Literary Devices in Book of Exodus
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
This might be a story about the Israelites, but we're not in Israel quite yet. Instead, we find ourselves in Egypt. Yep, that Egypt. If you know one thing about Egypt, it's probably the Pyramids. I...
Genre
Exodus has a bit of everything, from thrilling fire and brimstone stories to (we'll admit it) super-boring legal text. Put it all together, and we get a taste of everything a new society needs to f...
What's Up With the Title?
Nothing too fancy going on here. "Exodus" comes from the Greek word meaning "to come out." Makes sense, right? After all, if the Israelites do anything in this story, it's get the heck out of Egypt...
What's Up With the Ending?
So God just leaves the Israelites in the desert?! Of course not. The story of Exodus is continued in the Book of Numbers. Time to keep reading.
Trivia
Exodus—one of the most influential books in Western history—is only 32,692 words long (source). That's shorter than The Great Gatsby.Exodus is the first time in the Bible where God reveals his...
Sex Drugs And Violence Rating
Things get pretty ugly in Exodus. Murder, skyfire, bodily injury, lots of blood—the list goes on. Sure, it's all part of the story and it was the way of the world back then, but it's not always e...
Allusions
Sigmund Freud, Moses & MonotheismFreud used psychoanalysis to try to understand who Moses was and what he was working toward. But you know what? Sometimes a Moses is just a Moses.Leon Uris, Exo...