Exodus

The (Greek: "departure") book of Exodus is the second book of the Torah (the Pentateuch Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy;) and also the Tanakh (the Hebrew bible), and Christian old testament. The major events of the book concern the exodus, a departure of Hebrew slaves from Egypt, through the wilderness, under the leadership of Moses to the Mountain of God (Mount Sinai). Jews call the book by its first words ve-eleh shemoth (i.e., "and these are the names") or simply "shemoth" שמות. The septuagint designates the second book of the Pentateuch as "exodus", meaning "departure" or "out-going".

The Latin translation adopted the name, which thence passed into other languages. As a result of the theme of the first half of the book, the term "an exodus" has come to mean a departure of a great number of people.

The book is generally broken into six sections:

1. The account of the growth of the Israelites into a peoples, their enslavement in Egypt, and eventual escape (Chapters 1-12);
2. The journey from Egypt to Mount Sinai (Chapters 13-18);
3. The formation of a covenant between Yahweh and the people, and its associated laws (Chapters 19-24);
4. Intricate instructions for the construction of a tabernacle, priestly robes, and other ritual objects (Chapters 25-31);
5. The episode of the golden calf, and the regiving of the law (Chapters 32-34);
6. The construction of the tabernacle, priestly robes, and other ritual objects (Chapters 35-40).

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