The description of the Discovering Biblical Texts series (on the book’s first leaf) states that it provides “comprehensive, up-to-date and student-friendly introductions to the books of the Bible: their structure, content, theological concerns, key interpretative debates and historical reception.” Although the sheer quantity of existing scholarly discussion precludes comprehensiveness in three hundred pages, Ralph Hawkins has produced a very satisfying introduction to Exodus in line with the series’ aims. Because these goals vary in some ways from those of traditional introductory literature on books of the Bible, the result is a table of contents and chapter titles rather unlike those contained in other such works. However, Hawkins has used this format to good advantage.Hawkins’s consideration of the needs of students is evident throughout the work. After acknowledgments, a list of abbreviations, and a note about style, the Introduction situates Exodus within the Pentateuch, describes the book’s structure, and outlines its story. Hawkins helpfully identifies several foci of the Exodus narrative that explain Israel’s purpose and concludes that no other ancient Near Eastern literature offers such reasons for a people’s existence.Chapter 2, “Reading Exodus as Literature,” explains how scholars saw the book in light of the Documentary Hypothesis. Hawkins draws attention to how Romantic, evolutionary, and even anti-Semitic influences shaped this view and also brings out the implications of archaeological data, all in the service of providing an accurate critique of the Hypothesis. He concludes that Exodus and the Pentateuch are Mosaic, even if only some of it is what Moses actually wrote, since it preserves his teachings and stories about him. The chapter as a whole provides a persuasive justification of the approach he uses in the rest of the book, which is to set aside source criticism and focus on the final form of the text.In Chapter 3, “The Realia of Exodus,” Hawkins’s archaeological expertise is at the fore as he addresses the question of historical evidence for the accounts in Exodus. His example of the 1457 BC Battle of Megiddo is a powerful illustration of the principle that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. He also summarizes the evidence for the late date of the Exodus and argues briefly for a southern Sinai location of Mt. Sinai, although views that differ on these two subjects receive almost no mention. The chapter concludes with an insightful argument that the Exodus narrative would not exist if not based on historical reality since foundation myths tend not to portray a people in negative terms and the Pentateuch portrays Israel quite negatively.Chapter 4, “Beginnings,” considers Exodus the foundation myth of Israel and reviews important beginnings contained in the narrative that were formative for Ancient Israel. It helpfully addresses several puzzling questions many readers have about Moses’s early life and includes discussions of the revelation of the divine name in Exod 3 and 6 and discusses the Passover. Hawkins consistently argues for the historical plausibility of the narrative.Chapter 5 is about the portrayal of Moses as a leader in Exodus. Hawkins reviews Moses’s roles as prophet, shepherd, military leader, judge, and royal figure and even makes a case for his depiction as a divine figure. He concludes that an important motivation for the various ways Moses is represented is to show him as equal to Pharaoh but that Moses also emerges as unique in his knowledge of God and exalted in his status as God’s servant.The next chapter focuses on various aspects of God’s power in Exodus. Whether considering the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, or the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart (which is said to have presented no moral problem for the author of Exodus), Hawkins consistently finds the effect of these powerful acts to be a demonstration that the Lord was the one who triumphed and liberated the Hebrews.The chapter on the law of God in Exodus provides an informative discussion of the suzerain-vassal covenant form in the ancient Near East. Hawkins finds the work of Kitchen and Lawrence persuasive and helpful for establishing the date of the Sinai covenant. Theologically, the laws in the covenant are seen as intended to establish Israel as a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.Hawkins next considers the presence of God in Exodus, focusing primarily on texts about the tabernacle. He concludes, with Scarlata, that the story of Exodus is “about the movement of God’s Divine Presence from heaven to earth so that he might abide with his people,” a recovery of what God intended in creation and Eden (p. 146).The following chapter, “The Gospel of Israel in Exodus,” uses the golden calf story as background for appreciating God’s self-revelation in 34:6–7. Hawkins sees this oft-quoted passage as good news for Israel since it explains that God is gracious and forgiving toward his people but does not clear those who persist in sin instead of repenting. An unusual chapter then surveys five secondary characters in the book (the Hebrew midwives, Aaron, Miriam, Jethro, and Joshua) and identifies important roles that they play in achieving the communicative goals of the narrative.The final three chapters are devoted to the reception history of Exodus found in each of the OT, the NT, and the arts and culture, respectively. They furnish a brief example of how this relatively new approach to OT study works in Exodus. In the final chapter, especially, Hawkins appears to have chosen the most famous examples and those likely to be most interesting to readers.There is a bibliography (thirty-three pages), an index of biblical references, and an index of subjects. Hawkins’s work is impressively well researched, allowing the reader of Exodus to become well oriented to the biblical book and benefit from the insights of numerous recently published studies. It is somewhat surprising how well it addresses so many topics in relatively little space. Students will find that the writing style makes the book easy to read and understand.