Book of Exodus

From RationalWiki
(Redirected from Exodus)
Jump to: navigation, search
For it is so written in

The Bible

Icon bible.svg
Scriptures
Reference
Analysis

Exodus is the second book of the Bible, which chronicles Moses' (Moishe) negotiations with Pharaoh to "Let my people go."

Moses was about eighty years old when he began his quest to free the Hebrews from the Pharaoh. Moses may have lost his teeth by this time since he tried to tell the Lord via the "burning bush" that he wasn't a good public speaker; the Lord was ready for this one: Appoint your brother Aaron to do the talking. Moses and Aaron then went forth to confront the Pharaoh.

This is also the book where Moses stuck out his hand and made the Red Sea separate so he and the Hebrews could walk to the promised land (Ex 13:17-15:12). The location in question is assumed to be the "Reed Sea", based on a slight mistranslation. It may have been the Ballah Lake, which was part of Lake Menzaleh before the building of the Suez Canal.[1] The name "Reed Sea" was also applied to the Gulf of Suez (Num 33:10-11) and the Gulf of Aqaba (Num 21:4, 1 Kings 9:26). The Great Bitter Lake may also be identified with the "Reed Sea", but it can also be identified with the Marah ("Bitter") of Ex. 15:23, for it is the first location with noticeably bitter waters before Elim (Ayun Musa)[2]. The interesting fact about this is that people often cite it when trying to prove the Bible - and specifically the events described in Exodus - as a verified fact. As parting the Red Sea is a miracle and most certainly impossible by all known science, crossing a slightly damp marsh is far more credible.

Archaeologist William Denver has labeled the question of the historicity of Exodus "dead."[3] Israeli archaeologist Ze'ev Herzog provides the current consensus view on the historicity of Exodus: "The Israelites never were in Egypt. They never came from abroad. This whole claim is broken. It is not a historical one. It is later legendary reconstruction - made in the seventh century (BCE) - of a history that never happened."[4] The British Museum contains many artefacts from the Hyksos period, suggesting that some kind of semitic people lived in north Egypt at the time, had a war with the Egyptians, and gradually migrated to Isreal over hundreds of years.

This book also contains the presentation to Moses of the Ten Commandments (Ex 21:2-17), and a whole bunch of other funny laws, such as:

  • The altar to God should not have steps; otherwise, people might look up the clothes of the person ahead of them.[5]
  • Priests must wear special undergarments when they approach the altar. Otherwise, they die of guilt.[6]

Based on taking a reading of Exodus at face value (fiery plumes of smoke on a mountain), God may or may not have actually been a volcano, and Moses may have just been a member of a tribe mad enough to climb it - so when he came back down spouting lunacy, it seems less surprising.[7] Sadly, it still doesn't tell us how long a damn cubit is.

[edit] Moses: The Anti-Adam

  • Adam: Lived in paradise,
  • Moses: Wandered for a generation in a desert hell.
  • Adam: Created by God's own hands.
  • Moses: Buried by God's own hands.
  • Adam: Ejected from Eden by God.
  • Moses: Led from Egypt by God.
  • Adam: Made the sweet soil bitter and unyielding by eating from a tree whose real effects were hidden from Adam by God.
  • Moses: Made the bitter waters of Mara sweet by throwing a tree revealed by Yahweh into it.
  • Adam: Name means "red earth"
  • Moses: Led people across the "Red Sea"
  • Adam: First-born son committed the earliest murder, which has plagued mankind ever since.
  • Moses: Last plague was the murder of all Egyptian first-born sons.

[edit] See also

[edit] Footnotes

  1. [1]
  2. [2]
  3. Quoting in Laughlin, Archaeology and the Bible, pg. 92
  4. Quoted in Sturgis, It Ain't Necessarily So, pg. 74
  5. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus_20:26&version=KJV
  6. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus_28:42-43&version=KJV
  7. Thunderf00t - Was God A Volcano? (YouTube)
Guide to the Jewish and Christian Scriptures
Torah: Genesis - Exodus - Leviticus - Numbers - Deuteronomy Old Testament History: Book of Joshua - Book of Judges - Ruth - Samuel (1 & 2) - Kings (1 and 2 Kings) - Chronicles - Ezra and Nehemiah - Book of Esther Old Testament Wisdom: Book of Job - Psalms - Book of Proverbs - Ecclesiastes - Song of Solomon Major Prophets: Isaiah - Book of Jeremiah - Lamentations - Book of Ezekiel - Book of Daniel Minor Prophets: Minor Prophets

Deuterocanon (Catholic and Orthodox): - Tobit - Judith - 1 Maccabees - 2 Maccabees - Book of Wisdom - Sirach - Baruch - Letter of Jeremiah Deuterocanon (Orthodox): 1 Esdras - 3 Maccabees - Prayer of Manasseh - Psalm 151 Deuterocanon (Georgian Orthodox): 4 Maccabees - 2 Esdras Ethiopian Orthodox ("narrow" canon): Jubilees - Enoch - Rest of the Words of Baruch - 1-3 Meqabyan Syriac Peshitta: 2 Baruch Psalms 152-155


The Gospels: Gospel of Matthew - Gospel of Mark - Gospel of Luke - Gospel of John Acts: Acts of the Apostles Pauline Epistles: Romans - 1 & 2 Corinthians - Galatians - Ephesians - Philippians - Colossians - First Thessalonians - Second Thessalonians - First Timothy - Second Timothy - Titus - Epistle to Philemon General Epistles: Epistle to the Hebrews - Epistle of James - First Peter - Second Peter - 1 John - 2 John - 3 John - Epistle of Jude Revelation: Book of Revelation


Selected pseudepigrapha: Gospel of Judas - Infancy Gospel of James - Gospel of Mary - Gospel of Philip - Gospel of Thomas - Nag Hammadi texts


Rational Wiki's Guide to the Protestant Bible

Guide to Bible translations

Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Community
Tools
support