Book Review: Echoes of Exodus (Bryan Estelle)

Why does Luke 9:31 describe Jesus’ crucifixion as his ἔξοδον (“exodov”)? Why does Peter describe Christians as a “holy” and “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2.5, 9), redeemed by the blood of Christ the lamb (1.19)? What is the “new song” sung in Revelation 5:9 and 14:3? What is the old song? How does the idea of the exodus stretch from the book of Exodus to Luke? 1 Peter? Revelation? How is it carried along in the Old Testament?

Bryan Estelle, professor of Old Testament at Westminster Seminary California, provides a book on intertextuality on how the whole Bible develops a major theme: the exodus. Estelle traces this biblical motif throughout the Bible. Remember that when you read this. He doesn’t spend much time exegeting passages or drawing out how each line looks back on an exodus event. Rather, he looks at a passage and states how it broadly uses or reinterprets an idea from the exodus.

After a technical (but important) chapter on intertextuality, allusions, and echoes (see also the book’s appendix), Estelle moves on to the exodus motif. The exodus was when Yahweh delivered his people from the grip of Egypt. He brings his people to the cosmic mountain, the mountain of his presence, Mt. Sinai, gives Israel his instructions and has them build a tabernacle where he will dwell among them- just as he dwelt among Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. Estelle defines the exodus motif in this way: “both the deliverance from the enemies of Israel in Egypt and the wilderness wanderings as described in the Sinai pilgrimage, which culminate in the arrival at the foot of the mountain of God” (102).

Estelle then takes his readers through the Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Ezra and Nehemiah, Mark and Matthew, Luke and Acts, Paul, 1 Peter, and Revelation. Often throughout the Old Testament texts Estelle includes his own translation, often including Hebrew transliterations of key words that allude to the exodus. Estelle wants his readers to feel confident when they read their Bibles to be able to ‘hear’ the Bible’s own allusions to different events, specifically the exodus, even if they don’t know the biblical languages themselves.

The Spoiled Milk

In chapter two, “The Past is Prologue,” Estelle brings the reader back to creation, the problem of human plight, and how it all relates to the exodus. He discusses the idea of two kingdoms and how God’s “covenantal family” (running through the Adamic line of Seth) “lives in the midst of the common-grace city of man” (76). Surveying Genesis 6-9, with a focus on 8:20-9:17, Estelle examines how the covenant to Noah (6:18) relates to the Noahic covenant. The Abrahamic covenant was redemptive while the Noahic covenant was not. This will run throughout history as God’s people live in the midst of other governments and forms of power. The “kingdom of God and the civil kingdom, will help us understand the exodus motif, guiding our interpretation of the exodus along spiritual lines rather than merely political ones” (90).

Primarily, the discussion of the two kingdoms along with the emphasis on God’s common grace seems to be out of place with the rest of the book. First, much of the discussion had little to do with the exodus until the end of the chapter (see the above quote). This is fine except that these two subjects don’t occur after page 118 (in a 351 page book), which causes me to wonder why they were mentioned in the first place.

Recommended?

One upside to the book is also a downside. Tracing a theme throughout the whole of Scripture means that each section/allusion gets a short shrift. There is not much exegesis, translations of particular sections (e.g., Isaiah 40:1-11) take up a lot of space, and at least one text (Psalm 23) didn’t refer to an exodus text at all. But for those who are new to the Bible’s own intertextuality and the theme of the exodus, this would be a great book to get. To know who to recommend this to is iffy though. If you have Carson and Beale’s Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, if you’ve read Beale’s Revelation commentary, anything by Richard Hays, or Rikk Watts, then some (or all) of this won’t be new. But if you haven’t read some of those guys, or if you’re brand new to this, then pick up this book and see one of the Bible’s greatest themes and how it runs from the beginning of the Bible through our salvation and up to the new creation.

Lagniappe

• Authors: Bryan D. Estelle
• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: IVP Academic (January 30, 2018)

Buy it on Amazon

Disclosure: I received this book free from IVP Academic. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html.

Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.