References to "out of the land of Egypt"

This section contains a list of Old Testament references pertaining to Egypt, more specifically, the Israelites' coming out of this country, traditional symbol of oppression and captivity. Without a doubt, the great redemptive act for the Jewish people was the Exodus or their deliverance from Egypt's despotic ruler or pharaoh. God commanded the Israelites never to forget their emancipation; the Mosaic Law required that they keep this decisive, divine act alive through liturgical commemorations such as the Passover. Starting from the Book of Exodus, that is, upon their deliverance at the Red Sea, and continuing throughout many other Old Testament books, the Israelites are constantly reminded of their deliverance. In fact, many of the prophets hammered this fact into their collective consciousness as a nation especially during times of national crisis.

It is interesting to observe that the one of the Hebrew words for "man" (in the sense of gender) is zakar, from the verbal root "to remember." In other words, it is through a man that a family pass on its remembrance or posterity for future generations. Therefore we may say that the Passover is the remembrance par excellance, the true zakar, of the Jews' salvation. The following sentences certainly imply this, yet they go further in that God wishes his people to continually remember in their daily lives as well as to make present for future generations his redemptive act.

Although I give the appropriate references to "out of Egypt," the reader should situate them in the broader context in which they are found. Such is the practice of lectio divina, the spirit in which these excerpts should be pondered. Certainly a close connection exists between a distant event in space and time (i.e., the Passover) and the current perception of Israel as a people and nation, and lectio divina is a special way of bridging this gap.

It is interesting to note that the Book of Genesis recounts the Jews descending into Egypt as a place of refuge from famine chiefly due to Joseph having become ruler there after having been sold by his brothers. Yet in this same book we have a foretaste of the consistently recurring theme of redemptive ascent starting with Joseph himself: "Do not bury me in Egypt, but let me lie with my fathers; carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place" (Gen 47.29-30). Contrast these words with the beginning of John's account of the Last Supper, the Passover, in 13.1: "Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end."

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Exodus

6.13: But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a charge to the people of Israel and to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the people out of the land of Egypt.

7.26: The Lord said, "Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts."

6.27: It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt.

7.4: then I will lay my hand upon Egypt and bring forth my hosts, my people the sons of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts and judgment.

7.5: when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.

12.17: And you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt.

12.41: And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.

12.42: It was a night of watching by the Lord, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

12.51: And on that very day the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

13.3: Remember this day, in which you came out from Egypt.

13.8: And you shall tell your son on that day, "It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt."

13.9: for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.

13.14: By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

13.16: for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.

13.18: And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.

14.11: What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?

16.6: At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

16.32: that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.

17.3: Why did you bring us up out of Egypt?'

18.1: Jethro, the priest of Midian...heard how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.

19.1: On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.

20.2: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

23.15: you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt.

29.46: And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God.

32.1: as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.

32.4: These are your gods [i.e., the molten calf], O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!

32.7: Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.

32.8: These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out the land of Egypt!

32.11: O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, who you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

32.23: as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.

33.1: Depart, go up hence, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt.

34.18: Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, as the time appointed in the month Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.

Leviticus

11.45: For I am the Lord wh brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God; you shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

19.36: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

22.32-3: I am the Lord who sanctifies you, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord.

23.43: that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

25.38: I am the Lord your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.

25.42: For they are my servants, whom I brought forth out the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.

25.55: For to me the people of Israel are servants, they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

26.13: I am the Lord your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves.

26.45: but I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought forth out the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations.

Numbers

1.1: The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, one the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt.

9.1: And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt.

15.41: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God.

20.5: Why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place?

20.16: he heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us forth out of Egypt.

21.5: Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?

22.5: Behold, a people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the earth.

32.11: Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

33.38: And Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of the Lord and died there, in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt.

Deuteronomy

1.27: Because the Lord hated us he has brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites.

4.20: But the Lord has taken you and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt.

4.37: and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his own power.

4.45: these are the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances which Moses spoke to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt.

5.6: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

6.12: then take heed lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

6.21: then you shall say to your son, "We are Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

8.14: then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

9.7: from the day you came out of the land of Egypt, until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord.

9.12: for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly.

9.26: destroy not your people and your heritage...whom you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

13.5: because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

13.10: because he sought to draw you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

16.1: for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night.

16.3: for you came out of the land of Egypt in hurried flight-that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt.

16.6: there you shall offer the passover sacrifice, in the evening at the going down of the sun, at the time you came out of Egypt.

20.1: for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

23.4: because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came forth out of Egypt.

24.9: Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on the way as you came forth out of Egypt.

25.17: Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt.

26.8: and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

29.25: It is because they forsook the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

Joshua

2.10: For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt.

5.4: And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, had died on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt.

5.5: yet all the people that were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised.

5.6: For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, til all the nation, the men of war that came forth out of Egypt, perished because they did not hearken to the voice of the Lord.

24.6: Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and came to the sea.

24.17: for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

24.32: The bones of Joseph which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt.

Judges

2.1: I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you into the land which I swore to give to your fathers.

2.12: and they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they went after other gods.

6.8: I led you up from Egypt, and brought you out of the house of bondage.

6.13: Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?

11.16: but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.

19.30: Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day.

1Samuel

8.8: According to all the deeds which they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods.

10.18: I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.

12.6: The Lord is witness who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.

12.8: and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron who brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made then dwell in this place.

15.2: I will punish what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way, when they came up out of Egypt.

15.6: for you [the Kenites] showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.

2Samuel

7.6: I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling.

1Kings

6.1: In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel...he began to build the house of the Lord.

8.9: There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt.

8.16: Since the day that I brought my people of Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city in all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house that my name might be there.

8.21: And there I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord which he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

8.51: for they are your people and your heritage which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace.

8.53: For you did separate them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage...when you brought our fathers out of Egypt.

9.9: Because they forsook the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods.

12.28: Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

2Kings

17.7: And this was so, because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt.

17.36: but you shall fear the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm.

21.15: because they have done what is evil in my sight...since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.

1Chronicles

17.21: What other nation on earth is like your people Israel whom God went to redeem to be his people...whom you did redeem from Egypt?

2Chronicles

5.10: There was nothing in the ark except the two tables which Moses put there at Horeb where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt.

6.5: Since the say that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city in all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house.

7.22: Because they forsook the Lord the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods.

20.10: And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt.

Psalms

80.8: You brought a vine out of Egypt.

81.10: I am the Lord your God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

114.1: When Israel went forth from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language.

Isaiah

11.16: And there will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant which is left of his people as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.

Jeremiah

2.6: They did not say, "Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt?"

7.22: For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.

7.25: From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them.

11.4: which I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace.

11.7: For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently even to this day saying, "Obey my voice."

16.14: The days are coming, says the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, "As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt."

23.7: Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when men shall no longer say, "As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt."

31.32-3: I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah...not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

32.21: You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders.

34.13: I made a covenant with your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Ezekiel

20.6: On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them.

20.9: I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt.

20.10: So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.

Daniel

9.15: And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have made you a name.

Hosea

2.15: And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

11.1: When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

11.11: they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt.

Amos

2.10: Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness to possess the land of the Amorite.

3.1: Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt.

9.7: Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt?

Micah

6.4: For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage.

7.15: As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt I will show them marvelous things.

Haggai

2.5: according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit abides among you, fear not.

Zechariah

10.10: I will bring them home from the land of Egypt, and gather them from Assyria.

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