Knowra Exodus Exodus The biblical account of the Israelites’ departure from Egypt under Moses and journey toward the promised land. It is a foundational narrative of liberation and covenant in Jewish tradition.
Moses : A Hebrew prophet and leader who, in the biblical narrative, leads the Israelites out of Egypt. He confronts Pharaoh, leads the departure, and mediates the covenant at Sinai.
Israelites : The people identified in the Hebrew Bible as descendants of Jacob, also named Israel. They are the people enslaved in Egypt and led out in the Exodus account.
Documentary Hypothesis : A scholarly model proposing that the Pentateuch was compiled from multiple written sources with distinct histories and styles. It offers one influential account of how the Exodus narrative took shape in writing.
Seder : The ritual meal held on Passover that recounts the Exodus through readings, symbolic foods, and discussion. The Seder turns the departure from Egypt into an annually retold communal memory.
Ten Plagues : A sequence of disasters in the Book of Exodus that precedes the Israelites’ release from Egypt. The plagues escalate the conflict between Moses and Pharaoh before the departure.
Egypt in the Hebrew Bible : The ancient Egyptian kingdom as represented in the Hebrew Bible, including its role as a place of refuge and oppression. Egypt is both the Israelites’ refuge in the Joseph story and the land from which they depart.
Ramesses II : An Egyptian pharaoh of the nineteenth dynasty who ruled in the thirteenth century BCE and built extensively across Egypt. His reign is sometimes proposed as the setting for the Exodus, though the identification is disputed.
Haggadah : The Jewish text used at the Passover Seder to tell the Exodus story and explain its rituals. It shapes how the Exodus is narrated and interpreted during Passover.
Passover : A Jewish festival commemorating the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt, centered on a ritual meal and retelling. Its origin story links the final plague and the Israelites’ escape.
Book of Exodus : The second book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament, recounting Israel’s enslavement, departure from Egypt, and covenant at Sinai. It contains the principal narrative and laws associated with the Exodus.
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