'Deep is the well of the past': Reconsidering the origins of the Exodus motif in its cultural context

The article shows, that the stories of the Patriarchs as well as the Exodus-story are allochthonous traditions of origin. We find comparable stories in the neighboring cultures of Israel. Egypt as origin of human culture was of utmost importance in the Levant. Herodotus reports a myth of origin of the Phoenicians which is of particular interest in this respect. As far as it can be seen there are affinities between this tradition and the Exodus motif from the Hebrew Bible. This raises the question if we should read the Biblical traditions as part of the comprehensive cultural context of the Levant.

The story of the Red Sea as a theological framework of interpretation

The exodus motif is widely agreed to be one of the central frameworks illustrating the salvational acts of God in both the Old and New Testaments. According to the Old Testament, the exodus motif was, to Israel, the paradigm of redemptive historical renewal. For this reason, the exodus motif provided the typological expression for all future hope of salvation and served as a theological paradigm to be used by Old and New Testament authors. In this article, the exodus theme in the Book of Revelation, chapters 12 to 13, is discussed in the following order: (1) Christ�s crucif xion and resurrection as the archetypal exodus; (2) the chronological fulf llment of the exodus theme in the Bible; and (3) the exodus theme in Revelation 12 to 13. To investigate the exodus theme in Revelation 12 to 13, the intertextual interpretation, as based on the redemptive historical interpretation, will be highlighted.�

Psalm 118 (117 lxx) in Luke-Acts: Application of a 'New Exodus Motif'

This contribution explores the presence of Psalm 118 (117 LXX) in Luke-Acts. The Wirkungsgeschichte of Psalm 118 will be traced by means of a twofold approach: from a traditional-historical and a hermeneutical angle with regard to the reception history of Psalm 118. Firstly, in terms of a traditional-historical, otherwise known as a diachronic, approach, the background of Psalm 118 and evidence of the use and application of Psalm 118 in the tradition (namely in the ancient Jewish materials, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Targums, and Rabbinics, and the New Testament books of Mark, Matthew, Luke, Acts, John, Romans, 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, 1 Peter, Hebrews, Revelation, as well as in terms of Church Fathers 1 Clement and Barnabas and the Apocryphon Thomas) will be discussed. Secondly, on the hermeneutical level, otherwise known as the synchronic approach, the function and interpretation of the quotations of Psalm 118 in its new context of Luke-Acts will be examined. In terms of the latter approach, attention will be paid to investigating a possible underlying �New Exodus Motif�.

The Exodus Motif in 1 Kings 1–14

The appearance of the Exodus motif in several books of the Bible has been the subject of several studies. The present article examines the use of the Exodus motif in chs. 1–14 of the first book of Kings, first identifying explicit references, and concluding with more oblique ones. These allusions appear in passages attributed to various redactional layers, and are raised by a variety of figures (the narrator, God, the characters). Through their very appearance, the Exodus allusions contribute to the overall unity of the text. It is proposed that these references serve several different functions: to heighten the importance of the United Kingdom and its link to the Exodus; to abet the assessment of the characters of Solomon and Jeroboam, including the reversal of the assessment concerning them; to underscore the debt of fealty to God, and the justification of the punishment meted out against the sinners. Conversely, they highlight the commitment of God to his people, leading to their pardon.