Revisiting the Literary Structure of the Book of Exodus

This paper first surveys the scholarly literature dealing with the literary structure of the Book of Exodus in its final form. Scholars generally organize the final form of the book either by its evident geographical markers, or by theological subheadings, and major scholarly suggestions include bifid, tripartite, four-part, or multi-part macro-structures. After summarizing the shortcomings of these various proposed structures, this study, undertaken in collaboration with two doctoral students, suggests the presence of two detailed and overlapping parallel-panel macro-structures encompassing the entire book, one arising from striking parallels between the beginning of the book and its midpoint, and the second arising from striking parallels between the end of the book and its midpoint. The paper also suggests the presence of seven micro-structures (smaller literary units) that span the book of Exodus, with the middle micro-structure pointing toward a theological and thematic apex of the book. These micro-structures alternate symmetrically between chiastic and panel structures within the flow of the parallel-panel macro-structures. Each of these three structural approaches are complementary, and although each section points to a different passage of Exodus as the “center” of the book, each of these three central passages emphasize the same theme of God’s presence in leading the people of Israel out Egypt. This paper is offered as a case study of how aesthetic literary structure informs the theology of Scripture, as well as providing insights into its composition