The English name of the second book of the Bible is “Exodus,” a term that comes to us, via the Latin, as an abbreviation of the Greek title exodos aigyptou (“Road out from Egypt”). This title focuses the reader's attention on the narrative in the first fourteen chapters of the book, which tell the story of Israelites departing from Egypt. The remaining thirty-six chapters of the book recount the journey to Sinai and then the revelation there of the covenant and its stipulations; and they conclude with a description of a tabernacle and an account of its construction. The Hebrew title of the book follows ancient Semitic practice of naming a work by its opening words, in this case wĕ'ēllê šĕmôt (“And these are the names”), which is usually shortened to šĕmôt, Names. This title, which refers to the “names” of the sons of Jacob whose descendents are now in Egypt, conveys the connection of Exodus with the preceding biblical book, Genesis, which ends with the story of their descent to Egypt. In so doing, it indicates that Exodus is part of the larger literary unit known as the Torah, or Pentateuch.

According to Exodus, a group of people is oppressed in Egypt, manages to escape, and then journeys through the wilderness to a mountain where God reveals through Moses community guidelines and instructions for a national shrine, which they construct.