A Narrative and Textlinguistic Approach to the Transition from the Book of Joshua to the Book of Judges

Abstract

The narrative features of plot, characterization, and temporal and spatial markers, as elicited through the application of textlinguistic discourse analysis, provide evidence for the distinct theological and ideological perspectives of the MT books of Joshua and Judges, particularly at the book-seam and in the synoptic passages. This study will demonstrate distinct presentations between Joshua and Judges, the former having a more permissive and ambiguous view of Israel’s obedience and the latter a more severe outlook on the speed and depth of Israel’s apostasy, through a narrative approach guided by the application of discourse analysis to the overlapping and transitional material. This study will clarify some unresolved issues concerning the transition from Joshua to Judges and contribute a useful methodology to constrain the inherent subjectivity of narrative approaches. The juxtaposition of these two books, and the duplication of various traditions in new settings, draw our attention to the continuities and discontinuities that come into view at the book-seam. So, a precise textlinguistically-informed narrative description will be made of the overlap (or not) of material at the book-seam of Josh 23–24 and Judg 1:1—3:11, and in the introductory material of Judges with the conquest and other material of the book of Joshua—specifically, comparison of Josh 8:10–23; 12:9, 16 with Judg 1:22–26 (the sacking of Ai/Bethel), Josh 10:1–5, 22–27; 12:10 with Judg 1:1–8 (Adoni Zedek/Bezek), Josh 14:6–15; 15:13–19 with Judg 1:9–16, 20 (allotment to Caleb), Josh 15:63 with Judg 1:8, 21 (Jebusites persist in Jerusalem), Josh 16:10 with Judg 1:29 (allotment to Josephites [Ephraim]), Josh 17:11–31 with Judg 1:27–28 (allotment to Josephites [Manasseh]), Josh 17:14–18 with Judg 1:19 (Josephites complain about their allotment), and especially Josh 24:28–33 with Judg 1:1; 2:6–10 (the death of Joshua). The procedure to be used in this study will be the careful articulation of some specific narrative features (plot, foregrounding and backgrounding, perspective and point of view, characterization, and spatio-temporal structuring considerations as commonly found in narrative approaches to Biblical Hebrew literature) of the texts noted above using the textlinguistic data.