Select one topic from Joshua and. These essays should be @750-1000 words in length and should show adequate research (using resources from the course and other commentaries/theological dictionaries as appropriate). The reflections should demonstrate critical interaction with the topic at hand as well as demonstrating how this topic is related to the broader narrative of the books of Joshua-Judges.
The essays should follow Turabian citationstyle.
Theessaysshouldshowadequateresearchactivity–textbooks,commentaries,articles.Asource must be cited accurately and clearly in the footnotes and in the bibliography. The source must alsobeshowntohavebeenreadandengagedwithbythestudentinthepaper.Impropercitation of either a footnote or in the bibliography will result in an automatic starting grade of89%.
Please proofread your work carefully.In the essays, any spelling or grammatical error that could have been caught by a simple spell or grammar check program or proofreading will result in a starting grade of89%.
Assignment
Critical Issues in Joshua Topics
1) In your reading and in our lectures, you will have come across a variety of different approaches to subdividing the book of Joshua. Interact with the following partitions and discuss why you prefer one over the other and give your reasons why. a. First ordering: 1-12 // 13-22 // 23-24 b. Second ordering: 1-5 // 6-11 // 12 // 13-22 // 23-24
2) Consider the interface between the priestly and Deuteronomistic features of the book of Joshua, specifically reflecting on how the cultic aspects of the creation account and the role of the priests interact with the concerns for covenant. Which is the key, unifying factor in the story and how do the two modes of thinking interact with one another? One way of addressing this might be to look at the covenantal structure to Joshua, situate the priestly moments in the book within that structure, and then reflect on that relationship.
3) Joshua is a book that, at a surface reading, seems to hold to a strict designation of identity based on ethnographic matters: Israelites are Israelites and Canaanites are Canaanites. The stories of Rahab and Achan, which dominate in terms of sheer volume the section of Joshua 1-12, suggest otherwise. How do these stories influence or shape our understanding of covenant and cultic matters – two hallmarks of Israelite identity – as we understand the work that Israel is doing in the book of Joshua in relation to the Canaanites? Put another way, if the ethnographic matters are not determinative, how do we understand the nature of God’s covenant?