Editing Exodus (section)

==Summary==
===Bondage in Egypt===
The Egyptian king ([[Pharaoh of the Exodus|pharaoh]]), fearful of the [[Hebrews]]' numbers, orders that all newborn Hebrew (Israelite) boys be thrown into the [[Nile]]. A [[Levite]] woman saves her baby by setting him adrift on the river in an ark of [[bulrush]]es. The pharaoh's daughter finds the child, and names him [[Moses]], and brings him up as her own. But Moses is aware of his [[Hebrew]] origins, and one day, when grown, kills an Egyptian overseer who is beating a [[Hebrew]] man, and has to flee into [[Midian]]<ref>Midian: the desert region between Egypt and the Negev.</ref> There he marries, and while  herding the flocks of his father-in-law [[Jethro]]<ref>Moses' father-in-law is named Reuel and Jethro in the Torah, and Hobeb in Judges. Hobeb also appears in the Torah (in Numbers), but is identified there as a son of Reuel.</ref> on [[Mount Horeb]],<ref>Horeb: an alternative name for mount Sinai</ref> encounters God in a burning bush. God reveals his name, Yahweh, to Moses, and tells him to return to Egypt and lead the Hebrews into Canaan, the land promised to [[Abraham]].

Moses returns to Egypt, and God instructs him to appear before the pharaoh and inform him of God's demand that he let God's people go. Moses and his brother [[Aaron]] do so, but the pharaoh refuses. God causes a series of [[Plagues of Egypt|plague]]s to strike Egypt, but the pharaoh does not relent. God instructs Moses to institute the [[Passover]] sacrifice among the Hebrews, and kills all the firstborn children and livestock throughout Egypt. The pharaoh then agrees to let the Hebrews go. Moses explains the meaning of the Passover: it is for Israel's salvation from Egypt, so that the Hebrews will not be required to sacrifice their own sons, but to redeem them.

===Journey through the wilderness to Sinai===

[[The Exodus]] begins. The Hebrews, 600,000 men plus women and children and a mixed multitude, with their flocks and herds, set out for the mountain of God. The pharaoh pursues the Hebrews, and Yahweh destroys the Egyptian army at the [[crossing of the Red Sea]] ([[Yam Suf]]). The Hebrews celebrate. At [[Repidim]], he provides water miraculously from the rock of [[Meribah]]. The Hebrews arrive at the mountain of God, where Moses' father-in-law Jethro visits Moses; at his suggestion Moses appoints [[judges]] over Israel.

===At Sinai: Covenant and laws===
The Hebrews arrive at [[Biblical Mount Sinai|the mountain of God]]. Yahweh asks whether they will agree to be his people, and the people accept.  The people gather at the foot of the mountain, and with thunder and lightning, fire and clouds of smoke, and the sound of trumpets, and the trembling of the mountain, God appears on the peak, and the people see the cloud hear the "voice" of God <REF>The Hebrew word used here normally means voice, but a few verses earlier (Exodus 19:16) it has been used to mean "thunder", in the context of the thunder and lightning from the mountain. It is therefore not clear exactly what "beqol" means in this instance. The implication of  Exodus 20:18-19 is that the people hear only thunder and trumpets and for this reason appoint Moses as their mediator with God: "And the people saw the thunder and the lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking...And they said [to Moses], "You speak with us, so we may listen, but let God not speak with us or we will die." Some translations therefore have "thunder" instead of "voice".</ref> Moses and Aaron are told to ascend the mountain.<ref>It is not totally clear who goes up the mountain - Exodus 19:24 has Yahweh instructing Moses and Aaron to go up while the people and priests remain below, but at Exodus 19:22 the priests are told they may approach Yahweh after consecrating themselves.</ref> God pronounces the [[Ten Commandments]] (the [[Ethical Decalogue]]) in the hearing of all Israel.<ref>A slightly different version of the Commandments is given at Deuteronomy 5, the most striking variation being in the reason given for keeping the Sabbath: in Exodus, the Sabbath is kept because God made the heavens and earth in six days and rested on the seventh; in Deuteronomy, it is a memorial for Israel's deliverance from Egypt.</ref>

Moses goes up the mountain into the presence of God, who pronounces the [[Covenant Code]],<ref>Exodus21:1-23:19</ref> (a detailed code of ritual and civil law), and promises [[Canaan]] to the Hebrews if they obey.<ref>Exodus 21-23</ref> Moses descends and writes down Yahweh's words and the people agree to keep them. Yahweh calls Moses up the mountain together with Aaron and the elders of Israel, and they feast in the presence of Yahweh. Yahweh calls Moses up the mountain to receive a set of stone [[tablet (religious)|tablets]] containing the law, and he and Joshua go up, leaving Aaron in charge. Yahweh appears on the mountain "like a consuming fire" and calls Moses to go up, and Moses goes up the mountain.<ref>This passage has a confusing sequence of events, as reflected in this summary.</ref>

Yahweh gives Moses instructions for the construction of the [[tabernacle (Judaism)|tabernacle]] so that God can dwell permanently amongst the Hebrews, as well as instructions for the priestly vestments, the altar and its appurtenances, the ritual to be used to ordain the priests, and the daily sacrifices to be offered. Aaron is appointed as the first High Priest, and the priesthood is to be hereditary in his line. Then Yahweh gives to Moses the two stone tablets containing these instructions, written by God's own finger.

Aaron makes a [[golden calf]], which the people worship. God informs Moses of their apostasy and threatens to kill them all, but relents when Moses pleads for them. Moses comes down from the mountain, smashes the tablets in anger, and commands the Levites to massacre the disobedient. Yahweh commands Moses to make two new tablets on which He will personally write the words that were on the first tablets. Moses ascends the mountain, God dictates the Ten Commandments (the [[Ritual Decalogue]])<ref>The Ritual Decalogue, unlike the Ethical Decalogue, is explicitly called the "ten commandments" - see Exodus 34:28</ref>, and Moses writes them on the tablets.<ref>At Exodus 34:1 God has told Moses that he, God, will personally write on the tablets, but at Exodus 34:27 he tells Moses to write them. Also, although God tells Moses that he is about to receive a copy of the first set of tablets, Exodus 24:12 makes clear that the first tablets contained the instructions for the tabernacle, while Exodus 34:27-28 makes it equally clear that the second set contain the Ritual Decalogue.</ref>

Moses descends from the mountain, and his face is transformed, so that from that time onwards he has to hide his face with a veil. Moses assembles the Hebrews and repeats to them the commandments he has received from Yahweh, which are to keep the Sabbath and to construct the Tabernacle. "And all the construction of the Tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting was finished, and the children of Israel did according to everything that Yahweh had commanded Moses",<ref>Exodus 39:32</ref> and from that time Yahweh dwelt in the Tabernacle and ordered the travels of the Hebrews.<ref>This is a broad summary of the final verses, Exodus 40:34-38</ref>