EXEGETICAL STUDY OF EXODUS 3:1-14

The title ‘Exodus’ is derived from the name which ancient Greek translators gave to the book, ‘Exodus’ meaning ‘the going out’, ‘exit’. The name reflects the book’s particular interest in the departure of the Israelites from Egypt (Alexander 92). As the second book of the Bible, Exodus forms part of a larger narrative which begins in Genesis and continues at least as far as the book of Deuteronomy. Exodus does not mention the person responsible for giving the book its present shape. The fact that certain sections were recorded by Moses accounts for the traditional view that Moses wrote the entire book (Alexander 93).

In the first chapter of the Book of Exodus, we learned of the cruel oppression of the Israelites by the Egyptians. God’s blessings of the Israelites caused the Egyptians to fear them and to attempt to insure their control over them. This began with enslavement and harsh treatment. When this failed, Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew handmaids to kill all the Israelite boy babies at birth. This also failed to accomplish the goal of annihilating the Israelites as a race. The first chapter ends with the order of Pharaoh to the entire Egyptian population that they must throw the Hebrew boy babies into the Nile (Jamaison and Faussett, n.pg).