שמות-the book of names

Parshat שמות opens the second book of the Torah, which is aptly named ספר שמות (all five books are named after its respective opening פרשה). The name assigned to the second book is seemingly irrelevant to its content. What does 'names' have to do with Hashem's revelation to Moses in the burning bush, the ten plagues, the redemption of Bnei Yisrael from Egypt, the parting of the Red sea, the ten commandments and the erection of the משכן? The first translation of the bible, the Greek LLX, named the book after the departure of Israel from Egypt (Exodus). In the language of חז"ל the book is named ספר הגאולה (the book of Redemption).

In addition to the seemingly mismatched name, the opening pesukim of ספר שמות seem to be redundant. Why go over the names of Yaakov's children when we just listed them a few chapters ago? The Mefarshim attempt to solve the repetitive nature of the first pesukim in various ways.

But there is a difference between the listing of the names in ספר בראשית and the listing in פרשת שמות. The members of Yaakov Avinu's family listed in ספר בראשית were a handful of individual family members. Now, בני ישראל have grown in size and number many thousands of people. They can no longer be listed as individual names. They have also grown as a people. The melting pot of Egypt had forged them into a nation of people with common names, language and dress.

Rav Shimshon Refael Hirsch explains that indeed the names of the people in ספר בראשית and in פרשת שמות are the same. But the emphasis here is on the words: את יעקב איש וביתו. Now, as they have multiplied into a large nation, there are many families in Bnei Yisrael. But they are all centered around the legacy of Yaakov, never forgetting their roots. From father to son to grandson and so on, the torch is passed. That is the guiding principle that has made our nation into what it is to this very day.