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Exodus is named after the Greek phrase for the road out, which is an\xa0appropriate term for the events of the book. Ex\xa012:40\xa0states that the\xa0time in Egypt was 430 years, but the precise dating of the events\xa0lends to two possibilities. The events can be dated in 1 Kings 6:1 to\xa0480 years before the fourth year of the reign of Solomon, which\xa0suggests the 15th century BC. Ex\xa01:11\xa0suggests that the Exodus\xa0occurred during the reign of Rameses II in the 13th century.

In Gen 17:7-8, God makes a covenant to be Abraham's god, and it is\xa0through Moses in Exodus that there is a mediator to this old covenant.\xa0Ex 19:6 describes the people of God to be a kingdom of priests and to\xa0mediate God's grace to the world, a fact that 1 Peter reminds us of.

The family of Jacob remained in Egypt, but a new regime comes to power\xa0and agitates against the Hebrews, saying that there are too many of\xa0them. The Hebrews were put to hard labor, and midwives were told to\xa0kill the male children, but the midwives feared God and did not kill\xa0them. Pharaoh demanded that the boys be cast in the Nile. Possibly for\xa0this reason, pharaoh's name is not mentioned in Exodus but the\xa0midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, are.

Moses is born to a Hebrew woman, who hides him and places him in a\xa0basket in the reeds beside the river. Pharaoh's daughter draws Moses\xa0out and names him for the word for drawing out, a Hebrew word, but one\xa0that sounds like an Egyptian name.

When Moses sees an Egyptian abusing a Hebrew, he kills the Egyptian,\xa0but this is discovered, and Moses flees, and helps a Midianite family.\xa0For this kindness, the father gives Moses his daughter Zipporah.