Hebrew Bible: Joshua

JOSHUA

10/03/2011

Hexateuch -- some scholars consider Joshua to be a part of the first five books of the Tenakh, constituting a six-book Hexateuch

Deuteronomistic History -- Joshua was possibly written by the same group of people who wrote Deuteronomy, as seen in the similar ideals and the treaty at the end of the book.

Dating the text -- like Deuteronomy (the (D) source), Joshua was probably written during King Josiah's reform, in the 7th century BCE.

Three parts of Joshua

1. The Conquest (chaps 1-12)
2. Allotment of Land to the Tribes (13-21)
3. Epilogue (22-24)

Joshua portrayed as the "new Moses"

• Joshua brought the Israelites into Canaan, as Moses brought them out of Egypt
• He led the people on dry land through the River Jordan, as Moses did with the Red Sea
• He sent out spies into Jericho, as Moses sent spies to search out the "promise land"
• He alloted the land west of the River Jordan to the tribes, as Moses alloted the land east of it

Genre:  historical, fantasy/legend, theology, myth

        History genre:  cannot be considered "historical" in terms of the modern-day understanding, since we view historicity as having to do with concrete dates and events.  Besides, histories are always written with a lens of bias.

Historical problems

• Contextual problems
• Conquests are described sparsely and inconclusive, despite the text's claim that Joshua conquered all the "promise land."
• Archeological problems
• Jericho and Ai were excavated and showed that no people lived within them during the time the Israelites would have conquered them, according to the text. 
• The tells (mounds of demolition in layers under cities) gave evidence that neither habitation nor conquer occurred at that time. 
• However, some other excavations support the biblical record of being conquered, such as Hazor, a city to the north.
• As for the Central Highland around Jerusalem, no evidence of destruction exists.
• Although the biblical texts speaks of walled cities, no such excavations are found.
• Congruence of Culture
• Canaanite culture was much like that of the Israelites.
• One would expect an infusion of ideas/culture had the Israelites come from Egypt.

Models to Understanding Conquests

1. The Immigration Model -- a small group of people migrated to the Central Highlands (near Jerusalem) and to the North, establishing their identity as "Israelites."
2. The Conquest Model -- a people living originally in the Highlands conquer the land to the North.
3. The Revolt Model -- the Israelites join among the Canaanites to revolt against Egyptian economical oppression.  The Amarna Letters say that the Habiru (possibly "Hebrews") stirred the people against the Egyptians.
4. The Gradual Emergence Model -- *The most accepted model* -- a people migrated from the Low Lands among the Canaanites to the Highlands gradually.  They develop their identity as Israelites and either adopted or created the worship of YHWH, a move that unified them further.  Maybe YHWH worship came from runaway slaves from Egypt (e.g. the Exodus), or maybe the Midianites taught this people about their storm-god YHWH.  
5. Some people in modern American culture attest that the Israelites were a made-up people as an excuse to oppress the Palestinians.....

So how do we analyze the text??  Ideology of the Text

How was it read?

What does it teach?

*What are the assumptions? *

Crossing the Jordan -- the priests went first, carrying the Ark; the people ceremonially put up 12 stones; circumcision; Passover; end of eating manna (notice the ritualistic nature?)

Conquering Jericho -- seven days of circling the city (total of 13 times); priests and Ark go first in the procession; trumpets and war cry (again, ritualistic)

Conquering Ai -- a war loss because one soldier kept bounty, breaking the ideal of Herem.  Only after he and his family were killed could the Israelites go back and take over the city.

      Herem -- the total destruction of the whole city and all the people, being devoted to God.  Any bounty was required to go to the Lord and/or to his temple

losing battles = disobedience/breaking rituals

Renewal of the Covenant at Shechem (chap 24)

Joshua's speech starts with Abraham and then goes on to tell of God's intervention and providence for the people Israel up to the present time.  This is another instance of a treaty preamble, as was the case in Deuteronomy -- vs. 14 gives the command to obedience; vs. 26 is the display; no blessings or curses are mentioned, but it can be inferred that those of Deuteronomy also apply here.