The second book of Moses detailing the Israelites leaving Egypt.

In Hebrew ve-elle Shemoth from its opening words; in LXX, Exodus, probably from 19:1. The Book opens with a list of the twelve tribes who went down into Egypt; it falls naturally into three distinct parts:

CHAPTERS 1-11. THE EVENTS PRECEDING THE EXODUS

Chapters 1-2. The multiplication of the Israelites, the rise of a new Pharaoh who knew not Joseph; Moses birth, his flight to Mt. Sinai.

Chapters 3-7:13. Moses commission.

Chapters 7:14-11:10. The narrative of the first nine plagues.

CHAPTERS 12-18. THE JOURNEY TO SINAI

Chapters 12-13:16. Legislation for the Passover; the unleavened bread; the tenth plague, i.e., the destruction of the First-born; the first part of their journey as far as Succoth; the establishment of a perpetual passover as a memorial of their deliverance.

Chapters 13:17-18. The destruction of the Egyptians in the Red Sea; the journey to Mara, Elim, and thence to Sinai; the miracles of the quails, of the manna, and of the water from the rock at Rephidim; the consequent encounter with Amalec; the arrival of Jethro.

CHAPTERS XIX-XL. THE SOJOURN AT SINAI

Chapters 19-24:12. The establishment of the Theocracy on the basis of the Decalogue, 19:6-17, and of the Book of the Covenant, 20:23-23:33, cf. 24:7.

Chapters 24:12-31. Directions for the building of the Tabernacle, for the consecration of Aaron, for the maintenance of the ritual service.

Chapters 32-34. Moses communing with God on the Mount is interrupted by the apostasy of the people who induce Aaron to make them a golden calf such as they had seen in Egypt. Moses in his wrath breaks the tables of the Law written with God's own hand; he intercedes for the people, is ordered to hew fresh tablets; is vouchsafed a wonderful vision of God; a resume of the Book of the Covenant is given.

Chapters 35-40. Execution of the plans for the tabernacle etc., as given to Moses in the Mount. The tabernacle is erected the first month of the second year, the first day of the month, 40:15.

THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT, Exodus 20:22-23:33

This may be described as the "core" of the whole book; It is the only real legislation given, since nearly all the rest is but a repetition or an amplification of it. Its contents may be summarized as follows:

Exodus 20:22-26	No idols; the altar to be of earth.
Exodus 21:1-11	Hebrew slaves.
Exodus 21:12-17	Offenses against life and limb.
Exodus 21:18-32	The Lex Talionis.
Exodus 21:33-36	Penalty for negligences.
Exodus 22:1-6	Penalty for theft.
Exodus 22:7-9	Law of Deposits.
Exodus 22:10-15	Of loans.
Exodus 22:16-17	Of seduction.
Exodus 22:18-31	Against wizards; other miscellaneous laws.
Exodus 23:1-8	Of truth and justice,
Exodus 23:9	Treatment of strangers,
Exodus 23:10-13	Of the Sabbath.
Exodus 23:18-19	Elementary laws regarding sacrifices,
Exodus 23:20-23	Promise of an Angel to guide them,
Exodus 23:24-33	No compact with the Canaanites.

THE CODE OF HAMMURABI

When the Code of Hammurabi is compared with this elementary code of Hebrew laws, such a comparison shows how false is the notion that the Pentateuchal laws are something absolutely new or revealed. They form an inspired document, but not one newly revealed.

POINTS THAT CALL FOR EXAMINATION

We may mention here among many others: the character of the plagues; the route of the Exodus; the miracles of the quails and the manna; Moses visits to the Mount; the use of the expression "the Lord said to Moses" as affording a possible clue to the character of the various laws; the date of the Exodus. This last question is, of course, bound up with the question which particular Pharaoh it was who oppressed the Israelites. Two main views have been proposed; (a) Thothmes III, who is commonly calculated to have reigned from 1503-1449 B.C., is held by some to have been the Pharaoh of the oppression. (b) Ramses II, who reigned from 1300-1234 according to Prof. Flinders Petrie, is generally held to have been the oppressor. It will, of course, be evident that if this latter view is correct, it will be no longer possible to maintain 1490 as the date of the Exodus; but cf. under Chronology.

RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES

Digs in Egypt have thrown a great deal of light on many questions connected with the sojourn of the Hebrews in Egypt, and their departure from it. The most startling discovery, however, and the only one we will dwell upon here, was that of the "Store-City" of Pithom. M. Naville in 1883 identified this city with Tel-el-Maskhuta which, so he showed, corresponds not only to Pithom but to the Succoth of the Bible. Naville further discovered that in the erection of the walls there were three kinds of bricks used: the first were made of mud mingled with straw, the second of mud mixed with reeds from the Nile, in Hebrew "kash," which is none other than the Egyptian word "kash" meaning reeds; it is unfortunate that in the Vulgate and consequently in our Douay version of Exodus 5:12, two words are omitted which completely alter the sense; we read the people was scattered throughout all the land to gather straw; this should be read to gather stubble for straw, i.e., to gather the Nile reeds as a substitute for straw. The third kind of bricks discovered at Tel-el-Maskhuta were made of pure mud, indicating presumably, a time when even the reeds were exhausted.

Synchronisms: Abraham to the Exodus

Approximate Date	Palestine	Egypt	Assyria	Babylonia
c. 2200 or ? 2000 B.C.	Abram	Shepherd Kings; Dyn. xv, xvi, xvii.	Irishum, c. 2000	Hammurabi, c. 2000 or 2200 B.C.
c. 1900 B.C.	Isaac	"
c. 1840 B.C.	Jacob	"	Ishme-Dagon, c. 1840
c. 1750 B.C.	Joseph The oppression	" Thothmes III	Shamshi-Ramman, c. 1820
c. 1490 B.C.	Moses and the Exodus or, the oppression and	Amenhotep II Ramses II	Asshur-ben-nishesu, c 1450	The Rule of the Kassites
c. 1230 B.C.	Moses and the Exodus	Merenptah

By Very Rev. Hugh Pope, O.P., S.T.M.
Doctor in Sacred Scripture,
Member of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, and
late Professor of New Testament Exegesis at the Collegio Angelico, Rome.