The End of the Beginning: Joshua and Judges by Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos, and: The Road to Kingship: 1–2 Samuel by Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos, and: The Land and Its Kings: 1–2 Kings by Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos

Abstract

Reviewed by: The End of the Beginning: Joshua and Judgesby Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos, and: The Road to Kingship: 1–2 Samuelby Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos, and: The Land and Its Kings: 1–2 Kingsby Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos Susanne Scholz J ohannaW. H. vanW ijk-B os, The End of the Beginning: Joshua and Judges( A People and a Land 1; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2019). Pp. xiv + 351. Paper $29.99. J ohannaW. H. vanW ijk-B os, The Road to Kingship: 1–2 Samuel( A People and a Land 2; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2020). Pp. xiv + 338. Paper $29.99. J ohannaW. H. vanW ijk-B os, The Land and Its Kings: 1–2 Kings( A People and a Land 3; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2020). Pp. xiv + 338. Paper $29.99. Hermeneutical and exegetical conformity characterize the three commentaries on the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, written by Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos. Although the interpretation of these biblical books required considerable scholarly discipline and expertise, the volumes offer lengthy retellings of biblical content. V.W.-B. calls her retellings a "close reading of the Hebrew text in translation" (preface [to all three volumes], p. ix), but I kept wondering why I should read these volumes when the biblical books provide the content more concisely. After all, the total page count of all three commentaries is over 980 pages whereas the selected biblical books contain 147 chapters. Has it become customary among contemporary commentators to rephrase biblical content, dressing it up with literary subdivisions and embellishing it with some exegetical observations? Still, v.W.-B. delivers three substantive volumes that illustrate her passion and love for the Hebrew Bible. She explains that she focuses on the Former Prophets "as a scholar of the Bible with deep commitments to feminism and issues of gender and to analysis of patriarchal structures and ideologies" (preface, p. x). Several key biblical texts that have played a significant role in feminist exegesis during the past few decades exemplify the three volume's tedious recounting of biblical content. A first key text is surely Joshua 2, the story of Rahab, because it has gained feminist notoriety since the 1990s. V.W.-B. acknowledges that the repeated references to the female character by name, to "the woman" in v. 4, and to subsequent feminine pronouns ("she") "highlight the agency of the female" ( End of the Beginning, p. 64) in this tale. V.W.-B. also emphasizes Rahab's "profession" (p. 61) as a "whore" (p. 60) although the footnoted feminist scholar Phyllis Bird ("The Harlot as Heroine: Narrative Art and Social Presupposition in Three Old Testament Texts," Semeia46 [1989] 119–39, here 131) maintains that Rahab's characterization as a Canaanite prostitute serves to underline "a reversal of expectations" [End Page 691]for the Israelite audience, but v.W.-B. does not mention the relevance of Bird's position. Relying on antiquarian terminology ("whoredom") that some readers might hear as derogatory slang, the interpretation does not substantively engage feminist scholarship. Rather, v.W.-B.'s reading may even lead to the view of Rahab as a "faithful" (p. 66) and shrewd character. In a footnote, v.W.-B. cites the idea of Rahab as a "queer" character (p. 72n), but the idea appears without any further comment. V.W.-B. also ignores postcolonial feminist approaches that depict Rahab as an opportunistically desperate Canaanite woman preparing for her and her family's survival under Israelite control of the land. That v.W.-B. ignores influential postcolonial feminist readings illustrates this commentary's indifference toward recent exegetical developments that challenge conventional ways of reading Joshua 2 or the Former Prophets in general. A second central text that illustrates the commentary's flat exegetical approach is Judges 19, the story of the so-called concubine ( pilegeš). Importantly, v.W.-B. acknowledges that the Hebrew noun pilegeš"is not well understood" and that exegetes "assume that her rights were not equal to that of a wife" ( End of the Beginning, p. 297). The woman's position is fragile; she is...