Key Verses: Exodus 13-15

Key Questions


1. Why does God ask for the consecration of the firstborn after the Exodus? How might this ritual be understood as a way of remembering that life belongs to God, not Pharaoh?
2. What role does embodied ritual (like eating unleavened bread) play in helping future generations internalize liberation? How do our bodies remember what our minds sometimes forget?
3. How does the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night signify God’s leadership? What might this say about divine guidance in uncertain, in-between spaces in our lives?
4. How does the “Song of Moses” function as a theological and political declaration? How does poetry serve to affirm collective identity and memory?
5. What does Miriam’s leadership and song teach us about: a) the role of a prophet, b) the role of women in Israel’s history? How can we reclaim and honor the prophetic voices of women in our own faith communities?

Theological Insights


“The triggering move that sets off this final and definitive burst of wonder, God’s salvation act, unprecedented and unsurpassable, is a meal, an ordinary meal, a meat and potatoes meal, prepared and eaten by a family in their own kitchen. The emphasis is on ordinariness, the ordinariness of the place (home), the ordinariness of the food (meat and bread), the ordinariness of those who eat (family members). It is definitely not a gourmet meal… This is so characteristic of biblical spirituality: the ordinary and the miraculous are on a single continuum. Anything and everything that we believe about God finds grounding in what we do in the course of any and every ordinary day. We are not permitted to segregate our salvation away from the details of getting around and making a living.” Eugene H. Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, 174.


“The pillar-cloud was a manifestation of Yahweh himself, not merely something he sent them. By reason of being guided by the pillar, the Israelites knew all day every day that God was present with them. Here was a supernatural… visible reminder that Yahweh was at the head of his people as they marched or encamped, whether by day of by night. Therefore, even the seemingly erratic route described by 13:20 in combination with 14:1-3 could be trusted because Yahweh was directing them on it. Yahweh chose the odd route—not they.” Douglas K. Stuart, Exodus (NAC).

“Miriam is explicitly identified as a prophet—a title that, interestingly, is never attached to Moses within the book of Exodus, and is assigned to Aaron only metaphorically: he plays the articulate “prophet” to Moses’ silent “god” when they approach Pharaoh (Exod. 7:1). Miriam, however, has a more clearly defined prophetic role. She was a musician, and music was associated with prophecy in the ancient Near East, including Israel (1 Sam. 10:5), and further associated with prophetic performance in the context of worship (1 Chr. 25:5–6). Wilda Gafney cites Exodus 15:20–21 as an instance of ‘interpretive prophecy,’ part of ‘the first religious musical performance in post-Exodus Israel’ (Gafney, Daughters, 80–81).” Ellen F. Davis, Opening Israel’s Scriptures, 48.