Joshua 1-12, Volume 7A: Second Edition

by Trent C. Butler, Nancy L. deClaisse-Walford (Editor), Peter H. Davids (Editor)

Overview

Trent C. Butler's excellent commentary on Joshua is updated and revised. This new edition takes into account the most recent scholarly work on the book of Joshua. The commentary includes Butler's translation of the text, explanatory notes, and commentary to help any professor, student, or pastor with research and writing.

Features include:

-solid biblical scholarship for teachers, pastors, and students

-updated bibliography commentary for deeper study

-thorough coverage of the biblical languages

-close analysis of ancient manuscripts of Joshua

The Word Biblical Commentary series offers the best in critical scholarship firmly committed to the authority of Scripture as divine revelation. It is perfect for scholars, students of the Bible, ministers, and anyone who wants a theological understanding of Scripture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780785252689
Publisher:	Zondervan Academic
Publication date:	11/25/2014
Series:	Word Biblical Commentary , #7
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	576
Product dimensions:	6.25(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.63(d)

About the Author

Trent C. Butler is a freelance author and editor. He served ten years on the faculty of the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Rüschilkon, Switzerland, and for twenty-two years as editor and editorial director for Holman Bible Publishers and Life Way. He wrote the Word Biblical Commentary volume on Joshua, the Layman’s Bible Book Commentary on Isaiah, the Holman Old Testament Commentaries on Isaiah and Hosea through Micah, and the Holman New Testament Commentary on Luke. He served on the editorial Board of the Holman Christian Standard Bible, and edited the Holman Bible Dictionary. Dr. Butler has a Ph.D. in biblical studies and linguistics from Vanderbilt University, has done further study at Heidelberg and Zurich, and has participated in the excavation of Beersheba.

Nancy L. de Claissé-Walford (Ph D, Baylor University) is the Carolyn Ward Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Languages at the Mc Afee School of Theology at Mercer University in Atlanta, Georgia. She is the author of Reading from the Beginning: The Shaping of the Hebrew Psalter, Biblical Hebrew: An Introductory Textbook, Introduction to the Psalms: A Song from Ancient Israel, and The Book of Psalms (NICOT).

Peter H. Davids (Ph D, University of Manchester) is visiting professor in Christianity at Houston Baptist University and visiting professor of Bible and applied theology Houston Graduate School of Theology. He is author of numerous books, including Reading Jude with New Eyes, The Epistle of James (NIGTC), The Epistle of 1 Peter (NICNT), James (NIBC), and A Biblical Theology of James, Peter, and Jude. He coedited with Ralph P. Martin The Dictionary of the Latter New Testament and Its Developments.

Read an Excerpt

Joshua 1-12, Volume 7A

Word Biblical Commentary

---

By Trent C. Butler

ZONDERVAN

Copyright © 2014 Trent C. Butler
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-7852-5268-9

---

CHAPTER 1

I. Possessing the Promise (Joshua 1–12)

Bibliography

Assis, E.From Moses to Joshua and from the Miraculous to the Ordinary: A Literary Analysis of the Conquest Narrative in the Book of Joshua. Jerusalem: Hebrew University Magnes Press, 2005. Blum, E. "Überlegungen zur Kompositionsgeschichte des Josuabuaches." In E. Noort (ed.), The Book of Joshua. Leuven: Peeters, 2012. 137–157. Braber, M. den, andJ. 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 (2008) 253–74. Briend, J. "Les Sources de L'Histoire deuteronomique recherches sur Jos 1–12." In Israël construit son histoire: L'historiograhie deutéronomiste à la lumière des recherches récentes. Ed. A. de Pury, T. Römer, and J.-D. Macchi. MdB 34. Geneva: Labor et Fides, 1996. Reprinted as "The Sources of the Deuteronomic History: Research on Joshua 1–12," in Israel Constructs Its History: Deuteronomistic Historiography in Recent Research, ed. A. de Pury, T. Römer, and J.-D. Macchi, JSOTSup 306 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 2000) 360–86. Chen,K. "Torah as Pillar of Cloud: An Intertextual Study of Exod. 13:20–21 and Josh. 1:7–8." Paper read at annual meeting of Evangelical Theological Society, Atlanta, November 18, 2010. Creanga, O. "The Silenced Songs of Victory: Power, Gender and Memory in the Conquest Narrative of Joshua (Joshua 1–12)." In A Question of Sex? Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix, 2007. 106–23. ________. "Space, Place and Exile: The Land as 'Third-space' in Joshua 1–12." Paper read to SBL Space, Place, and Lived Experience in Antiquity Section, Atlanta, November 21, 2010. De Troyer, K. "'And they did so': following orders given by Old Joshua." In Her Master's Tools? Atlanta: SBL; Leiden: Brill Academic, 2005. 145–57. Dray, S. "The Book of Joshua." Evangel 23 (2005) 2–6, 34–39, 66–71. Durso, P.R. "Living in the Interim Time: Lessons to Be Learned from Joshua 1–4." RevExp 100 (2003) 257–67. Gemser, B. "Be'ber hayyarden: In Jordan's Borderland." VT 2 (1952) 349–55. George, D. B. "Yahweh's Speech at Jos 1,2–6 and Deut 11: Semantics, Intertextuality, and Meaning." ZAW 112 (2000) 356–64. Hess, R. S. "Joshua 1–12 as a Centrist Document." In Dort ziehen Schiffe dahin ...: Collected Communications to the 14th Congress of the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament, Paris 1992. Frankfurt am Main: Lang, 1996. 53–67. Hoffmeier, J. K. "The Structure of Joshua 1–11 and the Annals of Thutmose III." In Faith, Tradition, and History. Ed. A. R. Millard, J. Hoffmeier, and D. W. Baker. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1994. 165–79. Mackay, A. B.The Conquest of Canaan: Lectures on the First Twelve Chapters of the Book of Joshua. London, 1884. Niehaus,J. J. "The Conquest and Ancient Near Eastern Warfare: The Element of Fear." Contact 35 (2006–2007) 26. Noort, E. "Josua im Wandel der Zeiten: Zu Stand und Perspektiven der Forschung am Buch Josua." In The Book of Joshua. Ed. Ed Noort. BETL 2005. Leuven: Peeters (2012) 21–47. Roth, W. "The Deuteronomic Rest Theology: A Redactional Critical Study." BR 21 (1976) 5–14. Rowlett, L. "Inclusion, Exclusion and Marginality in the Book of Joshua." JSOT 55 (1992) 15–23. Wénin, A. "Josué 1—12 comme récit." In Noort (ed.) The Book of Joshua, 51–63.

Josh 1–12 demonstrates as well as any other portion of Scripture the complex nature of the process in which God worked to produce his inspired word for all future generations. The Word of God did not begin as a book. It began as a story told by people reacting in faith to actions they interpreted as the work of God. Such stories took various forms: spy stories, stories of holy war, cultic catechism, divine call and testing, battle reports, sacral judgment, tribal etiology, and so on. Most were preserved and transmitted in the storytelling venues of Israel—at the campfire, in the family circle, and during tribal and league worship.

The stories did not remain as simple story. They were adopted and adapted by the Israelite cult, particularly the cult at Gilgal. Stories of divine action became the center of cultic celebration. As such, they took on a new form and function but continued to give dynamic life and faith to the people of God through many generations. By hearing these stories and celebrating them in cultic worship, each new generation learned of the faith of their ancestors.

After Israel developed its own political and cultural organizations, liturgy became literature and was used to give identity and hope to the people of God. The breakup of the united monarchy and the ensuing opposition between Rehoboam in the south and Jeroboam I in the north led to propaganda campaigns. The basic source material of both Joshua and Judges came from northern tribes, particularly Benjamin, Manasseh, Naphtali, Zebulun, Issachar, Gad, and Reuben. Judean sympathizers and/or Levites living in the north must have taken the narratives south, where they became central propaganda resources to recount the failure of the folk hero leaders of Judges and the Benjaminite Saul, demonstrating that Israel needed one king, one in the line of David.

The literary collection undergirded its influence by introducing language and narrative from other parts of the canon, so that den Braber and Wesselius can report: "expressed on the literary level: there are few or no other episodes in the Primary History [Genesis–Kings] which exhibit more intertextual connections with other parts of it than precisely these chapters" (Josh 1–8).

In 587, a major crisis confronted Israel—exile, loss of self-government, loss of land, loss of temple worship, apparent loss of the promise and gift of God celebrated so enthusiastically in the sacred text. Now how would Israel react?

At least a portion of the people of Israel were true to their tradition! The exiles in Babylon incorporated the new experiences and new elements of faith into their traditional literature, sometimes transforming old stories into new words of hope for the people as they embarked on a new faith journey. The stories in the "book" of Joshua acted as something of a bridge between the Pentateuch and the former prophets, resulting in the large collection of the Enneateuch or Primary History or ultimate history.

Studies of textual history, particularly of the Septuagint (LXX), show that the content of a number of the books of the Hebrew Bible remained somewhat fluid until the first Christian century. The people continued to transmit and seek to understand the work of God in their lives. Ultimately, the text was stabilized, and today we embrace as authoritative the text of the Hebrew Bible that was preserved for us by the Masoretic tradition.

Thus we interpret the Masoretic text and seek to proclaim its word to our generation. In so doing, we follow a long tradition that has produced a number of Jewish interpretive documents, including the Talmud, and a multitude of Christian commentaries. Even with a stabilized text, the people of God are constantly seeking ways to make the text relevant to new generations through new translations and commentaries.

This commentary tries to demonstrate the dynamic character of the action and word of God in their development and application within the community of the faithful. Just as such growth and use within the community of God revealed the authoritative character of the word for Israel, it is the prayer of the present commentator that the commentary will be used by God to bring forth contemporary confession and testimony to the dynamic power of God to work through his people and his word to give hope and identity to his people.

A. Divine Marching Orders (1:1–18)

Bibliography

Assis, E. "The Choice to Serve God and Assist His People: Rahab and Yael." Bib 85 (2004) 82–90. Auld, A. G. "Joshua: The Hebrew and Greek Texts." In Studies in the Historical Books of the Old Testament. Ed. J. A. Emerton. VTSup 30. Leiden: Brill, 1979. 1–14. Barth,C. "Die Antwort Israels." In Probleme biblischer Theologie. Ed. H. W. Wolff. Munich: Kaiser, 1971. 44–56. Barthélemy, D.Critique textuelle de l'Ancien Testament. Vol. 1, Josue, Juges, Ruth, Samuel, Rois, Chroniques, Esdras, Nehemie, Esther. OBO 50. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1982. Bieberstein, K.Josua, Jordan, Jericho: Archaologie, Geschichte und Theologie der Landnahmeerzahlungen Josua 1–6. OBO 143. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecth, 1995. Blum, E. "Pentateuch-Hexateuch-Enneateuch? Or: How Can One Recognize a Literary Work in the Hebrew Bible?" In Pentateuch, Hexateuch, or Enneateuch: Identifying Literary Works in Genesis through Kings. Ed. T. Dozeman, T. Römer, and K. Schmid. Atlanta: SBL, 2011. 43–72. Brice, T.Kingdom of the Hittites. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. ________. Life and Society in the Hittite World. New York: Oxford UP, 2002. Brueggemann, W.The Land: Place as Gift, Promise and Challenge in Biblical Faith. OBT 1. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977. Chirichigno,G. C. "The Use of the Epithet in the Characterization of Joshua." TJ 8 (1987) 69–79. Coats, G. W. "An Exposition for the Conquest Theme." CBQ 47 (1985) 47–54. Collins,B. J.The Hittites and Their World. SBLABS 7. Atlanta: SBL, 2007. Diepold, P.Israels Land. BWANT 95. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1972. Dozeman, T. "Joshua 1.1–9: The Beginning of a Book or a Literary Bridge?" In E. Noort (ed.) The Book of Joshua. Leuven: Peeters, 2012. 158–82. Eissfeldt, O.The Old Testament: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell, 1965. Forrer, E. O. "The Hittites in Palestine." PEQ 48 (1936) 190–203; PEQ 49 (1937) 100–115. George, D. B. "Yahweh's Speech at Jos 1:2–6 and Deut. 11: Semantics, Intertextuality, and Meaning." ZAW 112 (2000) 356–64. Gerbrandt, G.Kingship according to the Deuteronomistic History. SBLDS 87. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1986. Glatt-Gilad,D. A. "Revealed and Concealed: The Status of the Law (Book) of Moses within the Deuteronomistic History." In Mishneh Todah: Studies in Deuteronomy and Its Cultural Environment in Honor of Jeffrey H. Tigay. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2009. 185–99. Habel, N.The Land Is Mine: Six Biblical Land Ideologies. OBT. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995. Hall, S. L.Conquering Character: The Characterization of Joshua in Joshua 1–11. New York: T&T Clark, 2010. Harrison,T. P. "Neo-Hittites in the 'Land of Palestine': Renewed Investigations at Tell Ta?yinat on the Plain of Antioch." NEA 72 (2009) 174–89. Hauch, G. "Text and Contexts: A Literary Reading of the Conquest Narratives (Jos 1–11)." PhD diss., Princeton University, 1991. Hawk, L. D.Every Promise Fulfilled: Contesting Plots in Joshua. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1991. Hawkins, J. D. "Cilicia. The Amuq, and Aleppo: New Light in a Dark Age." NEA 72 (2009) 164–73. Hoffmeier, J. K. "The Structure of Joshua 1–11 and the Annals of Thutmose III." In Faith, Tradition, and History. Ed. A. Millard et al. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1994. 165–79. Hoffner, H. A., Jr. "Ancient Israel's Literary Heritage Compared with Hittite Textual Data." In The Future of Biblical Archaeology: Reassessing Methodologies and Assumptions. The Proceedings of a Symposium August 12–14, 2001, at Trinity International University. Ed. J. K. Hoffmeier and A. Millard. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004. 176–92. Hölscher, G.Geschichtsschreibung in Israel. Lund: Gleerup, 1952. 259–61, 336. Howard, D. M., Jr. "All Israel's Response to Joshua: A Note on the Narrative Framework of Joshua 1." In Fortunate the Eyes That See. Ed. A. Beck et al. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995. 81–91. ________. "The Case for Kingship in Deuteronomy and the Former Prophets." WTJ 52 (1990) 101–15.________. "'Three Days' in Joshua 1–3: Resolving a Chronological Conundrum." JETS 41 (1998) 539–50. Jobling, D. "The Jordan a Boundary: Transjordan in Israel's Ideological Geography." In The Sense of Biblical Narrative: Structural Analyses in the Hebrew Bible II. JSOTSup 39. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1986. 88–134. Kaiser, W. C., Jr. "The Promised Land: A Biblical-Historical View." BSac 138 (1981) 302–12. ________. "The Promise Theme and the Theology of Rest." BSac 130 (1973) 135–50. Kempinski, A. "Hittites in the Bible: What Does Archaeology Say?" BAR 5.1 (1979) 20–45. Kitz, A. M. "Undivided Inheritance and Lot Casting in the Book of Joshua." JBL 119 (2000) 604–7. Klengel, H.Geschichte des hethitischen Reiches: Handbuch der Orientalistik. Vol. 1, Der Nahe und Mittlere Orient. Leiden: Brill, 1998. ________. Hattuschili und Ramses: Hethiter und Agypter—ihr langer Weg zum Frieden. Mainz: Zabern, 2002. Klinger, J.Die Hethiter. Munich: Beck, 2007. Kratz, R. G.The Composition of the Narrative Books of the Old Testament. Trans. J. Bowden. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2000. Originally published as Komposition der erzahlenden Bucher des Alten Testaments (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2000). Latvus,K. "Tekstin yhtenäisyys ja epäyhtenäiyys hermeneuttisena kysymyksenä (Joos 1)." Taik 95 (1990) 394–98. Lipin'ski, E.On the Skirts of Canaan in the Iron Age: Historical and Topographical Researches. OLA 153. Leuven: Peeters, 2006. Lohfink, N. "Die Bedeutungen von hebr.jr s? qal und hif. BZ NF 27 (1983) 14–33. ________. "Die deuteronomistische Darstellung des Übergangs der Führung Israels von Moses auf Josue." Scholastik 37 (1962) 32–44. Translated as "The Deuteronomistic Picture of the Transfer of Authority from Moses to Joshua," in Theology of the Pentateuch (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994) 234–47. ________. Das Hauptgebot. AnBib 20. Rome: Pontificio Institutio Biblico, 1963. Margolis, M.L.The Book of Joshua in Greek: According to the Critically Restored Text with an Apparatus Containing the Variants of the Principal Recensions and of the Individual Witnesses. Part 5, Joshua 19:39–24: 33. Publications of the Alexander Kohut Memorial Foundation. Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Pau l Geuthner, 1931–38. Repr., Monograph Series. Philadelphia: Annenberg Research Institute, 1992. Mazor, L. "The Septuagint Translation of the Book of Joshua." BIOSCS 27 (1994) 29–38. McCarthy, D. "An Installation Genre?" JBL 90 (1971) 31–41. ________. "The Theology of Leadership in Joshua 1–9." Bib 52 (1971) 228–30. ________. Treaty and Covenant. Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1963. 143–44. Meer, M.N. van der.Formation and Reformulation: The Redaction of the Book of Joshua in the Light of the Oldest Textual Witnesses. VTSup 102. Leiden: Brill, 2004. ________. "Textual Criticism and Literary Criticism in Joshua 1:7 (MT and LXX)." In X Congress of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies, Oslo, 1998. Ed. B. A. Taylor. SBLSCS 51. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 2001. 355–71. Mitchell, G.Together in the Land. JSOTSup 134. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1993. Mittmann, S. "ugebul—'Gebiet' oder 'Grenze'?" JNSL 17 (1991) 37–44.

(Continues...)

---

Excerpted from Joshua 1-12, Volume 7A by Trent C. Butler. Copyright © 2014 Trent C. Butler. Excerpted by permission of ZONDERVAN.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Table of Contents

Contents

Editorial Preface, 7,
Author's Preface, 8,
Preface to First Edition, 15,
Abbreviations, 17,
Commentary Bibliography, 27,
Introduction,
I. Texts and Versions, 31,
II. Review of Critical Research, 40,
III. Joshua and the Meaning of the Material, 157,
Text and Commentary,
I. Possessing the Promise (1:1–12:24), 183,
A. Divine Marching Orders (1:1–18), 185,
B. A Prostitute's Profession (2:1–24), 233,
C. Crossing to Conquer (3:1–5:1), 267,
D. Cultically Correct for Conquest (5:2–15), 313,
E. Faith Fells Fortifications (6:1–27), 343,
Excursus: Yahweh War in Tradition and Theology, 353,
Excursus on [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.], herem, the Ban, 383,
F. Consequence of Covenant Curse (7:1–8:29), 386,
G. Fulfilling Moses' Orders (8:30–35), 419,
H. Covenant Compromise (9:1–27), 428,
I. The Southern Sweep (10:1–43), 454,
J. Northern Annihilation (11:1–23), 496,
K. Victory's Victims (12:1–24), 521,
Scripture Index, 541,
Subject Index, 553,
Author Index, 556,