Joshua is
the first book in the corpus of the Former Prophets in the Jewish canon
(Joshua, Judges, 1–2 Samuel, 1–2 Kings). In the Christian Bible the
book also starts a new part within the canon, the so-called “Historical books”
(sometimes the Pentateuch is also considered as part of Historical books). Contrary
to the Former Prophets The Historical books include also the book of Ruth
(inserted between the Judges and the 1 Samuel), following the 2 Kings the
Historical books in the Christian canon include other books. Similar to the
Pentateuch, the individual books of the Former Prophets are on one hand
distinct books each on its own, on the other hand they are in many ways
interconnected. Still within this corpus, the books of Joshua and Judges are
relatively independent, while the two books of Samuel as well as the two books
of Kings are more interrelated. In the Greek Septuagint (and consequently in
the Latin Vulgate) they are all together named 1–4 Kings (Βασιλείων/Regum). The biblical scholars
assume, that the Former Prophets were edited under the influence of
Deuteronomy, therefore they are also called Deuteronomistic
History. The book of
Joshua describes the succession of Moses by Joshua. Joshua’s authority is
presented as derived from Moses and the Mosaic Law (Torah) – see Deut 34:9–12 a Josh 1:5–9. The book recounts
Israel’s entry into the Promised Land. The book can be structured in the
following way:
- The Occupation
of the Land (1–12)
- The Allocation
of the Land (13–22)
- Covenant
Renewal (23–24)
The first
part is a theological narrative about the preparation for the entry to the
Promised Land, and also the story of its conquest. The second part describes
the division of the land among the tribes, it also speaks about the Levite
cities and the cities of refuge. An episode about the tribes in Transjordan is
included too. The third part is a kind of epilogue. It contains Joshua’s admonitions
and exhortations to Israel (written in Deuteronomistic style). It also recounts
the ritual renewal of the covenant with God, and gives a report about three
graves (of Joshua, Joseph, and Eleazar).
The book of
Judges narrates events following the conquest of the Promised Land and before
the institution of the king is established in Israel. The book of Judges has
two main parts:
- Introduction (1:1–3:6)
- The Stories of the Judges (3:7–16:31)
- The Confusion in the Promised Land
(16–21)
The
introduction reports initial achievements, but also serious problems in the
process of Israel’s taking the possession of the Land. In its second part it
presents the basic theological scheme of the book: The cyclic structure of
Israel’s apostasy: God’s punishment through the foreign nations – Israel’s
crying out to the Lord – God’s liberating Israel through the so judges – short
period of obedience – another deeper apostasy.
The stories
about the judges in their current setting within the book seem to reflect the
above theological scheme. The stories present judges as local military leaders
in case of the major judges (or as local important representatives of the
community in case of the minor judges).
The last part of the book is characterized by the
formula “In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was
right in their own eyes.” In this part the judges are not mentioned any more.
Instead, the narrative accounts two stories, each starting with a problem of
sin on the level of a family and gradually reaching the level of the tribes of
Israel (the story of Micah’s idolatry and the Danites, the story of the rape in
Gibeah and the resulting war against Benjamin).