The book of Exodus: From the perspective of rites of passage

Abstract

Applying the anthropological framework of rites of passage, this study reveals the book of Exodus as a narrative of a complex, asynchronous, and multi-dimensional rite of passage—encompassing geographic, juridical, military, social, and religious spheres—that progresses at a variable pace and finds its completion in the entry of Canaan. Central to this process is Moses, who is analyzed as a paradigmatic liminal persona—a figure positioned between life and death, Israelite and Egyptian, humanity and divinity. The paper further discusses the differing significance of Canaan for Moses and for early Israelites, explaining Moses’ absence from the Promised Land as a consequence of his essential liminality. The paper further argues that exile precipitated a canonical shift from a complete territorial narrative to the suspended Pentateuch, which functioned as a ‘liminal script’, forging an identity that resonated with the exilic reality.