‘These-are-the-names’ from its opening words) but from the Septuagint, the Greek translation made in Egypt in the third century before Christ. Yet it is a good title, if a late one, for the ‘exodus’ or ‘going out’ of God’s people is the central message of the book. Exodus begins with Israel as helpless slaves in Egypt: it shows the quiet preparation of God’s deliverer, and his confrontation of the pharaoh. Then comes the violent clash between the God of Israel and all the false gods of Egypt, with plague after plague descending on stubborn pharaoh and the Egypt which he rules. Chapter 12 brings the passover festival, and the death of Egypt’s first-born: Israel goes free at last. This is one of the high points of the book, continued in the crossing of the Red Sea, and the overwhelming of pharaoh’s chariots in its waves. Moses’ song of triumph in chapter 15, celebrating these saving acts of God, is a fit culmination of all that has gone before, and a transition to what will follow.

But this is only half the story. As proof that she had been redeemed, Israel was yet to worship God at the very Mount Sinai where Moses, the deliverer, had received his initial call (Exod. 3:12). So through the desert to Sinai she presses, still making her ‘exodus’ from the old life. She will need water, food, protection and guidance. All these God will give her, but already Israel makes her own true nature clear by her ceaseless grumblings and rebellions. At last she stands on the plain before Sinai and, amid thunder and lightning, hears the voice of God, and trembles. Here the covenant is made (Exod. 24:8): here Israel, as a nation, is born. This is the second high point of the book, not alone in the making of the covenant, but in the giving of the ‘covenant law’ that accompanies it. Summarized in the ten commandments (Exod. 20), amplified in the ‘book of the covenant’ (Exod. 21 – 23), God’s very nature is expressed in moral terms, and the consequent demands on Israel are outlined. The exodus from the old ways will be harder than the exodus from the old land, but at least the true way is plain now.

But a third peak is yet to come. In subsequent chapters, slowly and lovingly, every detail full of rich symbolic meaning, there is outlined the structure known to older translators as ‘the tabernacle’, with all its furnishings (Exod. 25 – 31). God is to dwell with men: a fitting tent for his dwelling must be constructed, but, for the time being, we have only a priestly blueprint, the bare instructions for subsequent making, as in the book of Ezekiel (40 – 43).

Before the third peak comes a trough. With Moses still at the height of his experience up the mountain, speaking face to face with God, Israel reaches her lowest point: she makes and worships the golden calf (Exod. 12). Where is her glorious covenant now? Shattered to pieces, along with the stone tablets at the foot of the mountain? Is her new relationship with God gone for evermore? No: there is intercession by Moses and forgiveness by God, although there is stern punishment, too, in which Levi, by its faithfulness, wins its right to be the priestly tribe. So now there must be a reiteration of the covenant: step by step, the same stages are rehearsed, with the priestly love of repetition (Exod. 34 – 39). These chapters contain the story of the actual building of the ‘tabernacle’: meticulously, the craftsmen carry out every detail of the instructions already given by God to Moses on the mountaintop. At last all is ready: the final chapter contains the account of dedication of the tabernacle, and the dwelling of God with men (Exod. 40). To this, in a sense, the whole of the rest of the book has led: this is the true climax of Exodus.

2. Exodus as a part of the Pentateuch

Having said this, we may now turn to the rest of the Pentateuch, of which Exodus is a part, and indeed in some ways an artificially severed limb. The opening verses of Exodus show a deliberate connection with the closing verses of Genesis, while the priestly instructions given in the closing chapters of Exodus run on into Leviticus and Numbers. In the Pentateuch, considered as a whole, there are only five major themes: God’s promise to the patriarchs; the exodus; God’s Self-revelation in covenant and law at Sinai; the wandering in the wilderness; the entrance into Canaan. Three of these five major themes are treated at length in the book of Exodus and, in addition, it looks back to the first theme and on to the last. Moses’ vision and call at Mount Sinai are deliberately shown as a fulfilment of God’s promise to Israel’s forefathers, while the book ends with a promise of God’s leading till Canaan is reached. Therefore, while Exodus is only part of a wider and far larger whole, it is a real part and, in a sense, enshrines the heart of the whole pentateuchal revelation. ...