Exploring Exodus

"Foreword xi Preface xix Introduction 1 The uses of the Exodus theme; The title; The connection with Genesis; Structure and content; The historical background. CHAPTER I The Oppression 15 The Hyksos and their expulsion; The enslavement of the Israelites; Brickmaking; The midwives. CHAPTER II The Births and Youth of Moses 27 The birth of Moses; The motif of the abandoned hero; The role of women; The name ""Moses""; Moses' upbringing; The Midianites; Jethro. CHAPTER III The Commissioning of Moses 38 The Burning Bush; The ""God of the Father(s); ""A land flowing with milk and honey""; The ethnic complexity; Moses' reluctance; The Divine Name; The elders; ""Hebrews""; Worship the wilderness; Stripping the Egyptians; Signs and wonders; Moses' continued resistance. CHAPTER IV The Ten Plagues 63 The hardening of the heart; Bricks without straw; Demoralization; Signs before the pharaoh;  The plagues; The literary form; Judgments on the gods of Egypt. CHAPTER V The Passover and the Exodus 81 The calendar; The paschal lamb and the unleavened bread; Leaven; Bitter herbs; The blood; The death of the firstborn; ""Six hundred thousand men on foot."" CHAPTER VI From Egypt to Sinai 103 The route of the Exodus; The Yam Suf; The pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire; The miracle at the sea; Manna and quails; The battle with the Amalekites; The organization of the judiciary. CHAPTER VII The Ten Commandments; Moses and Monotheism 130 Preparations for the theophany; The atmospheric disturbances; The covenant concept; Near Eastern parallels; Israelite innovations; The prohibition against idolatry; The Sabbath; Moses and monotheism. CHAPTER VIII The Laws 158 The Book of the Covenant; The casuistic formulation; The ancient Near Eastern laws; The nature of the law collections; The nature of the Torah's collections of laws; The distinctive feature of Israelite law; Lex talonis, or ""an eye for an eye""; Lex talonis in the Torah. CHAPTER IX The Tabernacle and the Golden Calf  190 The plan of the Tabernacle; The furniture; The historical reality; The divine instructions and the celestial images; The Tabernacle and Sinai; The all-Israelite emphasis; Gradations of holiness; God's omnipresence; God's unity and perfection; The tablets; The Ark; The cherubim; The Tabernacle, the Sabbath, and Creation; The Golden Calf. Notes 221 Abbreviations 245 Bibliography 247 Index 264"