manu/mldr-zoomed-100char-total-queries-documents

chunk_id stringlengths 3 9	chunk stringlengths 1 100
9847_5	The consensus of modern scholars is that the Torah does not give an accurate account of the origins
9847_6	of the Israelites, who appear instead to have formed as an entity in the central highlands of
9847_7	Canaan in the late second millennium BCE from the indigenous Canaanite culture. Most modern
9847_8	scholars believe that the story of the Exodus has some historical basis, but contains little
9847_9	material that is provable.
9847_10	The narrative of the Exodus is spread over four of the biblical books of the Torah or Pentateuch,
9847_11	namely Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. There is a widespread agreement that the
9847_12	composition of the Torah took place in the Middle Persian Period (5th century BCE), although some
9847_13	traditions behind it are older since allusions to the story are made by 8th-century BCE prophets
9847_14	such as Amos and Hosea.
9847_15	The biblical Exodus is central in Judaism, with it being recounted daily in Jewish prayers and
9847_16	celebrated in festivals such as Passover. Early Christians saw the Exodus as a typological
9847_17	prefiguration of resurrection and salvation by Jesus. The narrative has also resonated with
9847_18	non-Jewish groups, such as the early American settlers fleeing persecution in Europe, and African
9847_19	Americans striving for freedom and civil rights.
9847_20	Biblical narrative and laws Narrative
9847_21	The story of the Exodus is told in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, the
9847_22	last four of the first five books of the Bible (also called the Torah or Pentateuch). In the first
9847_23	book of the Pentateuch, the Book of Genesis, the Israelites had come to live in Egypt in the Land
9847_24	of Goshen during a famine due to the fact that an Israelite, Joseph, had become a high official in
9847_25	the court of the pharaoh. Exodus begins with the death of Joseph and the ascension of a new pharaoh
9847_26	"who did not know Joseph" (Exodus 1:8). The pharaoh becomes concerned by the number and strength of
9847_27	Israelites in Egypt and enslaves them, commanding them to build at two "supply" or "store cities"
9847_28	called Pithom and Rameses (Exodus 1:11). The pharaoh also orders the slaughter at birth of all male
9847_29	Hebrew children. One Hebrew child, however, is rescued by being placed in a basket on the Nile. He
9847_30	is found and adopted by Pharaoh's daughter, who names him Moses. Moses eventually kills an Egyptian
9847_31	he sees beating a Hebrew slave, and is forced to flee to Midian, marrying Tzipporah, a daughter of
9847_32	the Midianite priest Jethro. The old pharaoh dies and a new one ascends to the throne.
9847_33	Moses, in Midian, goes to Mount Horeb, where Yahweh appears in a burning bush and commands him to
9847_34	go to Egypt to free the Hebrew slaves and bring them to the promised land in Canaan. Yahweh also
9847_35	speaks to Moses's brother Aaron; they both assemble the Israelites and perform signs so that they
9847_36	believe in Yahweh's promise. Moses and Aaron then go to the Pharaoh and ask him to let the
9847_37	Israelites go into the desert for a religious festival, but the Pharaoh refuses and commands the
9847_38	Israelites to make bricks without straw and increases their workload. Moses and Aaron return to the
9847_39	Pharaoh and this time ask him to free the Israelites. The Pharaoh demands for Moses to perform a
9847_40	miracle, and Aaron throws down Moses' staff, which turns into a (sea monster or snake) (Exodus
9847_41	7:8-13); however, Pharaoh's magicians are also able to do this, though Moses' staff devours the
9847_42	others. The Pharaoh then refuses to let the Israelites go.
9847_43	After this, Yahweh begins inflicting the Plagues of Egypt on the Egyptians for each time that
9847_44	Moses goes to Pharaoh and Pharaoh refuses to release the Israelites. Pharaoh's magicians are able
9847_45	to replicate the first plagues, in which Yahweh turns the Nile to blood and produces a plague of
9847_46	frogs, but are unable to reproduce any plagues after the third, the plague of gnats. After each
9847_47	plague Pharaoh allows the Israelites to worship Yahweh to remove the plague, then refuses to free
9847_48	them.
9847_49	Moses is then commanded to fix the first month of Aviv at the head of the Hebrew calendar. He
9847_50	instructs the Israelites to take a lamb on the 10th day of the month, slaughter it on the 14th, and
9847_51	daub its blood on their doorposts and lintels, and to observe the Passover meal that night, the
9847_52	night of the full moon.
9847_53	In the final plague, Yahweh kills all the firstborn sons of Egypt and the firstborn cattle, but the
9847_54	Israelites, with blood on their doorposts are spared. Yahweh commands that the Israelites observe
9847_55	a festival as "a perpetual ordinance" to remember this event (Exodus 12:14). Pharaoh finally agrees
9847_56	to let the Israelites go after his firstborn son is killed. Yahweh leads the Israelites in the form
9847_57	of a pillar of cloud in the day and a pillar of fire at night. However, once the Israelites have
9847_58	already left, Yahweh hardens Pharoahs heart. Pharaoh then changes his mind and pursues the
9847_59	Israelites to the shore of the Red Sea. Moses uses his staff to part the Red Sea, and the
9847_60	Israelites cross on dry ground, but the sea closes down on the pursuing Egyptians, drowning them
9847_61	all.
9847_62	The Israelites now begin to complain about Aaron and Moses, as Yahweh miraculously provided them
9847_63	first with water and food, eventually raining manna down for them to eat. Amalek attacks at
9847_64	Rephidim but is defeated in battle. Jethro comes to Moses with Moses's wife and sons; on Jethro's
9847_65	advice, Moses appoints judges for the tribes of Israel. The Israelites reach the Sinai Desert and
9847_66	Yahweh calls Moses to Mount Sinai, where Yahweh reveals himself to his people and establishes the
9847_67	Ten Commandments and Mosaic covenant: the Israelites are to keep his torah (i.e. law, instruction),
9847_68	and in return he will give them the land of Canaan. Yahweh establishes the Aaronic priesthood and
9847_69	various rules for ritual worship, among other laws. However, in Moses's absence the Israelites sin
9847_70	against Yahweh by creating the idol of a golden calf, and as retaliation Yahweh has the Levites
9847_71	kill three thousand people (Exodus 32:28) and Yahweh sends a plague on the Israelites. The
9847_72	Israelites now accept the covenant, which is reestablished, build a tabernacle for Yahweh, and
9847_73	receive their laws. Yahweh commands Moses to take a census of the Israelites and establishes the
9847_74	duties of the Levites. Then the Israelites depart from Mount Sinai.
9847_75	Yahweh commands Moses to send twelve spies ahead to Canaan to scout the land. The spies discover
9847_76	that the Canaanites are strong, and, believing that the Israelites cannot defeat them, the spies
9847_77	falsely report to the Israelites that Canaan is full of giants so that the Israelites will not
9847_78	invade (Numbers 13:31-33). The Israelites refuse to go to Canaan, so Yahweh manifests himself and
9847_79	declares that the generation that left Egypt will have to pass away before the Israelites can enter
9847_80	Canaan. The Israelites will have to remain in the wilderness for forty years, and Yahweh kills the
9847_81	spies through a plague except for the righteous Joshua and Caleb, who will be allowed to enter the
9847_82	promised land. A group of Israelites led by Korah, son of Izhar, rebels against Moses, but Yahweh
9847_83	opens the earth and sends them living to Sheol.
9847_84	The Israelites come to the oasis of Kadesh Barnea, where Miriam dies and the Israelites remain for
9847_85	forty years. The people are without water, so Yahweh commands Moses to get water from a rock by
9847_86	speaking to it, but Moses strikes the rock with his staff instead, for which Yahweh forbids him
9847_87	from entering the promised land. Moses sends a messenger to the king of Edom requesting passage
9847_88	through his land to Canaan, but the king refuses. The Israelites then go to Mount Hor, where Aaron
9847_89	dies. The Israelites try to go around Edom, but the Israelites complain about lack of bread and
9847_90	water, so Yahweh sends a plague of poisonous snakes to afflict them. After Moses prays for
9847_91	deliverance, Yahweh has him create the brazen serpent, and the Israelites who look at it are cured.
9847_92	The Israelites are soon in conflict with various other kingdoms, and king Balak of Moab attempts to
9847_93	have the seer Balaam curse the Israelites, but Balaam blesses the Israelites instead. Some
9847_94	Israelites begin having sexual relations with Moabite women and worshipping Moabite gods, so Yahweh
9847_95	orders Moses to impale the idolators and sends a plague, but the full extent of Yahweh's wrath is
9847_96	averted when Phinehas impales an Israelite and a Midianite woman having intercourse (Numbers
9847_97	25:7-9). Yahweh commands the Israelites to destroy the Midianites and Moses and Phinehas take
9847_98	another census. They then conquer the lands of Og and Sihon in Transjordan, settling the Gadites,
9847_99	Reubenites, and half the Tribe of Manasseh there.
9847_100	Moses then addresses the Israelites for a final time on the banks of the Jordan River, reviewing
9847_101	their travels and giving them further laws. Yahweh tells Moses to summon Joshua, whom Yahweh
9847_102	commissions to lead the conquest of Canaan. Yahweh tells Moses to ascend Mount Nebo, from where he
9847_103	sees the promised land and where he dies.
9847_104	Covenant and law

9847_5

The consensus of modern scholars is that the Torah does not give an accurate account of the origins

9847_6

of the Israelites, who appear instead to have formed as an entity in the central highlands of

9847_7

Canaan in the late second millennium BCE from the indigenous Canaanite culture. Most modern

9847_8

scholars believe that the story of the Exodus has some historical basis, but contains little

9847_9

material that is provable.

9847_10

The narrative of the Exodus is spread over four of the biblical books of the Torah or Pentateuch,

9847_11

namely Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. There is a widespread agreement that the

9847_12

composition of the Torah took place in the Middle Persian Period (5th century BCE), although some

9847_13

traditions behind it are older since allusions to the story are made by 8th-century BCE prophets

9847_14

such as Amos and Hosea.

9847_15

The biblical Exodus is central in Judaism, with it being recounted daily in Jewish prayers and

9847_16

celebrated in festivals such as Passover. Early Christians saw the Exodus as a typological

9847_17

prefiguration of resurrection and salvation by Jesus. The narrative has also resonated with

9847_18

non-Jewish groups, such as the early American settlers fleeing persecution in Europe, and African

9847_19

Americans striving for freedom and civil rights.

9847_20

Biblical narrative and laws Narrative

9847_21

The story of the Exodus is told in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, the

9847_22

last four of the first five books of the Bible (also called the Torah or Pentateuch). In the first

9847_23

book of the Pentateuch, the Book of Genesis, the Israelites had come to live in Egypt in the Land

9847_24

of Goshen during a famine due to the fact that an Israelite, Joseph, had become a high official in

9847_25

the court of the pharaoh. Exodus begins with the death of Joseph and the ascension of a new pharaoh

9847_26

"who did not know Joseph" (Exodus 1:8). The pharaoh becomes concerned by the number and strength of

9847_27

Israelites in Egypt and enslaves them, commanding them to build at two "supply" or "store cities"

9847_28

called Pithom and Rameses (Exodus 1:11). The pharaoh also orders the slaughter at birth of all male

9847_29

Hebrew children. One Hebrew child, however, is rescued by being placed in a basket on the Nile. He

9847_30

is found and adopted by Pharaoh's daughter, who names him Moses. Moses eventually kills an Egyptian

9847_31

he sees beating a Hebrew slave, and is forced to flee to Midian, marrying Tzipporah, a daughter of

9847_32

the Midianite priest Jethro. The old pharaoh dies and a new one ascends to the throne.

9847_33

Moses, in Midian, goes to Mount Horeb, where Yahweh appears in a burning bush and commands him to

9847_34

go to Egypt to free the Hebrew slaves and bring them to the promised land in Canaan. Yahweh also

9847_35

speaks to Moses's brother Aaron; they both assemble the Israelites and perform signs so that they

9847_36

believe in Yahweh's promise. Moses and Aaron then go to the Pharaoh and ask him to let the

9847_37

Israelites go into the desert for a religious festival, but the Pharaoh refuses and commands the

9847_38

Israelites to make bricks without straw and increases their workload. Moses and Aaron return to the

9847_39

Pharaoh and this time ask him to free the Israelites. The Pharaoh demands for Moses to perform a

9847_40

miracle, and Aaron throws down Moses' staff, which turns into a (sea monster or snake) (Exodus

9847_41

7:8-13); however, Pharaoh's magicians are also able to do this, though Moses' staff devours the

9847_42

others. The Pharaoh then refuses to let the Israelites go.

9847_43

After this, Yahweh begins inflicting the Plagues of Egypt on the Egyptians for each time that

9847_44

Moses goes to Pharaoh and Pharaoh refuses to release the Israelites. Pharaoh's magicians are able

9847_45

to replicate the first plagues, in which Yahweh turns the Nile to blood and produces a plague of

9847_46

frogs, but are unable to reproduce any plagues after the third, the plague of gnats. After each

9847_47

plague Pharaoh allows the Israelites to worship Yahweh to remove the plague, then refuses to free

9847_48

them.

9847_49

Moses is then commanded to fix the first month of Aviv at the head of the Hebrew calendar. He

9847_50

instructs the Israelites to take a lamb on the 10th day of the month, slaughter it on the 14th, and

9847_51

daub its blood on their doorposts and lintels, and to observe the Passover meal that night, the

9847_52

night of the full moon.

9847_53

In the final plague, Yahweh kills all the firstborn sons of Egypt and the firstborn cattle, but the

9847_54

Israelites, with blood on their doorposts are spared. Yahweh commands that the Israelites observe

9847_55

a festival as "a perpetual ordinance" to remember this event (Exodus 12:14). Pharaoh finally agrees

9847_56

to let the Israelites go after his firstborn son is killed. Yahweh leads the Israelites in the form

9847_57

of a pillar of cloud in the day and a pillar of fire at night. However, once the Israelites have

9847_58

already left, Yahweh hardens Pharoahs heart. Pharaoh then changes his mind and pursues the

9847_59

Israelites to the shore of the Red Sea. Moses uses his staff to part the Red Sea, and the

9847_60

Israelites cross on dry ground, but the sea closes down on the pursuing Egyptians, drowning them

9847_61

all.

9847_62

The Israelites now begin to complain about Aaron and Moses, as Yahweh miraculously provided them

9847_63

first with water and food, eventually raining manna down for them to eat. Amalek attacks at

9847_64

Rephidim but is defeated in battle. Jethro comes to Moses with Moses's wife and sons; on Jethro's

9847_65

advice, Moses appoints judges for the tribes of Israel. The Israelites reach the Sinai Desert and

9847_66

Yahweh calls Moses to Mount Sinai, where Yahweh reveals himself to his people and establishes the

9847_67

Ten Commandments and Mosaic covenant: the Israelites are to keep his torah (i.e. law, instruction),

9847_68

and in return he will give them the land of Canaan. Yahweh establishes the Aaronic priesthood and

9847_69

various rules for ritual worship, among other laws. However, in Moses's absence the Israelites sin

9847_70

against Yahweh by creating the idol of a golden calf, and as retaliation Yahweh has the Levites

9847_71

kill three thousand people (Exodus 32:28) and Yahweh sends a plague on the Israelites. The

9847_72

Israelites now accept the covenant, which is reestablished, build a tabernacle for Yahweh, and

9847_73

receive their laws. Yahweh commands Moses to take a census of the Israelites and establishes the

9847_74

duties of the Levites. Then the Israelites depart from Mount Sinai.

9847_75

Yahweh commands Moses to send twelve spies ahead to Canaan to scout the land. The spies discover

9847_76

that the Canaanites are strong, and, believing that the Israelites cannot defeat them, the spies

9847_77

falsely report to the Israelites that Canaan is full of giants so that the Israelites will not

9847_78

invade (Numbers 13:31-33). The Israelites refuse to go to Canaan, so Yahweh manifests himself and

9847_79

declares that the generation that left Egypt will have to pass away before the Israelites can enter

9847_80

Canaan. The Israelites will have to remain in the wilderness for forty years, and Yahweh kills the

9847_81

spies through a plague except for the righteous Joshua and Caleb, who will be allowed to enter the

9847_82

promised land. A group of Israelites led by Korah, son of Izhar, rebels against Moses, but Yahweh

9847_83

opens the earth and sends them living to Sheol.

9847_84

The Israelites come to the oasis of Kadesh Barnea, where Miriam dies and the Israelites remain for

9847_85

forty years. The people are without water, so Yahweh commands Moses to get water from a rock by

9847_86

speaking to it, but Moses strikes the rock with his staff instead, for which Yahweh forbids him

9847_87

from entering the promised land. Moses sends a messenger to the king of Edom requesting passage

9847_88

through his land to Canaan, but the king refuses. The Israelites then go to Mount Hor, where Aaron

9847_89

dies. The Israelites try to go around Edom, but the Israelites complain about lack of bread and

9847_90

water, so Yahweh sends a plague of poisonous snakes to afflict them. After Moses prays for

9847_91

deliverance, Yahweh has him create the brazen serpent, and the Israelites who look at it are cured.

9847_92

The Israelites are soon in conflict with various other kingdoms, and king Balak of Moab attempts to

9847_93

have the seer Balaam curse the Israelites, but Balaam blesses the Israelites instead. Some

9847_94

Israelites begin having sexual relations with Moabite women and worshipping Moabite gods, so Yahweh

9847_95

orders Moses to impale the idolators and sends a plague, but the full extent of Yahweh's wrath is

9847_96

averted when Phinehas impales an Israelite and a Midianite woman having intercourse (Numbers

9847_97

25:7-9). Yahweh commands the Israelites to destroy the Midianites and Moses and Phinehas take

9847_98

another census. They then conquer the lands of Og and Sihon in Transjordan, settling the Gadites,

9847_99

Reubenites, and half the Tribe of Manasseh there.

9847_100

Moses then addresses the Israelites for a final time on the banks of the Jordan River, reviewing

9847_101

their travels and giving them further laws. Yahweh tells Moses to summon Joshua, whom Yahweh

9847_102

commissions to lead the conquest of Canaan. Yahweh tells Moses to ascend Mount Nebo, from where he

9847_103

sees the promised land and where he dies.

9847_104

Covenant and law