Exodus, Book of

Exodus, Book of The second book of the Pentateuch, called Exodus, after the Greek, meaning ‘the Departure’ (from Egypt) and in Hebrew Shemot, ‘the names of’ (the Children of Israel), after the book's opening words. The book of Exodus tells of the sojourn of the Children of Israel in Egypt where they were enslaved by Pharaoh and afflicted by his taskmasters; the birth of Moses and his election by God to entreat Pharaoh to let the people go; the ten plagues visited on Pharaoh; the actual exodus of the people from Egypt; the crossing of the Red Sea and Moses' song of deliverance; the theophany at Sinai and the Decalogue; the Code of law given to the people; the episode of the golden calf; and the detailed instructions for erecting the Tabernacle. The traditional Jewish view is that the book, like the rest of the Pentateuch, was written down by Moses at the dictation of God, forming the Torah of Moses. Biblical criticism sees the book, again like the Pentateuch as a whole, to be a composite work produced at different times in Israel's history.