ABSTRACT
In the light of the external record, the idea within the text that the Israelites enter the land from across the borders, not only from the wilderness, but from Egypt, functions to distinguish and separate one subgroup of local inhabitants from a heterogeneous majority culture. Moses must discard his Egyptian identity and eventually separate from his father-in-law, Jethro the Midianite, in order to fully become an Israelite. The Israelites must leave behind their status as an enslaved people in Egypt in order to discover their common identity. They do so first on their journey through the wilderness and later in the land. Joshua contains many such parallels, allusions and repetitions to passages from the life of Moses, the lives of the people in Egypt and to events in their long journey through the wilderness. Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh prove their allegiance to the people Israel by crossing over the Jordan to fight on their behalf.
