Joshua Joshua
(Adapted by Ralph W. Klein from Das Alte Testament by Rolf Rendtorff
The
book of Joshua covers the period from the death of Moses (1:1) to the death of
Joshua (24:29). Chaps 1-12 conquest of Cis-Jordan;
chaps. 13-22 division of the land; chaps 23-24 farewell
speeches and last acts of Joshua. Deuteronomistic language is prominent
in 1:1-9 and throughout chap 1, and also in the final notice over the first
section (
vicinity of Gilgal:
the destroyed walls of Jericho (chap 6) and the house of the family of Rahab (chap 2 and 6:22-25); the stone sanctuary of Gilgal (4:3,8, 20-24) and twelve other stones in the river
bed of the Jordan (4:9); the name Gilgal (5:9) and
the hill of foreskins (5:2-8); the heap of ruins at Ai (8:28), a heap of stones
in the valley of Achor (7:26) and another by Ai
(8:29); the conscription of the inhabitants of Gibeon to forced labor at the
Israelite sanctuary (chap 9). Also chaps. 9 and 10 contain stories from the
time of the conquest. A list of the conquered kings (chap 12) concludes this
section.
In chaps. 13-19
are accounts of the division of the land consisting partially of boundary
descriptions of individual tribes (15:2-12; 16:1-3,5-8;
17:7-11 etc) and partly of lists of place names (
Joshua
is the successor of Moses who sanctifies the people before an important event;
he is honored by the people just like Moses; he makes intercession for Israel;
he makes his final testament known just before his death. But he is also
subservient to the figure of Moses. He follows the instructions of Moses
exactly (1:7,13; 4:10; 8:30ff; 11:15). The
"law" is concluded; he has it before him as a book by which he must
orient himself (1:8; 8:31, 34).
Note the following tension within the book. In 1:5 we are told
that no one could stand before Joshua, and we read in 11:16,23; 21:43-44 (cf.
24:18) that Joshua and the Israelites captured the entire land. In chap. 23 things
are different. To be sure we hear of the fulfillment of God's promise (vv. 3,9), but also of the peoples that yet remain (vv. 4,7,12),
whose expulsion still lies in the future. Hence it speaks of the possibility
that Yahweh will not continue to drive out these peoples if Israel departs from
the law of Moses, and that means if Israel mixes with the remaining peoples and
turns to other gods (6-7; 13). This could lead to Israel's own expulsion (13b).
Just as all the good words of Yahweh have been fulfilled (vv. 14b,15a) so also will his evil word be fulfilled (vv. 15b,16).
Here there is present a different, albeit still Deuteronomistic, interpretation
than that found in 1:5;
Except
for the reversal due to the sin of Achan in chapter 7, we have throughout a
picture of obedient Israel, which shared in the fulfillment of the promises as
long as Joshua and the generation who still know what Yahweh had done for
Israel lived (24:31).
After the conclusion in chap. 23 comes chap. 24. It looks back
to the saving history in vv. 1-13, binds