Joshua, violence and the inhabitants of the land
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/BPTh.2015.026Keywords
Joshua (book of), Israel violence, settlement, OrigenAbstract
The theological perspective of the events narrated in the book of Joshua is highlighted especially in their summary retrospect. It here becomes clear again that Israel’s conquest of the land is no genocide motivated by religion. The decisive criterion is that of enmity towards Israel. “Enmity towards Israel”, however, means “enmity towards an Israel which pays heed to God with all its heart and determines its conduct subject to the will of God.” As soon as Israel resists the will of God, it prepares its own ruin. The decisive criterion is not ethnical, but ethical-theological in nature: it is a question of obedience or disobedience towards God. In Josh 21:44 we read: “Not one of their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands.” Ultimately this means that resistance against God cannot be sustained indefinitely, be it displayed by Israel or by the peoples.
In its final composition, the book of Joshua assumes that Israel’s enemies are an enduring reality. Israel nevertheless receives the assurance that it would be able to live in security (Josh 23:1–5; cf. Ps 23:5) even in the presence of these enemies. As such, the book sways within the field of tension between “already” and “not yet”: YHWH had previously prevailed over Israel’s enemies and had given the land to Israel. And yet the enemies remain a threat to Israel. Should Israel forget the covenant of its God, it would fall prey to the enemies (cf. Judg) and ultimately even be driven from the land (2 Ki 17; 25).
Thus the book of Joshua is not only, and not even primarily a book that looks back into the past, but one that looks towards the future, full of hope. To be exact: it is a book which develops criteria for a successful life in the present, consistent with godly standards, and which gains hope for a fulfilled future from this very life (Josh 23; 24).References
Ballhorn E., Israel am Jordan. Narrative Topographie im Buch Josua (BBB 162), Göttingen 2011.
Dawkins R., Der Gotteswahn, Berlin 2007 (The God Delusion, London: Transworld / Random House / Black Swan 2007).
Elßner Th.R., Josua und seine Kriege in jüdischer und christlicher Rezeptionsgeschichte (Theologie und Frieden 37), Stuttgart 2008, s. 253–254.
Elßner Th.R. – Heither T., Die Homilien des Origenes zum Buch Josua. Die Kriege Josuas als Heilswirken Jesu (Beiträge zur Friedensethik, 38), Stuttgart 2006.
Schwienhorst-Schönberger L., Die Eroberung Jerichos. Exegetische Untersuchung zu Josua 6 (SBS 122), Stuttgart 1986.
Schwienhorst-Schönberger L., Josua 6 und die Gewalt, in: Ed Noort (ed.), The Book of Joshua (BETL CCL), Leuven 2012, s. 433–471.
Schwienhorst-Schönberger L., Land, in: Michael Fieger / Jutta Krispenz / Jörg Lanckau (ed.), Wörterbuch alttestamentlicher Motive (WAM), Darmstadt 2013, s. 299–305.
de Prenter J.A., The contrastive polysemous meaning of חרם in the Book of Joshua, in: Ed Noort (ed.), The Book of Joshua (BETL CCL), Leuven 2012, s. 473–488.
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