Exodus (ĕx'o-dŭs), going out [of Egypt]. The second book in the Old Testament. Its author was Moses. It was written probably during the forty years' wanderings in the wilderness. The first part of the book gives an account of the great increase of Jacob's posterity in the land of Egypt, and their oppression under a new dynasty, which occupied the throne after the death of Joseph; the birth, education, flight and return of Moses; the attempts to prevail upon Pharaoh to let the Israelites go; the signs and wonders, ending in the death of the first-born, by means of which the deliverance of Israel from the land of bondage is at length accomplished, the institution of the passover, and the departure put of Egypt and the journey of the Israelites to Mount Sinai. The second part gives a sketch of the early history of Israel as a nation, set apart, and in its religious and political life consecrated to the service of God.