Shemot (Exodus) Rabbah, chapters 1-14, is an exegetical midrash to Exodus, chapters 1-10, which interprets every chapter, every verse and, at times, every word of the Torah. It is divided, according to the Sedarim of the ancient Triennial Torah reading cycle in the Land of Israel. At the beginning of every chapter, there is at least one Petihta (proem), which begins with a verse from the Prophets or the Writings and ends with the opening verse of that week’s Seder.

This midrash was apparently edited in the 10th century and was already in widespread use in Spain and Provence in the 13th century. It was first printed in Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1512.

This critical edition by Professor Avigdor Shinan was first published in 1984 and has become the standard critical edition used by all scholars. It is being reprinted here as the seventh volume of the Midrash Project of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies.