The Deuteronomistic History
The Deuteronomistic History is made up of:
Joshua
Judges
1st Samuel
2nd Samuel
1st Kings
2nd Kings
The Deuteronomistic History is a collection of many different stories written by many different people.
These stories cover events in Israel’s history between the time of their entry into Canaan to their exile to Babylon.
These many stories were compiled by an historian (redactor) who put them into one work.
This historian is known as the “Deuteronomistic Historian” because he arranged all of these stories with connections he made with the book of Deuteronomy.
Themes
Leadership
Joshua holds many diverse tribes together in unity his entire life
The name “Joshua” means “Yahweh is Salvation.”
Israel was more faithful to him than they were to Moses
Joshua was a better leader than most of Israel’s future kings
The Land
The land is understood as Israel’s inheritance
The land is frequently described as a rich and good land
God ultimately decides which tribe gets what land
God is faithful to Israel and gives Israel land
Israel is not always faithful to God and does not get all the land they wanted
The Divine Warrior
The text says that God himself fought for Israel
The victory of “The Divine Warrior” is inevitable and complete, as seen when God destroys seven pagan nations
Everything conquered by God is devoted to God
Comparing Joshua and Judges
Joshua should not be read on its own, but in the context of the surrounding books.
Judges paints a very different picture of Israel’s entry into Canaan.
The two versions of history in Joshua and Judges exist to balance each other out.
Joshua represents Israel’s complete success.
Judges represents Israel’s complete failure.
The truth emerges when the two histories are told together.
Comparing Joshua and Moses
Send Spies into the Land (Num. 13:1-3; Josh. 2:1)
Led Israelites Across Body of Water (Ex. 14-15; Josh. 3-4)
Theophany Experience (Ex 3:1-6; Josh 5:13-15)
Role of Intercessor (Ex 32:11-12; Josh. 7:7-10)
Lifting Sword/Staff in Battle (Ex 17:10-13; Josh 8:18, 26)
Conquerors of Territory (Num. 21; Josh. 1-12)
Farewell Addresses (Deut. 4-30; Josh. 23-24)
Preparation: Joshua 1:1 – 5:15
Chapter One
Land is given to the Israelites:
God’s role (vv. 2-5):
“I will give you this land.”
Joshua’s responsibility (vv. 6-9):
“You will lead these people.”
“Be strong and Courageous.”
Lack of military language and strategy throughout the book of Joshua
Directions to the Transjordan tribes (vv. 12-15)
Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh were to help their fellow Israelites conquer the land west of the Jordan River.
The transfer of leadership: Joshua is the legitimate successor of Moses (vv. 5, 9, 16-18)
God says, “As I was with Moses so I will be with you.”
The people say, “Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses.”
Chapter Two: Rahab and the Spies
Joshua sends spies from Shittim (v. 1)
He told them to look over the land, especially Jericho
Spies go to Rahab’s house…a prostitute?
Possible connection to Num. 25:1-3, “while Israel was at Shittim, the men committed harlotry with Moabite women”
Rahab the heroine:
Savior figure (vv. 3-7, 15)
Rahab hid the spies when the king’s guards came looking for them
She let the spies down the wall with a rope
She told the spies to hide in the hills for three days
Confessional statement (vv. 9-11)
“I know that the LORD has given you this land…”
“The LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.”
“Spare the lives of my family.”
The spies told her to let down a red cord from her window as a sign of protection.
Rahab remembered in Jewish and Christian tradition
Hebrews 11:31
“By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.”
Matthew 1:5
Rahab is listed in the genealogy of Jesus
James 2:24-25
“You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?”
According to the Talmud, Rahab married Joshua and became the ancestor of eight prophets.
Chapters 3:1–4:24
 |
| Crossing the Jordan |
Israel faces another water obstacle, the Jordan River
The river was at flood stage
People are to follow the Ark (3:2-4, 6)
Command for people to “sanctify” themselves (v. 5)
Details of the crossing: (3:17; 4:1, 10-13, 18)
The priests carried the Ark and stepped into the Jordan River.
The river immediately stopped flowing.
The priests stood with the ark in the middle of the Jordan and waited for the nation to cross.
After everyone crossed, the priests came up and the water returned to normal.
The memorial stones: (3:12; 4:2-9, 20)
The people were instructed to take twelve stones from the river bed and set them up as a memorial.
The role of the Ark
Ark is mentioned 16 times, 9 times in chapter 3, 7 times in chapter 4
Ark is Kohathite responsibility according to Numbers 3:31
Reference to “dry land”:
Exodus 14:21-22, Joshua 4:18, 22
These two passages seem to parallel each other.
These two passages seem to parallel each other.
Chapter Five
Joshua, the faithful leader:
Circumcision (vv. 2-9)
No one had been circumcised since Israel left Egypt
The place was called “Gibeath Haaraloth,” which means “hill of foreskins.”
Passover celebrated (vv. 10-11)
The people ate the food of the land that day
God stopped sending manna that day
Theophany (vv. 13-15)
A man with the sword appears to Joshua with a message from God.
He identifies himself as neither a friend nor an enemy, but as "The Commander of the Army of The LORD."
He identifies himself as neither a friend nor an enemy, but as "The Commander of the Army of The LORD."
God commands Joshua to remove his sandals, just like the beginning of Moses’ ministry
Joshua is given instructions:
Have the army march around Jericho once a day for six days in silence
On the seventh day march around the city seven times while the priests blow trumpets
Have all the people shout, and the walls will collapse, and you will go in and destroy the place
Battle for the Land: Joshua 6:1 – 12:24
Chapter Six
The military plan for the Jericho conquest resembles a cultic event (vv. 6-10)
Emphasis is placed on the faithful implementation of God’s commands
Yahweh fights for Israel (vv. 2, 16)
Simple note (vv. 20b-21) about the battle
“They took it…they destroyed it…”
The function of “kherem”
To “devote to destruction”
Term occurs 80 times in the Old Testament.
Occurs 27 times in Joshua
Occurs 25 times in Joshua chs. 6–11
Occurs 10 times in Deuteronomy
Chapters 7:1–8:29
 |
| Achan's Sin |
Achan, one of the Israelites, took some of the “devoted things” for himself from the plunder of the city (v. 1)
Verse 3 = cockiness?
The people claimed, “We don’t need the whole army…” to conquer the city of Ai.
When Israel attacked the city of Ai, they were defeated.
Joshua’s lament (vv. 6-9):
He weeps in front of the Ark.
He cries, “Why have you let this happen?”
God tells him to stop making noise; the covenant has been broken
All Israel is incriminated (vv. 10-13)
Lots determine guilty party (vv. 14-18)
Judah is singled out from Israel
Zerahites are singled out from Judah
Zimri’s descendants were singled out from the Zerahites
Achan was singled out from the descendants of Zimri
Achan confesses (v. 20) and explains (v. 21)
Everything associated with Achan is destroyed (vv. 24-26)
They stoned them, then burned them.
They piled rocks on top of what was left of Achan’s estate.
Naming of Achor (vv. 24, 26)
“Achor” means “trouble”
It is a pun on Achan’s name because he was a “trouble-maker.”
Different connotation in Hosea
“I will speak tenderly to her…and make Achor a door of hope.”
Attack on Ai included an elaborate military strategy (vv. 1-29)
Joshua sent 30,000 of his best men out at night to hide on the other side of Ai.
Joshua led the other men on a frontal attack.
 |
| Destruction of Ai |
Everyone from Ai came out and fought against Joshua, and Joshua had is men flee from them.
God told Joshua to hold out his sword in the direction of Ai so that the city would be taken.
Meanwhile, the 30,000 men came up from behind Ai and set fire to the city.
The people of Ai panicked and were captured.
Joshua destroyed the city and its people.
“Ai” means “the ruin.”
They hung the king of Ai on a pole.
Joshua took the king’s body down at sunset in keeping with the law of Deuteronomy.
Israel allowed to keep spoil and livestock (vv. 2, 27)
The Ugaritic manuscripts originated in a time period before the time of Israel.
So does this mean that the writer of Joshua just stole this story and changed some things up before putting it in his book?
That is certainly one possibility.
But why would someone do this?
It was actually fairly common for the Israelites to borrow various narrative traditions from their neighbors and update them to fit the theology of their own God, YHWH. There was no such thing as plagiarism back then (plagiarism is a taboo in our culture, but not in all cultures at all times), and this was a really effective way of communicating the differences between Israel's God and the gods of other nations.
Everyone already knew the stories of the gods and heroes of other nations, so when the Hebrew writer takes those stories and interweaves them with stories about the character of the Hebrew God and the true history of His people, he is really making some deep theological statements in a very poignant way to the people at the time.
So does that mean that the events of Joshua never happened?
Not necessarily. We need to keep in mind the Bible is first of all a book of theology and secondly a book of history. If history gets in the way of making a really awesome theological story, then history can be changed because the theological message is the priority.
The Covenant Renewed at Mount Ebal
So does this mean that the writer of Joshua just stole this story and changed some things up before putting it in his book?
That is certainly one possibility.
But why would someone do this?
It was actually fairly common for the Israelites to borrow various narrative traditions from their neighbors and update them to fit the theology of their own God, YHWH. There was no such thing as plagiarism back then (plagiarism is a taboo in our culture, but not in all cultures at all times), and this was a really effective way of communicating the differences between Israel's God and the gods of other nations.
Everyone already knew the stories of the gods and heroes of other nations, so when the Hebrew writer takes those stories and interweaves them with stories about the character of the Hebrew God and the true history of His people, he is really making some deep theological statements in a very poignant way to the people at the time.
So does that mean that the events of Joshua never happened?
Not necessarily. We need to keep in mind the Bible is first of all a book of theology and secondly a book of history. If history gets in the way of making a really awesome theological story, then history can be changed because the theological message is the priority.
The Covenant Renewed at Mount Ebal
Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal.
Joshua prepared a burnt offering and a fellowship offering.
Joshua made a copy of the Law of Moses on stone tablets.
He had half of the tribes stand on Mount Ebal and the other half stand on Mount Gerizim.
Joshua read the entire Law to the people.
He read the blessings and curses of the covenant.
Everybody listened, both native-born Israelites and the foreigners who lived with them.
Chapter Nine
Two different responses of the people of Canaan: resistance or acceptance
Gibeonites choose path of non-resistance
Gibeonites are spared through a ruse
The Gibeonites feared Israel, so they dressed themselves up in rags and packed their bags with moldy bread and wandered into the Israelite camp.
They claimed they had come from far away and wanted to make a peace treaty with Israel.
Joshua felt sorry for them and agreed without consulting God.
Israel becomes a covenant partner
They made a covenant of peace, but soon after Joshua found out that these people had not come from far away, nor were they poor.
The text says that this covenant is the reason why the Gibeonites live among the Israelites “to this day.”
Covenant of unequal status
Israel could not kill these people because of their covenant, so they made them into their own personal “wood-cutters” and “water-carriers.”
Chapter Ten
Adoni-Zedek and Coalition
 |
| The Sun Stands Still |
King Adoni-Zedek of Jerusalem formed a coalition of kings from Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon and attacked Gibeon because of their treaty with Joshua.
Israel comes to the aid of the Gibeonites (v. 6)
They marched all night from Gilgal.
Yahweh fights for Israel (vv. 9, 11)
He threw the armies into “confusion.”
God pounded them with large hailstones
Joshua prayed for the sun and the moon to stand still
God caused the sun to stand still for half a day.
The kings hid in a cave and were captured
Kings of the coalition hung and buried (vv. 26-27)
Southern Cities Conquered
The text says that on that same day, Joshua and the Israelites conquered several other cities and completely destroyed them.
Makkedah
Libnah
Lachish
“Horam king of Gezer had come up to help Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his army…”
Eglon
Hebron
Debir
“All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.”
-- Joshua 10:42
Chapter Eleven: The Northern Campaign
King Jabin and coalition (vv. 1-15)
King Jabin of Hazor called together all of the northern kings to fight against Israel.
Madon
Shimron
Akshaph
The northern kings who were in the mountains
The kings in the Arabah south of Kinnereth
The kings in the western foothills
The kings in Naphoth Dor
The Canaanites in the east and west
Amorites
Hittites
Perizzites
Jebusites
Hivites
“They came out with all their troops and a large number of horses and chariots—a huge army, as numerous as the sand on the seashore.”
-- Joshua 11:4
The text says that Israel came upon them and destroyed them, chasing them all over the land until they were killed.
The text says that Joshua himself burned the city of Hazor, but that they did not burn any of the other cities.
Summary of Conquests (vv. 16-23)
Verse 18 says that Joshua waged war against all of these people for a long time... which seems to be a different perspective than what we just read.
The text also says that the LORD hardened the hearts of these people so that they would go to war against Israel and be destroyed “without mercy.”
Joshua gave the conquered land to the tribes of Israel and “the land had rest from war.”
The Book of Judges has a very different take on the conquest of the land, saying that many of the cities that were on the list of conquered cities in Joshua weren't actually conquered... this could also possibly explain why little to no detail is given on the battles that would have taken place to conquer them. As already mentioned, some passages of Joshua seem to agree more with Judges when they say that it actually took a really long time to conquer much of the land.
The Book of Judges has a very different take on the conquest of the land, saying that many of the cities that were on the list of conquered cities in Joshua weren't actually conquered... this could also possibly explain why little to no detail is given on the battles that would have taken place to conquer them. As already mentioned, some passages of Joshua seem to agree more with Judges when they say that it actually took a really long time to conquer much of the land.
Elsewhere in the Bible also seems to lean more towards a Book of Judges version of the entering of the Israelites into Canaan...
“They did not destroy the peoples
as the Lord had commanded them,
but they mingled with the nations
and adopted their customs.
They worshiped their idols,
which became a snare to them.
They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to false gods.
They shed innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was desecrated by their blood.
They defiled themselves by what they did;
by their deeds they prostituted themselves.”
as the Lord had commanded them,
but they mingled with the nations
and adopted their customs.
They worshiped their idols,
which became a snare to them.
They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to false gods.
They shed innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was desecrated by their blood.
They defiled themselves by what they did;
by their deeds they prostituted themselves.”
-- Psalm 106:34-39
So why does there seem to be so many contradictions?
Because the Bible isn't just a book. It's a bunch of books, written by a bunch of people who didn't always agree with each other on every single detail.
We need to also remember that while the same person is responsible for the final versions of both Joshua and Judges, that person was relying on stories a very different groups of people. The Joshua stories seem to have originated out of the northern tribes and they seek to portray northern tribal leaders like Joshua in a very positive light, whereas the Judges stories seem to have originated out of the southern tribe of Judah and they seek to portray Judaic leaders like Caleb in a positive light, while at the same time implying that the northern tribes were mostly miserable failures when it came to obeying God.
Even if other texts say that Israel did not destroy the Canaanites, God still commands that they do so in Joshua.
Why would God command this?
Were the Israelites failures for not killing everyone?
Is God a fan of genocide?
Did the Israelites put words in God’s mouth in order to promote their desire to commit genocide?
Is God’s judgment on the Canaanites the same as His judgment on the world in the story of Noah? Is it different?
The Settlement: Joshua 13:1–22:34
All tribes receive an allotment
Levitical cities are distributed for the special priestly tribe of Levi (21:1-42)
God’s promise to Israelites fulfilled
Inheritances determined by “lot” (14:2; 19:51)
Continues Holy War theme
Joshua and Caleb provided their own settlements
 |
| Dividing Up the Land |
Joshua’s Farewell Address: Joshua 23:1–24:28
Chapter Twenty-three
God gave the land (vv. 1, 3, 5, 9-10)
“…it was the LORD your God who fought for you.”
Conditional Message:
Stress on Obedience (vv. 6-7)
“Be careful to obey everything in the Law of Moses…”
“Do not associate with these nations that remain among you…”
“Do not serve their gods.”
“Hold fast to the LORD…”
Warnings about Disobedience (vv. 11-16)
Nations will remain (v. 13)
“If you ally yourselves with them or intermarry with them, God will not drive them out.”
“They will be a snare for you until you perish from the land.”
Expulsion from the land (vv. 13, 15-16)
“if you violate the Covenant…the LORD’s anger will burn against you and you will quickly perish from this good land He has given you.”
Chapter Twenty-four: The Covenant Renewed at Shechem
Covenant ceremony
God’s saving action (vv. 1-13)
“Your ancestors worshiped other gods, but I brought Abraham out of their land.”
“I gave Abraham his son Isaac.”
“I gave land to Jacob and Esau.”
“I rescued Israel from Egypt.”
“I destroyed your enemies.”
“I made Balaam bless you when he tried to curse you.”
“I gave you land you did not plant and cities you did not build.”
Command to choose (vv. 14-15)
“Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
Declaration to serve Yahweh (vv. 16-18, 21-24)
“We will serve the LORD!”
“We are witnesses against ourselves if we do not!”
Recording of Covenant (vv. 25-27)
Joshua recorded this event in “The Book of the Law of God.”
He set up a large stone under an oak tree and said the stone would be a witness against them if they were untrue to their God.
Buried in the Promised Land
The end of the book of Joshua says that after he had spoken all of these things, he died at the age of 110.
He was buried in Ephraim, the land of his inheritance.
The text also says that the Israelites buried Joseph’s bones, which they had brought up out of Egypt, at Shechem.
This text says that Jacob had bought this land from the sons of Shechem’s father Hamor.
Eleazar the priest also died and was buried at Gibeah in the hill country of Ephraim.
No comments:
Post a Comment