Smith’s writing is so clear and engaging that the wealth of his scholarship is easily absorbed. The questions that lead into the various sections help the reader focus. The blend of scholarship and spirituality is flawless. An excellent commentary on this significant biblical book.Irene Nowell, OSB, Adjunct Professor of Theology, St. John’s University School of Theology

In his new Liturgical Press Commentary on Exodus, Mark S. Smith puts his considerable learning at the service of the general reader in clear, appealing fashion. He writes with unusual sensitivity to the literary power of the text and finds multiple levels of meaning in narratives that are often reduced to more narrow significance. Across Exodus, for example, Smith finds deep connections among original historical meanings and later Jewish and Christian appropriations of the ancient text. Perhaps most unique about Smith’s commentary are his theological insights into the laws and regulations of Sinai as spiritual modes of connection with God and community. He gathers the books main narrative components--escape from slavery and laws of covenant life--and insists that they present a complex, nuanced view of human freedom. Freedom is not simply rescue from oppression; it is also freedom for covenanted life with God and community as expressed in the covenant material. Study questions at t

Just as Moses guided the people through the wilderness, so Mark S. Smith guides the reader through the biblical story that describes this adventure. He expertly uncovers this story’s place in the literature of the Ancient Near East, its continued importance in the religious thinking of the Jewish people, its impact on Christian religion, and its value as a metaphor of the reader’s own journey through life. Once again Exodus stands out as evidence of God’s compassionate concern for the needy of our world.Dianne Bergant, CSA Catholic Theological Union