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The book of Exodus in the Old Testament

tells how the people of Israel are leaving the slavery of Egypt under the leadership of Moses toward the land God promised to Abraham.

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The historicity of Moses has not been proven, but the narratives attached to him are very central to the Jewish tradition, for they include: The idea of monotheism, the covenant, the transmission of the Torah, and the celebration of the Passover.

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According to Old Testament accounts, the Israelites (Hebrew tribes) had lived in Egypt at the invitation of Joseph, the son of Jacob the Patriarch, for about 300 years. Gradually Joseph's good deeds to Pharaoh had been forgotten and the Hebrews had become slaves. Pharaoh, perhaps Ramses II , decided to thin out the alien people and ordered all the little children to be thrown into the Nile.

Pharaoh's daughter saves from the Nile  little Moses and takes this to the court to be raised. As he grows up, Moses sees his own people  eradication in construction work. He gets hot when he sees an Egyptian brutally punishing a worker belonging to his tribe. Moses kills the Egyptian and must flee to the land of Midian, where he will marry Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro, a priest there.

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As he shepherds the sheep of Jethro, he sees a burning bush where God appears to him. This is Moses ’call to be the leader of the Israelites, to lead the people back to the promised land. Moses objects that his speaking skills would not be enough, but God promises to help and he will also be helped by his brother Aaron, who was better than Moses in his speech gifts.

Moses and Aaron have to visit Pharaoh several times   narrator in vain. Aaron's rod brought ten  a different scourge against the Egyptians. With the threat of the last plague, the death of the firstborn of Egypt, the Israelites celebrated their first Passover . When the scourge took place, the death of the firstborn of Egypt,  the people were allowed to embark on a trek that lasted 40 years.

When the voyage was to the Kaislameri (perhaps the northern part of present-day Suez Bay), Pharaoh withdrew his departure vow and set out in pursuit with his troops. The sea split in two and the Israelites were able to cross the bay, while the Egyptians drowned.

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The journey continued towards Mount Sinai.

By this point, the Israelis were already chewing on meager rations of food and reminiscent of Egyptian meat dams. And when they were hungry, they gathered manna out of the earth; and Moses smote the rock with the rod.

Two months later they reached Mount Sinai (= Mount Horeb. Today behind St. Catherine's Monastery.), At the foot of which they camped. Moses went up to the mountain where God made a covenant with the people of Israel through Moses. As a seal of the covenant, God gave Moses a Torah containing the Ten Commandments and other statutes.

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When Moses returned from the mountain, he saw how Aaron had prepared  to the people of the golden bull  as an image of God. Moses smashed two tables of law on the ground and destroyed the bull. God no longer wanted to lead the people to the Promised Land, but Moses was persuaded to do so, and God wrote to him the new tablets, which, according to God’s command, were to be placed in the ark of the covenant, and the ark was to be placed in its sanctuary.

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Due to the stuttering of the people, the wilderness trek took 40 years . Scouts sent by Moses said the land of Canaan was full of honey and milk, but the nations living in its cities were too strong to be conquered.

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Eventually, no one from Egypt set out on a journey to the promised land, but only to the next generation born along the way.

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