Historical Books: Joshua–2 Kings

Abstract

Historical BooksJoshua–2 Kings Christopher T. Begg, Brian J. Meldrum, David A. Bosworth, Thomas Hieke, Richard A. Taylor, Fred W. Guyette, and Frederick E. Greenspahn 2159. [Divinity and Holy War in the Book of Joshua] Thomas B. Dozeman, "'El, the Living': Divinity and Holy War in the Book of Joshua," God and Gods in the Deuteronomistic History, 1-29 [see #2490]. I have argued that the author of Joshua has combined and reinterpreted aspects of both Priestly literature and the Book of Deuteronomy in order to fashion a unique interpretation of divine power and presence. The book's unique interpretation of divinity begins with the revelation of Yhwh's essential character via the title "El, the living." Although the phrase ʾl ḥy occurs infrequently in a limited number of texts elsewhere in the OT (e.g., Hos 2:1; Pss 42:3; 84:2-3), the Book of Joshua stands alone in employing the motif as a title to define the central character of Yhwh, and in linking the revelation of the name with the procession of the ark into the promised land. The central role of the revelation of El, the Living and its close relationship with the ark are reinforced when Joshua presents the revelation as a proof-text that will demand the recognition of the Israelite people as the ark processes to its resting place at Ebal and Gerizim in the neighborhood of Shechem. The linking of the revelation of El, the Living with the ongoing procession of the ark allows the author of Joshua to describe more carefully the religious worldview of the book in developing a series of key concepts, including the nature of the divine cultic presence, the ban, aniconism, and monotheism. It is the relationship among these themes that begins to explain how the revelation of El, the Living during the crossing of the Jordan River demands ritualized genocide as the highest form of religious obedience in the taking possession of the promised land. [Adapted from author's conclusion, pp. 28-29—C.T.B.] 2160. [Yhwh, Rahab and the Gibeonites; Joshua 2, 6, 9, 10] Corrine Carvalho, "Yhwh, Rahab, and Gibeonites: The Hybrid Other in the Book of Joshua," God and Gods in the Deuteronomistic History, 30-48 [see #2490]. It is as if the narrator cannot manage to tamper with the ideology of obedience to the colonizer. The story of the Gibeonites (Joshua 9–10) depicts the good ruler as one who defends those who have entered into a treaty with the colonizer. Just as God spares no effort to save the Gibeonites, so too should an overlord defend its obedient Others. Reading backward from the story of the Gibeonites, the audience can see the seeds of this divine portrait planted from the very beginning of the book. While chap. 1 outlines the colonizers' strategy for imposition of power, chap. 2 reveals that the reality of conquest is much more complex. Rahab represents God's acceptance of the hybrid Other who lives on the margins of society, permanently marking the boundary between the insider and outsider. The story of Achan demonstrates what it means for those inside the colonizing community who disobey the rule that puts the whole community at risk, thus highlighting how the colonized participate in the policing of obedience. Finally, the account of the Gibeonites demonstrates the power of the colonized, played out through the cunning of the colonized both in terms of how to use words to manipulate those in power, and by leveraging the ruler's own principles as part of their strategy of survival. [End Page 803] Although the Book of Joshua goes on to allocate the conquered land to the Israelite colonizers, the narratives of battle evoke sympathy with the defeated. Even in the midst of trying to exalt an ideology of conquest and ethnic cleansing, the omniscient narrator prefers Rahab to the spies, the Gibeonites to Joshua, and the Israelites. Perhaps I have been correct all along: the God that the Book of Joshua exalts is not the bloody divine warrior but rather the God of the hybrid Other, who chooses to listen to human voices. [Adapted from...