Calvin
Theological Journal 34 (1999): 11-35
Copyright © 1999 by Calvin
Theological Seminary. Cited with permission.
Reading Exodus to
Learn and
Learning to Read
Exodus
Arie C. Leder
Those who read little, learn little about
reading; but the little they learn is
applied to
all they read. Contemporary devotional
reading of Scripture has
much in
common with the fragmentary approach of the critics a generation
ago: here a verse, there a clause, everywhere a
tidbit. But, with the possible
exception of
individual proverbs,1 biblical texts do not suffer fragmentary read-
ing
willingly nor with impunity. Like a love
letter, they are meant to be read in
their
entirety, from beginning to end. Only by
reading and rereading will the
addressed
lover encounter the depth of the sentiments expressed and thus
learn to
read the letter as it was intended to be heard.
That takes time, com-
mitment, and
concentration. Unlike a love letter,
however, reading of Scripture
is a
communal activity. We do not come to
Scripture de novo; we read through
the
well-informed eyes of our ancestors in the faith. By reading and rereading
in their
light, we learn to read Scripture, we hope, as it was intended to be
heard. In addition to time, commitment, and concentration,
this will require
the humility
to listen to those who have gone before us.
Of course, reading starts with the text
itself. But, what is the shape of the
text? Where do we begin and end? When we select a novel by P. D. James or a
sonnet by
Browning, the question seems almost impertinent. But a comparison
of
commentaries on the Pentateuch published in this century will reveal great
disagreement:
Pentateuch, Hexateuch, or Tetrateuch?
Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus,
and so forth, or J, E, JE, D, or P, or maybe the Sinai pericope (Ex. 19-
Num. 10:10)?2 Similarly the extent of pericopes within
Exodus: 1:1-2:25 or
1:1-2:22? 2:23-4:17 or 3:1-4:31? In this article, I will read the text
traditionally
known as
Exodus using six steps that will require time, commitment, and con-
centration.
1 The social use of proverbs appears to
give them an independent existence. Nevertheless,
whether
social or literary, proverbs function in context. In Scripture they are all embedded in
larger
textual reality. See Raymond C. Van
Leeuwen, Context and Meaning in Proverbs
25-27,
SBL Dissertations
Series 96 (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988).
2The docmentary hypothesis is now in
disarray, its relationship to the newer literary reading of
Scripture is
not at all clear. See the work of
Terence E. Fretheim. Exodus. Interpretation (
John Knox.
1991). 5-7; idem, The Pentaeuch, Interpreting Biblical Texts (Nashville:
Abingdon, 1996).
11
CALVIN THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL 12
Defining Six Steps for
The
Beginning and Ending of the Text
Before reading the entire narrative it is
helpful to become familiar with the
beginning
and ending of the text.3
Examining these will alert the reader to the
narrative
problem and its basic themes, usually defined at the beginning, and
the manner
of their treatment and resolution at the end.
Familiarity with the
rhetorical
device of repetition of key words and phrases will enable the reader
to recognize
the parameters within which the narrative unfolds. This technique
discloses
the frame4 within which the narrative action takes place and the
frame
that limits
the reader's narrative field of reference.
For example, after deter-
mining that
Exodus 1-40 is the object of our analysis, study of the desert narra-
tive will be
limited to 15:22-18:27. It will exclude
the desert narrative in
Numbers,
except for purposes of comparison.5
Within the parameters
described by
the text's beginning and ending, it will be the reader's task to fix
precisely
what the text says, and to explain how the text does so. The same
mechanism
applies to the definition of pericopes within Exodus.
Reading the
Entire Text
Consideration of the beginning and ending
naturally leads to the following
step: to discern the relationship between the
beginning and the ending by
reading the
entire text, observing throughout the reading how the initial
motifs, or
narrative problem, develop to a final resolution. While this step
assumes that
the text between the beginning and ending is capable of devel-
opment or
organization, it does not determine the nature of that organization.
Thus, the
narrative order of the text is not imposed, nor predetermined, but
searched
out. Reading the entire text in one
sitting is preferrable in order to
receive the
maximum impact of the narrative's continuity and development. If
this is not
possible, two or three sittings will do.
3 The importance of
understanding the beginning and ending of a literary unit was emphasized
byJames
Muilenburg ("Form Criticism and Beyond," Journal of Biblical Literature 88 [1996]: 12-13):
"The
first concern of the rhetorical critic. .is to define the limits or scope of
the literary unit, to recognize
how it
begins and how it ends. . . . A second clue for determining the scope of a
pericope is to discern
the relation of beginning to end, where the
opening words are repeated or paraphrased at the close. . . ."
In his study of the Pentateuch (The Pentateuch, 43-56), Fretheim
discusses the beginning and ending
of the Pentateuch.
4 The consequences of breaking
such a frame and the significance of a text are discussed by
Erich
Auerbach when treating the secularization of the medieval mystery plays, in
Erich Auerbach,
"Adam and Eve," in The
Representation of Reality in Western Literature, trans. Willard R Trask
(Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1968), 160.
5 Under the influence of the
critical methodologies these two distinct narrative units were often
treated harmonistically.
12
READING
EXODUS TO LEARN AND LEARNING TO READ EXODUS 13
Key Words
and Phrases
Throughout this reading, the reader should
note the themes that are devel-
oped and the
new ones being introduced. These are
often indicated by key
words or
phrases. A keyword, or phrase, is
repeated meaningfully within a text or
series of texts. Not every word or root
which is repeated within a text or
sequence of texts can be considered a key
word.
In this connection attention should be paid to three aspects: (1) how
frequently the word is used in the Bible;
(2) how frequently the word is used
within the text or series of texts; (3)
how near the repeated words are as
regards their position in the text. The greater the frequency of the word in
the Bible, the more densely should it
occur (more often or with greater
proximity); and the rarer it is, the less
intensively need it occur (less often
and at a greater distance).6
The
clustering of key words in a text and their reappearance or absence in sub-
sequent, or
slightly different contexts, contribute to meaning of the text byway
of
commentary, analysis, anticipation, or dramatic assertion. Sometimes a key
word
repetition involves paranomasia, a play on words, by means of a small
vowel or
consonantal change.
Consider the
following examples from Genesis.7
The word there (MwA)
plays a
crucial role
in Genesis 11:1-9. In this brief
narrative there refers not only to the
place of
humanity's gathering but also to the location from which the Lord
scatters
them. At the same time, name (Mwe) occurs twice: Humanity wants to
make a name
for itself; it receives a name from the Lord-Babel, "confusion."
Thus, there
where humanity wanted a name, becomes the there from which
humanity is
expelled and where it receives a name.
Significantly, Mwe, the
word
name
reappears in Genesis 12:2. The Lord will
make Abram's name great, not
Abram in the
style of
tive, the
phrase, "all the earth" (Cr,xAhA-lKA) occurs once at the beginning, twice
in the
development of the narrative, and twice in the last verse. As with the
words there
and name, this phrase participates in the divine reversal of human
intentions. Both of these keywords and phrases frame the
text with vocabulary
crucial for
the depiction of the text's central action and for defining the outside
limits of
the text. The mini clusters of the key
words and the key phrase at the
end of the
text underscore its central interest and the reversal. Thus, key words
and phrases
not only contribute to understanding the significance of the text
but also to
its structure.
6 Shimon Bar-Efrat, Narrative
Art in the Bible (Sheffield: Almond Press, 1989), 212.
7 From here on, Gen. 11:1-9
will be the illustrative example.
13
CALVIN THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL 14
The
Organization of the Text
A single reading of a text is insufficient
to determine the narrative order,
organization,
or structure of the text. Several
attentive readings of the text that
include
examination of the beginning and end of the narrative, its develop-
ment, and
the occurrence and location of key words prepare the reader for the
next
step: an examination of the text to
determine its organization or structure.
Staying with
our example of Genesis 11:1-9, the following observations are per-
tinent. An examination of the narrative and speech
portions shows that in
verses 1-4,
the narrative focuses on what the human community proposes to do
in order to
prevent being scattered about the earth.
But in verse 5, the text
switches to
the divine perspective. When God comes
down to examine the sit-
uation, his
speech of reversal mimics the residents' speech ("Come, let us. . .
,"
vv. 3, 4;
"Come, let us . . . ," v. 7).
Thus, the narrative movement from the
expressed
desire of "all the earth" to build community and a reputation, to the
divine
response that ends in the dispersal of the community with an unwanted
reputation,
suggests that the text is composed of two scenes: verses 1-4 and 5-9.
Verse 5
functions as the pivot upon which the reversal turns: "But the Lord
came down. .
. . "8
This brief study of Genesis 11:1-9 also
suggests four criteria for discerning
the text's
constituent parts, either internally or in relationship to its context.
First there
is a significant shift in major characters, from the human to the
divine; or
place, from the perspective of the earth to that of heaven. The inclu-
sios or
frames created by the appearance of Mwe-MwA and Cr,xAhA-lKA at
the begin-
ning and
ending of the text is an example of how, second, framing repetitions
are useful
devices for uncovering the structure of a text. Third, iconographic
grouping around a particular theme, present in
Gensis 11:1-9 in the moving
toward a
place for unity and the scattering from that place provides narrative
unity.
Hence, the shift to another theme also suggests that the narrative is mov-
ing to
depict another concern. Finally, the presence of a culminating, or sum-
marizing scene at the end of a series of episodic
scenes, indicates the end of a
narrative
section. Genesis 11:1-9 itself is the last narrative scene of Geneses 1:1-
11:26 (Gen.
11:10-26 is genealogical). The first two
criteria for distinguishing
scenes are
well known and acknowledged in biblical and literary studies; the
others merit
further consideration. I will briefly
discuss these with reference to
ancient Near
Eastern pictorial narrative.
Irene J. Winter's study of the Standard of
Ur shows that the narrative is com-
posed of a
series of registers. Reading from the
bottom up,
8 For a more detailed exposition
of this text and other factors for determining the structure, see
J. P.
Fokkehnan, Narrative Art in Genesis:
Specimens of Stylistic and Structural Analysis (Assen:
Van Gorcum,
1975), 11-45. For a briefer analysis, see Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 1-15
(
1987),
234-46.
14
READING
EXODUS TO LEARN AND LEARNING TO READ EXODUS
15
the horizontal registers progress from
battle chariots at the bottom to the
gathering of prisoners in the middle to
the presentation of the prisoners
before a larger central figure, presumably
a ruler, at the top. On the other
side, the scene proceeds from the amassing
of pack animals and goods in the
lower register to the procession of food
animals and men bearing fish in the
middle to the banquet in the upper
register that is again dominated by a
slightly larger figure in a flounced
skirt, probably the ruler. In fact, the
dom-
inant, primary position of the ruler at the
center of the upper register of the
battle side, the culmination of the
sequence, is comparable to the position
of Eannatum in the upper register of the
Stele ofVultures.9
According to
Winter each register is unique in its depiction by means of the
technique of
iconographic grouping, in which each register is dominated by
one central
image or icon: amassing for battle, presentation of prisoners, and
so
forth. The juxtaposition of the
individual registers forms a series of episodes
whose narrative
progression is linear and tends to a particular image that the
artist wants
to impress upon the audience. This impression the artist places at
the end of a
series of narrative reliefs, in the culminating scene, a register that
summarizes
the essence of the antecedent account by depicting the central
event and
its major characters. According to Ann
Perkins, the culminating
scene
depicts "one group of figures, one moment of time, at the climax of a
series of
events."10
Iconographic grouping and the culminating
scene as organizational devices
are not
foreign to biblical literature. For
example, Ian Parker Kim argues that
the
"disappearance of three royal enemies in the first part of the frame story
is
paralleled
by the appearance of three royal enemies in the second part of the
frame
story."11 Grouping of
particular characters serves to segment a particular
unit and
helps us to understand some of is thematic significance. Genesis 11:1-
9 fits
Perkins' definition of a culminating scene.
It stands at the end of a series
of events
(from creation to this narrative moment), there is a basic group of fig-
ures (the
Lord and the descendants of Adam [MdAxAhA yneB; 11:5]) at one
9 Irene J. Winter, "After the
Historical
Narrative in the Art of the Ancient Near East," in Pictorial Narrative
in Antiquity
and the Middle Ages, ed. Herbert L. Kessler and Marianna
Shreve Simpson (
National
Gallery of Art, 1985), 19. See also her "Royal Rhetoric and the
Development of Historical
Narrative in
Neo-Assyrian Reliefs," Studies in Visual Communication 7
(1981):2-38. These
studies
develop concepts presented in a 1955 symposium on visual narrative. See articles by
Carl H.
Kraeling, Ann Perkins, and Hans G. Gilterbock in volume 61 (1957) of the
American
Journal of
Archaeology. I developed this material
in relationship to Exodus in my, "An Iconogaphy
of Order:
Kingship in Exodus. A Study of the Structure of Exodus" (Th.D. diss.,
University of
in
Italian Churches, 431-1600 (
10 Ann Perkins, "Narration
in Babylonian Art, " American
Journal of Archaelogy 61 (1957): 55.
11 Ian Parker Kim,
"Repetition as a Structuring Device in 1 Kings I-11," Journal for the Study
of the Old Testament 42 (1988): 42. 15
CALVIN THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL 16
moment in
time (the expulsion by confusion). The
image this scene leaves
behind is
clear: Adam's descendants cannot thwart the Lord's purposes, they
will have to
take account of heaven in all their cultural activities.
The Argument
The first four steps constitute a
geographic reconnaisance of the text in
which the
reader becomes familiar with the landscape of the text; its hills, val-
leys,
straight places, and unexpected features.
Moving from this reconnaisance
to the
text's significance without keeping its major features in mind allows the
reader to
forget or avoid parts of the textual landscape.
For example, discus-
sions of the
and the fact
that after the Lord's descent, they stopped building the city, not the
tower. (Artistic reprsentations of this narrative
often depict an unfinished
tower.) By neglecting the city, the reader can also
ignore the city-state imperial
structure of
that time, a not unimportant feature for hearing the text. Similarly,
Exodus
commentaries often pay only lip service to the tabernacle section,
although it
occupies ten chapters of the narrative.
Such a practice can only
result in a
superficial grasp of the text's significance.
Thus, after reviewing the beginning and the
ending, understanding the
development
of the narrative with its key words and phrases, and discerning
the
structure or narrative order, it is important to state the argument12
of the
text. The argument, the subject of the discourse or
an outline, not a debate or
controversy,
consists of a reduced narration of what the text recounts in great
detail; at
the same time it preserves substantively the most important details.
The purpose
of this exercise is to fix most exactly and clearly what the surface
structure of
the narrative states before moving on to the significance of the
text. By using the text's own narrative sequence
and vocabulary, closeness to
the text is
best preserved. Stating the argument of the text is the crucial first
step toward
understanding its purpose or intention. As an example, I suggest
the
following as the argument of Genesis 11:1-9:
When all the earth was of one speech
people gathered at
decided to build a city with a tower to
make a name for themselves and to
keep from being scattered over the earth. The Lord came down to see the
12 Calvin prefaces his
commentary on Genesis with an argument.
See his Commentaries on
the First Book of Moses called Genesis, trans. John King (Grand Rapids: Baker,
1981), 57-66.
The argument
proper is stated on pp. 64-65. For
further discussion on argument and scope see
Gerald T.
Sheppard, "Between Reformation and Modern Commentary: The Perception of
the
Scope of
Biblical Books," in A Commentary on
Galatians: William Perkins, Pilgrim Classic
Commentaries, ed. Gerald T. Sheppard (New York:
Pilgrim, 1989), xlviii-lxxvii. A good
contemporary
example of the argument, called the story line, of the Pentateuch is found in
Joseph
Blenkinsopp,
The Pentateuch: An Introduction to the First Five Books of the Bible (
Doubleday,
1992), 31-33. Because Genesis 11:1-9 is short, the argument seems inordinately
long.
This is the
result of paying close attention to several key words that are crucial for the
text's
significance. 16
READING
EXODUS TO LEARN AND LEARNING TO READ EXODUS
17
city and its tower Adam's descendants were
building. Having determined to
confound them by confusing their language,
the Lord scattered them over
the whole earth, so they stopped building
the city. He called the city
because from there he confused their
language and scattered them over all
the earth.
Note how I
have maintained the text's indefinite subject "they" until they are
defined as
"Adam's descendants" in the context of the Lord's descent (v. 5).
This crucial
conjunction of subjects in the middle of the text coincides with the
pivot fiat
divides the text into two subunits.
Naming the
"Adam's
descendants" also links this text with the beginning of human history
and the
first city builder, Cain, firstborn son of Adam (Gen. 4:17) .
The Theme
When the argument of the text is clearly
formulated, including the essential
details of
the text, it is possible to define the theme of the text. By removing the
details of
the argument, the theme appears as the clearest expression of what
the author
wants to communicate. Thus, the theme of
Genesis 11:1-9 is: The
Lord
scatters the descendants of Adam over the whole earth by confusing
their
language at
In summary, the steps for an attentive
reading13 of the text are:
(1) Examine
the
beginning and ending of the narrative.
(2) Read the entire text to uncover
the
development of the text. (3) Identify
the key words and phrases. (4)
Determine
the text's organization or structure.14 (5) State die argument of the
text. (6) Formulate the theme of the text. In the rest of this article, I will use
these steps
to read Exodus.
Learning to Read Exodus
The
Beginning and Ending
An examination of the beginning and ending
of Exodus uncovers several
themes
indicated by the repetition of key words or phrases. They are blessing,
filling the
earth, building, slavery, and the mountain.
Together they form the
frame within
which the narrative action takes place.
I will briefly examine each
one of these
elements of the frame.
13 These ideas for reading a
text are based on the work of Fernando Lazaro Carreter and
Evaristo
Correa Calderon,
[
14 As discussed above, the
following would be involved in the definition of structure: (a)
major change
in characters or shift of location, (b) framing repetitions, (c) iconographic
grouping,
and, (d)
culminating scene.
17
CALVIN THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL 18
From
Blessing to Blessing
After reviewing the arrival of Jacob and
his sons, the opening verses of chap-
ter 1 recall
Joseph's earlier arrival and his death. But death will not be the last
word for
these descendants of Abraham, for they live under the marvellous
promise of
blessing (Gen. 15:5; 22:17). Using the
familiar words of the blessing
from Genesis
1:28; and 9:1,7, repeated to the patriarchs (Gen. 17:2, 6; 26:4, 23;
35:11), the
Exodus narrative counters death in Joseph's generation: "but the
Israelites
were fruitful (hrAPA) and
multiplied greatly (CrawA and hbArA) and
became
exceedingly numerous (McafA), so
that the land was filled (xlemA)
with
them"
(1:7). The Lord's promise of blessing to
than that,
since these words echo the blessing spoken in Genesis 1 and 9, the
Lord's
benediction upon all the descendants of Adam and Eve (the nations) is
also
partially fulfilled. That is, even as
all the world came to
from death
by famine through the work of Joseph son of Abraham (Gen. 41:56-
57), so now
in
the
instrumentality of Abraham (Gen. 12:3).
Exodus begins with a word of
blessing,
and it reminds the reader that what God began to do with Abraham is
being
fulfilled in
Exodus also ends with blessing. After
furnishings,
and the priestly apparel, we read:
"The Israelites had done all the
work just as
the Lord had commanded Moses. Moses
inspected the work and
saw that
they had done it just as the Lord had commanded. So Moses blessed
them"
(39:42-43). Two things are remarkable
about this text: its echo of
Genesis
1:31-2:3 and the object of Moses' blessing.
Parallels between Exodus 39-40 and Genesis
1:31-2:3 have long been recog-
nized.15 Pertinent are the following texts:
Genesis Exodus
God saw all
that he had made Moses
inspected the work
(hWf
rwx lk) and it (hnhv) was (hkxlmh
lkA) and saw that they
very good.
(1:31) had
done it (htvx UWf hnhv) just
as the Lord had commanded39:43
Thus the
heavens and earth were So
was completed all (lk lktv
completed (Ulkyv) in all (lkv) the
work on the Tabernacle,
their vast
array. (2:1) the
Tent of Meeting. (39:32)
God finished
the work he had And
so Moses finished the work.
been doing
(. . . Myhlx lkyv (hkxlmh tx hwm lkyv) hWf
rwx Otkxlm) (2:2) (40:33)
15 Nehama Leibowitz discusses Abranavel's
and Rashi's comments on the parallels. She also
states that
Martin Buber discovered seven correspondences between the creation and
tabernacle
accounts. See her Studies in Shemot: Part Two,
trans. Aryeh Newman (
Association,
1983), 479. See also Moshe Weinfeld,
"Sabbath,
Lord-the Problem of the Sitz im Leben of Gen.
1: 1-2:3," in Melanges bibliques et orientaux en
l'honneur deM. Henri Gazelles, ed.A Caquot and M. Delcor
(Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1981), 501-12. 18
READING
EXODUS TO LEARN AND LEARNING TO READ EXODUS
19
And God
blessed (jrbyv) the
So Moses
blessed them (Mtx
seventh day.
(2:3) jrbyv) (39:43)
These parallel texts in Exodus describe
does in
Genesis: the work of creation and
blessing. Minimally this suggests that
the
activities of creating and making the tabernacle are linked--maximally that
they are
analogical--the tabernacle being a microcosm of the creation. This
analogy is
reinforced by the reference to
tdabofE-lKA,
39:32) and its echo in Genesis 2:15, where Adam and Eve are
instructed
to work (dbafA) and
guard (Gen. 2:15) the garden in God's pres-
ence. Gordon J. Wenham has argued that these verbs
are only used elsewhere
to describe
the Levites' duty in working and guarding the tabernacle. He con-
cludes that
"if
be described
as an archetypal Levite."16
If this is a correct reading, it suggests
that
priestly
activity in the mediate presence of God.
Strikingly, after finishing their
"priestly" work, the Israelites bring the appur-
tenances of
the tabernacle to Moses and he blesses them, even as God had
blessed Adam
and Eve (Gen. 1:28). At the end of
Exodus, the descendants of
Adam and Eve
by way of Abraham receive Moses' blessing.
Unlike the rest of
Adam's
descendants who continue life outside of God's presence, these chil-
dren of Adam
and Abraham are beginning to enjoy the presence of God again
and to do
the work for which all of Adam's descendants were created.
The blessing of Moses in Exodus 39, then,
fulfills a double duty: It recalls
God's
blessing depicted at the opening of Genesis as well as the blessing to
which Exodus
1:7 refers by means of its vocabulary.
Thus, the ending of Exodus
links
biblical
narrative and by the particularist application of the blessing at the
beginning of
Exodus--an application operative in the Old Testament epoch of
the biblical
narrative. It is the particularist
application of blessing, by reference
to
a frame for
the Exodus narrative.
From the
Filling of the Land to the Filling of the Earth
As a result of the Lord's blessing,
Abraham's descendants fill the land (MtAxo
Cr,xAhA xlem.ATiva, 1:7; cf. Gen. 1:28: (Cr,xAhA-tx, Uxl;miU) of
of the lord
of the land,
16 Gordon J. Wenham, “Sanctuary
Symbolism in me
of the Ninth World Congress of Jewish Studies:
Division A, the Period of the Bible (
World
17 This noun along with db,f, and the verb dbafA; form an import cluster of key words that
focus
the
narrative on
CALVIN THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL 20
Babel-like
language18 the text describes Pharaoh's cruel attempts to contain
sumably,
fills the land. At the end of the
narrative, after Moses assembles the
tabernacle
"the glory of the Lord filled (xlemA) the tabernacle" (40:34, 35). This
key word
repetition of the verb "to fill" forms an inclusio for the book. What, is
the
relationship between the occurrences of this verb at the beginning and
ending of
Exodus?
"The land" (Cr,xAhA) can refer to a specific country such as
12:1), or
the whole earth as in Genesis 1:1, 28.
referent in
Exodus 1:7, but its specific blessing vocabulary recalls Genesis 1:28,
which
focuses on the whole earth. This
requires that "the land" in 1:7 perform
double duty,
a task that supplies a profound ambiguity in 1:7:
the
also a
partial realization of the Lord's purposes for Adam's descendants--to fill
the whole
earth. Again, the redemptively
particular work of the Lord is linked
with his
originally universal purposes.
Similarly the Lord's "filling"
the tabernacle in Exodus 40. Numbers 14:21
states what
is apparently a present reality: "as surely as the glory of the Lord fills
the whole
earth" (Cr,xAhA-lKA-tx, hvhy-dObk; xlem.Ayiv;),
as do the words of the
cherubim: "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his
glory"
(Isa. 6:3). This reality, that the whole
earth is full of the glory of the Lord,
is only
revealed to
by the rest
of Adam's descendants. According to
Paul, it is sinfully ignored
(
ing of the
tabernacle, the microcosm of the creation.
Thus,
"the
land" and the Lord's filling of the tabernacle both anticipate subsequent
redemptive
acts that will more fully disclose this truth (John 1:14): the Lord fills
the earth
(Acts 1:8) with his people (Acts 2:4; Eph. 1:23; Col. 2:10).
From
Building for
Pharaoh's fear of
to build the
store cities of Pithom and Rameses. The
decision to limit
growth by
subordinating her strength to the extension of Pharaoh's renown
sets him in
conflict with the Lord's promise to bless
It is not
strange, therefore, that the construction materials, "mortar and
bricks"
(Mynibel;biU
rm,HoB;, 1:14)
recall the
episode for
human cultural rebellion against God now functions as the
hermeneutical
background that defines Pharaoh's action as a challenge
against the
Creator. But his challenge fails;
Abraham's descendants swarm all
over
18 Note the imperative plus
cohortative construction hmAK;Hat;ni hbAhA in 1:10 and the building
materials:
brick and mortar in 1:14 (cf. Gen. 11:3, 4). 20
READING
EXODUS TO LEARN AND LFARNING TO READ EXODUS
21
Pharaoh's
store cities (tOnK;s;mi yrefA), 1:11).
At the beginning of
Abraham 's
descendants, is Pharaoh's de facto vassal people; they work to build
his store
cities (tOnK;m;mi yrefA). When the Lord
acknowledges their cries, he
remembers
his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (2:23-25) and begins
a process
that ends in Pharaoh's defeat,
ceremony
that makes them his special people (19:4-6).
At the end of the nar-
rative, they
are still building, but now they are constructing the tabernacle
(NKaw;mi
+ hDAbfE,
39:32). Thus, the text links
Lord's
dwellingplace by assonance: miskan/mishkan. With this wordplay, the
text
constructs a frame for the narrative:
the building of the kingdom of
Pharaoh and
the building that expresses the reign of God.
From the
In addition to
land" (Cr,xAhA-Nmi
hlAfAv;,
1:10). Their leaving implies a loss of
valuable service
and a loss
of face for Pharaoh.19 But,
by the end of the narrative,
way,
although not on their own; their movements depend upon the lifting
(hlAfA) of the glory cloud from the tabernacle
(40:36, 372).
not occur at
the end of the narrative, the audience knows the promise that the
Lord will
take them from
and spacious
land, a land flowing with milk and honey" (wbAd;U blAHA tbazA
Cr,x,-lx, hbAHArU hbAOF Cr,x,-lx, xvhiha Cr,xAhA-Nmi
OtlofEhal;U), 3:8). The
verb
"to
bring up" (hlAfA) is
also used to depict the movement of the glory cloud
from the
tabernacle (40:36-38).
does not
wander aimlessly in the desert; the glory cloud leads. Thus, the goal is
clear: The Lord is directing them toward the
12:1), there
to serve him alone (dbafA,
23:24, 25).
From the
Mountain to the Tabernacle
In the opening scene of Exodus 3, God
speaks to Moses from the burning
bush in the
vicinity of "the
phanic fire
(wxe, 3:32) Moses must remove his
shoes. Similarly, when the fire
appears on
19 Moshe Greenberg writes that "our
story assumes that Pharaoh claimed absolute authority
over all in his
domain. For the Israelites to win their
freedom . .would not have been so much a
loss to
from
his Understanding Exodus (New York: Behrman House, 1969), 22-23. 21
CALVIN THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL 22
(19:13). After the covenant has been sealed,
consuming
fire" (tl,k,xo wxe,
24:17) in contrast to "the bush which did not
burn" (lKaxu
Un.n,yxe hn,s;hav;, 3:2). The fire of the Lord's presence is
potentially
life
threatening for
is in
is also part
of the frame that encloses the Exodus narrative.
Conclusion
The frame of Exodus enables an integral
reading of the narrative by com-
pelling the
reader to account for the whole text according to its elements as
repeated at
the beginning and the ending.
Recognizing these elements will
guide the
reading of the entire text by reminding the reader of the narrative
threads
interwoven throughout the text and by moving the reader toward the
consciously
designed ending.21 Attention
to these elements and the way they
develop also
helps avoid a tendentious or partial intetpretation.22 This frame
tells the
reader that the narrator takes
in the
presence of God. The narrator tells this
story by organizing the para-
graphs, or
subunits, into the narrative before us.
So that the audience will prop-
erly hear
this narrative, essential to its being and survival, it is crucial to discern
the limits,
organization, and juxtaposition of these subunits.
The Development of the Narrative
Reading Exodus from beginning to ending
helps the reader to become
familiar
with the landscape of the text so that subsequent detailed study is
anchored in
and shaped by the contours of the text's particular interests. Such
a
reconnaissance seeks answers to questions such as: What is happening? Who
is
involved? What literary devices shape
the narrative? Where do significant
20 The bush (hn,s;ha) anticipates Sinai (ynaysi), as do Greenberg, Understanding Exodus, 69-70,
Fretheim, Exodus , 55; and Benno Jacob, The Second Book of the Bible: Exodus,
Trans. with an
introduction by Walter Jacob (Hoboken, NJ.:
KTAV, 1992), 50.
21 It is important to recognize
that canonical literature is read often, that the reader does not
come to the
text de novo, but time and again. Unlike
mystery novels, it is crucial to read the Bible,
and the
individual books within it, in the light of the ending. Without the ending, of Exodus or
Scripture as
a whole, we would be engaged in a "hopeless" reading.
22 For example, readings of
Exodus that focus primarily on the liberation from
Severino
Croatto, Exodus: A Hermeneutics of Freedom (New York: Maryknoll, 1981)
Jorge V. Pixley,
On Exodus:
A Liberationist Perspective trans. Robert R Barr (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1987);
or, a reading
that reduces to a minimum the interpretation
of the tabernacle narrative such as Rita J. Burns,
Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers with Excurses on Feasts/Ritual and Typology (
Glazier,
1983), 180-81. This is typical of many
commentaries on Exodus. 22
READING
EXODUS TO LEARN AND LEARNING TO READ EXODUS
23
changes in
texture occur? What are the markers that
indicate such changes?
Now that
some of these questions have been addressed in the opening and
closing
chapters of Exodus, I turn to a first reading of the text to discern the
development
of the narrative.
Reading
Exodus from Beginning to End
The opening chapters introduce the
protagonists of the narrative:
Pharaoh,
Moses, and the Lord. They also define
the narrative problem:
Pharaoh's
oppression of
him and
sengers,
denies knowing the Lord (5:2), refuses to let
her
burdens. Through Moses, the Lord
announces the plagues that will cause
God
alone. These plagues will also proclaim
his power to the nations (9:16).
But Pharaoh
stubbornly refuses. When the tenth
plague overwhelms
firstborns
on Passover night, Pharaoh relents and sends
Lord, but he
repents of this and pursues
Reeds. The Lord manipulates the waters of judgment
so that
the
seashore, they believe in the Lord and his servant Moses (14:30-31; cf. 4:1,
4,8-9). Led by Moses and
The narrative problem enunciated in
chapters 1-2 has been resolved: The
Lord heard
his power.
olution of
the narrative problem occur within a conceptual framework familiar
to
effectively
concludes the narrative.24
Because Pharaoh has died, it would seem
that the exodus narrative should
come to a
close with the psalm; the common use of Exodus suggests this. But
the journey
begun on Passover night (12:37) moves beyond the sea, into the
desert
(15:22), where
move in to
the desert, away from
that God
would take
direction is
clear, the goal will not yet be realized.
The new location is crucial:
On the way
to the land, that is, in the desert, the narrative develops the theme
of
dependence upon the Lord. In the inhospitable desert,
23 On the lament pattern as a basis for
understanding Exodus 1-15:21 as a unit see James
Plastaras, The
God of Exodus: The Theology of the Exodus Narrative (
Publishing,
1966), 49-57, and C. Westennann, Praise and Lament in the Psalms, trans.
Keith
R Crim and
Richard N. Sowen (Atlanta:John Knox, 1981), 260.
24 Other psalms that close a
narrative: Gen. 49; 2 Sam. 22, 23:1-7.
Psalms that are part of a
narrative
opening: I Sam. 2:1-10; Luke 1:46-55; 67-79. 23
CALVIN THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL 24
manna, and
divine protection from the nations represented by Amalek. All this
is to break
her dependence upon
praise of
God and wise administration offered by a Gentile, Jethro, Moses'
father-in-law.
Noteworthy at the beginning and ending of
this material are the clusters of
legal
vocabulary (15:25, 26; 18:13, 16, 22-26).
They not only anticipate the
Lord's Sinai
speech and suggest that
Lord's
particular word but also frame the desert narrative. By framing
desert
experience, these clusters require the reader to put on the lenses of
torah
(15:25; 18:16). Bitter service to
Pharaoh is a distant memory; now
learns to
live with the Lord's sweetener of the bitter waters in the desert torah
(15:25; cr.
Ps. 19:8-10). Self-determination is not
a possibility for
Although
begins to
focus on a specific location within the desert the25 mountain (19:2;
cf.
3:12). Even though the mountain is mentioned in
18:5, the text indicates anew
thematic
development by the summarizing disjunctive clauses in 19:1-2, which
reach back
to
Exodus 19:3
begins the narrative proper of this subunit, an account of Moses'
ascents into
and descents from the presence of God during which he receives
and
transmits to
ascend into
God's immediate presence, on pain of death (19:12-13; cf. 20:18-19).
In God's
dangerous presence,
with a
self-maledictory oath (24:8). After
this, Moses alone ascends into the
glory cloud
and stays there for forty days and forty nights (24:18).
The narrative accounts of Moses' ascents
and descents26 in chapters 19 and
24 frame the
covenant instruction material (20:1-17; 21:1-23:19) and embed it
in a
narrative that depicts the presence of a God that
experienced. This fiery presence of God provides
motivation for
dience at
the
Moses' final
ascent brings him into the presence of God that
"looked
like a consuming fire" (24:17).
25 The article suggests a
specific mountain, which in the context of Exodus can only be the
mountain
where God revealed himself to Moses, the mountain of which he said
"you" (pl.) will
worship me
there (3:12).
26 Moses' ascents to and
descents from Sinai continue up to and including Exodus 34. Some
commentators
argue that these form segmentation markers: Thomas B. Dozeman, "Spatial
Form
in Exodus
19:1-8a and in the Larger Sinai Narrative," Semeia 46 (1989): 96;
Rolf P. Knierim, "The
Composition
of the Pentateuch," in Seminar Papers: The Society of Biblical
Literature Annual
Meeting (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1985), 400-403, argues that this pattern
organizes Exodus
19:3-39:43. He takes 34:29-39:43 as the last
unit. However, the Lord's speeches in
25-31 are
instructions
for the building of the Lord's dwelling, not covenant stipulations or
instruction.
24
READING
EXODUS TO LFARN AND LEARNING TO READ EXODUS
25
The Lord's first speech to Moses at the
top of Sinai, however, initiates a
wholly new,
and unexpected, theme: the building of a sanctuary for the Lord's
dwelling in
low six
speeches detailing the offerings, the specifications for the sanctuary fur-
nishings and
the sanctuary, the design of the priestly appurtenances and the
instructions
for their consecration, and instructions for Bezalel and Oholiab
(25:1-31:11). The seventh speech (31:12-17) reminds
Sabbath as a
sign for the generation to come "so that you may know that I am
the Lord,
who makes you holy" (31:13); they are to celebrate it "for genera-
tions to
come as a lasting covenant" (31:16).28 Then, the Lord gives Moses the
two tables
of the Testimony (31:18).
The distance between God and
is redefined
in these seven speeches. Where before
God brings
(19:4) but
keeps them at a safe distance (19:12-13), now he wants to dwell in
the
tabernacle (25:9).
an
"incarnational" medium by which the distance is minimized and the
near-
ness
maximized so that he might meet with his people. With the tabernacle,
God is
creating space for his people to know and enjoy him forever (29:43-46).
Throughout 25-31, Moses remains in God's
presence at the top of Sinai.
Abruptly,
however, the narrative shifts the reader's attention to the people who
are awaiting
Moses at the foot of Sinai (32:1).
Motivated by the people's impa-
tience,
Aaron fashions a calf in whose presence
ture of
prescribed and alien elements (32:6).
Lord's
presence brings on his wrath. Were it
not for Moses' intercession in
God's
immediate presence,
(32:7-14;
cf. 3:2-5). Thereafter Moses descends
and breaks the tables of the law,
thereby
symbolizing the broken covenant; three thousand Israelites die at
the hands of
the Levites (32:15-29). When Moses
ascends to plead for pardon
(32:30), the
Lord first reminds him that the sinners will die for their own rebel-
lion (32:33)
and then declares that Moses will not accompany
Promised
Land because their stubbornness ("stiffnecked," Jrefo-hw,q;, 33:3, 5;
34:9; cf.
32:9) may provoke divine destruction.29 Moses continues to plead that
God be
present with his people and that he show him his glory. The Lord
grants his
requests and speaks a word of mercy (33:12-23).
Moses then prepares
two new
stone tablets upon which he will write the words of the covenant again
27 See Peter J.
die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 89 (1977): 375-87.
28 See Rolf Rendtorff. "'Covenant' as
a Structuring Concept in Genesis and Exodus. Journal
of Biblical Literature l08 (1989): 385-93.
29
The narrative describes
See the verb
(hwAqA) in 7:3 and 13:15 and the adjective in
1:14 and 6:9. How does
25
CALVIN THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL 26
(34:1-4, 27-28). Before the covenant renewal takes place, the
Lord reveals his
compassionate
and gracious nature: He is slow to anger
but will not let the
guilty go
unpunished (34:6-7). This compassionate
and gracious God renews
the covenant
and forgives his stubborn people. Moses
again descends, this time
with the
tablets of the renewed covenant.
Thereafter, whenever Moses consults
with God in
his presence, he veils his face to protect
of God
(34:29-35).
In these chapters,
delivered
only free
from Pharaoh but also forgiven by God.
Only so do they begin to fash-
ion the
appurtenances of the tabernacle. A
thematic change in 35:1-3 takes the
reader back
to the subject of the Sabbath, treated immediately before the nar-
rative of
After the golden calf episode, Moses
assembles the community and trans-
mits the
Lord's instructions for the offerings (cf. 25:1-7) necessary for the con-
struction of
the tabernacle.
under the
leadership of Bezalel and Oholiab, begins the building project (35:1-
36:7).
ending with
the gold plate for Aaron's turban upon which is inscribed: "Holy
to the
Lord" (36:8-39:31). Then, in a
narrative evocative of Genesis 1:31-2:3, 30
the items to
Moses (39:32-41), who blesses them (39:42-43).
Moses assembles and consecrates the
tabernacle and the priesthood on new
year's
day: the first day of the first month,
in the second year (40:2, 17; cf.
12:1).31 After Moses finishes his work (40:33), the
glory of the Lord fills the
sanctuary: God is in the midst of and leads his forgiven
people on their journey
(40:34-38).
Conclusion
After reading through the development of
the Exodus narrative from begin-
ning to end,
I conclude that Exodus is composed of six major narrative sub-
units:
1:1-15:21; 15:22-18:27; 19:1-24:18; 25:1-31:18; 32-34; and 35-40.32 But what
30 See pp.18-19 above.
31 On this day the flood
waters dried up from the earth and Noah removed the covering from
the ark,
Genesis 6:13.
32 I
discuss this segmentation more fully in my, "An Iconography of Order:
Kingship in
Exodus. A Study of the Structure of Exodus,.
116-332. For recent studies with a
similar
segmentation
see, Walter Brueggemann, "The Book of Exodus," in The New
Interpreter's
Bible, vol. 1 (Nashville: Abingdon,
1994),687-89;
and its
Structure, in his The Five Books of
Moses: A New Translation with Introductions,
Commentary and Notes (New York: Schocken, 1995), 241-47. A different arrangement is
proposed by Mark S. Smith, "The Literary
Arrangement of the Priestly Redaction of
Exodus: A
Preliminary Investigation, Catholic Biblical Quarterly 58, no. 1 (1996):
25-50. 26
READING
EXODUS TO LEARN AND LEARNING TO RFAD EXODUS
27
is the
interrelationship among the subunits? In
the following part, I will begin
to answer
this by pointing to the themes of Exodus as indicated by key words
and phrases.
The Key Words of Exodus
In this section, I will focus on clustered
key words and phrases that not only
emphasize
the major themes but also support the definition of the major nar-
rative
subsections of Exodus as defined above.
The first important cluster of key words
refers to servitude (hdAbofE.
db,f,.
dbafA) and
occurs approximately ninety-seven times in the Exodus narrative.
They are
distributed as follows: sixty-seven times in 1:1-15:21, seventeen times
in 19-24,
two times in 32-34, and eleven times (only hdAbofE) in 35-40. Within 1:1-
15:21, these
words occur thirty-three times in the plagues pericope (7:8-11:10).
The heavy
concentration of this word complex and its complete absence from
15:22-18:27
suggests that 1:1-15:21 forms a major narrative subunit that answers
the
question: Whom will
declares
that the Lord reigns forever (15:18); the construction narrative
depicts
behalf.
Other key words help answer this question
and support the argument that
1:1-15:21
forms a subunit. First, the verbs
describing the hardening of
Pharaoh's
heart (qzaHA. hwAqA. dbeKa), whether Pharaoh or the Lord is the subject
of these
verbs,33 occur throughout.
Second, the verb "to know" (fdayA) describes
the result
of God's mighty acts in
will
acknowledge the Lord as God. Third, "to believe, to trust" (NmexA)34 in the
Lord or
Moses, a theme introduced at the time of Moses' commissioning, is
resolved at
the sea when
then
believes in the Lord and his servant Moses (14:31).
These key words, along with the movement
from lament to praise and the
resolution
of the conflict depicted in the opening chapters, support the con-
tention that
1:1-15:21 forms a major narrative subunit.
As already observed in the reading of
graphic
shift to the desert distinguishes this part from the previous narrative.
Several
clusters of key words support this contention. The key words test (hsAnA),
15:25, 16:4;
17:2, 7), bread (MH,l,,
16:3, 4, 8, 12, 15, 22, 29, 32), water(Myima,
15:22, 23,
25, 27; 17:1, 2, 3, 6), to complain (NUl, 15:24, 16:2, 7, 8, 9, 12; 17:3),
and to set
out (fsanA, 15:21, 16:1; 17:1) typically occur in
15:22-17:7, which
depicts
33 Pharaoh hardens his heart
ten times (7:13, 14, 22; 8:11, 15, 28; 9:7, 34, 35; 13:15); the Lord
also hardens
Pharaoh's heart ten times (4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8, 17).
34 The verb occurs in 4:1, 5,
8, 9, 31; 14:31. Gerhard von Rad ("Beobachtungen an den
Moseerzahlungen
Exodus 1-14," Evanglilische
Theologie 31 [1971]: 579-88) called attention
to the
overarching function of this key word. 27
CALVIN THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL 28
perceived
threat to her life, the Lord's sustenance in the desert, and the pro-
bative value
of the experience. In 17:8-18:27, the
key words are to do battle and
battle (hmAhAl;mi MHalA,
17:8, 9, 10, 16)), hand (dya, 17:9, 11, 12, 16; 18:9, 10), to be
heavy,
weighty (dbeKa, 17:12; 18:18), to sit (bwayA, 17:12; 18:13, 14), to judge (FbawA,
to save,
deliver (lcanA, 18:4, 8, 9, 10), and the phrase everything
the Lord/Moses
had done (hvhy-hWAfA-rw,xE-lKA-tx,, 18:1, 8, 9, 14, 17, 20, 24).
With these, the
text
develops the themes of external and internal threat as represented by Amalek
and disputes
among the people and how they are resolved.
Most important, however, is the
clustering of legal vocabulary at the begin-
ning and end
of this unit: to judge and judgment (FPAw;mi
FpawA, 15:25; 18:13, 16,
222,
262), decree (qHo, 15:25, 26; 18:16, 20), to command and commandment
(hvAc;mi
hUAci, 15:25; 18:23), to
listen to (lOqB; or LOql; fmawA, 15:26; 18:19, 24),
and to
instruct and torah/law (hrAOR.
hrAyA, 15:25; 18: 16). By framing the text with
these
clusters, the narrator leads the audience to evaluate the narrated events
from the
perspective of God's law as the giver of life, sustenance, and order. It
also defines
15:22-18:27 as the second major narrative subunit. The subsequent
shift to a
specific location in the desert, Mt Sinai (19:1-2), argues for the begin-
ning of a
new unit and therefore supports the claim that 15:22-18:27 is the sec-
ond major
narrative unit.
The shift to Sinai in chapter 19 includes
a different vocabulary. Three of the
following
five chapters deal almost exclusively with legal, not building, instruc-
tions, and
the other two narrate the offer and sealing of a covenant. This sug-
gests that
the central concern in these chapters is covenant stipulations. The
clustering
of related terminology supports this: the word (in reference to the
Lord's
words; rbADA,
19:6, 7, 8, 9; 20:1; 22:92, 23:7, 8; 24:32, 4, 8,14); covenant
(tyriB;), 19:5; 23:32; 24:7, 8); judgment (FPAw;mi, 21:1, 9, 31; 23:6; 24:3); and
Another cluster of words describes the
ascents and descents of Moses on the
mountain,
the descent of the Lord on the mountain, and the fiery presence of
the Lord.
They are: to go up (hlAfA, 19:3, 13, 18, 20, 24; 24:1, 2, 9, 12,
13, 15, 18);
to descend (drayA, 19:11, 14, 18, 20, 21, 24, 25); mountain (rha, 19:2, 3, 11, 122, 13,
14, 16, 17,
182, 203, 232; 20:18; 24:4, 12, 13, 152,
16, 17, 182), the Lord's instruc-
tions that
tHata,
24:4), and fire (wxe,
19:18; 24:17). The use of mountain and
the verbs of
ascent and
descent almost exclusively in chapters 19 and 24 supports the con-
tention that
they form a frame for these chapters and argues for the conclusion
that 19-24
form the third narrative subunit.
The speeches of building instruction in
Exodus 25-31 and compliance with
those
instructions in 35-40 distinguish these as separate units within the larger
narrative. Since both deal with the structure that will
facilitate the Lord's pres-
ence among
his people (25:8), it will be helpful to treat the keywords they have in
common at
the same time. We will not address the
obvious repetition of 28
READING
EXODUS TO LEARN AND LEARNING TO READ EXODUS
29
those words
that depict the tabernacle and priestly appurtenances.
Both instruction and construction units
begin with instructions concerning
the
offerings of basic materials for the tabernacle construction: The Lord
instructs
Moses in 25:1-9, and Moses teaches
Tell the Israelites to bring (HqalA) me an offering (hmAUrT;).
You are to
receive (HqalA) the offering (hmAUrT;) for me from each man whose heart
prompts him to give. These are the offerings (hmAUrT;) you are to receive
(HqalA): . . then have them make (hWAfA) a sanctuary (wDAq;mi) for me, and I
will dwell (NkawA) in their midst. Make (hWAfA) this tabernacle (NKAw;mi) and all
its furnishings exactly like the pattern I
will show you. (25:1-3a, 8-9)
After the
Lord forgives
Take (HqalA) from what you have, an offering (hmAUrT;) for the Lord.
Everyone who is willing is to bring an offering
(hmAUrT) of gold, silver. . . .
All who are
skilled among you are to come and make (hWAfA) everything the
Lord has
commanded: the tabernacle (NKAw;mi) with its tent and . . (35:5, 10-11a).
The key words in bold lettering
underscore the central action of these two
narrative
units: Moses gives
3; 27:20;
28:5, 9; 29: 15, 31 [plus twelve times]; 30:16, 23, 34; 35:5; 36:3; 40:9)
her
free-will offerings (hmAUrT;,
25:22, 3; 29:27, 283; 30:13, 14, 15; 35:52,
21,
242;
36:3, 6), and from them make (hWAfA, 212
times) the Lord's dwelling place (NKAw;mi,
fifty-six
times; "tent of meeting," dreOm lh,xo, thirty-four times).35
Three other key words suggest the purpose
of the instruction and construc-
tion
accounts: sabbath, to meet, and
to dwell. Sabbath occurs only a few
times
(31:13, 14,
152, 162; 35:2, 3).
Its narrative location at the end of the instruction
and the
beginning of the construction account, however, is crucial because it
argues for
an intimate connection between the Sabbath and the building of the
tabernacle. Childs, for example, contends that they are
"two sides of the same
reality"
and that "the witness of the tabernacle and that of the sabbath both tes-
tify to
God's rule over his creation (31:17). "36 The narrative location also forms
a frame
around the apostasy of
thereby
distinguishing it from the instruction and complinace narratives. If, in
reference to
the tabernacle accounts, sabbath evokes the Lord's rule, its linkage
to the
rebellion of
bath evokes
the Lord's rule over creation, then the verbs to meet (dfayA, 25:22;
29:42, 43;
30:6, 36) and to dwell (NkawA,
25:8; 29:45, 46; 40:35), along with taber-
35 The word sanctuary (wDAq;mi) occurs only in 25:8 (cf. 15:17). The two words for the Lord's
dwelling
place are the occasion of many studies arguing for different historical
traditions con-
cerning the
tabernacle or tent of meeting. See
Childs, The Book of Exodus, 584-93, for his
discussion
of Exodus 33:7-11. Note also 39:32, which states "the work on the
tabernacle: the
Tent of
Meeting, was completed." The appositive "the Tent of Meeting"
argues that the
received
text points to the same referent.
36 Childs, The Book of Exodus, 541-42. 29
CALVIN THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL 30
nacle and tent of meeting, evoke the place
from which the Lord's rule emanates
upon the
earth, and the people among whom he effects his particular rule.
Finally, although to bless (j`rB) is technically not a key word in the
taberna-
cle accounts
since it occurs there only once (39:43), it is linked with the key
word work,
which occurs in the instruction and compliance narratives (hkAxlAm;,
31:3, 5, 14,
152; 35:22, 21, 24, 29, 31, 33, 352; 36:1, 2,
3, 42, 5, 6, 72, 8; 38:242;
39:43; 40:33). The construction narrative, and thus Exodus,
ends with Moses'
blessing
had finished
all his work. Remarkably, then, Exodus
ends where Genesis begins.
Or, to put
it another way: The end of Exodus picks
up where Adam's and Eve's
sin created
a disjunction between the presence of God and human history.37
The golden calf account, located between
the instruction and construction
narratives,
presents, develops, and resolves the problem of
the Lord's
presence. Located here, it forms a
significant transition from the
instruction
to the construction account Those who manufacture the taberna-
cle parts
and its furniture have experienced the justice and mercy of God.
Could a
rebellious people participate in such a construction?
Keywords remind us of Exodus 19-24 and
Moses' ascents and descents (see
the uses of xOb
hlAfA drayA) on the
34:22, 32,
4, 292,32). But where 19-24
focuses on the making and sealing of a
covenant, in
32-34 the issue is Aaron's and
[+ fourteen
occurrences]) a golden calf (lg,fe
32:4, 8, 19, 20, 24, 35). In the
light of the
significance of the verb to make in the tabernacle accounts, this sug-
gests that
Aaron's making of the calf is an antisanctuary activity.38 The conse-
quences are
disastrous. The Lord distances himself
from
describes
them to Moses as "your people" (j~m.;fa; plus thirty-two other occur-
rences of it
in 32-34), declares his intention "to exterminate" (hlAKA, 32:10, 12;
33:3, 5)
this "stiff-necked" (Jr,fo-hweq;,
32:9; 33:3, 5; 34:9) people and make,
(hWAfA, 32:10) a great people out of Moses. Moses reminds God that
"your
people." The deadly prepositional reparte concludes with a summary
statement: "Then the Lord relented and did not
bring on his people (Om.fa the
disaster he
had threatened" (32: 14). In this connection, the verb to exterminate
37 The verb to bless in 39:42
is linked to to sanctify in the Lord's sabbath speech in 31:13.
These texts then recall the seventh day speech
of Genesis 2:1-3 in which the Lord blesses
and makes
holy the seventh day. Remarkably, in
object of
the Lord's sanctifying power. Similarly
of Moses'
blessing. In Exodus, these verbs appear
in the reverse order: to bless and to
sanctify
(Gen. 2:3) and to sanctify (Ex. 31:13) and to bless (Ex. 39:43). This reversal of crucial
words is
common with quotations and references to other texts according to Moshe
Weinfeld,
'The
Decalogue: Its Significance, Uniqueness, and Place in
Law:
Biblical-Judaic and Islamic Perspectives, ed. Edwin B. Firmage, Bernard G, Weiss, John
W. Welch
(Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1990), 19.
38 Fretheim, Exodus,
280. 30
READING
EXODUS TO LFARN AND LEARNING TO READ EXODUS
31
(hlAKA) assumes importance because of the manner
in which its conjugated
forms mimic
the verb to consume (lkaxA) in
3:3. If
Pharaoh,
they are also in danger of suffering the destruction the Lord brought
upon him. If
Pharaoh stood in the way of the Lord's glory and was destroyed,
how much
more when
(wxe, 32:20, 24), and some suffer the Lord's
anger. And when the Lord reveals
he will not
lead
presence (MyniPA, thirty times in 32-34) does accompany
his mercy,
renews the covenant, and inscribes his words on the tablets (HaUl,
32:152,
162, 19; 34:13, 42, 28, 29) again.
The unique constellation of keywords
and phrases
in the golden calf account strongly argues that it is a narrative sub-
unit.
My
brief examination of clusters of key words and phrases supports the seg-
mentation of
Exodus into the six major narrative subunits mentioned above:
1:1-15:21;
15:22-18:27; 19:1-24:18; 25:1-31:18; 32-34; and 35-40. But there
remains the
matter of the interrelationship among these subunits.
The Structure of Exodus
Until recently, arguments for a double or
triple organization of Exodus were
common, and
appeared to be based primarily on the geographic movement of
the
narrative.39 Closer
examination of such analyses, however, would disclose
underlying
historical-critical assumptions that separated the
traditions
and that argued that these were only subsequently linked by a redac-
tor. Assumptions about the nature of historical
narrative--it must flow unim-
peded
(Gressman)--and law--the priestly tradition reflects the dry legalism of
later
Judaism (Wellhausen)--also contributed to the exegetical and herme-
neutical
separation of the two traditions that not only distinguished history and
law but also
separated the gospel of salvation from
covenant. Although Fretheim and others have recently
challenged this separa-
tion of law
from narrative, the exegetical use and devotional reading of Exodus
still
reflects an antipathy toward the legal material and a preference for the nar-
rative and
its story of redemption.
The distinction between the genres of law
and narrative has also led com-
mentators to
define a "Sinai pericope" that moves well into Numbers: Exodus
19:1-Numbers
10:10, which ignores the received segmentation between
Exodus-Leviticus
and Leviticus-Numbers.40 It
is also true, however, that
39 Double: 1:1-18:27: The
exodus from
Triple:
1:1-15:21: The events taking place in
the desert; 19:1- 40:38: The events taking
place on
40 S. R Driver, The Book of
Exodus (Cambridge: University Press, 1929), 168. Georg Beer
and Kurt
Galling, Exodus, Handbuch zum Alten Testament (Tubingen: Mohr, 1939),
84. There
remains,
however, the problem that these segmentations erase the received boundaries
between
Exodus and Leviticus and Leviticus and Numbers, thereby removing one book
effectively
from discussion. 31
CALVIN THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL 32
camps at
Sinai from Exodus 19:1 through Numbers 10:10, that this material is
mostly
instructional, and that from Numbers 10:11 the people continue the
journey they
began in Exodus 12:37. This observation,
then, has the benefit of
emphasizing
Sinai as the central locus of divine self-disclosure. And, by extend-
ing this
Sinai narrative to include Exodus 15:22-18:27 and Numbers 10:11-
20:13, the
memory of
after the
Sinai theophany, the narrative frames this central location. These
desert
experiences, however, are dissimilar: Before the Sinai theophany,
complains
without consequences; after Sinai, God judges
plaints. Theologically, this suggests that the fiery
presence of God in
midst as
they journey toward the land, not yet a narrative reality in the first
desert
pericope, creates a new community that ignores the divine presence
only at
their peril.
This brief discussion argues for two
conclusions. First, the nature of the
lit-
erary
organization is not neutral--it has hermeneutical significance and theo-
logical
consequences. Second, the discussion of
the larger Sinai pericope
suggests
that the commingling of narrative and law is not a problem to be
solved
historically. To the contrary, the
present form of the text argues that we
read the
divine speeches of instruction as embedded in a larger and continu-
ing
narrative without positing a tension between narrative and law. This has
the effect
of letting the flow of narrative shape the hearing of law.41 Without
narrative,
law has no context within which its demands make sense; without law,
narrative
has no power to define the world it depicts.
Narrative and law work
together to
create a text that uniquely shapes the audience's hearing and
response. In order to allow the narrative to maximally
shape the audience, it is
important to
discern its rhetorical strategy on the level of its macrostructural
organization.
Exodus 25-40 provides an important clue
for defining the interrelationship
among the
six narrative subunits: Chapters 25-31
and 35-40 are linked as
instruction
and construction narratives. The insertion of chapters 32-34
between them
creates a chiastic arrangement.
Construction of the tabernacle
does not
take place until the narrative has moved through
its
forgiveness. If this is such an obvious linkage, why then do so many still read
19-24 with
the tabernacle section? One answer is
that both 19-24 and 25-40 con-
tain legal
material and much of it reflects the style of the priestly tradition (P).
But, is this
enough to conclude that 19-24 be read with the tabernacle section,
or should it
be read with the antecedent material?
Several arguments call for the conclusion
that chapters 1-24 also exhibit a
chiastic
arrangement. Thematically the narrative
develops toward Sinai in a
41 James W. Watts ("Public
no. 4
[1995]: 543) argues that "narrative invites, almost enforces, a strategy
of sequential
reading, of
starting at the beginning and reading the text in order to the end the
placement
of law
within narrative conforms (at least in part) the reading of the law to the
conventions
of
narrative. "
32
READING
EXODUS TO LEARN AND LEARNING TO READ EXODUS
33
movement
from disorder to order. At the beginning
of the narrative,
under
Pharaoh's control until the Creator's power produces massive disorder
in
after moving
through the
thirst. The Lord sustains them with gifts of water
and manna, and defends them
against
Amalek. Jethro's wisdom enables Moses to
administer the Lord's will:
his
torah. After they arrive at
now be
determined by the stipulations of the covenant.
Life with God at Sinai
is radically
different from that in
unwilling
slavery and disorder versus willing vassaldom and order.
Sinai are
also connected sequentially by itinerary notices (fsanA, 12:37; 13:20;
15:22; 16:1;
17:1; 19:2) that serve as a transition device: They take
Rameses
(12:37; cf. 1:11), the place of
dg,g,,
19:2) where they willingly submit to the Lord (19:8; 24:3, 7). Finally, a the-
matic change
separates 19-24 from the following chapters. Although Moses
ascends to
the Lord's presence to receive the tablets of the law (24:12), God's
speeches in
25-31 are dedicated to the tabernacle instructions, not covenant
making. This unexpected thematic change creates a
major narrative break. For
these
reasons, I suggest that the
ments of a
chiasm: At Sinai the former slaves of
Pharaoh willingly become the
servants of
the Lord. The desert narrative provides
a transition that comments
on certain
aspects involved in the change of masters.
Combining the reading of the entire
narrative with the insights gained from
the clusters
of keywords, I understand the interrelationship of the subunits as
of Exodus
follows:
A
Royal Conflict From Slaves' Lament to Servants' Praise (1-15:21)
B The Desert: Learning to live with God
(15:22-18:27)
Al The
C Tabernacle and Sabbath: Let there be a sanctuary! (25:1-31:18)
D Corruption in God's Presence: like Pharaoh, like
C1 God's Presence in the
Tabernacle: And it was so! (35-40)
In this
structure the sigla A-A' and C-C' point to the basic narrative movement
in each
half; B and D indicate the transitions from one aspect of this move-
ment to the
other. This structure suggests that even
as B and D nuance the
antecedent
narratives (A and C) so they shape the audience's hearing of the
subsequent
narrative (A' and C'). That is, the
desert and the apostasy narratives
nuance the
audience's hearing of the covenant making and the construction
of the
tabernacle.
This double triadic structure of Exodus
depicts a consistent move from
for God's
dwelling in the midst of his people and his continuing presence on
their
continuing journey from
33
CALVIN THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL 34
The Argument of Exodus
Having examined the beginning and end of
Exodus, followed its develop-
ment from
the initial definition of the narrative problem to its resolution, dis-
cerned
clusters of key words and phrases, and defined the organization of the
text, I will
now state the argument, or the subject of the account, in a brief nar-
ration of
what the text recounts in greater detail.
Fearing
and devises a plan to murder all newborn
males; but
grow.
After God acknowledges
stubborn Pharaoh by mighty and terrible
acts, announced and mediated by
Moses.
On Passover night, Pharaoh urges
recants and pursues
Pharaoh but he lets
for his great salvation,
about lack of water and bread. In the desert God supports
and manna; he also defends them from
Amalek's attack. Jethro, the
Midianite priest, visits the camp,
praises God when he hears about
escape, and helps Moses in the judicial
administration of the people. The
Lord brings
promises faithful obedience. Afterward
God calls Moses to meet him at the
top of mount Sinai. (1:1-24:18).
At the top of Sinai, Moses receives
instructions for
and to make a sanctuary for the Lord to
dwell in their midst. While God is
speaking to
golden calf. This provokes the Lord to
destroy
on
gives his people, promises to lead them to
the Promised Land, and renews
the covenant. After this,
ments of the tabernacle complex and brings
them to Moses. He inspects
Moses assembles and consecrates the
tabernacle and the priesthood. Then
the glory of the Lord fills the tabernacle;
the fiery cloud guides
their journey (25:1-40:38).
I have
written the argument to reflect the narrative structure and to conserve
the movement
from
According to
the working definition, the argument is descriptive; no interpre-
tation42 of the text should intrude at this stage,
only a keen appreciation of the
narrative
movement from beginning to end.
42 It is, of course, true that
interpretation begins with the act of reading and discerning
structure. I
mean at this stage to describe as objectively as possible what the text before
the
audience
says, given the structure for which I am arguing.
34
READING
EXODUS TO LEARN AND LFARNING TO READ EXODUS
35
The Theme of Exodus
For preaching purposes, the theme of a
narrative or its subunit should have
only one
subject and a predicate in order to clearly hear who does what in the
narrative. This is an extremely difficult, if not
impossible, task for a larger nar-
rative. But the statement of the argument already
provides us with a good
reduced
version of the narrative. I begin, then,
with a thematic statement, prod-
uct of
keeping the essentials of each major subunit and of removing details.
By mighty
signs of power, the Lord rescues Abraham's abundant descen-
dants,
and brings
them to covenant with him at
Lord
instructs
a golden
calf. After God pardons their rebellion,
cle and
Moses assembles it. Then the glory of
the Lord fills the tabernacle
and leads
This thematic statement can be further reduced
to: By mighty signs of power
theLord
rescues
order to
dwell in her midst by means of the tabernacle. Exodus 29:43-46
could be
considered the narrative's own thematic statement.
Conclusion
In this article, I have provided a brief,
first reading of Exodus as an exercise
in reading a
larger biblical narrative. By following
these steps the reader can
appropriate
the narrative flow such that subsequent readings of smaller peri-
copes can be
placed in the light of the whole narrative.
This reading has also
shown that
the commingling of narrative and instructional genres is not an
obstacle to
understanding the Exodus narrative. But,
there remains the ques-
tion of the
coherence of Exodus; what gives the narrative its unity. This I will
address in a
later article.
35
This
material is cited with gracious permission from:
Calvin Theological Seminary
Grand Rapids
www.calvinseminary.edu
Please
report any errors to Ted Hildebrandt at: