In minor details the writer shows a remarkable ac- quaintance with Eg3'pt. Thus, for instance, Pharaoh's daughter goes to the river to bathe. At the present day, it is true that only women of the lower orders bathe in the river. But Herodotus (ii, 35) tells us (^vhat we learn also from the monuments) that in an- cient Egypt the women were under no restraint, but apparently lived more in public than the men. To this must be added that the Egj'ptians supposed a sov- ereign virtue to exist in the Nile-waters. The writer speaks of chariots and "chosen chariots" (xiv, 7) as constituting an important clement in the Egj-ptian army, and of the king as leading in person. The mon- uments amply confirm this representation. The Pha- raohs lead their armies to battle, and the armies con- sist entirely of infantrj^ and chariots. See Cii.\riot. As the events of this history arc laid in Egypt and Arabia, we have ample opportunity of testing the ac- curacy of the ^losaical accounts, and surely we find no- where the least transgression against Egyptian insti- tutions and customs ; on the contrary, it is most evi- dent that the author had a thorough knowledge of the Egj'ptian institutions and of the spirit that pervaded them. Exodus contains a mass of incidents and de- tailed descrii>tions wliich have gained new force from the modern discoveries and researches in the field of Egyptian anticpiities (comp. Hengstenberg, Die Bucher ilosis und ^ffi/pten, Berlin, 1841). The description of the passage of the Israelites through the desert also evinces such a tliorough familiarity with the localities as to excite the utmost respect of scrupulous and sci- entific travellers of our own time for tlie authenticity of the Pentateuch (comp. ex. f/r. Ilaunier. IJer Zug der Israrliten aus yEr/i/pten nach Canaan, L''ipz. 1.S87).
The arrangements of the talternacle, descriljed in the second part of Exodus, likewise throw a favorable light on the historical authenticity of the preceding events ; and the least tenable of all the objections against it are, that the architectural arrangements of
the tabernacle were too artificial, and the materials and richness too costh^ and precious for the condition and position of the Jews at that early period, etc. But the critics seem to have overlooked the fact that the Israelites of that period were a people M'ho had come out from Egypt, a people possessing wealth, Egyptian culture and arts, wdiich we admire even now, in the works which have descended to us from ancient Egypt ; so that it cannot seem strange to see the' He- brews in possession of the materials or artistic knowl- edge requisite for the construction of the tabernacle. Moreover, the estal)lishment of a tent as a sanctuary for the Hebrews can only be explained from their abode in the desert, being in perfect unison with their then roving and nomadic life ; and it is therefore a de- cided mistake in those critics who give to the sacred tent a later date than the Mosaical ; while other critics (such as De\Vette,Von Bohlen, Vatke) proceed much more consistently with their views by considering the narrative of the construction of a sacred tabernacle to be a mere fiction in E.xodus, introduced for the pur- pose of ascribing to the Temple of Solomon a higher antiquity and authorit}-. However, independentlj' of the circumstance that the Temple necessarilj- presup- poses the existence of a fiir older analogous sanctuary, the whole process of such a forced hypothesis is but calculated to strike out a portion from the Jewish his- tory on purely arbitrary grounds.
The extremely simple and sober style and views throughout the whole narrative aft'ord a sure guaran- tee for its authenticity and originality. Not a vestige of a poetical hand can be discovered in Exod. xviii ; not even the most sceptical critics can denj' that we tread here on purely historical ground. The same may fairly be maintained of ch. xx-xxiii. How is it then possilile that one and the same book should con- tain so strange a mixture of truth and fiction as its op- ponents assert to be found in it .' The most striking proofs against such an assumption are, in particular, the accounts, such as in Exod. xxxii sq, where the most vehement complaints are made against the Is- raelites, where the high-priest of the covenant-people participates most shamefulh' in the idolatrj- of his p'eople. All these incidents are described in plain and clear terms, without the least vestige of later embel- lishments and false extolling of former ages. The Pentateuch, some critics assert, is written for the in- terest and in favor of the hierarchy ; but can there be more anti-hierarchical details than are found in that book ? The whole representation indicates the strict- est impartiality and truth. — Kitto, s. v. ; Smith, s. v. : Fairbairn, s. v.
IV. The authorship and date of the book will be dis- cussed under Pentateuch.
V. Commentaries, etc. — The following is a list of exegetical helps on the whole book, the most impor- tant being designated liy an asterisk (*) prefixed : Or- igen, Commentarii (in 0pp. ii, 110) ; Selectn (ib. ii, 121) ; also Jlomiliw (ib. ii, 12!)) ; Ephraem Syrus, E.iplanaiio (in his 0pp. \y, 194); Isidore, Cowmeratamt (in his Opp)-)', Theodoret, Quastiones (in his Ojp. i, 1); Hugo a St. Victoire, Adnotationes (in his 0pp. i) ; Aben-Esra, Com- mentnr. (Prague, 1840, 8vo^ ; Bede, Erplanatio (in his 0pp. iv) ; Qiiwstiones (ii. viii) ; Rupert, In Exod. (in his 0pp. i, 150); Zuingle, Adnotationes (Tigurini, 1527); Brent, Commentatio (in his 0pp. i) ; Ziegler, Co7nmen- tarii (Basil. 1540, fol.) ; Phrygio, Commentarius (Tub. 1543, 4to) ; Lippoman, Catena (Par. 1550; Leyd. 1657, fol.); Chytra'us, Enarrationes ("Vitemb. 1556, 1563, 1579, 8vo); Galasius, (?ow?nen<a?vM.. (Genev. 15G0, fol.) ; Strigel, Commentarius (Lips. 1566, 1572; Brcui. 1585, 8vo); Simler, Commentanus (Tigur. 1584, 1605, fol.); Ystella, Commentnria (Kom. 1601, fol.) ; Pererius, Dis- j)?</«f/onfS (Ingolst. 1601, 4to); *Mechiltha, Commenta- rius (in Ugolini Thesaurus, xiv) ; 'NVillet, Commentarie (London, 1608, 1622, 2 vols, fob); Rung, Pra-lectiones (Vitemb. 1614, 8vo) ; Babington, Notes (in Works, p.