Portion 13 of 54 · Exodus
שְׁמוֹת
Shemot
A new king who never knew Joseph turns a family into a workforce, and God tells a shepherd his own name.
Start by reading it
Exodus 1:1–6:1
6 chapters. About 24 minutes at an unhurried pace.
Paired reading from the prophets: Isaiah 27:6–28:13; 29:22–23
What happens
- 01
The family has become a people, and Egypt is afraid of them. Slavery begins.
- 02
Two midwives refuse the king's order to kill the boys, and the text records their names.
- 03
Moses is drawn from the river, grows up in the palace, kills an Egyptian, and runs.
- 04
At a bush that burns without burning up, he is sent back — and argues about it for a chapter.
The thing most people walk past
The first resistance is two women who lie to a king
Shiphrah and Puah are named. Pharaoh is not. The Bible remembers the midwives and leaves the emperor anonymous, and that is a deliberate piece of storytelling.
One verse to carry
‘I have surely seen the affliction of My people that are in Egypt, and have heard their cry.
Before anything is done, something is seen and heard. The Bible's God is introduced here as one who notices suffering.
A question to sit with
Moses gives five separate reasons why he is the wrong man. Why does the story keep his objections in?
There is no answer key. This is the part you take with you.