Exodus

Believers Church Bible Commentary

Waldemar Janzen

• Publisher: Herald Press
• Year: 2000
• ISBN:
  9780836198065
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

To whom does primary allegiance belong? To great human empires, or to the God whose elusive presence we can never fully grasp?

Waldemar Janzen offers a fresh approach to the book of Exodus. The liberation from Egypt is a prelude to Israel's unique calling to model before the nations a new life of service under God. Exodus portrays how God, through his servant Moses, wages a dramatic battle with Egypt's mighty ruler for the release of enslaved Israel. The watching Israel wavers: "Is the Lord among us or not?" Even after Israel covenants to be God's priestly kingdom and holy nation, Israel worships a golden calf. Once more God's grace wrests Israel away, this time from slavery to doubts, fears, and self-centeredness. The people then focus faith on the imageless presence of God in their midst. God still wrestles for his people today.

Part 1

The Salvation of Moses

Exodus 1:1—2:25

OVERVIEW

Terse storytelling and fast forward movement mark this first and shortest of the four major sections of the book of Exodus. A people, descended from Jacob/Israel, multiplies rapidly. The Egyptian empire is afraid of these foreigners. Ever more oppressive measures fail to contain them. Panic and ruthlessness drive Pharaoh to an extreme measure: he orders the killing of all Israelite male babies. We call this genocide.

Israel’s God seems absent. Clues shine through, however, to point to God’s counter-strategy at work. By apparently weak and ineffectual means, Pharaoh’s plans are foiled. This happens through the resistance of two midwives to Pharaoh’s orders, the inventive love of a family to preserve their baby boy (eventually called Moses), and the compassion of Pharaoh’s own daughter. After Moses’ own—perhaps premature—attempt to help his people, he escapes to freedom and “comes home” to the nomadic Midianites. Moses settles down and establishes a family.

Meanwhile, the Israelites still in Egypt continue to suffer, even under a new Pharaoh. At the end of this section, however, readers receive a first assurance that God has not forgotten them (2:23-25).

If this were the story of one individual, Moses, we might well call it “The Escape of a Refugee.” Knowing, however, that Moses’ escape embodies and prefigures a much more sweeping plan of God to save his people Israel, we can already discern in God’s leading of Moses a much more comprehensive pattern of salvation. It will embrace Israel’s escape or liberation from Pharaoh’s oppression, but also the calling of Israel to become God’s own covenant people. Therefore, it is appropriate to call these chapters by the comprehensive term “Salvation.”

OUTLINE

Israel in a Foreign Land, 1:1-22

The Salvation of Moses, 2:1-25

Exodus 1:1-22

Israel in a Foreign Land

PREVIEW

Most great wars of history have begun with subtle prejudices and hidden conflicts. This chapter traces the dynamics behind an imminent conflict that will be even more momentous than human wars: the clash between God and God’s human yet also superhuman adversary, Pharaoh.

Our chapter takes up the story of Genesis but immediately reports a turn of events that initiates a new story. The human players are introduced: the descendants of Jacob/Israel and the king of Egypt. Only later in the chapter and almost parenthetically do we hear of God. Yet we receive clues from the beginning that this is first and foremost God’s story.

This chapter, like the rest of Exodus, is a story told to convey a message. Deeply anchored in history, it reduces details to what is essential. Few actors, a small stage, and an intimacy of interaction prevail. Only two midwives serve the large multitude of Israelites, and the king appears to live right next door, talking to them without distance or protocol. Rather than devise ingenious historical explanations for all this, we do better to accept from the outset that historical complexity is cast here in the simple mode of storytelling [Narrative Technique].

Finally, here as throughout the book, the story speaks to two readers. On the surface it addresses the first-time reader, who follows the author as the latter presents the events step by step. But stories are best when retold. The author knows well that most hearers or read ers will already know what lies ahead. For them, the author can make allusions and expect them to anticipate things still unknown to the first-time reader at this point (note 1:10, below! See “Introduction,” above) [Narrative Technique (with “Essays” at the back of the book)]. Most of us will not be first-time readers. We should therefore train our eye to discover these subtle hints.

OUTLINE

God’s Plan Progresses, 1:1-7

The Opposition Takes Shape, 1:8-22

1:8-14

Subjection Through Slave Labor

1:15-22

Subjection Through Population Control

EXPLANATORY NOTES

God’s Plan Progresses 1:1-7

The beginning of a new story calls for an introduction of its chief characters. In this case, we know them already, for the new story is really volume two of a longer work. Thus Jacob and his sons, known to us from Genesis, are reintroduced by way of a list that summarizes and rearranges slightly (following Gen. 35:22-26) the longer list of Genesis 46:1-27. In the original Hebrew text, the continuity of story is stressed also by an initial conjunction: And these are the names. … There follows a terse reminder of the Israelites’ migration to Egypt at the time of Joseph. For the observant reader, however, there are much more important continuities between Genesis and Exodus.

The opening phrase These are the names recalls the somewhat parallel “These are the generations,” describing God’s original creation of the heavens and the earth (Gen. 2:4) as well as other new beginnings in Genesis. Reminded of creation, we note further that the descendants of Jacob were fruitful and … multiplied … so that the land [in Hebrew, the same word as “earth”] was filled with them(Exod. 1:7). In other words, they experience the blessing placed originally on all humankind (Gen. 1:28; cf. 9:1). God the Creator is truly at work in this small segment of humanity!

The repeat reader already knows the story to come, however, and will also note a hint at complication. Genesis 1:28 continues: “and subdue it [the earth/land]; and have dominion.” But the Israelites in Egypt, so far apparently right in line with God’s plan, will soon themselves be subdued in this very land where they multiply so greatly. The course of God’s blessing will be intercepted.

Further, the increase of the people reconnects not only to creation but also to God’s promise to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3; often repeated to him and to Isaac and Jacob). This is a promise of blessing concretely expressed through the gift of many descendants and a new homeland. That promise, we realize, has now been partially fulfilled. Abraham’s descendants, who came to Egypt seventy persons strong, have become a great multitude (cf. Acts 7:17). But the second part of that promise, the promise of a homeland, is still unfulfilled.

Thus God has continued to grant to Israel part of the creation blessing and has fulfilled part of the promise to Abraham; will this God stop short of the fullness of blessing and promise? We hardly expect that. The particularly astute Bible reader may even remember that the list of Jacob’s descendants in Genesis 46 follows upon God’s promise to Jacob there. God promises to make of Jacob a great nation in Egypt, and also to accompany this people into Egypt and bring them out again (Gen. 46:3-4). We sense that a new act of God is in the offing. But there are odds against God’s plan!

The Opposition Takes Shape 1:8-22

The new element in Exodus begins with the introduction of a new king … over Egypt, who did not know Joseph (1:8). The remainder of the chapter characterizes this new player on the scene and the changed situation created by his appearance.

1:8-14 Subjection Through Slave Labor

Ancient Israel was structured socially as a kinship group, marked by tribes, clans, and extended families (literally, “father’s houses”). These were related to each other through genealogies (family trees). According to Genesis, it was God’s original design for humanity to understand itself as descended from common parents, and therefore as being a large network of relatives (as in Gen. 5; 10). Israel, like many of its neighboring tribal societies, had retained this structure.

Coming to Egypt, however, meant entering into a different pattern of human existence: the power-determined grid of territorial states governed by kings. Not kinship but power governed the inner order of such states. Egypt is a particularly centralized, absolute monarchy, the king/Pharaoh is considered divine.

The new king of Egypt (later usually called by his Egyptian title Pharaoh) bears no personal name, either here or anywhere else in Exodus. Based on the details of 1:11, many scholars have for some time considered it plausible that he was Sethos I (Seti I; ca. 1305-1290 B.C.), father of Ramesses II (Ramses/Rameses II; ca. 12901224 B.C.), who may have been the Pharaoh of the exodus itself; yet earlier Pharaohs have also been suggested. Archaeological findings show that these Pharaohs conducted a building program in the eastern Nile Delta and probably used Asiatic people as laborers. It is possible, however, that the exodus should be dated much earlier [Israel in Egypt].

The omission of these Pharaohs’ names, however, seems deliberate and important. We are not to look at the events to follow as limited to any particular ancient ruler’s policy. Instead, we are to see in this ruler—for the two Pharaohs of Exodus almost blend into one— the type of a tyrant who claims autonomous power to assert his will, to resist God, and to oppress people. The Pharaoh of Exodus is the closest parallel in the OT to the figure of Satan in the NT: both are God’s antagonists.

It is typical of a rule based on power to fear threats to that power. Thus the first thing we hear of this new player on the scene is an expression of fear for his power (1:9). The first of three measures initiated by Pharaoh is the imposition of slave labor on Israel. Subjection of feared minority groups through imposition of forced labor has been an age-old method of tyrants to weaken any potential opposition to their regime. Such oppression is doubly effective: It breaks the spirit of potential opponents and it provides cheap labor for the tyrant’s projects. Such a tactic is indirect in its approach. Let us deal shrewdly with them, says Pharaoh (1:8). He means, “Let us devise cunning schemes and policies to achieve our ends, rather than resort to a frontal approach.”

Nothing here indicates, however, that the Israelites are in fact rebellious toward the Egyptian government. The possibility that they might join Egypt’s enemies is hypothetical; it arises totally from Pharaoh’s fears. However, fears of this sort mark the course of history: The Philistines expected that David might defect (1 Sam. 29). Under Stalin, a large-scale resettlement sent German-speaking people (including Mennonites) of the Ukraine to Siberia. Canada and the USA deported Japanese of the West Coast into the interior during World War II. That Pharaoh’s scheme does not work (1:12) must be attributed to the blessing of God implied in verses 1-7 (see above).

For repeat readers, something else emerges. They (we) know that an Enemy will indeed arise, whom the Israelites will join and who will enable them to escape from the land (1:10): God himself. In other words, Pharaoh’s attempt to preserve his power is already characterized here subtly as a measure to fight against God.

1:15-22 Subjection Through Population Control

Enslavement can break the spirit, but it does not reduce numbers, as apartheid promoters in South Africa have experienced in our century. Pharaoh’s next two measures are consequently aimed chiefly at stemming Israel’s increase. Again, the anatomy of oppression follows universal patterns. First, the king tries to devise secret policies. These still camouflage the full aim and preserve the government’s good image. Pharaoh’s instruction to the midwives is given in secret, it seems, possibly to avoid (Egyptian as well as Israelite?) objection to its full evil intent.

In 1:15 and then 15 more times in Exodus, the term Hebrew(s) is used. It may be an older and broader term than Israel, Israelite(s). In the Bible, the term Hebrew is traced to Eber, the ancestor of Abraham and other peoples (Gen. 10:21-31; 11:16-26). Historians have often associated Hebrew(s) with the Habiru/’Apiru, a restive social class of people widespread in the ancient Near East in the second millennium B.C. In most biblical passages, however, including all occurrences in Exodus (probably also 21:2; cf. Deut. 15:12), Hebrew(s) refers to the same ethnic group of people as Israelite(s) (cf. parallel use of Hebrew and Egyptian in 1:19 and 2:11-13). It is difficult to say why Exodus calls the same people Hebrew(s) 16 times and Israel, Israelite(s) about 170 times [Israel in Egypt].

The instructions of 1:16 are not clear. The NRSV translates, when you … see them [the Hebrew women] on the birthstool. Many guesses as to the implied mode of giving birth have been suggested. The literal translation is look upon the stones (see The Jerusalem Bible). This may be a euphemism for the male testicles (Durham: 11f.) seen by the midwives, who thus ascertain the sex of the newborn. They are to kill boys, as potential warriors and rebels, but spare girls, as potential childbearers. This was often the case in the ancient Near East (as in Judg. 21:10-14). No doubt the girls are meant to become wives of Egyptians, thus helping to increase the population of Egypt.

The refusal of the midwives to carry out these royal orders—their civil disobedience, as we would say—is motivated by their fear of God (1:17). For the first time in Exodus, God is mentioned directly. God initiates the first and subtle countermove against Pharaoh. God’s agents are two women, a small force indeed when arraigned against the absolute ruler of an empire. Here, as throughout the Bible, victory does not depend on numbers and strength, but solely on alignment with God’s will [Yahweh War].

The midwives let the boys live (1:17, NRSV). A closer translation would underscore their active role: they made the boys to live, or they saw to it that the boys lived. When held accountable, they respond to Pharaoh’s underhanded policy with an evasive answer. The shrewdness of Pharaoh (1:10) is deliberately matched and neutralized here by the shrewd reply of the midwives (1:19). God blesses the midwives and gives them families, making them a sign: Those who align themselves with God’s plans will themselves become a part of these plans (1:20-21). The midwives promote God’s plan to make Israel a large people, and in doing so they insure large families for themselves.

Let us note that God’s plan of salvation is initiated here by women. In contrast to the unnamed Pharaoh, they are named, a sign of dignity and importance. Their names Shiphrah and Puah appear to be Hebrew/Semitic rather than Egyptian, and may mean Shining One and (Young) Girl (Hostetter, ABD, 5:1221, 544f.). Such meanings are less important, however, than the fact that their names are given. We will have further occasion to observe the lifesaving role of women in the book of Exodus.

Frustrated in his subtle approaches (1:8-21), Pharaoh resorts to brute force (1:22). This again is typical of the anatomy of oppression. The command to cast the Hebrew baby boys into the Nile leads us directly to the story of Moses’ preservation (2:1-10).

THE TEXT IN BIBLICAL CONTEXT

The Wider Context

In our interpretation of 1:1-7, we have seen already the subtle but clear connection of the new story with God’s blessing at creation and God’s promise to Abraham. We have also noted the link between the families of the sons of Jacob/Israel (1:1-7) and their fuller introduction in Genesis 46:1-27. The theme of God’s chosen people structured as twelve tribes extends throughout the OT (esp. also Num. 1:20-43; 26:4-50; Deut. 33:6-25). It is continued in the NT by Jesus’ choice of twelve apostles as the nucleus of the new people of God, the church (cf. Exod. 1:1-7; Matt. 10:2-4; Mark 3:14-19; Luke 6:1316; and Acts 1:13).

Egypt Remembered

The oppressor role of Pharaoh and the oppressed state of the Israelites will continue to occupy us until the final escape of the Israelites through the Red Sea (Exod. l4-l5). The characterization of Pharaoh’s tactics of oppression, so prominent in chapter 1, ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Believers Church Bible Commentary
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Abbreviations
• Contents
• Series Foreword
• Author’s Preface
• Introduction
• Anticipation: Focus on Moses
• Part 1: The Salvation of Moses
• Part 2 The Commissioningof Moses
• Realization Focus on Israel
• Part 3: The Salvation of Israel
• Part 4: The Commissioning of Israel
• Outline of Exodus
• Essays
• Map of the Exodus
• Bibliography
• Selected Resources
• Index of Ancient Sources
• The Author