THE LITERARY STRUCTURE
OF THE BOOK OF EXODUS 1–18
AND THE LITERARY STRUCTURE
OF ANCIENT HITTITE TREATIES
the possibility of the reduction to 4 elements

As a result of the investigations it was found that the structure of six consecutive pericopes of the Book of Exodus 1–18 fulfills the requirements imposed by the literary scheme of the Hittite alliance treaties. At the same time, you can see that:

For that reason the structure of Exod 1–18 can be reduced to four elements:

A:
Exo 1,1–11,10:
God presents himself as the king full of power and majesty, and initiates alliance with Israel in her situation of being slave in Egypt, undertakes the obligation to give her the Land of Canaan as a possession.
B:
Exo 12,1–13,16:
God gives Israel the law of the Passover / Exodus covenant; Israel accepts the law given her.
C:
Exo 13,17–14,31:
God makes covenant with Israel by the act of leading her through the desert and through the slotted sea.
D:
Exo 15,1–18,27:
Israel glorifies God, remembering that He has given her His blessing, i.e. freedom and land, food and water, knowledge of Him and of His law.

The possibility of making such a thematic reduction was perceived at the beginning of Israel as the People of the Lord; it became the principle for incorporation of the history of Exod 1–18 into the Passover ritual, what is being discussed in the next few points of the presentation.