Exodus is the record of Israel's birth as a nation. Within the protective "womb" of Egypt, the Jewish family of seventy rapidly multiples. At the right time, accompanied with severe "birth pains," an infant nation, numbering between two and three million people, is brouginto the world where it is divinely protected.
The Hebrew title, We'elleh Shemoth, "Now These Are the Names," comes from the first phrase in 1:1. Exodus begins with "Now" to show it as a continuation of Genesis. The Greek title is Exodus, a word meaning to "exit," "depature," or "going out." The Septuagint uses this word to describe the book by its key event (see 19:1, "gone forth out). In Luke 19:31 and in Second Peter 1:15, the word exodus speaks of physical death (Jesus and Peter). This embodies Exodus's theme of redemption, because redemption is accomplished only through death. The Latin title is Liber Exodus, "Book of Departure," taken from the Greek title.
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