Course: Old Testament
Lecture #6: The Promised Land
In Israel's faith the guidance out of Egypt was inseparably tied up with the promise of arable land.
This is still said in the Passover when the recitation of events takes place they always say "for us" meaning the whole community, past, present and future.
According to an ancient view, milk and honey in abundance were blessings of paradise. Thus, this land flowing with milk and honey, for J was what the promised land would be.
Canaan was the promised land promised to the patriarchs but one must keep in mind that the traditions of the patriarchal period were written down after the conquest of Canaan was accomplished.
This promise of land to the patriarchs was only understood after this.
the land, then, was the fulfillment of the promises made
It is noteworthy that even the great prophets who vigorously proud nationalism, did not surrender the attacked Israel' conviction that the gift of land was the supreme sign of YHWH benevolence toward his people.
after the Sinai covenant the people break camp and go to Kadesh-barnea (Num 13:26; 20:1, 16; Deut 1:46)
This site is identified with the oasis in the barren Negab around 50 miles of Beersheba.
This is the only place with evidence of their encampment.
They evidently ran into other Apiru who had come down from Palestine or who had departed Egypt under other circumstances.
Sacred objects
there were two sacred objects which represented YHWH' presence
the Tent of meeting or tabernacle (Ex 33:7-11 - read) first mentioned in connection with Sinai and later at Kadesh-Brarna
The P tradition gives elaborate descriptions which does not all fit with the wilderness situation but reflects later development.
This does have much from the original it seems, and it is said Moses would go and speak to God who would descend to speak to him.
It was also a meeting place and place to bring problems.
The Ark of the covenant was the other object which the P writer describes in Ex 25:10-22 and 37:1-9 (read). and is probably dependent on ancient tradition.
it seems to have been a portable throne on which, Israel believed, YHWH was invisibly enthroned
In times of wandering and battle he went before the in person their leader, enthroned on the ark.
one of the oldest fragments of the Pentateuch is the "Song of the Ark"
Whenever the ark set out, Moses said, "Arise, O YHWH, and let thy enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee.” And when it rested, he said, "Return, O YHWH, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel." (Num 18:35-36)
Since the ark is nowhere said to be put in the tent by the J strand it is possible that these cultic objects were independent.
the Tent, supposedly the shrine of a southern group (especially Judah), and the Ark, identified with the northern group (the Joseph tribes that Joshua led into Canaan).
these went their separate ways until they were eventually united in the history of the traditions, as can be seen in the Priestly writing which affirms that Moses put the Ark inside the Tabernacle at Sinae (Ex 25:22; Num 7:89)
During the wilderness sojourn the Israelites borrowed patterns of worship and organization from others.
The Tent and the Ark were found among other peoples of antiquity.
under Moses interpretation, however, they came to express the distinctive faith of Israel.
Conquest of Canaan
There was an abortive attempt which failed early on, but it was a generation before Joshua, successor to Moses led a successful settlement.
The Deuteronomic writer is responsible for editing the books from Deut. thru II kings. so, it is D's comprehensive history beginning with the Mosaic period and running to the fall of the nation (587)
D's theology for success or failure:
obedience to YHWH's commands will be rewarded with victory and prosperity.
disobedience will bring the divine judgment of suffering and failure.
This neat doctrine of reward and punishment runs through all D's history.
The history of the conquest begins in Joshua 1.
The first campaign gave the Israelites a firm foothold on the west side of the Jordan.
During the 2nd campaign, they moved into the southern hill country.
Finally, they carried out a successful campaign in the northern hill country in Galilee.
Deuteronomic view
According to D, Joshua led a united Israel in three lightning thrusts and took complete possession of Canaan, slaughtering the population and burning the cities.
The fact is this was not so.
Even D knew Joshua did not make a clean sweep of the land for he has Joshua remind the Israelites in his farewell discourse that they must not join "the remnant of these nations left here among you” (Josh 23:12-13).
For example: it is stated that Joshua destroyed Hebren, but in Judges 1:10 the city was said to be taken by the tribe of Judah.
It is interesting to note that the first question asked after his death was: "Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?" (Jud 1:1).
Historians agree that these scattered fragments which indicate a not so sweeping victory are of the older, more reliable J source which the D writer ignored because it did not accord with his theological interests.
their interpretation of the conquest has been almost exactly opposite of that given in Joshua 1-12.
According to this J view, the conquest was a gradual infiltration, not a decisive assault using guerrilla warfare which was followed by settlement in the midst of the Canaanites and intermarriage with them.
The tribes did not act in unison under the single command of Joshua, but individual tribes won victories independently during Joshua's lifetime and later.
So viewed, the actual history was not a conquest by an occupation which took place over several generations and that was not completed until the time of David.
The Israelites never attacked Canaanite strongholds, even in D's account, but stayed in the hill country.
they could not compete with the iron-age technology of their enemies. It was not until David lived with the Philistines that he learned the technology of Iron weapons (about 1000 BCE)
Thus, the Deuteronomic account is exaggerated.
The purpose of the writer was to proclaim to the Israelite community the dramatic story of YHWH's victory thru Joshua.
Hence, the writer telescoped the account of the invasion by attributing feats to a great military hero which were actually carried out by others, or he glorified the story by magnifying modest gains into whopping victories, as is sometimes done in modern war summaries.
Archaeological Evidence
- Jericho has no evidence of a "wall falling down" at Joshua' time.
- This evidence dates to the 3rd millennium, BCE so nothing remains from Joshua's time.
- However, there is evidence that Bethel was destroyed at this time as well as a few others.
- So, despite signs of telescoping and exaggeration, there is good evidence for the central claim of the book of Joshua that in the 13the Cent. BCE the warlike Israelites-probably spearheaded by the Joseph tribes and the tribe of Benjamin--were victorious in wresting a good part of the central hill country from the Canaanites.
- Moreover, there was the conviction that it was YHWH who led them to these victories.
The Tribal Confederacy
Joshua is one of the most important chapters in the Hebrew Scriptures. (Read – Joshua 24:19-28)
It comes from a very ancient tradition when the tradition circulated orally.
The subject is a convocation at Shechem, a city located near Joseph's grave and Jacob's well.
The city was the scene of decisive political struggles before Joshua arrived.
It was a fortress and religious center, with a temple built there by the Israelites which was one of the largest pre-roman temples archeologists have ever discovered in Palestine.
According to the story, Joshua gathered the people "before God" at the city of Shechem.
In the presence of the assembled Israelite tribes, Joshua rehearsed the sacred history of Israel beginning with the Patriarchs through the conquest.
He then challenges the people to decide either to serve YHWH in sincerity and faithfulness, or to serve the gods their fathers served beyond the river (Euphrates) and the gods of the Amorites (Canaanites).
the people affirmed their decision to serve YHWH.
So, Joshua demanded they put away the foreign gods
The ceremony concluded with the making of a covenant, the giving of law, and the erection of a memorial stone beneath a sacred tree
This was not a new covenant, but a covenant renewal ceremony of the one made at Sinai (Horeb)
There was more to this than just a covenant renewal of those who came in with the Joseph tribes.
One of the strange things is that Shechem was never attacked in the conquest of the hill country.
The fact that Shechem was not attacked and, moreover, that it was the scene of the tribal convocation, suggests that the people of this vicinity were friendly to the invaders, either through kinship or alliance.
We know in the 14th century BCE that the 'Apiru were active in this vicinity and entered into a treaty with the Canaanite ruler at Shechem.
it is possible that there was a six-tribe alliance there based on a covenant allegiance and common worship of El.
Old traditions relate that Jacob purchased land near Shechem where he erected an altar to "El, the God of Israel" (Gen 33:18-20) and that the Hebrew tribes clearly attempted to enter cordial relations with the Canaanite city state (Gen 34)
There is a faint recollection that some of Israel's ancestors – the Leah tribes – settled in Canaan at a comparatively early date and did not take part in the Exodus or the experiences of the wilderness.
If this is so, then Joshua 24 describes not just the renewal of the Mosaic covenant but its extension to embrace other tribesmen who had not been involved in it before.
to them Joshua's words "Choose ye this day!" would have special force.
By rehearsing all the wilderness experiences, Joshua was including all those who had not taken part, just as in the U.S. we all appropriate the revolutionary war whether there or not.
Thus, to become an Israelite, it was fundamentally a matter of being identified with the whole drama of Israel's history and of being willing to acknowledge the God of the covenant and to accept the obligations of membership in the covenant community.
The Israelites include only those Hebrews, whether they went down to Egypt or settled in Palestine before Joshua's time, who were bound into a covenant alliance.
it is not a racial group, but a people bound by the covenant.
They chose to be known as Israelites rather than Hebrews and the earliest archeological evidence of Israel named as a nation dates from 1220 BCE called the stele of “Merneptah” and shows Israel paying homage to an Egyptian pharaoh, Merneptah. It reads:
Israel is laid waste, his seed is not.
Hurru is become a widow for Egypt.
The Twelve Tribe Confederacy
Probably developed at this time and the number 12 was sacred it was read back on the Patriarchs in Genesis, with Jacob's 12 sons fathering the 12 tribes.
It was so sacred that when the Levites were set aside to be priests the Joseph tribes were divided in two, Ephraim and Manassas,
Many traditions show that the pattern of twelve belonged to Israel's self-understanding as a worshiping community, bound in covenant to God.
This 12-tribe structure was found among Israel's neighbors.
the Ishmaelites were organized thusly (Gen 25:12-16)
so were the Edomites (Gen 36:10-14) (descendants of Esau)
In ancient Greece the tribes were loosely bound with a religious tie and in times of military emergency they would unite.
This seems to be the kind of tribal organization Joshua instituted at Shechem.
The tribes of Israel were bound in a covenant alliance that allowed for considerable autonomy.
Primarily it was a theocratic community, as indicated by the word Israel, which could be translated "May God Rule."
As part of the covenant, there were also twelve curses found in Deut 27:11-26. These are very old and are associated with the Mosaic covenant and date at least to the time of the tribal confederacy.
Some examples are:
cursed be the man who makes a graven or molten image
cursed be he who dishonors his father or his mother.
cursed be he who removes his neighbor’s landmark
cursed be he who slays his neighbor in secret.
The Shechem assembly provided a cultic precedent for periodic gatherings of the people during the period of the tribal confederacy and even later during the period of the monarchy.
To sum up:
Israel's law was covenant law, not secular law
Israel did not recognize any separation between the secular and religious realms.
All of life was to be lived under YHWH's demand, within the covenant.
There is no question Israel borrowed, especially from the code of Hammurabi.
Nevertheless, there are vast differences between Israelite law and the other Near Eastern codes.
Israel's law is characterized by a humane spirit, a high ethical emphasis and a pervading religious fervor which makes it unique.
Documentary Film Insert Here
- Show : Ark of The Covenant : 45 minutes