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The Bible Speaks Today: Old Testament
The Message of Exodus: The Days of Our Pilgrimage
When the Lord promised the land of Canaan to Abram and his descendants (Gen 15:7), every part of it was already occupied by other peoples. The long journey to possession of the Promised Land was prepared by God, yet it led through a path of adversity. We, the readers of the Old Testament, are left to wonder why. In this engaging Bible Speaks Today commentary on Exodus, J. Alec Motyer explores the character of God through his covenant promises and persistent faithfulness to the people of Israel. Through the story of Israel we are exposed to an unquenchable fire: God the Savior, the Companion and the Indweller, who will not fail those who so often fail him.
329 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
41 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
About the author
J. Alec Motyer
36 books44 followersJ. Alec Motyer (M.A., B.D., D.D.) was formerly principal of Trinity College in Bristol, England. He has extensive experience in parish ministry and is well known as a Bible expositor. He is author of The Prophecy of Isaiah, and he is Old Testament editor of IVP's commentary series, The Bible Speaks Today. He has written several volumes in that series.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 21, 2024
You’ll never regret buying and reading any book by Alec Motyer. This is a masterwork from an OT scholar writing for pastors and laymen.
January 4, 2024
Imagine sitting fireside in a majestic stone castle somewhere along the cliff-lined shores of the British Isles while your grandpa tells you the world’s greatest true tales.
August 19, 2025
Typically, I don’t record my commentary reading on here. But also, I rarely read through an entire commentary. But this is Alec Motyer and his commentaries read like devotional musings. He is helpful and clear and Jesus-centered.
March 18, 2019
One of my favorite Old Testament scholars brings his gifts to the book of Exodus. An accessible and thoughtful commentary that will especially serve pastors preaching through the text. Like any Bible teacher, Motyer has a few idiosyncrasies that show up occasionally in odd applications of the text - but still highly recommended.
February 26, 2022
Motyer's commentary was a very readable take on Exodus. His exegesis of Moses character development was very helpful, and also his vision of the redemption by the blood of the Lamb, and the giving of the law to those set free by the blood and thus as a means of life with God rather than an entry to life with God was good. Also his analysis of the importance of the golden calf incident, yet Gods unswerving faithfulness in fulfilling his plans was encouraging. My one point of disagreement was his view on the place of the law in the New Covenant. He gave the sense that in the old covenant they failed because of their sin and that in the New Covenant the Spirit helps us to keep it through our obedience. Also his over emphasis on how obedience keeps us in the covenant was unhelpful. But overall an excellent commentary to get to grips with Exodus. Highly commended.
July 25, 2018
I focus on one book in the Bible for a year, reading the text as well as commentaries. This year my focus is the book of Exodus. This far, I have read 3 other commentaries on Exodus, one by Dennis Praegar, another by a Jewish Rabbi and one by John Calvin. The latest by Mother. While each was beneficial, The Message of Exodus has been the most enjoyed, having provided insights that none of the others have and further advanced my walk with the God of the Bible. Mother has an enjoyable readable style with a vast knowledge of both Exodus and the Old Testament. While this is my first taste of Mother, it won't be my last. Highly recommended.
May 2, 2020
Spent just about a month+ studying Exodus, using this commentary. And I am so grateful that I chose this one and it remains on my shelf. Motyer is a favorite commentator. His reading of texts is intellectually dense, but also rich with pastoral notre. I gained insights into word usage I would have never seen, connections with the gospel, and an understanding of overarching themes that I’ll be contemplating for a long time to come. I’m glad I read it cover to cover along with Exodus, and I’m sure I’ll use it as a resource in the future.
January 15, 2026
The book of Exodus is exciting. It shows one of the most impactful events of the Old Testament and its right notification are sending throughout both the Jewish and Christian life. This short commentary reminds us of our hardships and how God prepares his servants. I did appreciate that discussion on the signs and sacraments and the warning to run into God, not ourselves. And as the book of Exodus does, so, does this commentary, focusing more upon the Plagues and gold calf incident, then the construction of the Tabernacle. It is an excellent resource whether you fill the pulpit or the pew.
December 27, 2021
I first looked at The Bible Speaks Today series in 2002, but I wasn't particularly impressed.
However, in 2021 a speaker mentioned the series saying the one on Exodus by Alec Motyer was not to be missed if studying Exodus.
I am so glad he said so!
I took him at his word, ordered just the Exodus book from the series and am delighted with the richness of it.
I would now regard this as a must-read if you were to preach on Exodus.
However, in 2021 a speaker mentioned the series saying the one on Exodus by Alec Motyer was not to be missed if studying Exodus.
I am so glad he said so!
I took him at his word, ordered just the Exodus book from the series and am delighted with the richness of it.
I would now regard this as a must-read if you were to preach on Exodus.
May 3, 2023
Solid and accessible commentary on Exodus. My biggest complaint is with the formatting. I was using it for sermon research and it’s more organized by themes and scripture than just scripture, which may be helpful for some people but for me was a pain haha. The content is great. It was a little light in some areas that deserved more attention but overall not a bad commentary. Motyer is still a world class commentator.
March 24, 2023
⭐⭐⭐⭐ While this volume does not have the easiest flow to read, it does cover a lot in a reasonable amount of pages. It is technical enough and provides the right amount of pastoral emphasis. https://amzn.to/3hNGLLX
April 1, 2019
My favorite of the commentaries I used in preaching through Exodus.
September 13, 2022
Excellent commentary of a wonderful book in the Bible
September 22, 2018
I found this to be a useful but uneven commentary.
The author comes from a reformed Protestant tradition; he upholds both the historicity of Israel's enslavement to and exodus from Egypt. He also defends the traditional view the book was written solely by Moses. He occasionally engages with the works of other commentators who teach the book was the product of 3-4 authors living at different times, but this is usually done only in the chapter end notes.
The book is primarily a study commentary. It highlighted several things for me that I had never thought about when reading Exodus, including:
○ Interesting parallels between the story of Exodus and the beginning of Jesus' career
○ Why Moses failed the first time he approached Pharaoh
○ Insight into the Golden Calf as the first national sin of Israel
Unfortunately, Motyer has some annoying habits common to many commentaters:
○ Overly fond of chiastic outlines
○ Overly fond of quoting old hymns
○ Sometimes stretches the text to make points that, while valid, might not be supported by or naturally derived from the passage
To illustrate this last item. Motyer's translation of Verse 2:23 says "The Israelites moaned in their slavery and shrieked, and their call for help because of their slavery went up to God." He spends a few pages on the importance of prayer. He maintains that "moaning" and "shrieking" are natural human responses but they do not mobilize God. Only when it reaches the level of prayer ("call for help") does God respond. This seemed like a sketchy argument to me. First, in most translations, "shrieking" is replaced by "crying" and this is the cry (or call) God responds to. Second, this line of reasoning implies that during 300 years of oppression, the Israelites had not been already continuously prayed for deliverance. If only they had prayed sooner…
I was disappointed in his treatment of the plagues. The most interesting method is to analyze each one as an assault by the true God against one of the Egypt's mythological deities. Motyer mentions a couple of these in end notes but does not dwell on the point. Furthermore, he completely passes over the apparent contradictions in the text between the plagues of livestock and hail (in the former, all the cattle are killed by disease, but in the latter Egyptians are warned to protect their cattle from the hail.)
His treatment of Passover is very insightful, especially his observation: "When Yahweh entered Egypt as absolute Lord and Judge, Israel's problem was no longer how to escape Pharaoh but how to be safe before such a God… The real issue is that unprotected, unsheltered humanity cannot stand in the presence of the Lord the Judge."
Motyer's chapter on the Ten Commandments was also noteworthy, particularly his observation on covetousness: "The tenth commandment is where the Decalogue ends, but it is, in fact, the point at which every other breach of the law begins."
The author comes from a reformed Protestant tradition; he upholds both the historicity of Israel's enslavement to and exodus from Egypt. He also defends the traditional view the book was written solely by Moses. He occasionally engages with the works of other commentators who teach the book was the product of 3-4 authors living at different times, but this is usually done only in the chapter end notes.
The book is primarily a study commentary. It highlighted several things for me that I had never thought about when reading Exodus, including:
○ Interesting parallels between the story of Exodus and the beginning of Jesus' career
○ Why Moses failed the first time he approached Pharaoh
○ Insight into the Golden Calf as the first national sin of Israel
Unfortunately, Motyer has some annoying habits common to many commentaters:
○ Overly fond of chiastic outlines
○ Overly fond of quoting old hymns
○ Sometimes stretches the text to make points that, while valid, might not be supported by or naturally derived from the passage
To illustrate this last item. Motyer's translation of Verse 2:23 says "The Israelites moaned in their slavery and shrieked, and their call for help because of their slavery went up to God." He spends a few pages on the importance of prayer. He maintains that "moaning" and "shrieking" are natural human responses but they do not mobilize God. Only when it reaches the level of prayer ("call for help") does God respond. This seemed like a sketchy argument to me. First, in most translations, "shrieking" is replaced by "crying" and this is the cry (or call) God responds to. Second, this line of reasoning implies that during 300 years of oppression, the Israelites had not been already continuously prayed for deliverance. If only they had prayed sooner…
I was disappointed in his treatment of the plagues. The most interesting method is to analyze each one as an assault by the true God against one of the Egypt's mythological deities. Motyer mentions a couple of these in end notes but does not dwell on the point. Furthermore, he completely passes over the apparent contradictions in the text between the plagues of livestock and hail (in the former, all the cattle are killed by disease, but in the latter Egyptians are warned to protect their cattle from the hail.)
His treatment of Passover is very insightful, especially his observation: "When Yahweh entered Egypt as absolute Lord and Judge, Israel's problem was no longer how to escape Pharaoh but how to be safe before such a God… The real issue is that unprotected, unsheltered humanity cannot stand in the presence of the Lord the Judge."
Motyer's chapter on the Ten Commandments was also noteworthy, particularly his observation on covetousness: "The tenth commandment is where the Decalogue ends, but it is, in fact, the point at which every other breach of the law begins."
May 1, 2018
2 stars= "it was okay" not "it was bad"
This commentary on Exodus has many strengths. One strength is its author, Alec Motyer who was a brilliant OT scholar. He was very much in the guild of OT scholars and knew his stuff. Also, he connects Exodus passages to NT fulfillments in Christ that are very smooth and helpful for me, as a pastor. The book shows tremendous literary sensitivity. For these reason, I kept coming back to it.
However, the book also has some oddities that made it difficult to use. First, it is not laid out in the most expository of ways. Broadly speaking it is, and so you get chapters that cover Exodus for example 13:17-17:6 (a literary unit). But the book does not simply walk you through the verses and chapters, it's organized more abstractly by various topics or literary constructions within these literary units. This makes it hard to find where he handles certain verses.
Another oddity was that some of his interpretive conclusions seemed strange because there was so little explanation given with them. For instance, the story of God appearing to Moses and intending to kill him (Ex 4:24-26) because his son was uncircumcised is matter-of-factly explained like this: "Probably, it seemed at first sight to Zipporah that Moses was suffering a seizure or some other illness that had every appearance of being fatal. Presumably, however, she realized that its cause was not physical but spiritual and not demonic but divine" (pg. 92). Apparently, Motyer interprets God meeting Moses to refer to some sort of 'take over' of Moses's body. Perhaps he is right, but I have never heard that interpretation before, and I am left wondering how the text could be read to support it. To be sure, Motyer is not at all dogged about that interpretation, he is very humble about it, he calls it "no more than one person's best efforts." I appreciate that intellectual humility more than he could imagine--it's such a rare gift today! I just was left with some gaps in figuring out how he came to his conclusions here and a few other places.
I think this is a solid commentary. It's biblical and evangelical. You will benefit from using it, but there are some quirks to it.
This commentary on Exodus has many strengths. One strength is its author, Alec Motyer who was a brilliant OT scholar. He was very much in the guild of OT scholars and knew his stuff. Also, he connects Exodus passages to NT fulfillments in Christ that are very smooth and helpful for me, as a pastor. The book shows tremendous literary sensitivity. For these reason, I kept coming back to it.
However, the book also has some oddities that made it difficult to use. First, it is not laid out in the most expository of ways. Broadly speaking it is, and so you get chapters that cover Exodus for example 13:17-17:6 (a literary unit). But the book does not simply walk you through the verses and chapters, it's organized more abstractly by various topics or literary constructions within these literary units. This makes it hard to find where he handles certain verses.
Another oddity was that some of his interpretive conclusions seemed strange because there was so little explanation given with them. For instance, the story of God appearing to Moses and intending to kill him (Ex 4:24-26) because his son was uncircumcised is matter-of-factly explained like this: "Probably, it seemed at first sight to Zipporah that Moses was suffering a seizure or some other illness that had every appearance of being fatal. Presumably, however, she realized that its cause was not physical but spiritual and not demonic but divine" (pg. 92). Apparently, Motyer interprets God meeting Moses to refer to some sort of 'take over' of Moses's body. Perhaps he is right, but I have never heard that interpretation before, and I am left wondering how the text could be read to support it. To be sure, Motyer is not at all dogged about that interpretation, he is very humble about it, he calls it "no more than one person's best efforts." I appreciate that intellectual humility more than he could imagine--it's such a rare gift today! I just was left with some gaps in figuring out how he came to his conclusions here and a few other places.
I think this is a solid commentary. It's biblical and evangelical. You will benefit from using it, but there are some quirks to it.
September 28, 2018
The book of Exodus is one of my most favorite to preach through, a because of this fact I have accumulated a plethora of commentaires on the book. This combined with my passion for exegetical preaching makes, Exodus by J.A. Motyer, one of the best exegetical commentaries in the Bible Speaks Today commentary series produced by IVP Academic. This commentary series is respected in both higher scholarship as well as in popular understanding. For this series combines the best of scholarship with practical applications.
This volume begins with a longer introductory section than most in the series. It is also important to note that Motyer does not focus his entire introductory section on the authorship or sources of Exodus. Rather, Motyer focuses on the less technical aspects of scholarship matters .
While there are a few disappointments in this volume, though they are indicative of the series as a whole, focusing sometimes too much on the big picture of the text instead of the small important matters of the text. The text as a whole is worth while for a pastor or even a small group leader, but with respect to a pastor I would pair this volume with a commentary that is a bit larger in length and is able to ficuses in matters this volume bypassed, due to spatial requirements.
These books was provided to me free of charge from IVP Academic Press in exchange for an unbiased, honest review.
This volume begins with a longer introductory section than most in the series. It is also important to note that Motyer does not focus his entire introductory section on the authorship or sources of Exodus. Rather, Motyer focuses on the less technical aspects of scholarship matters .
While there are a few disappointments in this volume, though they are indicative of the series as a whole, focusing sometimes too much on the big picture of the text instead of the small important matters of the text. The text as a whole is worth while for a pastor or even a small group leader, but with respect to a pastor I would pair this volume with a commentary that is a bit larger in length and is able to ficuses in matters this volume bypassed, due to spatial requirements.
These books was provided to me free of charge from IVP Academic Press in exchange for an unbiased, honest review.
April 16, 2016
Motyer fully, and systematically expounds the essentials of the Exodus story. God Sabaoth ( LORD Of Heavenly Hosts) relents, relinquishing his anger at Moses' appeal a number of times because of an obstinate people of a newly formed covenant. After anointing, and the sprinkling of blood, and finally atonement, the Israelites commit an atrocious and grotesque sin before YHWH, a golden calf of worship whom is acclaimed of bringing them out from under the yoke of the Egyptians..
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews