Conquering Character: The Characterization of Joshua in Joshua 1-11. By SARAH LEBHAR HALL.

Abstract

This book is the fruit of Hall’s doctoral research, and in respect of its subject-matter and the arrangement thereof this is very obvious, but it suffers from none of the defects one sometimes encounters in such work. The methodological introduction is lucid and entirely covers the necessary ground without being tedious in its exhaustiveness, and there is a very brisk survey of other relevant literature; by page 10, we are engaging directly with the text of the Book of Joshua and the exegetical questions it raises. Throughout, Hall’s writing is clear and engaging, not burdened with impenetrable jargon but expounding the issues helpfully for the non-expert and arguing persuasively for worthwhile conclusions. Hall makes two important and wise decisions that guide her reading of this first section of Joshua. The first is that she will engage specifically with the Masoretic Text, acknowledging it as a distinctive textual tradition with its own theological Tendenz; sometimes the MT is compared with other versions—particularly of course the Septuagint, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Targums—but never with a view to establishing the ‘authentic’ reading of the Book. Secondly, and harmoniously, Hall’s approach is a narrative-critical one, focusing on the final form of the text as a consciously and intelligently composed literary artefact rather than a badly redacted mishmash to be mined for its textual pre-history. Such an approach is certainly not uncommon in Old Testament studies today, but it is a particularly bold one to take with this book, which is often seen to be especially riven with narrative inconsistencies. Hall’s great contribution is to argue very forcefully that the Book of Joshua is susceptible to a coherent synchronic interpretation that bears valuable theological fruit.