Travel and Transformation in Early Judaism

This introductory article explores the rise of travel as an area of research within the field of biblical studies. It first discusses some major trends in the study of travel in the ancient Jewish tradition, including travel as a literary motif in biblical narrative and the evidence for travel in the context of early Judaism. While the significance of travel as a topic of research has been established in biblical studies, more work remains to be done regarding various aspects of the topic, including non-human travellers and the experience and effects of travel. Travel is not just about geographical relocations, as the selected focus on travel and transformation also seeks to emphasize. Drawing on related discussions in literary studies, the article then discusses travel as a practice that requires transitions which take people into liminal spaces and lead to potentially transformative outcomes. Finally, it explains how the articles included in the thematic issue add to this conversation from different yet complementary angles. They primarily focus on travel as a literary motif in various early Jewish corpora but also consider later and contemporary travel of ancient fragments, highlighting how travel may shape and change those on the move in different ways.