2. Narrative of Events from the Departure out of Egypt to the Arrival of the Israelites at Mount Sinai. — We have in this section («.) the departure and (men- tioned in connection with it) the injunctions then given respecting the Passover and the sanctification of the first-born (xii, 37-xiii, 16) ; the march to the Eed Sea, the passage through it, and the destruction of Pharaoh and his host in the midst of the sea, togctli- er with Jloses's song of triumph upon the occasion (xiii, 17-xv, 21) ; (b.) the principal events on the jour- ney from the Red Sea to Sinai, the bitter waters at Marah, the giving of quails and of the manna, the ol> Bervance of the Sabbath, the niiraclous supply of water from the rock at Kephidim, and the battle there with
the Anialekites (xv, 22-xvii, 16) ; the arrival of Jethro in the Israelitish camp, and his advice as to the civil government of the people (xviii).
3. The Solemn Edablishment of the Theocracy on Mount Sinai. — The people are set apart to God as "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (xix, 6) ; the ten commandments are given, and the laws which are to regulate the social life of the people are enacted (xxi, 1-xxiii, 19) ; an angel is promised as their guide to the Promised Land, and the covenant between God and Moses, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders, as the representatives of the people, is most solemnly ratified (xxiii, 20-xxiv, 18) ; instructions are given re- specting the tabernacle, the ark, the mercy-seat, the altar of burnt-offering, the separation of Aaron'and his sons for the priest's office, the vestments which they are to wear, the ceremonies to be observed at their consecration, the altar of incense, the laver, the holy oil, the selection of Bezalecl and Aholiab for the work of the tabernacle, the observance of the Sabbath and the delivery of the two tables of the law into the hands of Moses (xxv, 1-xxxi, 18) ; the sin of the people in the matter of the golden calf, their rejection in conse- quence, and their restoration to God's favor at the in- tercession of Moses (xxxii, 1-xxxiv, 35) ; lastly, the construction of the tabernacle, and all pertaining to its service in accordance with the injunctions previously given (xxxv, 1-xl, 38).
This book, in short, gives a sketch of the early his- tory of Israel as a nation : and the historj^ has three clearly marked stages. First we see a nation en- slaved; next a nation redeemed; lastly a nation set apart, and, through the blending of its religious and political life, consecrated to the service of God. The close literarj' connection between the books of Gene- sis and Exodus is clearly marked by the Hebrew con- junctive particle 1 (yav), "and," with which the latter begins, and still more by the recapitulation of the name of Jacob's sons who accompanied him to Egypt, abridged from the fuller account in Gen. xlvi, 8-17. Still the book of Exodus is not a continuation in strict chronological sequence of the preceding historj' ; for a very considerable interval is passed over in silence, sav- ing only the remark, "And the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceedingly mighty ; and the land was filled with them" (Exod. i, 7). The pretermission of all that concerned Israel during this period and their in- tercourse with the Egyptians, instead of being an indi- cation, as Rationalists allege, of the fragmentary char- acter of the Pentateuch, onlj' shows the sacred purpose of the history, and that, in the plan of the writer, con- siderations of a merely political interest were entirely subordinate to the divine intentions already partially unfolded in Genesis, and to be still farther developed in the course of the present narrative regarding the national constitution of the seed of Abraham.
II. Unity. — According to Yon Lengerke (Kenaan, Ixxxviii, xc), the following portions of the book belong to the original or Elohistic document: Chap, i, 1-14; ii, 23-25 ; vi, 2-vii, 7 ; xii, 1-28, 37, 38, 40-51 (xiii, 1, 2, perhaps) ; xvi ; xix, 1 ; xx ; xxv-xxxi; xxxv-xl. Stiihelin (Krit. Unterss.) and De Wette (Einkilung) agree in the main with this division. Knobcl, the most recent writer on the subject, in the introduction to his commentary on Exodus and Leviticus, has sifted these books still more carefully, and with regard to manj' passages has formed a different judgment. He assigns to the Elohist : i, 1-7, 13, 14; ii, 23-25, from in:X"i1, vi, 2-vii, 7; except vi,8; vii, 8-13, 19-22 ; viii, 1-3, 11 from xbl, and 12-15; ix, 8-12 and 35; xi, 9, 10 ; xii, 1-23, 28, 37 a, 40-42, 43-51 ; xiii, 1, 2, 20 ; xiv, 1-4, 8, 9, 15-18 (except ^bx pV.iT: il-Q in ver. 15, and rx tTJ31 -::"a in ver. 16), 21-23, and 26-29 (except 27 from ^^''1) ; xv, 19, 22, 23, 27 ; xvi, 1, 2, 9-26, 31-
EXODUS
412
EXODUS
36; xvii, 1; six, 2 a; xxv-xxxi, 11, 12-17 in the main ; xxxv, 1-xl, 38.