The "Stripping" of the Egyptians. Three times the Book of Exodus tells us that as the Israelites were departing Egypt, they "plundered" the Egyptians. Bible scholar Brevard Childs notes that “few passages have provoked such an obvious embarrassment both to Jewish and Christian expositors as this one.” And yet unease with the surface meaning of the text has enabled interpreters to uncover deeper and deeper layers of meaning within it. The result has been a stunning array of exegetical and ethical-religious insights.