Overview
Shemot is the Exodus volume of Moses Mendelssohn’s Pentateuch edition, often known as the Bi’ur or Netivot ha-Shalom. It is not a freestanding treatise or a modern narrative history; it is an annotated Hebrew Bible volume. Its central content is the book of Exodus, presented with Mendelssohn’s German translation printed in Hebrew characters and with his Hebrew commentary. Around the biblical text and translation stand the traditional Aramaic Targum Onkelos and Rashi’s commentary. The volume is therefore a study Bible in the rabbinic mould: the Hebrew text is read alongside translation, grammar, traditional exegesis, and Mendelssohn’s own explanation of the plain sense.
The Biblical Book Covered
The volume follows Exodus from its opening to its close. It begins with the names of Israel’s ancestors and the growth of the Israelite people in Egypt. It recounts the enslavement under Pharaoh, the decree against male infants, the birth and rescue of Moses, his upbringing, his flight to Midian, and his call at the burning bush. It then covers Moses’ mission to Pharaoh, the plagues, the institution of Passover, the departure from Egypt, and the crossing of the sea.
The later narrative moves through the wilderness episodes, the arrival at Sinai, the giving of the Ten Commandments, and the covenant laws that follow. It includes the episode of the golden calf, Moses’ intercession, the renewal of the covenant, and the instructions for building the tabernacle. The volume ends with the completion of the tabernacle and the glory of God filling it. Mendelssohn’s commentary accompanies this sequence, explaining words, phrases, and legal and narrative details as they arise.
Translation and Commentary
Mendelssohn’s German translation is printed in Hebrew letters, a format that keeps the volume within the traditional Hebrew book while giving the reader a German rendering of the text. The translation is accompanied by Mendelssohn’s Hebrew commentary, commonly called the Bi’ur. This commentary is exegetical rather than a systematic philosophical work: it clarifies Hebrew grammar and syntax, explains unusual words and idioms, weighs traditional interpretations, and seeks a coherent plain-sense reading of the verse. It frequently engages Rashi and Targum Onkelos, sometimes agreeing with them and sometimes offering a different explanation.
Because the volume is a Pentateuch edition, the text follows the Jewish division of Exodus into weekly Torah portions, from Shemot through Pekudei. The commentary covers both the narrative sections and the legal and architectural material, so the reader encounters the whole book of Exodus as a continuous text with explanation rather than as a collection of excerpts.
Traditional Apparatus and Additions
Alongside Mendelssohn’s translation and commentary, the volume carries the standard traditional apparatus: the Aramaic Targum Onkelos and Rashi’s Hebrew commentary. In the fuller Shemot editions described in catalog records, the volume also includes the haftarot—the prophetic readings associated with the Exodus portions—with Mendelssohn’s translation and commentary and with Rashi. Some copies add further liturgical or megillah material, such as the Scroll of Esther and related Targumic and prayer texts. These additions make the volume not only a commentary on Exodus but also a compact traditional study and synagogue-use compendium.
The result is a layered text: the Hebrew Bible at the centre, Mendelssohn’s German translation in Hebrew letters, his Hebrew Bi’ur, and the classical Jewish commentaries and Targum around it. Shemot thus presents the book of Exodus as read and studied within the Jewish tradition, with Mendelssohn’s own philological and explanatory work guiding the reader through the text.
Themes and Exegetical Emphasis
The volume presents Exodus as a unified account of redemption, revelation, and worship. Its commentary follows the transitions between those movements: from the language of bondage and deliverance, through the encounter at Sinai and the giving of the commandments, to the construction of the sanctuary. The legal material is explained in its narrative setting, so that the commandments are read as the terms of the covenant rather than as isolated rules. The tabernacle instructions are treated as part of the same revealed order, with the completed sanctuary closing the book’s account of God’s presence among the people.
The commentary’s exegetical emphasis is on making the Hebrew text intelligible. It clarifies unusual words, idioms, and grammatical constructions; it distinguishes between similar terms; and it explains ceremonial and architectural vocabulary as it occurs. In doing so, it supports a plain-sense reading while remaining in conversation with the traditional commentators. The result is a running explanation of Exodus that attends to both narrative detail and legal precision.
Significance of the Volume
The volume’s significance is as a traditional study Bible for Exodus: it keeps the Hebrew text, translation, and commentary together in one ordered presentation. It allows the reader to move between the biblical text, a German rendering, and Hebrew explanation without leaving the traditional apparatus. In this form, Exodus is presented not as an excerpted source but as a complete book to be read in sequence, studied with classical commentary, and encountered within Jewish liturgical and study practice.
