The Hebrew Bible: The Book Of Exodus

The Hebrew Bible, also known as the tanakh is a collection of books, which, when put together, create the founding document for the people of Israel. Historically, the Jewish people believe that the Bible was given to Moses on Mount Sinai and that each book may have multiple authors who contributed to its creation. Back some time even before the first century CE., a process process known as canonization was used to decide which books would and would not be used in the Bible. While very miniscule portions of each book may have been lost or changed throughout time, for the most part, the Bible holds to be the same. The Hebrew Bible consists of five main books, known as the Torah, along with several other books including the prophets and the writings.

While it is hard to be sure about who wrote the book of Exodus, many Jewish scholars believe it was Moses who wrote it. In recent years; however, new research developments have led people to abandon this idea (Plaut 2). Exodus comes from the Greek word, exodos, which has similar meaning to another Greek word meaning “the book of departure from Egypt”. This name is quite fitting considering the majority of this book consists of the Israelites escape from Egypt and journey to become a nation. Exodus is a continuation of the stories that occur in Genesis and it focuses on the creation of Israel as a nation, which would not have happened without the help of Moses, his covenant with God, and the long and tiresome journey that he led for the Israelites. Just as it is hard to truly be able to determine the author of Exodus, it is also difficult to determine the truth behind the story. Scholars often question whether or not the details and stories in Exodus are actual historical events. These scholars and many others, believe that these stories are generally more faith based, with only some pieces actually being part of history (Plaut

While each strain of Judaism may have slightly different beliefs and thoughts on the Ten Commandments, overall they all hold true the same general ideas. One of these ideas is the belief of an afterlife. Jewish people believe that one must work hard in their current life so that they can have a good afterlife. For this reason, the Laws are very important because they will guide people to heaven. Another significant purpose of the Commandments is that they “reveal the holiness of God” (1Peter 1:15-16). This idea allows Jewish people to see how truly holy God is and reminds them that they need to hold him as their most sacred being. The Commandments are also significant to the Jews because they “reveal and expose sinfulness of man and the sinfulness of sin” (Romans 7:7). The laws make it very easy for us to detect sin because every time the law is broken, it is evident that someone is going against God’s will and sinning. The Commandments create meaning for the Jews by giving them a set of rules and guidelines so that they can live a holy life filled with fellowship with God. Finally, the covenant is important to the Jews because through it union among the Israelites was formed. This allows all of the Israelites to live by a standard set of conditions so that they can be unified as a