The Exodus

Based on literary and historical detective work, the renowned Bible scholar and bestselling author of Who Wrote the Bible? discovers the historical roots of the Bible’s Exodus story, which, he argues, became the foundation for the rise of monotheism and a new ethic of caring for strangers.

From Passover Seders to the classic Cecil B. DeMille film The Ten Commandments, the Exodus story is a religious and cultural touchstone. Yet many consider the story of Moses and the flight of the Jews from Egypt to be myth. While modern scientific and historical study has deepened our knowledge of the Bible era, it has also intensified our skepticism of Biblical literalism.

Pioneering critical Bible scholar Richard Elliott Friedman pushes back against this widely accepted view. In this fresh, thoughtful work, he provides historical and literary evidence supporting the truth of the Exodus story: that a group of Hebrews actually escaped enslavement in Egypt and returned to the "Promised Land" with radical new ideas about God and society—how we should treat one another, including strangers who live in our midst.

The implications of this historical event, Friedman explains, are crucial to contemporary religion and culture. Without the historical Exodus, he argues, we would not have the revolutionary change in human consciousness brought about by the discovery of monotheism and the "love thy neighbor" ethos that has been an aspirational model for our ethical society and our lives.