Author: Administrador

The Passover narrative in Exodus is intriguing and frightening. The images from Cecil B. Demille’s Ten Commandments may be partly responsible: the darkness of night, haunting music, and a sinister mist making its way through the Egyptian streets. The Passover, or pesach which birthed the English adjective paschal, marks the defining redemptive moment of Israel’s … Continue reading “Exodus 12:1-4, [5-10], 11-14 Commentary by Mark S. Gignilliat”

On Maundy Thursday, we come to the Exodus account of the Passover. An initial reading of the instructions for Passover in Exodus 12 displays several terms familiar to Christian communities of faith: lamb, blood, Passover, firstborn, judgments, etc. Because of the gift of our New Testament, all of these words are wonderfully replete with theological … Continue reading “Exodus 12:1-4, [5-10], 11-14 Commentary by Roger Nam”

It can be hard to let go of the things, places, relationships, and systems that enslave us. In the desert, God’s people wanted so badly to get back to the thing they knew. It didn’t matter that it was an awful, deadly thing that stole their freedom and future. They wanted so badly to get … Continue reading “Exodus 12:1-14 Commentary by Anathea Portier-Young”

Passover in the Old Testament is at the heart of the Exodus experience.1 The Pharaoh who did not know Joseph (Exodus 1:8) stubbornly refused the demands of Moses and Aaron to “let my people go.” The tenth and climactic plague, the slaughter of the firstborn, finally forced Pharaoh’s hand. The threatened Egyptian firstborn represent all … Continue reading “Exodus 12:1-4, [5-10], 11-14 Commentary by Ralph W. Klein”

In the story of the Exodus out of Egypt, this lesson is key. It marks the place in the story where God begins to act decisively. Even though God has already brought nine plagues upon Egypt, nothing has changed for the Israelites to this point: they are still in Egypt, in bondage. According to the … Continue reading “Exodus 12:1-4, [5-10], 11-14 Commentary by William Yarchin”

The book of Exodus begins with all 70 members of Jacob’s family living as immigrants in the land of Egypt. A new Pharaoh arose “who did not know Joseph” (1:8). This new Pharaoh enslaved these rapidly growing Israelite foreigners for fear of their increasing numbers (1:8-14). After many years of slavery, the LORD called Moses … Continue reading “Exodus 12:1-13; 13:1-8 Commentary by Dennis Olson”

These two passages give us the first narrative account of the Passover, the moment when God calls upon Israel to remember, and to ritualize the remembrance of, the central event in Israel’s corporate story with God: God’s deliverance of Israel from bondage in Egypt. The episode is, of course, that which is recalled every year … Continue reading “Exodus 12:1-13; 13:1-8 Commentary by Jacqueline E. Lapsley”

Exodus 3:1-6: Coming Home–A Mountain, a Bush and the Call of Moses After being chased out of Egypt and away from his Hebrew people, Moses is out shepherding sheep for his Midianite father-in-law. Out in the wilderness, Moses stumbles upon “the mountain of God” known as Mount Horeb (also known as Mount Sinai–Exodus 19:11). In … Continue reading “Exodus 3:1-15 Commentary by Dennis Olson”

Who Sees the Burning Bush? The burning bush scene in this chapter of Exodus is surely among the top ten best known biblical stories. It has been immortalized in countless ways in culture. An entire generation of Americans grew up with Cecil B. DeMille’s rendition of it in the epic movie, “The Ten Commandments.” For … Continue reading “Exodus 3:1-15 Commentary by Amy Merrill Willis”

This first revelation of sacred space identifies as holy the soil itself, God’s good land alive with vegetation. This soil is holy because it nourishes the life in which God becomes visible and from which God speaks. And it is declared holy at the moment when God’s human servant has turned and entered to see … Continue reading “Exodus 3:1-15 Commentary by Anathea Portier-Young”