This page will also discuss
Leviticus,
Numbers,
Deuteronomy and
Joshua for convenience.
Exodus: 400 years after the Israelites' migration to Egypt at the end of Genesis, a new pharaoh subjects them to slavery and has all their newborn children killed. One baby escapes and is found by pharaoh's daughter and named Moses. As an adult, he kills an overseer for beating an Israelite and flees to the desert. He settles down into the life of a shepherd when he is called by God to liberate his brethren.
Leviticus: The guide book about how the Israelites are to properly worship God.
Numbers: The Israelites are on their way to
The Promised Land. Moses, with God's help, guides his people to the land flowing with milk and honey while battling hostile nomadic peoples and internal dissension. Things do not go entirely to plan.
Deuteronomy:
Moses' last instructions to the new generation of Israelites about to enter Canaan.
Joshua: Moses and the previous generation of Israelites are dead and its up to Joshua to lead the new generation in conquering the Promised Land.
Joshua is followed by the
Book of Judges.
These books contain the following tropes:
- After Action Report: According to tradition, these books were written near the end of Moses' and Joshua's lifetimes.
- Ambiguously Jewish: In rabbinical tradition, Moses was never circumcised, hence why he wasn't allowed into the Promised Land. Freud theorized that Moses wasn't Jewish at all, but Egyptian royalty that for some reason threw in with their lot.
- According to Exodus, Moses was not allowed into the promised land because of his disobedience to God in his leadership of the Isrealites. Circumcision had nothing to do with it.
- Badass Grandpa - Moses was 120 when he died. Joshua finally became leader, at 80.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Israelites conquer Canaan but it's foretold the next generation will be unfaithful to God.
- Bury Your Gays: The infamous Leviticus 20:13... Two men having sex with each other must be put to death.
- Church Militant: Contrary to what you see in The Ten Commandments, the worshipers of the golden calf were not swallowed up by the earth. God had Moses command the Levite priests to slaughter them. The swallowed up by the earth vent happened later, in an unrelated incident.
- Crazy-Prepared / The Dev Team Thinks of Everything: The laws of Moses. Covers civil law, criminal law, public sanitation, religious rituals... It even gives some case studies for unusual events.
- Deus ex Machina: Whenever the people of Israel are in need, God provides.
- Does Not Like Shoes: God in the burning bush. "Remove your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."
- Dropped A Sea On Him: Pharaoh and those unfortunate Egyptian soldiers caught in the Red Sea at the wrong time.
- Everyone Calls Him Barkeep: Pharaoh in sharp contrast to two Hebrew midwives identified by name.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Exodus describes an exodus. Deuteronomy means "second law".
- Fatal Flaw
- Moses' anger.
- Pharaoh's arrogance.
- Aaron's weak leadership.
- Miriam's jealousy of Moses.
- Joshua's overconfidence.
- Balaam continuing to antagonize the Israelites even after experiencing God's power.
- Foreshadowing: Deut. 17:14 was about how to choose a good king, centuries before any Israelite even thought this was a good idea.
- Geo Effects: Taken advantage of by the Israelite army (and occasionally it also gets the better of them because they weren't right with God).
- God Was My Copilot: God (or a messenger thereof) shows up to help Joshua take town the city of Jericho.
- Heroic Blue Screen Of Death: After Joshua's failed attack on Ai.
- Heel Face Revolving Door: Pharaoh.
- Holy Backlight: Moses gets glowy from spending so much time in God's direct presence.
- Holy Is Not Safe: Exodus 33:20 provides the page quote. Moses asks to see God's face, but He replies that seeing it would kill Moses. God arranges for Moses to see His back instead.
- Just So Story - These books explain the origins of the names of places known only to Middle Easterners.
- Kill 'em All: Well, all the first-born unprotected by lamb's blood, anyway.
- Kill It with Water: Drowning Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea.
- Lyrical Dissonance: The song of Moses (Deut. 32:1-43) which was sung as the Israelites finally entered the Promised Land. In the passages beforehand, God had flat out told Moses that his people were going to mess up badly in the end, and gave the song to Moses as a reminder of what they needed to do once that day came to repent. Nevertheless, it's about as uplifting as a kick in the balls.
- Meaningful Echo: The generation after Moses crosses the Jordan river in a manner similar to how their parents crossed the Red Sea.
- Moses in the Bullrushes: The Trope Namer.
- Only Fatal To Adults: Only those Israelites under the age of 20 make it to the Promised Land, the rest being wiped out by various means as a result of their complaining...and the fact that they were a Rag Tag Bunch Of Misfits wandering a vast expanse of desert for 40 years.
- Pals With Jesus: Moses talks to God all the time and spends a lot of time in His presence. He also got to see God's "back", whatever that's supposed to mean.
- Sacred Hospitality: Various clans get cursed for not extending it, Israel gets in trouble for being stupid about it (they made a promise they shouldn't have because they didn't consult God), and the laws of the new nation codify being kind to strangers, extending sanctuary for escaped slaves, etc.
- Take a Third Option: Joshua meets a stranger after prayer. He demands to know whether the stranger is an enemy or an ally. The stranger replies: "Neither, I'm here to command you." Joshua realizes Who he's talking to.
- 10-Minute Retirement: Well, forty years for Moses, but who's counting?
- Torches and Pitchforks: The crowds have a tendency to get a little volatile whenever things don't go exactly their way.
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