Lecture Six: The Downward Spiral of Judges

The Book of Judges

Judges is the second book in the Deuteronomistic History.

The book of Judges contains the history of Israel in the land of Canaan before Israel had kings.

Judges was written during the time of the kings.

The book of Judges is presented as a downward spiral.

Its outlook on Israel’s entry into the Promised Land is quite different than the book of Joshua.

Structure of Judges

1:1-2:5 – Unfinished Conquest

2:6-12:15 – A Succession of Judges

13:1-16:31 – Samson the Lone Hero

17:1-21:25 – Disorder and Infidelity

Themes

Leadership

Deborah holds court

The other major judges are deliverers of the people

The minor judges usually govern in times of peace

Kingship is at first seen as negative because God should be Israel’s king

Later, kingship is seen as a good thing in light of the disasters Israel experienced without one.

The Spirit of the Lord

God’s spirit comes upon certain people and allows them to perform great feats

God’s spirit does not come upon everyone

Holy War

“In Holy War, the LORD alone wins victory.”

Israel can only defeat her enemies because God fights on her behalf.

There is a sense of a spiritual battle taking place on top of the physical battles.

Unfinished Conquest (1:1–3:6)

Chapter one shows the Israelites continuing to conquer the land of Canaan.

However, they begin to have great difficulties in doing so.

Caleb offers his daughter to anyone who will attack a certain region.

Othniel leads the way.

In chapter two, the Israelites are portrayed as settling among the Canaanites instead of driving them out.

God says that Israel has violated their covenant and He will no longer assist them in driving out the nations.

Othniel (3:7-12)

Israel’s first judge is Othniel.

Othniel is from the tribe of Judah.

Othniel was Caleb’s nephew.

Othniel married Caleb’s daughter.

Othniel is the model judge.

The Israelites worshiped Baal and Asherah.

The Israelites were oppressed by Cushan-Rishathaim of Aram Naharaim.

Cushan-Rishathaim of Aram Naharaim literally means, “one of double-wickedness from land of double-rivers.”

Othniel rescues the Israelites after they have been oppressed for eight years.

Yahweh is given credit for the victory (3:10).

Othniel rules Israel for forty years.

Ehud (3:12-30)

The Israelites continued in their disobedience (v. 12).

God allowed them to be oppressed by the Moabites.

Ehud comes to the rescue.

Ehud is from the tribe of Benjamin. In Hebrew, Benjamin means “son of my right hand.” Ironically, Ehud is a left-handed man.

Ehud kills King Eglon, Israel’s oppressor.

Eglon is described as being very fat (v. 17).

The name “Eglon” sounds a lot like the word for “calf.” This is a pun, comparing Eglon to “a fattened calf ready for slaughter.”

Ehud saves the Israelites by assassinating Eglon with his left hand by thrusting a “double-edged” or “double-mouthed” dagger into his belly.

This is fitting for a king described tongue-in-cheek as having a “double-mouth” with which he gorged himself.

Even his belly is described as “swallowing” up the dagger.

After this the text reads, “and the dirt fell out,” or in other words “he pooped himself.”

Ehud escapes via the sewer system (i.e., he jumps down the king’s poop chute to escape).

The king’s attendants thought Eglon was just taking a long time in the bathroom.

Ehud then leads Israel in victorious battle against the Moabites and there was peace for 80 years.

Shamgar (3:31)

“After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.”

  -- Judges 3:31

Judges 1:33 refers to a town named “Beth Anath,” or “House of Anath” that was in the territory of Naphtali.

Perhaps Shamgar was from the tribe of Naphtali.

Deborah and Barak (4:1-5:31)

King Jabin of Hazor and General Sisera oppress Israel because the Israelites have once again done evil.

Note that Joshua had already defeated a “King Jabin.”

Deborah was a prophetess and the “wife of Lappidoth,” meaning “woman of fire.”

There is hesitation on the part of Barak to go into battle, so Deborah tells him the victory will be given to “a woman.”

Both of the women in the story, Deborah and Jael, show more courage than the leading man.

Deborah’s name means “honeybee.” Barak’s name means “lightning.” Yet in the story… “honeybee” is brave and “lightning” is chicken.

God throws Sisera’s army into a panic near the Kishon River and Sisera flees the battle.

Sisera seeks refuge in the tent of Jael.

Jael’s husband is a Kenite.

Jael’s name means “Yahweh is God.”

“Sisera” means “snake.”

Jael gives Sisera milk to drink and he falls asleep.

While he is sleeping, Jael drives a tent peg through Sisera’s head, or “temple.”

The word used here as “temple” is in Hebrew “berragato,” which is related to “baraq.”

When Jael crushes Sisera’s “temple,” she also crushes Barak with embarrassment, because a woman had to do what he had failed to do.

The Song of Deborah (5:1-31)

The song of Deborah is thought to be the oldest section of the book of Judges.

In this song, Deborah praises God for giving them victory in battle.

She also praises Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for her violence against Sisera.

The song also records some interesting details of the battle, such as that God had sent giant hailstones upon the armies of King Jabin and General Sisera.

The song also provides us with a look at what Sisera’s own mother might have thought about his violent death.

The text also says that there are forty years of peace after this successful battle.

Gideon (6:1–8:35)

Deborah was successful, but the cycle of disobedience starts again.

Israel is impoverished by Midianite oppression.

God sends a leader to them in a man named Gideon.

Gideon was from the weakest clan in Manasseh, and he was the lowest-ranked person in his family.

Gideon is hiding in a winepress, threshing wheat, when an angel appears to him.

The angel says, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.” He tells Gideon to go save Israel from the Midianites.

However, Gideon is very unsure of everything.

Gideon responds to God’s messenger with:

Defiant questions

Pointing out the insignificance of his own roots

Repeatedly requesting signs, such as the fleece incidents.

Gideon’s name comes from “gada,” which means “cut down.”

Gideon’s name fits him because he cuts down the idols of his father Joash.

The name of Joash is, ironically, a Yahwistic name, even though Joash is an idolater.

His father renames him “Jerub-Baal,” meaning “one who contends with Baal,” still refusing to acknowledge Gideon as Yahweh's servant, but only as Baal's enemy.

God tests Gideon by reducing the size of his army.

People who are afraid are told to go home.

People who get down on their knees to drink water instead of lapping it with their tongues are told to go home.

Gideon's army is reduced from 32, 000 to 300 men.

Gideon is only reassured of victory after listening to a Midianite conversation instead of listening to God.

The army uses trumpets and water pitchers to create noise confusion at night surrounding the Midianite campl

The Midianites panic and slaughter themselves.

Gideon is victorious in battle!

The people cry out “The sword of the LORD and of Gideon!”

Gideon gets trigger-happy and wipes out several other groups of people along with the Midianite army.

The people try to make Gideon king, but he refuses, insisting that God is Israel’s king.

He rules Israel for forty years.

Overtime, the quality of Gideon’s leadership becomes less and less.

There is still idolatry in the land.

Gideon even makes a golden ephod that the people worship, hearkening back to Aaron and the golden calf.

Gideon begins by cutting down idols, and ends by setting them up.

Previously, Gideon refused to be made king over Israel; now, he is living like a luxurious king.

Gideon also has a son named Abimelech.

“Abimelech” means “father is king.”

Abimelech’s Rebellion (9:1-57)

Abimelech was the son of Gideon and Gideon’s concubine.

Abimelech had seventy half-brothers.

He got them to support his kingship cause.

He used the money they gave him to hire a bunch of thugs.

Abimelech killed all but one of his half-brothers by crushing their heads against a large stone.

Gideon’s youngest son, Jotham, escaped by hiding.

Abimelech proclaimed himself king of Israel.

Jotham decided to resist his half-brother.

He climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted a parable to the people of Shechem.

Parable of the trees:

Olive tree rejected kingship

Fig tree rejected kingship

Vine rejected kingship

So the people made the Thorn Bush king

The Shechemites got the message and rebelled by robbing Abimelech’s allies.

A guy named Gaal moves to Shechem and tries to get the people to follow him.

Abimelech finds out and slaughters the rebels.

The next day, Abimelech slaughters the farmers in their fields.

He then enters the city to kill everyone else.

The people hide in a temple-tower.

As Abimelech is preparing to burn the tower, a woman from above drops a large millstone on his head.

As he is dying, he tells his men to quickly stab him so that he won’t be remembered as the one who was killed by a woman... even though that's what we remember him for today...so that plan worked out great.

Tola and Jair (10:1-5)

Tola

He was from the tribe of Issachar

He lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.

His father was Puah and his grandfather was Dodo.

“He rose to save Israel.”

He led Israel 23 years

Jair

He was from Kamon in the region of Gilead

He had thirty sons who rode thirty donkeys and who controlled thirty towns in Gilead

He led Israel 22 years

Jephthah (10:6–12:7)

Again, Israel was evil in the LORD’s sight and began to be oppressed.

However, they began to cry out and confess to Him and they “put away their gods.”

Yahweh’s response is “impatient” for he could bear their misery no longer.

Enter Jephthah.

After rejecting him, the people then try to bring him back so that he may lead them in victory over their enemies and save them.

Jephthah is the son of a prostitute.

He is referred to as the son of Gilead, which is a territory.

In other words, nobody knew who his father was.

The oppression present at this time was by the Philistines and the Ammonites.

Jephthah promises a child-sacrifice to God in exchange for victory, and he ends up killing his own daughter, showing that Israel has mixed the sacred with the perverted.

Three Minor Judges (12:8-15)

Ibzan

He was from Bethlehem in the land of Judah

He had thirty sons and thirty daughters

He led Israel for seven years

Elon

He was from Aijalon in the land of Zebulun

He led Israel for ten years

Abdon

He was from Pirathon in the land of Ephraim

He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys

He led Israel for eight years

The Birth of Samson (13:1-25)

A strange man appears to a woman and says she will have a son.

He tells her that her son will be a Nazirite from birth and gives her specific instructions.

She tells her husband Monoah about the strange man.

Manoah comes to see the strange man later on and offers him a meal.

The man does not need food and tells them to use it to make a sacrifice to God.

Monaoh asks what the man’s name is and the man says, “Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.”

As they make their sacrifice the man ascends in the flames.

Monoah freaks out and says they are going to die because they just had an encounter with God and didn’t know it.

His wife reassures him that God wouldn’t have given them such good news if He had wanted to kill them.

She gives birth to a son and names him “Samson.”

Samson (13:1-16:31)

At this point, the Philistines have become prominent in the narrative.

Samson is a Nazirite from birth, but he is constantly breaking his covenant.

He does so secretly by eating honey out of a dead lion’s carcass.

He also gets drunk for seven days and marries a Philistine woman, saying “she is right in my eyes.”

Samson is weak towards women and loses a bet/riddle/game with the Philistines because he gives in to the nagging of his wife.

He leaves his wedding in a rage and the Philistines give his wife to another man.

Later he comes back to patch things up with his bride by bringing her a goat, only to hear from his father-in-law "I gave her to the best man because I thought you hated her."

In revenge, Samson sets 300 foxes on fire and sets them loose in the Philistines’ crops, and they retaliate by burning his wife.

The people of Judah hand Samson over to the Philistines because he is out of control.

However, Samson breaks the ropes that bind him and slaughters 1,000 men with a donkey’s jawbone.

He's quite pleased with himself and makes up a little ditty, singing, "With an ass's jawbone I've made asses out of them."

We also learn that Samson sleeps with prostitutes.

Once, he only spends half the night with a prostitute because he knows people are coming to arrest him.

He gets up in the night and walks off with the city gates on his shoulders.

Later, he meets and falls in love with Delilah.

Delilah’s name literally means “of the night.”

Samson’s name, in contrast, means “sunshine.”

What does light have in common with darkness?

The Philistines pay Delilah 1,100 pieces of silver to betray Samson.

Samson is so stupid that he falls for Delilah’s trick and lets her cut his hair.

He is humiliated before Dagon, the god of the Philistines.

Samson falls further into darkness when the Philistines poke out his eyes.

However, Samson’s final act of suicidal terrorism brings about a partial deliverance to the people.

Summary of Israel’s Judges

Micah and the Danite Migration (17:1-18:31)

The character of Micah is introduced.

Micah’s mother may have been Delilah.

Micah returns 1,100 pieces of silver to her which had been stolen.

She uses 200 of these 1,100 pieces of silver to build an idol in order to honor Yahweh.

This is very twisted in nature and shows the backwardness of the time-period.

Micah makes an ephod and appoints his own son as priest of his illegitimate shrine.

He hires a Levite as a priest, but everything about the arrangement is illegitimate.

Micah is from Ephraim, but his association with the Danites may be implying that Micah was Samson’s illegitimate son.

The Danites move north and take Micah’s priest and idol with them.

Later, Moses’ own grandson becomes the idolatrous priest of the Danites.

The Climax of the Downward Spiral (19:1–21:25)

Later, a second Levite arrives on the scene in order to retrieve his wife who has fled from him to the house of her father in Bethlehem.

On their way back, they spend the night in the town of Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin.

The men of Gibeah come out to commit “sodomy” with the Levite, but instead the Levite offers them his wife/concubine and they brutally rape her all night.

In the morning, the Levite sees her lying on the doorstep and cuts her body up into twelve pieces.

He sends a piece of her to each of the twelve tribes.

A civil war then erupts against Benjamin, with Judah leading the way in battle, and all but 600 men of Benjamin are killed.

The end of the book deals with the eleven tribes attempting to avoid the complete extinction of Benjamin by providing the remaining 600 men with wives.

They do so by staging a giant kidnapping of several hundred girls from the towns that refused to participate in the civil war.

The book closes by echoing the words of Samson, saying, “At that time, there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.”

Article Summary on Joshua 1-8 and Parallel Narratives in Other Ancient Near Eastern Texts

The purpose of this article is to present the similarities between the narrative of Joshua chapters one through eight with the Ugaritic text relating the story of King Keret and his journey to the city of Udum. The article cautiously proposes that there may in fact be a connection between the stories of the Exodus and the Conquest with the stories of King Keret. While most scholars are in agreement that the stories found in the Joshua narrative are made up of several different accounts that have been put together and edited by a redactor, the authors of this article seek to show that there is an element of continuity within these stories that may link it to the continuity found in the stories of King Keret. The authors acknowledge the discontinuities of the Joshua narrative, particularly in areas of chronology, but point out that it is the chronological ordering of the stories themselves that may point to the biblical text’s connection to the Ugaritic text.

The article starts out by showing that the beginning of the book of Joshua is a part of a larger history that is sometimes called the Primary History of the Israelites. This Primary History is made up of the books of Genesis through 2nd Kings. The authors state that nowhere in the rest of the Primary History is there seen such a connection to the rest of the history as there is seen in the first few chapters of Joshua. The first few chapters of Joshua point to and reference many other elements and stories portrayed in the rest of the history, especially in connection to the story of Moses and the Exodus. The authors point out the connection of the crossing of the Jordan River to the crossing of the Red Sea by the Israelites in the book of Exodus. The idea of the crossing of the Jordan is also seen in the stories of Elijah and Elisha. The crossing of the water is a significant event in all of these stories. The body of water is even portrayed as the same body of water, the Jordan River, in the stories of Joshua, Elijah, and Elisha.

Another connecting factor of the Joshua narrative with the Elijah narrative is the element of a three-day search. In Joshua 2, the spies are sent out to scout the land. When they leave Jericho they hide in the hills for three days as the king’s men search for them but eventually do not find them. This is similar to the Elijah story, where Elijah is taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire and the company of the prophets goes out to look for him and spends three days trying to find him out in the wilderness but is unsuccessful.

A similarity also exists between Joshua and Moses on a number of different levels. One obvious example would be the removal of one’s sandals in the presence of God. Both Joshua and Moses are commanded to remove their sandals. There is also a connection between Joshua’s curse upon the future rebuilder of Jericho and 1st Kings 16:34 as well as a connection between the description of the capture of the city of Ai in Joshua and the capture of Gibeah in Judges 20.

The authors point out that even though all of these similarities exist, scholars are still mostly of the belief that these were separate stories that were combined into a larger narrative. It has been the task of many scholars to attempt to piece together from where these various stories came from before being combined into the final narrative form of Joshua 1-8. The authors of this article point out that one of the difficulties in figuring out the background of these texts lies in the chronology presented within them and the overall storyline of the final narrative. They write, “Apart from the incident of the seven days when the Israelites circled Jericho for six days in silence and saw the fall of the city on the seventh day (Joshua 6), these [chronologies] appear fragmentary and also do not seem to fit easily into a single coherent chronological scheme” (254). These chronologies within the first few chapters of Joshua are even more confusing when compared to the rest of Joshua which mentions little of chronology.

The authors list the chronological issues present in Joshua 1-5. After discussing the chronological issues and similar issues seen in the account of Saul’s death, they discuss the departure of the spies in Joshua. The spies are sent out on the same day that Joshua has told the Israelites to prepare to cross the Jordan within three days. The spies arrive in Jericho that evening. That same evening the king’s men inquire of them at Rahab’s house. That same night, Rahab helps them escape and tells them to hide in the hills for three days, which they do. After this, the spies meet back up with Joshua on the other side of the Jordan, implying that the crossing of the Israelites had not yet taken place. It would appear then that on the day the spies returned the Israelites crossed the Jordan. The text records that the Israelites crossed over on the tenth day of the first month, and that later they celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth day. The authors point out that the Israelites celebrate the Passover on the fourteenth, which is the same day of the original Passover when they left Egypt.

They also show that periods of seven days exist in these stories. The Israelites march around Jericho for seven days, with six of those days in silence. The authors question why it was important to include this chronological structure when so much of the rest of Joshua fails to do so. The authors acknowledge the beliefs of different scholars who argue that Joshua contains the same source material as the Pentateuch and should thus be group with those other books, forming a Hexateuch, while others say that Joshua’s place belongs at the beginning of another narrative known as the Deuteronomic history, which derived separately from the Pentateuch. However, the authors are not too concerned with where exactly Joshua should be categorized and are more concerned with the categorization of the materials within Joshua. They write that the section of the narrative encompassing Joshua 1-8 is held together not only by its use of chronology, but also by its similarity to other ancient Ugaritic texts relaying the story of King Keret. At this point, the article comes to its main point of comparing the texts of Joshua 1-8 with the Ugaritic story of Keret, king of Hubur.

This story is recorded on three clay tablets in the Ugaritic language and is believed to have been written around the thirteenth century BC by a scribe named Illimilku. In this story, Keret is weeping on his bed because he has no hope after having lost his entire family. The god El appears to him in a dream asking him what is wrong and offering him prosperity. Keret refuses, saying he wants descendants. El wishes to give descendants to Keret and tells him to offer a sacrifice and sends him on a mission to go capture the city of Udum, the home of King Pabil. El tells Keret that he will march for seven days, and then besiege the city for another seven days. El also tells him that Pabil will offer him silver and gold, but that he must refuse these offers and instead ask for Pabil’s daughter, Hurriy. Keret follows El’s instructions, sacrificing to receive the strength of Baal and additionally stopping three days into his journey at the temple of Athirat, promising to offer Hurriy’s weight in silver and gold as an offering when he returns. He and his army travel another four days before reaching the city, they then march around the city in complete silence for six days until King Pabil cannot stand it anymore and calls out to Keret, offering him silver and gold. Keret refuses, asking for his daughter. Keret receives his bride and withdraws from the city. They have children together, but Keret does not fulfill his vow to Athirit, so he becomes ill. The rest of the country also falls under a drought and the crops do not grow. El comes to the aid of Keret and creates a healing goddess after none of the other gods want to help him. Keret is healed, but his oldest son thinks he is still about to die and goes ahead and announces he is going to take over as king. The story ends with Keret cursing his son.

There are obviously many similarities between the story of Keret and the story of Joshua. Both of them travel seven days before reaching the cities they are besieging. Both of them carry out cultic rituals on the third or the fourth day of this time period. Keret makes vows to Athirit and Joshua calls the people to sanctify themselves for the crossing of the Jordan as well as sets up memorial stones after the crossing. At the crossing of the Jordan, the covenant is renewed and the men are circumcised. This covenant is then immediately broken by Achan. The difference between Keret’s and Achan’s broken promise, however, is that Keret becomes ill and is healed, whereas Achan and his entire household and possessions are destroyed.

Both Joshua and Keret receive their battle instructions from a diety. In both stories, the armies surround or march around the city for six days in complete silence, and on the seventh day something happens. The armies of Joshua shout, and blow trumpets as the walls collapse; and the animals of the city in Keret’s story become very loud so that the king cannot sleep. Also, “two periods of seven days have brought the Israelites into the Promised Land, the land for their future; two periods of seven days have brought Keret the promised wife and thus the desired family in the future: a national as opposed to a dynastic perspective” (264).

Both stories have women who join the besiegers, Rahab with Joshua and Hurriy with Keret. Both women enter into marital relations with the invaders. However, the two women have opposing social statuses. One is a princess and the other is a harlot. They write, “If the author or authors of Joshua were familiar with the story of Keret or a derivative of it, they have in any case given it a naughty twist: the woman that came out of the besieged town changed from a princess into a harlot” (265). Also, one of the key differences between Joshua and Keret is that Keret is a king seeking his own good, but Joshua is a mediator between God and the people of God. In both stories, though, it is the deity who is truly the star of the show. One final similarity between the two stories is that both involve the withholding of gold and silver or devoted things from a deity and both of these broken vows result in punishment.

The authors are unsure about what to do with the similarities between these two stories. The evidence seems to strongly indicate that one or the other borrowed elements from each other’s stories, or else the two stories were based upon another story, perhaps of prose or of poetry or of an oral tradition. They agree that emulation is indeed a possibility, and point to the example of how the Romans copied the stories of the Greeks. Virgil’s works resembled Homer’s in obvious ways. They point out that emulation is actually a common thing in the Hebrew Bible, with later stories borrowing elements from earlier stories within the Bible as well as from other texts, such as Homer’s Odyssey having apparent connections with Tobit, Genesis, and Job; Ezekiel’s connection to the Akkadian Poem of Erra; the Histories of Herodotus throughout the Primary History and Daniel; and the Gilgamesh Epic and the Genesis stories of Creation and The Flood. The conclusion of the authors of this article is that it is very possible that Joshua 1-8 was influenced by the Ugaritic story of Keret, whether directly or indirectly. However, this was not the only outside source used. Joshua also parallels Moses in many ways, and there are numerous other examples of texts within and without the Bible borrowing from one another. Their conclusion is that there is no need to assume that Joshua 1-8 has a “complex editorial history,” due to its current “extremely well composed” form of a “literary-religious composition.”


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Article:


Braber, Marieke den, and J W. Wesselius. "The unity of Joshua 1-8, its relation to the story of King Keret, and the literary background to the exodus and conquest stories." SJOT 22, no. 2 (January 1, 2008): 253-274.

Joshua Studies

The Conquest as a Religious Act 

The structure and content of the book of Joshua portrays the conquest of the land as a religious act of holy war. In the preparation for the conquest (1-5) the role of God is shown (1:2-5) as well as Joshua’s own responsibility (6-9). Throughout the story there is a lack of military language and strategy. The Israelites sanctify themselves. They follow the Ark. They circumcise themselves, celebrate Passover, and set up memorial stones after crossing the river. Joshua also has a Theophany like Moses. In the conquest itself (6-12) the military plan for Jericho resembles a cultic event. Yahweh fights for Israel (2; 10). The “kherem” or the “devotion to destruction” for the LORD is also established, and when Achan breaks “kherem” he and all associated with him is destroyed. In the allocation of the land (13-22), all of the tribes receive an allotment, God’s promise to Israel is fulfilled, the Levitical cities are established, and the inheritances are determined by “lot” (14:2; 19:51). In Joshua’s closing speeches and addresses it is stressed that God gave the Land (23:1, 3, 5, 9-10), he stresses obedience, warns about disobedience, and performs a covenant ceremony. In this is seen: God’s saving action (1-13), the command for the Israelites to either choose Yahweh or not (14-15), the declaration to serve Yahweh (16-18, 21-24), the recording of the covenant (25-27). All these show how the conquest is a religious act.

Joshua as a Second Moses 

Joshua is also portrayed as a second Moses. They both send spies into the land (Num. 13:1-3; Josh. 2:1), both led Israelites across a body of water (Ex. 14-15; Josh. 3-4), both had a Theophany (Ex. 3:1-6; Josh. 5:13-15), both carry the role of intercessor (Ex. 32:11-12; Josh. 7:7-10), there is a similarity between the lifting of Moses’ staff and Joshua’s sword in battle (Ex. 17:10-13; Josh. 8:18, 26), both are conquerors of territory (Num. 21; Josh. 1-12), and both give farewell addresses (Deut. 4-30; Josh. 23-24). Joshua is also portrayed as a faithful deuteronomistic leader with the extermination of the Canaanites (Deut. 7:1-2; 16; Josh. 6:21; 10:40; 11:15, 23), the Covenant Renewal (Deut. 11:29-30; 27:3-4; Josh. 8:30-34), also, the written Copy of the Law, the removal of bodies from trees (Deut. 21:22-23; Josh. 8:29; 10:26-27), Celebration of Passover (Deut. 16:1; Josh. 5:10), regulations for those who surrender (Deut. 20:10-11; Josh. 9:6, 8, 15), and he selects Cities of Refuge (Deut. 19:1-2, 8-10; Josh. 20:1-3, 7-8).

Joshua in Archaeology 

In Joshua, the portrayal of the conquest differs from recent archaeological data. Different historical/sociological models have been developed by scholars to explain the conquest in light of the Bible’s account and archaeology. One is the Conquest Theory. Support for this theory is that in archaeology certain cities showed Late Bronze destruction, such as Bethel, Hazor, and Debir. The problems with this theory are that many sites did not show destruction levels during this time period, such as Ta’anach, Megiddo, Jokneam, and, Makkedah. And some sites were not inhabited at all, including Jericho, Gibeon, and Ai. W.F. Albright was the main proponent of the Conquest Theory, along with scholars such as G. Ernest Wright and John Bright. Another theory was the Peaceful Infiltration Model, supported by Albrecht Alt and Martin Noth. The support for this is that it corresponded with both archaeology and the biblical text. Joshua 13:1; 23; 12 indicate that the destruction was not actually total. Also, cities said to be conquered in Joshua are shown to be unconquered in Judges, including Ta’anach, Megiddo, Gezer, Debir, Hazor, Jerusalem, and Dor. The problems with this model included methodological issues including a “romanticized” version of Bedouin life. Another theory was the Peasant Revolt Theory, supported by George Mendenhall and Norman Gottwald. Support showed that there was a sharp rise in the population of the central highlands during this time. The problem was difficulty accounting for the population explosion.

Joshua in the Context of the Deuteronomistic History 

The conquest of Joshua also relates to Deuteronomy. As previously stated, the promise of God in Moses is fulfilled in Joshua, Joshua follows the laws of Deuteronomy, and Joshua sets the stage for the rest of the Deuteronomistic History. He is a king-like figure like Josiah, he is faithful to God’s Law, and he establishes Israel in the Land with specific instructions. Later, Israel abandons the laws and becomes chaotic and conquered. However, Josiah restores the Law in later times. Joshua and Josiah book end each other. They are both king-like figures, both copy the Law, both read it to the assembly, and both celebrate the Passover. Not to mention the obvious similarities in both of their names.