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EXODUS.—The book relates the history of Israel from the death of Joseph to the erection of the Tabernacle in the second year of the Exodus. In its present form, however, it is a harmony of three separate accounts.
1. The narrative of P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] . which can be most surely distinguished, is given first.
Beginning with a list of the sons of Israel (Exo_1:1-5), it briefly relates the oppression (Exo_1:7; Exo_1:13 f., Exo_2:23-25), and describes the call of Moses, which takes place in Egypt, the revelation of the name Jahweh, and the appointment of Aaron (Exo_6:1 to Exo_7:13). The plagues (Exo_7:10; Exo_7:20 a, Exo_7:21 b, Exo_7:22, Exo_8:5-7; Exo_8:15-19, Exo_9:8-12, Exo_11:9 f.), which are wrought by Aaron, forma trial of strength with Pharaoh’s magicians. The last plague introduces directions for the Passover, the feast of unleavened bread, the sanctification of the firstborn; and the annual Passover (Exo_12:1-20; Exo_12:28; Exo_12:40-51, Exo_13:1 f.). Hence emphasis is laid, not on the blood-sprinkling, but on the eating, which was the perpetual feature.
The route to the Red Sea (which gives occasion to a statement about the length of the sojourn. Exo_12:40 f.) is represented as deliberately chosen in order that Israel and Egypt may witness Jahweh’s power over Pharaoh (Exo_12:37, Exo_13:20, Exo_14:1-4). When Moses stretches out his hand, the waters are miraculously divided and restored (Exo_14:8 f, Exo_14:15 a, Exo_14:16-18; Exo_14:21-22 f., Exo_14:26-27 a, Exo_14:28 a, Exo_15:19).
Between the Red Sea and Sinai the names of some halting places are given (Exo_16:1-3, Exo_17:1 a, Exo_19:2 a). Ch. 16 is also largely (Exo_16:6-13 a, Exo_16:16-24; Exo_16:31-36) from P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] . But the mention of the Tabernacle in Exo_16:34 proves the story to belong to a later date than the stay at Sinai, since the Tabernacle was not in existence before Sinai. Probably the narrative has been brought into its present position by the editor.
On the arrival at Sinai, Jahweh’s glory appears in a fiery cloud on the mountain. As no priests have been consecrated, and the people must not draw near, Moses ascends alone to receive the tables of the testimony (Exo_24:15-18 a) written by Jahweh on both sides. He remains (probably for 40 days) to receive plans for a sanctuary, with Jahweh’s promise to meet with Israel (in the Tent of Meeting) and to dwell with Israel (in the Tabernacle) (Exo_25:1 to Exo_31:18 a, Exo_32:15). He returns (Exo_34:29-35), deposits the testimony in an ark he has caused to be prepared, and constructs the Tabernacle (Exo_34:35-35). The differing order in the plans as ordered and as executed, and the condition of the text in the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] , prove that these sections underwent alterations before reaching their present form.
This account was evidently written for men who were otherwise acquainted with the leading facts of the history. It is dominated by two leading interests: (1) to insist in its own way that everything which makes Israel a nation is due to Jahweh, so that the religion and the history are interwoven; (2) to give a history of the origins, especially of the ecclesiastical institutions, of Israel.
2. The narrative of JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] .—The rest of the book is substantially from JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] , but it is extremely difficult to distinguish J [Note: Jahwist.] from E [Note: Elohist.] . For (1) with the revelation of the name of Jahweh, one of our criteria, the avoidance of this name by E [Note: Elohist.] disappears; (2) special care has been taken to weld the accounts of the law-giving together, and it is often difficult to decide how much is the work of the editor. We give the broad lines of the separation, but remark that in certain passages this must remain tentative.
A. Israel in Egypt
According to J [Note: Jahwist.] , the people are cattle-owners, living apart in Goshen, where they increase so rapidly as to alarm Pharaoh (Exo_1:6; Exo_1:8-12). Moses, after receiving his revelation and commission in Midian (Exo_2:11-22, Exo_3:2-4 a, Exo_3:5; Exo_3:7 f., Exo_3:16-20, Exo_4:1-16; Exo_4:19-20 a, Exo_4:24-26 a, Exo_4:29-31), demands from Pharaoh liberty to depart three days’ journey to sacrifice (Exo_5:3; Exo_5:5-23). On Pharaoh’s refusal, the plagues, which are natural calamities brought by Jahweh, and which are limited to Egypt, follow Moses’ repeated announcement (Exo_7:14; Exo_7:16-17 a, Exo_7:18; Exo_7:21 a, Exo_7:24 f., Exo_8:1-4; Exo_8:8-15 a, Exo_8:20 to Exo_9:7, Exo_9:13-35, Exo_10:1-11; Exo_10:13 b, Exo_10:14 b, Exo_10:15 a, Exo_10:15-18, Exo_10:24-26; Exo_10:28 f., Exo_11:4-8). In connexion with the Passover (Exo_12:21-27), blood-sprinkling, not eating, is insisted on. The escape is hurried (Exo_12:29-34; Exo_12:37-39), and so a historical meaning is attached to the use of unleavened bread (Exo_13:3-16 [based on J [Note: Jahwist.] ]).
According to E [Note: Elohist.] , the people live among the Egyptians as royal pensioners and without cattle. Their numbers are so small that two midwives suffice for them (Exo_1:15-20 a, Exo_1:21 f.) Moses (Exo_2:1; Exo_2:10), whose father-in-law is Jethro (Exo_3:1), receives his revelation (Exo_3:6; Exo_3:9-15; Exo_3:21 f) and commission (Exo_4:17 f., Exo_4:20-23; Exo_4:27 f.). Obeying, he demands that Israel he freed (Exo_5:1 f, Exo_5:4) in order to worship their God on this mountain—a greater distance than three days’ journey. E [Note: Elohist.] ’s account of the plagues has survived merely in fragments, but from these it would appear that Moses speaks only once to Pharaoh, and that the plagues follow his mere gesture while the miraculous element is heightened (Exo_7:15; Exo_7:17 b, Exo_7:20 b, Exo_7:23, Exo_9:22-25, Exo_10:12-13 a, Exo_10:14 a, Exo_10:15 b, Exo_10:20-23; Exo_10:27). The Israelites, however, have no immunity except from the darkness. The Exodus is deliberate, since the people have time to borrow from their neighbours (Exo_11:1-3, Exo_12:35 f.).
B. The Exodus
According to J [Note: Jahwist.] , an unarmed host is guided by the pillar of fire and cloud (Exo_13:21 f.). Pharaoh pursues to recover his slaves (Exo_14:5 f.), and when the people are dismayed, Moses encourages them (Exo_14:10-14; Exo_14:19 b, Exo_14:20 b.). An east wind drives back the water, so that the Israelites are able to cross during the night (Exo_14:21 b, Exo_14:24-25 b, Exo_14:27 b, Exo_14:28 f., Exo_14:30 f.) but the water returns to overwhelm the Egyptians. Israel offers thanks in a hymn of praise (Exo_15:1); but soon in the wilderness tempts Jahweh by murmuring for water (Exo_15:22-25 a, Exo_15:27, Exo_17:3; Exo_17:2 b, Exo_17:7).
According to E [Note: Elohist.] , an armed body march out in so leisurely a fashion that they are able to bring Joseph’s bones. For fear of the Philistines they avoid the route of the isthmus (Exo_13:17-19). Pharaoh pursues (Exo_14:9 a, Exo_14:10 b.). but the people, protected by an angel, cross when Moses lifts his rod (Exo_14:15 b, Exo_14:16 a, Exo_14:19 a, Exo_14:20 a, Exo_14:25 a, Exo_14:29). The women celebrate the escape (Exo_15:2-18; Exo_15:20 f.); and in the wilderness Jahweh tests Israel, whether they can live on a daily provision from Him (Exo_16:4; Exo_16:15 a, Exo_16:19 a, Exo_16:16 a, Exo_16:19-21, Exo_16:35 a). Water, for which they murmur, is brought by Moses striking the rock with his rod (Exo_17:1 b, Exo_17:2 a, Exo_17:4-7 b). Jethro visits and advises Moses (ch. 18 [in the main from E [Note: Elohist.] ]). The condition of the account of the journey between the Red Sea and Sinai, and the fact that events of a later date have certainly come into P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] ’s account, make it likely that JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] had very little on this stage, the account of which was amplified with material from the wilderness journey after Sinai.
C. At Sinai [here the accounts are exceptionally difficult to disentangle, and the results correspondingly tentative].
According to J [Note: Jahwist.] , Jahweh descends on Sinai in lire (Exo_19:2 b, Exo_19:18), and commands the people to remain afar off, while the consecrated priests approach (Exo_19:11 b, Exo_19:12; Exo_19:20-22; Exo_19:24 f.). Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 elders ascend (Exo_24:1 f.) and celebrate a covenant feast (Exo_19:9-11). Moses then goes up alone to receive the Ten Words on tables which he himself has hewn, and remaining 40 days and 40 nights receives also the Book of the Covenant (ch. 34) [J [Note: Jahwist.] ’s statement as to the 40 days has been omitted in favour of E [Note: Elohist.] ’s, but its presence in his account can be inferred from references in Exo_34:1; Exo_34:4]. Ch. 34 is also inserted at this point, because its present position is eminently unsuitable after the peremptory command in J [Note: Jahwist.] and E [Note: Elohist.] to leave Sinai (Exo_32:34, Exo_33:1-3). Hearing from Jahweh of the rebellion (Exo_32:7-12; Exo_32:14), Moses intercedes for forgiveness, and descends to quell the revolt with help from the Levites (Exo_32:25-29). He further intercedes that Jahweh should still lead His people, and obtains a promise of the Divine presence (Exo_33:1; Exo_33:3; Exo_33:12-23). This was probably followed by Num_10:29 ff. The Law he deposits in an ark which must already have been prepared.
J [Note: Jahwist.] ’s law (ch. 34) is the outcome of the earliest effort to embody the essential observances of the Jahweh religion. The feasts are agricultural festivals without the historical significance given them in Deuteronomy, and the observances are of a ceremonial character, for, according to J [Note: Jahwist.] , it is the priests who are summoned to Sinai. Efforts have been frequently made (since Goethe suggested it) to prove that this is J [Note: Jahwist.] ’s decalogue—a ceremonial decalogue. Any division into 10 laws, however, has always an artificial character.
According to E [Note: Elohist.] . Jahweh descends in a cloud before the whole people (Exo_19:3-11 a), whom Moses therefore sanctifies (Exo_19:14-17). They hear Jahweh utter the Decalogue (Exo_19:19, Exo_20:1-17), but, as they are afraid (Exo_20:18-21), the further revelation with its covenant is delivered to Moses alone (Exo_20:22 to Exo_23:33 in part). The people, however, assent to its terms (Exo_24:3-8). Moses ascends the Mount with Joshua to receive the stone tables, on which Jahweh has inscribed the Decalogue (Exo_24:12-15 a), and remains 40 days (Exo_24:18 b) to receive further commands. He returns with the tables (Exo_31:18 b), to discover and deal with the outbreak of idolatry (Exo_32:1-6; Exo_32:16-24). On his intercession he receives a promise of angelic guidance (Exo_32:30-35). From verses in ch. 33 (Exo_32:4; Exo_32:6-11) which belong to E [Note: Elohist.] and from Deu_10:3; Deu_10:5 (based on E [Note: Elohist.] ), this account related the making of an ark and Tent of Meeting, the latter adorned with the people’s discarded ornaments. When JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] was combined with P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] , this narrative, being superfluous alongside Exo_32:25 ff., was omitted.
E [Note: Elohist.] ’s account thus contains three of the four collections of laws found in Exodus, for 21–23 consists of two codes, a civil (Exo_21:1 to Exo_22:16) and a ceremonial (Exo_22:17 to Exo_23:33 [roughly]). Probably the ceremonial section was originally E [Note: Elohist.] ’s counterpart to ch. 34 in J [Note: Jahwist.] , while the civil section may have stood in connexion with ch. 18. As it now stands, E [Note: Elohist.] is the prophetic version of the law-giving. The basis of the Jahweh religion is the Decalogue with its clearly marked moral and spiritual character. (Cf. art. Deuteronomy.) This is delivered not to the priests (like ch. 34 in J [Note: Jahwist.] ), but to the whole people. When, however, the people shrink back, Moses, the prophetic intermediary, receives the further law from Jahweh. Yet the ceremonial and civil codes have a secondary place, and are parallel. The Decalogue, a common possession of the whole nation, with its appeal to the people’s moral and religious sense, is fundamental. On it all the national institutions, whether civil or ceremonial, are based. Civil and ceremonial law have equal authority and equal value. As yet, however, the principles which inform the Decalogue are not brought into conscious connexion with the codes which control and guide the national life. The Book of Deuteronomy proves how at a later date the effort was made to penetrate the entire legislation with the spirit of the Decalogue, and to make this a means by which the national life was guided by the national faith.
The following view of the history of the codes is deserving of notice. E [Note: Elohist.] before its union with J [Note: Jahwist.] contained three of these codes: the Decalogue as the basis of the Covenant; the Book of the Covenant, leading up to the renewal of the Covenant; and the Book of Judgments, which formed part of Moses’ parting address on the plains of Moab. The editor who combined J [Note: Jahwist.] and E [Note: Elohist.] , wishing to retain J [Note: Jahwist.] ’s version of the Covenant, used it for the account of the renewal of the Covenant, and united E [Note: Elohist.] ’s Book of the Covenant, thus displaced, with the Decalogue as the basis of the first Covenant. The editor who combined JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] with D [Note: Deuteronomist.] , displaced E [Note: Elohist.] ’s Book of Judgments in favour of Deuteronomy, which he made Moses’ parting address; and combined the displaced Book of Judgments with the Book of the Covenant.
The view represented in the article, however, explains the phenomena adequately, is much simpler, and requires fewer hypotheses.
A. C. Welch.