What was occurring in Israel when the book of Exodus was written?

Answer 1

According to the Documentary Hypothesis, Exodus was compiled over a period of centuries, before it reached a more or less identifiable form, and was then redacted substantially into today's form. Based on the archaic Hebrew and other evidence, the earliest authors appear to be from around 900 BCE and the Book of Exodus was finalised, into more or less the form we know today, during or shortly after the Babylonian exile. This covers a very long period of around 500 years, so there is no easy answer to the question.

• During the period before about 722 BCE, there were two Hebrew kingdoms - the southern kingdom called Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel.
• Judah fell to the Babylonians in 586 BCE and many of its people were taken in the Babylonian Exile. The kingly line was extinguished, and the priests began to exert secular dominance. The Persians conquered Babylon, and allowed the captive Jews to return and re-establish their nation after 537 BCE.

More information can be read at:
http://christianity.answers.com/bible/the-pentateuch-explained

http://christianity.answers.com/bible/the-book-of-exodus

According to tradition, the Torah including the book of Exodus was written by Moses (Deuteronomy 31:24) before his death, which is traditionally put in 1272 BCE. At that time, Israel was still called Canaan and was inhabited by Canaanite tribes numbering at least a few million (Deuteronomy 7:17), in tens of walled cities and hundreds of other towns. Many of these are listed in the book of Joshua. Note:

According to tradition, the whole Torah has a single author.The same literary devices which the Torah employs to enrich its text, have been used by Bible-critics in an attempt to reassign its authorship.

The Jewish sages, based on ancient tradition, identified many of these devices, which include:

recapping earlier brief passages to elucidate,

employing different names of God to signify His various attributes,

using apparent changes or redundancies to allude to additional unstated details,

speaking in the vernacular that was current during each era,

and many more. While Judaism has always seen the Torah as an intricate tapestry that nonetheless had one Divine source, some modern authors such as Wellhausen (the father of modern Biblical-criticism, 1844-1918) have suggested artificially chopping up the narrative and attributing it to various authors, despite the Torah's explicit statement as to its provenance (Exodus 24:12, Deuteronomy 31:24). This need not concern believers, since his claims have been debunked one by one, as Archaeology and other disciplines have demonstrated the integrity of the Torah. No fragments have ever been found that would support his Documentary Hypothesis, which remains nothing more than an arbitrary claim, whose falsehood has been pointed out. See the links:

Who wrote the Hebrew Bible?

Mistakes of the Bible-critics

Debunking the JEPD Documentary Hypothesis

How archaeology supports the Hebrew Bible

Answer 2

According to tradition, the Torah including the book of Exodus was written by Moses (Deuteronomy 31:24) before his death, which is traditionally put in 1272 BCE. At that time, Israel was still called Canaan and was inhabited by Canaanite tribes numbering at least a few million (Deuteronomy 7:17), in tens of walled cities and hundreds of other towns. Many of these are listed in the book of Joshua. Note:

According to tradition, the whole Torah has a single author.The same literary devices which the Torah employs to enrich its text, have been used by Bible-critics in an attempt to reassign its authorship.

The Jewish sages, based on ancient tradition, identified many of these devices, which include:

recapping earlier brief passages to elucidate,

employing different names of God to signify His various attributes,

using apparent changes or redundancies to allude to additional unstated details,

speaking in the vernacular that was current during each era,

and many more. While Judaism has always seen the Torah as an intricate tapestry that nonetheless had one Divine source, some modern authors such as Wellhausen (the father of modern Biblical-criticism, 1844-1918) have suggested artificially chopping up the narrative and attributing it to various authors, despite the Torah's explicit statement as to its provenance (Exodus 24:12, Deuteronomy 31:24). This need not concern believers, since his claims have been debunked one by one, as archaeology and other disciplines have demonstrated the integrity of the Torah. No fragments have ever been found that would support his Documentary Hypothesis, which remains nothing more than an arbitrary claim, whose falsehood has been pointed out. See the links:

Who wrote the Hebrew Bible?

Mistakes of the Bible-critics

Debunking the JEPD Documentary Hypothesis

How archaeology supports the Hebrew Bible