The Book of Exodus: A Biography (Lives of Great Religious Books)

by Joel S. Baden

Publisher:

Princeton University Press

, 2019

Overview

Exodus is the second book of the Hebrew Bible, but it may rank first in lasting cultural importance. It is here that the classic biblical themes of oppression and redemption, of human enslavement and divine salvation, are most dramatically expressed. Joel Baden tells the story of this influential and enduring book, tracing how its famous account of the Israelites’ journey to the promised land has been adopted and adapted for millennia, often in unexpected ways.

Baden draws a distinction between the Exodus story and the book itself, which is one of the most multifaceted in the Bible, containing poems, law codes, rituals, and architectural plans. He shows how Exodus brings together an array of oral and written traditions from the ancient Middle East, and how it came to be ritualized in the Passover Seder and the Eucharist. Highlighting the remarkable resilience and flexibility of Exodus, Baden sheds light on how the bestowing of the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai divided Jewish and Christian thinkers, on the importance of Exodus during the Reformation and the American Revolution, and on its uses in debates for and against slavery. He also traces how the defining narrative of ancient Israel helped to define Mormon social identity, the American civil rights movement, and liberation theology.

Though three thousand years old, the Exodus—as history, as narrative, as metaphor, as model—continues to be vitally important for us today. Here is the essential biography of this incomparable spiritual masterpiece.

Key Features

• Highlights the remarkable resilience and flexibility of Exodus
• Shows how Exodus brings together an array of oral and written traditions from the ancient Middle East
• Draws a distinction between the Exodus story and the book itself

Praise for The Book of Exodus: A Biography

[A] masterful piece of scholarship. . . . Baden’s accessible prose will make this exceptional work appeal to scholars and general readers alike.

—Publishers Weekly

Baden’s book will be useful to anyone who wants a broader understanding of Exodus and its interpretation through the ages. There is nothing quite like it.

—Marc Zvi Brettler, author of How to Read the Bible

Baden’s clear, insightful, and fascinating overview of Exodus demonstrates how powerful and inspiring this biblical narrative has been throughout history in religious, political, and social settings.

—Mark Scarlata, Church Times

Product Details

• Title: The Book of Exodus: A Biography
• Author: Joel S. Baden
• Series: Lives of Great Religious Books
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Print Publication Date: 2019
• Pages: 256
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Resource ID: LLS:BKXDSBGRPHY
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-06-18T16:23:52Z

About Joel S. Baden

Joel S. Baden (PhD) joined the YDS community in the fall of 2007 as an assistant professor of Old Testament. Baden, a specialist in the Pentateuch and Biblical Hebrew, is particularly interested in the issue of Pentateuchal and Deuteronomistic composition and redaction. He is teaching classes in Advanced Biblical Hebrew (prose and poetry), Composition of the Pentateuch, and Methods of Reading the Pentateuch. Baden holds a B.A. in Judaic Studies from Yale University, an M.A. in Northwest Semitics from the University of Chicago, and a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Harvard University. Joel S. Baden is professor of Hebrew Bible at Yale University. He is the author, most recently, of The Book of Exodus: A Biography (2019).