A Commentary on Exodus: Commentary
Overview
The true fountainhead of Old Testament theology, Exodus illuminates the significance of the name Yahweh and introduces the title I AM. It tells of Israel’s formative historical event, the exodus, as well as the making of the covenant at Sinai. It includes the first code of the Law in the Decalogue and Book of the Covenant. It details Israel’s besetting sin in the idolatry of the golden calf episode, but it also describes Moses’s intercession and the great revelation of God’s mercy. In its display of the Tent of Meeting, it presents the theology of the priesthood, the sacrifices, and the central sanctuary. A Commentary on Exodus explores all of these events with a view toward their significance both for the meaning of the Old Testament and for the message of the Christian church. Exegetically deep enough to satisfy the scholar and logically organized to meet the needs of the pastor, Garrett’s commentary promises to become standard reference material in Exodus studies. Every verse is given a fresh translation with copious explanatory notes, and particular attention is given to the poetry of Exodus, which the author demonstrates to be more abundant than previously believed. The commentary also helps to dispel much confusion about Exodus by introducing the reader to Egyptian history and by carefully analyzing questions about the date of the exodus and the location of Mount Sinai. This resource contains the commentary.
Top Highlights
“There may be an additional bit of symbolism in putting the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and lintels of their houses. Excavations at Amarna have revealed that during the New Kingdom aristocrats advertised their ownership of their houses by having their names painted in brightly colored hieroglyphs on the doorposts and lintels of their homes.238 Thus, the placing of the blood of the Passover lamb on the same locations on the houses of the Hebrews may have signified YHWH’s ownership of those homes.” (Pages 362–363)
“On the other hand, line 2c, ‘and she saw that he was good’ (וַתֵּרֶא אֹתוֹ כִּי־טוֹב הוּא), echoes God’s repeated evaluation of creation in Gen. 1 (e.g., ‘and God saw that it was good’ [וַיַּרְא אֱלהִים כִּי־טוֹב], Gen. 1:12). As Israel is the beginning of God’s new creation of a people for himself, so also the evaluation of Moses shows him to be an example and token of the new work of God, the beginning of a new humanity that is ‘good.’” (Page 167)
“Thus, the two tests of idolatry are: 1) Does the artwork represent God or a god? 2) Do people bow before the artwork (and especially, do they speak toward it, as though by speaking to it one can speak to the person it represents)? If the answer to either is Yes, then the object is an idol. It is the very act of homage to the image that makes it into an idol.” (Page 476)
“First, he knew himself to be Hebrew and not Egyptian.” (Page 180)
“In the ceremony, Moses used part of the blood of the sacrifice to sprinkle over the altar, symbolizing YHWH’s obligations under the covenant, and he used part of the blood to sprinkle the people, symbolizing Israel’s obligations under the covenant. The covenant was thus fully bilateral, with both YHWH and Israel assuming toward one another a covenant commitment with specific duties. This contrasts with the Abrahamic covenant, where only YHWH, in the form of smoke and fire, passed between the pieces of the sacrificed animals (Gen. 15:17). In other words, the Abrahamic covenant is a unilateral commitment by God, but the Sinai covenant places Israel under covenant obligations—with dire consequences should they fail to keep them.” (Page 543)
- Title: A Commentary on Exodus: Commentary
- Author: Duane A. Garrett
- Series: Kregel Exegetical Library
- Publisher: Kregel
- Print Publication Date: 2014
- Logos Release Date: 2018
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subject: Bible. O.T. Exodus › Commentaries
- ISBNs: 9780825425516, 0825425514
- Resource ID: LLS:COMMEXODUSCOMM
- Resource Type: Bible Commentary
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-04-11T18:07:16Z
Duane A. Garrett brings to Southern Seminary many years of teaching, writing, research and pastoral experience. He has served on the faculty of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Bethel Seminary, Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary, Mid-America Baptist Seminary and Korea Baptist Seminary. His books include Song of Songs in the Word Biblical Commentary; A Modern Grammar for Classical Hebrew; Angels and the New Spirituality; Authority and Interpretation; and Hosea and Joel in the New American Commentary. He also serves as the general editor for The Archaeology Study Bible from Zondervan Press.