Review in: Hebrew Studies Journal
JOSHUA: A COMMENTARY. By
Richard D. Nelson. OTL. Pp. x + 310. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox,
1997. Cloth $40.00.
Richard D. Nelson's work in the Deuteronomistic History is well known to biblical scholars. He has argued in numerous venues his theory of a double redaction of the DtrH. This commentary joins an earlier commentary on Joshua in this series by J. A. Soggin. The contrast between the two volumes is striking, reflecting both the dramatically different contexts out of which each scholar works (Soggin is heavily indebted to Alt/Noth; Nelson is heavily indebted to Cross) as well as the movement in biblical studies over the past twenty-five years (Nelson gives far more attention to the literary dynamics of the final canonical form of Joshua; Soggin attends closely to discrete textual units and their historical significance).
Richard D. Nelson's work in the Deuteronomistic History is well known to biblical scholars. He has argued in numerous venues his theory of a double redaction of the DtrH. This commentary joins an earlier commentary on Joshua in this series by J. A. Soggin. The contrast between the two volumes is striking, reflecting both the dramatically different contexts out of which each scholar works (Soggin is heavily indebted to Alt/Noth; Nelson is heavily indebted to Cross) as well as the movement in biblical studies over the past twenty-five years (Nelson gives far more attention to the literary dynamics of the final canonical form of Joshua; Soggin attends closely to discrete textual units and their historical significance).
Nelson attempts to remain true
to the task of the series; he regularly addresses the theological significance
of the work. In the introduction, Nelson treats the following topics: the
character and relevance of Joshua; Joshua and history; the formation of the
book; form criticism; literary analysis; theological themes; the figure of
Joshua; the text. Turning to the text, Nelson follows a three part pattern:
translation; text critical notes (noting principally variant readings of some
significance); general comments followed by specific comments.
At the outset, Nelson argues the book clearly reflects a multi-layered tradition and extended literary growth. However, the final canonical form of the book reads as a self-contained and coherent whole. Geography provides the primary organizational grid. For Nelson, the detachment of Joshua from the Pentateuch is unfortunate, since the writer of Joshua presumes of his audience a thorough acquaintance with Deuteronomy.
Nelson only briefly engages history. He rightly asserts that the book is fundamentally a theological and literary work (with folkloristic elements and strong etiological inclinations). (He considers only selected geographical and boundary lists historically credible sources.) Regarding the relation of archaeology and the biblical text, he simply states that the archaeological record does not confirm Joshua's picture of a large-scale invasion. Joshua's true historical value lies in what it reveals about the social and ideological world of those who told, collected, and redacted these stories.
Regarding the formation of the book, Nelson notes the variety (and sometimes disparity) of the materials. Deuteronomistic redaction is evident throughout much of Joshua (although noticeably absent from the description of the land distribution). Significantly, unlike the books of Judges and Kings, evidence is lacking for a second Deuteronomistic redaction with a theological viewpoint different from a first Deuteronomistic edition. The pre-Deuteronomistic version of Joshua details Israelite victories against key cities and ill-fated coalitions; the flavor is often etiological.
Form critically, overall the book intends historiography. This systematic account of Israel's past functions to build and strengthen group identity and to explain the contours of the readers' present. Sources are used uncritically; Joshua's conception of historical causation is primarily theological. Etiology describes the current geographical landscape as well as original social location.
Nelson follows with a synchronic literary overview. He notes the ambiguity present in Israel's obedience. He suggests this ambiguity reflects the historical result of the book's growth and development involving confident non-deuteronomistic stories being overlaid with the DtrH's more guarded viewpoint (from the perspective of deuteronomic law and the quickly following story of Israel's disobedience). The book somewhat neatly divides into two halves--chapters 1-12 and 13-21. Action, movement, foundational triumphs, and optimism characterize the first half; static descriptions of idealized tribal settlement patterns characterize the second half. In the first half, a reasonably coherent plot unfolds with four subplots--Jericho, Ai, a southern coalition, a northern coalition. The first two focus on "impregnable" cities, the latter two focus on alliances. Cultic actions (viz., Gilgal, Shechem) punctuate narrative progress. Clearly Yahweh is the most prominent character while Joshua son of Nun is the chief unifying factor.
Nelson maintains his larger focus in his discussion of literary themes. The book of Joshua, a literary creation designed to create and support the identity of a people calling itself "all Israel," demonstrates the power of a shared story to generate, define, and defend a community. Nelson tracks five theological themes: land (noting the key terms "inheritance" and "rest"); conquest (a perennially important ideology to a people constantly at risk of losing the land); the enemy (expressed in terms of nations and city-states); the ban (one of the categories of ancient Israel's cultural classification system); obedience.
The commentary section proper is quite helpful. Nelson typically tries not only to provide specific commentary on the immediate verses under consideration, but also to demonstrate the relationship with preceding and following pericopes, as well as literary and theological movement. Nelson ably surfaces and tracks theological themes and literary motifs.
The strengths of Nelson's work on Joshua are numerous. He consistently provides a close literary analysis of the present text, reading it as a coherent whole. Where appropriate, recurrent themes are noted (e.g., the theme of obedience [Joshua 1 ] is nicely contrasted with the counter theme of disobedience [Achan, the Gibeonites, the eastern altar]). When useful, form critical insights are noted (e.g., the similarities of Joshua 1 to the installation genre; the similarities of Joshua 10 with ANE campaign reports; the thematic similarities of Joshua 2 and the endangered guests). Literary techniques are elsewhere noted (the knotty issues of Joshua 3 he disentangles through the literary device of "freezing time and shifting perspective").
Two final comments merit notation. Although the OTL series rightly focuses attention on the theological dynamics of the text, one would hope for more attention to the archaeological dynamics underlying the book of Joshua. Nelson rightly argues that the principal focus of the book is neither archaeological nor primarily historical. However, given the continued interest in scholarship and among lay people in the relation between archaeology, history, and faith, one wishes more attention and discussion had been given this topic.
Similarly, one would like to see more discussion and information regarding the history of the text. Nelson assumes a familiarity among his readers not only with the terminology and concept of the Deuteronomistic Historian, but also with the current state of that discussion. While such an assumption may be valid for his professional audience, I doubt such assumptions will hold among his larger readership. A brief introductory section given to this discussion would greatly enhance the value of the later commentary section for many readers.
Finally, for the price of the book, a number of typographical errors occur. However, these minor annoyances are more than offset by the value of the content. Nelson's work should prove a valuable addition to discussion of the book of Joshua.
At the outset, Nelson argues the book clearly reflects a multi-layered tradition and extended literary growth. However, the final canonical form of the book reads as a self-contained and coherent whole. Geography provides the primary organizational grid. For Nelson, the detachment of Joshua from the Pentateuch is unfortunate, since the writer of Joshua presumes of his audience a thorough acquaintance with Deuteronomy.
Nelson only briefly engages history. He rightly asserts that the book is fundamentally a theological and literary work (with folkloristic elements and strong etiological inclinations). (He considers only selected geographical and boundary lists historically credible sources.) Regarding the relation of archaeology and the biblical text, he simply states that the archaeological record does not confirm Joshua's picture of a large-scale invasion. Joshua's true historical value lies in what it reveals about the social and ideological world of those who told, collected, and redacted these stories.
Regarding the formation of the book, Nelson notes the variety (and sometimes disparity) of the materials. Deuteronomistic redaction is evident throughout much of Joshua (although noticeably absent from the description of the land distribution). Significantly, unlike the books of Judges and Kings, evidence is lacking for a second Deuteronomistic redaction with a theological viewpoint different from a first Deuteronomistic edition. The pre-Deuteronomistic version of Joshua details Israelite victories against key cities and ill-fated coalitions; the flavor is often etiological.
Form critically, overall the book intends historiography. This systematic account of Israel's past functions to build and strengthen group identity and to explain the contours of the readers' present. Sources are used uncritically; Joshua's conception of historical causation is primarily theological. Etiology describes the current geographical landscape as well as original social location.
Nelson follows with a synchronic literary overview. He notes the ambiguity present in Israel's obedience. He suggests this ambiguity reflects the historical result of the book's growth and development involving confident non-deuteronomistic stories being overlaid with the DtrH's more guarded viewpoint (from the perspective of deuteronomic law and the quickly following story of Israel's disobedience). The book somewhat neatly divides into two halves--chapters 1-12 and 13-21. Action, movement, foundational triumphs, and optimism characterize the first half; static descriptions of idealized tribal settlement patterns characterize the second half. In the first half, a reasonably coherent plot unfolds with four subplots--Jericho, Ai, a southern coalition, a northern coalition. The first two focus on "impregnable" cities, the latter two focus on alliances. Cultic actions (viz., Gilgal, Shechem) punctuate narrative progress. Clearly Yahweh is the most prominent character while Joshua son of Nun is the chief unifying factor.
Nelson maintains his larger focus in his discussion of literary themes. The book of Joshua, a literary creation designed to create and support the identity of a people calling itself "all Israel," demonstrates the power of a shared story to generate, define, and defend a community. Nelson tracks five theological themes: land (noting the key terms "inheritance" and "rest"); conquest (a perennially important ideology to a people constantly at risk of losing the land); the enemy (expressed in terms of nations and city-states); the ban (one of the categories of ancient Israel's cultural classification system); obedience.
The commentary section proper is quite helpful. Nelson typically tries not only to provide specific commentary on the immediate verses under consideration, but also to demonstrate the relationship with preceding and following pericopes, as well as literary and theological movement. Nelson ably surfaces and tracks theological themes and literary motifs.
The strengths of Nelson's work on Joshua are numerous. He consistently provides a close literary analysis of the present text, reading it as a coherent whole. Where appropriate, recurrent themes are noted (e.g., the theme of obedience [Joshua 1 ] is nicely contrasted with the counter theme of disobedience [Achan, the Gibeonites, the eastern altar]). When useful, form critical insights are noted (e.g., the similarities of Joshua 1 to the installation genre; the similarities of Joshua 10 with ANE campaign reports; the thematic similarities of Joshua 2 and the endangered guests). Literary techniques are elsewhere noted (the knotty issues of Joshua 3 he disentangles through the literary device of "freezing time and shifting perspective").
Two final comments merit notation. Although the OTL series rightly focuses attention on the theological dynamics of the text, one would hope for more attention to the archaeological dynamics underlying the book of Joshua. Nelson rightly argues that the principal focus of the book is neither archaeological nor primarily historical. However, given the continued interest in scholarship and among lay people in the relation between archaeology, history, and faith, one wishes more attention and discussion had been given this topic.
Similarly, one would like to see more discussion and information regarding the history of the text. Nelson assumes a familiarity among his readers not only with the terminology and concept of the Deuteronomistic Historian, but also with the current state of that discussion. While such an assumption may be valid for his professional audience, I doubt such assumptions will hold among his larger readership. A brief introductory section given to this discussion would greatly enhance the value of the later commentary section for many readers.
Finally, for the price of the book, a number of typographical errors occur. However, these minor annoyances are more than offset by the value of the content. Nelson's work should prove a valuable addition to discussion of the book of Joshua.
Rick
R. Marrs
Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University
Malibu,
CA 90263
rmarrs@pepperdine.edu
rmarrs@pepperdine.edu
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