'To Serve the Egyptians' vs 'To Serve God' (cf. Exod 14:12; 35:19): Service as a Key Motivation For the Exodus

Abstract

Contemporary studies of the Book of Exodus accord significant importance to the theme of Israel, the people of God, being emancipated from a state of ‘service to Pharaoh’ to ‘service to God’. However, our understanding of this is underdetermined. Many see it merely as a pretext for the exodus; others link the idea of ‘service to God’ with worship. A literary analysis of the places in Exodus that feature the theme of ‘service’ makes it possible not only to confirm the relevance of ‘service to God’ to the book as a whole but also to define it outside its usual cultic context as the ‘life’ of God’s people.