OT+-+Chapters+13,+14


 * Rast Reading**

1. What were three archaeological approaches to the Bible that are now outdated?

From Sally: (Rast article)

Illustrative Approach (Archaelogy illustrates/enhances the Biblical text) Corroboration Model (Archaelogy corroborated the writings in the Bible) Comparative Approach (there were other religions in the area and these were compared)


 * Coogan Chs. 13-14**


 * 1. What are three important themes of DH?**

From Sally: Themes: 1. Exclusive worship of Yahweh as a prereq for Israel’s continued prosperity and possession of the Promised Land. 2. Worship shall only occur in the place that God will choose – Temple in Jerusalem. 3. Covenant made between Yahweh and the dynasty founded by David

p. 208 One way is to see the book itself as a kind of extended etiology, written several centuries after the events it describes to answer the question, “How did Israel get control of the Promised Land?” Yahweh did it and Joshua was their human leader. Highly idealistic and not archaeologically supported.
 * 2. Why does Coogan hold that the story of Joshua not be taken at face value?**

p. 210 “Joshua presents a model of how ancient Israel was to live and be governed.”

1. Ehud is left handed but comes from the tribe of Benjamin (whose translated name means son of the right hand). A major judge and the first whose story is told in detail. A trickster who kills Moabite King Eglon as he appears unarmed when presenting a tribute. Bathroom humor. Rallies the Israelites to defeat Moabites. 2. Deborah a prose account in Ch4 and an ancient poem in Ch 5. Judge, warrior, and a prophet (“for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman”). Not really noted any differently that she was a woman. A trickster, too. Conspires with Jael to kill general (Sisera - a Canaanite- in bed with a tent peg through his temple.) 3. Jephthah, the illegitimate son of a Gileadite with a prostitute. Became a successful bandit. Before defeating the Ammonites, he vowed to sacrifice to Yahweh the first thing to come out of the doors of his house to meet him. It was his daughter who took a respite to mourn her unfulfilled life. Very sad.
 * 3. Name and describe three judges.**


 * 4. How is Judges different than Joshua?** Joshua is the story of an idealized man who represents a vehicle by which to explain a number of etiologies. He is more of a caricature than a human being. Parallels with Moses with the “crossing” into a better land, holding a staff/arm up. Joshua is idealized and written at a late date as Israel explains its tribes and evolution pre-monarchically.

Judges themes include apostasy and the implications of worshipping other gods as well as kingship. (p. 213)
 * Which is a more accurate picture of reality?** Judges.

Judges sets the stage for the need to transform Israel’s form of government, which happens in Samuel.

In historical context, we can see the late 7th BCE version of the Deuteronomic Historians’ texts as propaganda for the reforms of King Josiah (centralization of worship would cause the Levites to lose their jobs.) Perhaps why they (Levites) are negatively described here. (p. 229)

Per Deuteronomic Historians, basically, worship of other gods leads to divine punishment, which the writer may be anticipating in the fall of the No Kingdom to the Assyrians in 722 BCE and then the fall of Jerusalem and Judah to the Babylonians in 587 BCE.