Encyclopedia of medieval literature

EXODUS

Exodus: translation

(ca. eighth century)
Exodusis an OLD ENGLISH poem of 590 lines, preserved as the second poem in the JUNIUS MANUSCRIPT in Oxford’s Bodleian Library. The poem is not a mere paraphrase of the biblical Book of Exodus; rather, it is conceived as an epic with Moses as hero, both in the sense of a leader of battles and of a speaker of wisdom familiar in Old English heroic poetry. Focusing chiefly on chapters 13 and 14 from the book of Exodus, the poem concentrates on the central episodes of the Hebrews’ flight from Egypt, the miraculous parting of the Red Sea, and the subsequent destruction of the Egyptians that ensures their escape.
The poem begins by introducing Moses as lawgiver.It moves into the description of the 10th plague of Egypt—the killing of the first-born—and to the release of the Hebrews. A pillar of cloud leads and protects the people as they flee toward the sea. The Israelites’ escape from Egypt and crossing of the Red Sea are presented largely as heroic military operations, with Moses being described in vocabulary suited for a military commander. The armor and weapons of both the Hebrews and the Egyptians are described in a manner consistent with heroic poetry, and after the Egyptians have been drowned, the Hebrews are described plundering the bodies as they would after a victorious battle.
Thematically, the poem focuses on God’s protection of his chosen people, as a long digression (considered an interpolation by some critics) concerning God’s protection of Noah and of Abraham follows the vivid description of the Egyptian defeat. The Anglo-Saxon church would have seen itself as similarly in need of God’s protection, and as dealing, like Moses, with a wayward people needing constantly to be brought back to God. Further, they would have seen the Exodus story as allegorical: Traditionally, the Hebrews fleeing Egypt were interpreted as representing Christians leaving the prison of this life for their eternal home (the Promised Land). Pharaoh in this reading represents the devil, and the crossing of the Red Sea the baptism by which the devil is defeated. Such an allegorical reading is invited in the poem, as are other symbolic readings. The poet’s use of nautical imagery, for example, to describe the Hebrews’ movement over the desert may relate to Old English poems likeThe SEAFARERandThe WANDERER, where traveling on the sea is seen as a metaphor for the pilgrimage of this life as the Christian looks for safe haven in the eternal, promised paradise— an interpretation that would underscore the traditional allegorical interpretation of the poem’s events.
Exodusis a poem of epic grandeur. Particularly admirable is the vivid description of the converging forces of Egyptians and Israelites—a description involving the shifting of points of view between the two armies in a style Greenfield and Calder describe as “cinematic” (1986, 213). Though the poem is difficult, such passages makeExodusone of the most exhilarating of all the poems in the Old English canon.
Bibliography
■ Godden,Malcolm. “Biblical Literature: The Old Testament.” InThe Cambridge Companion to Old English Literature, edited by Malcolm Godden and Michael Lapidge, 206–226. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
■ Greenfield, Stanley B., and Daniel G. Calder.A New Critical History of Old English Literature. New York: New York University Press, 1986.
■ Krapp, George Philip.The Junius Manuscript. Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records, I. New York: Columbia University Press, 1931.

  1. exodus—Exodus translation Abook of the Hebrew Bible that describes the captivity of the Israelites in Egypt and their delivery by Moses from the oppression of the pharaoh. Much ...Ancient Egypt
  2. exodus—Exodus translation The great deliverance wrought for the children of Isreal when they were brought out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched ar...Easton's Bible Dictionary
  3. exodus—exodus translation exodus UKu USu eksds nounu [Su] the movement of a lot of people or things away from a place an exodus of sth Trade unions are concerned by the exodus ...Financial and business terms
  4. exodus—exodus translationSynonyms and related wordsabandonment act afterpiece bit chaser curtain curtain call curtain raiser decampment departure divertimento divertissement egr...Moby Thesaurus
  5. exodus—Exodus translationExodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodu...The King James version of the Bible
  6. exodus—[eksds]массовый отъезд переселениеисход евреев из ЕгиптаИсход...Англо-русский большой универсальный переводческий словарь
  7. exodus—массовый отъезд особ. об эмигрантах bibl. исход евреев из Египта the Exodus Исход я книга Ветхого завета...Англо-русский дополнительный словарь
  8. exodus—исход...Англо-русский онлайн словарь
  9. exodus—исход...Англо-русский онлайн словарь
  10. exodus—n массовый уход...Англо-русский словарь Лингвистика-98
  11. exodus—exodus [eksds] nu массовый отъезд особ.u об эмигрантахem E. библ.u исход евреев из Египта E. Исход я книга Ветхого заветаem...Англо-русский словарь Мюллера
  12. exodus—сущ. а библ. исход евреев из Египта б массовый отъезд напр. об эмигрантах переселение a mass exodus массовый исход a complete exodus of the entire tribe полная миграци...Англо-русский словарь общей лексики
  13. exodus—Массовый уход массовая эмиграция вызванная чрезвычайными обстоятельствами rural exodus...Англо-русский словарь по экономике
  14. exodus—nмассовый отъезд массовый уход массовый выезд беженцевem массовая эмиграция вызванная чрезвычайными обстоятельствами исход exodus from a country exodus of capital exodus ...Англо-русский словарь политической терминологии
  15. exodus—n. исход евреев из Египта исход массовый отъезд...Англо-русский словарь редакция bed
  16. exodus—nмасовий вдзд особл. про емгрантвem...Англо-украинский словарь
  17. exodus—вихд результат...Англо-український словник
  18. exodus—n ббл. the E. вихд врев з гипту масовий вдзд визд втеча....Англо-український словник Балла М.І.
  19. exodus—m библ. исход евреев из Египта рел. Исход вторая книга Моисеева пятикнижия...Большой немецко-русский и русско-немецкий словарь
  20. exodus—Exodusstrong m высок. исхоstrongд массовый уходem...Большой немецко-русский словарь
  21. exodus—массовый отъезд...Голландско-русский словарь
  22. exodus—Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Ex...Канонический английский перевод Библии
  23. exodus—exodusi fiисход...Латинский словарь
  24. exodus—exodusexodus i fисход...Латинско-русский словарь
  25. exodus—f.em греч.Исход вторая книга Пятикнижия Vlg Eccl...Латинско-русский словарь
  26. exodus—[eksds] n. библ. the Exodus исход евреев из Египта Исход вторая книга Ветхого завета. массовый уход или выезд бегство часто ирон.vacation came with its annual exodus from...Новый большой англо-русский словарь
  27. exodus—exodus [eksds] ni . библ.i the Exodus исход евреев из Египта Исход вторая книга Ветхого заветаi . массовый уход илиi выезд бегство часто ирон.i vacation came with its a...Новый большой англо-русский словарь II
  28. exodus—eksds n . библ. the Exodus исход евреев из Египта Исход вторая книга Ветхого заветаem . массовый уход илиem выезд бегство часто ирон. vacation came with its annual ...Новый большой англо-русский словарь под общим руководством акад. Ю.Д. Апресяна
  29. exodus—[egzodus] Р. emu книжн. шутл.em массовый уход выезд etc.em...Польско-русский словарь
  30. exodus—Rzeczownik exodus m artobliwy массовый отход...Универсальный польско-русский словарь