Editing Exodus (section)

===Bondage in Egypt===
The Egyptian king ([[Pharaoh of the Exodus|pharaoh]]), fearful of the [[Hebrews]]' numbers, orders that all newborn Hebrew (Israelite) boys be thrown into the [[Nile]]. A [[Levite]] woman saves her baby by setting him adrift on the river in an ark of [[bulrush]]es. The pharaoh's daughter finds the child, and names him [[Moses]], and brings him up as her own. But Moses is aware of his [[Hebrew]] origins, and one day, when grown, kills an Egyptian overseer who is beating a [[Hebrew]] man, and has to flee into [[Midian]]<ref>Midian: the desert region between Egypt and the Negev.</ref> There he marries, and while  herding the flocks of his father-in-law [[Jethro]]<ref>Moses' father-in-law is named Reuel and Jethro in the Torah, and Hobeb in Judges. Hobeb also appears in the Torah (in Numbers), but is identified there as a son of Reuel.</ref> on [[Mount Horeb]],<ref>Horeb: an alternative name for mount Sinai</ref> encounters God in a burning bush. God reveals his name, Yahweh, to Moses, and tells him to return to Egypt and lead the Hebrews into Canaan, the land promised to [[Abraham]].

Moses returns to Egypt, and God instructs him to appear before the pharaoh and inform him of God's demand that he let God's people go. Moses and his brother [[Aaron]] do so, but the pharaoh refuses. God causes a series of [[Plagues of Egypt|plague]]s to strike Egypt, but the pharaoh does not relent. God instructs Moses to institute the [[Passover]] sacrifice among the Hebrews, and kills all the firstborn children and livestock throughout Egypt. The pharaoh then agrees to let the Hebrews go. Moses explains the meaning of the Passover: it is for Israel's salvation from Egypt, so that the Hebrews will not be required to sacrifice their own sons, but to redeem them.