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Let me suggest that the imagining of this dramatic event in Exodus is facilitated by the interweaving of two biographies: the story of the birth of Moses and that of the nation. Representing the birth of a nation is not a simple task.
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But then we discover that God's darker prophecy, in the covenant of the parts, is equally fulfilled: Israel is born in a prolonged exile against Pharaonic bondage. The descendants of Jacob, whose names are listed solemnly, multiply at an uncanny pace and turn into a "mighty" nation: the nation of the "children of Israel."1 "Israel" for the first time is not merely Jacob's second, elevated, name but rather a collective designation of a burgeoning community that "fills" the land. The opening verses of Exodus 1 make clear that God's reiterated promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-the grand national annunciation scenes of Genesis-are finally realized. The Book of Exodus provides an intriguingly complex representation of Israel's birth in keeping with the preliminary imaginings of the nation in Genesis. Every nation, however, has its own birth story, or birth stories. In fact, it is so resonant one tends to forget that nations are not born literally but rather are imagined in these terms. CHAPTER TWO Imagining the Birth of a Nation The metaphor of national birth is probably the most resonant anthropomorphic image in national biographies from antiquity to modern times.