The whole exodus story is about leaving and arriving and what happens in between. The narrative discourse of Exodus 19:1–2 orientates the reader for time and place by rehearsing the departure point of Egypt, the elapse of time reckoned by the cycle of the moon which is at once calendrical and cultic, and goes on to refer to stages of the journey, mentioning encampment at Rephidim and approach to Sinai. In this narrative setting, the utterance of God
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