TELL Magazine August - September 2019

a separate work in form from the
preceding four books. Much of
their research was also supported by
archeological evidence. Through a
combination of archeology, historical
and literary source criticism, scholars
have been able to paint a clearer of
the political, religious, and social
concerns of the biblical authors.
The conquest narratives found
the books of Joshua and Judges are
among the most difficult stories to
unpack for source critics, historians
and archeologists of the Biblical
period. Many alternative theories
exist ranging from support of an
Israelite invasion though questioning
the Biblical account and timeline,
to outright rejection of the Biblical
narrative and Israelite conquest.
Almost all of their opinions,
however, fall within the range
of four main theories: peaceful
infiltration, military invasion,
peasant revolution, and ruralisation.
All of them are general categories
that have strong foundations for
support, but all of them have
flaws that need to be articulated.
1. Peaceful Infiltration: There
was a gradual infiltration of
pastoral nomads over a period
of time. The main problem with
this view is that it does not take
into account the archeological
evidence for the destruction of
Canaanite cities and villages.
2. Military Invasion: This
supports the biblical claim that
there was a forced entry into
Canaan. The problem with this
theory is that the archeological
excavations seem to suggest that
the destruction of the major
Canaanite cities occurred at a
different period than described
in biblical narrative.The biblical
timeline for the invasion of
Canaan cannot be supported.
3. Peasant Revolution: This
theory proposes that there
was a peasant uprising inside
Canaan, possibly inspired by or
in collaboration with nomadic/
pastoral clans who were slowly
infiltrating the border villages.
This theory has elements of both
theories 1 and 2. The problem
with theory 3 is that there is
no mention of any peasant
revolution in either the book of
Joshua or the book of Judges.
4. Ruralisation: There is
archeological evidence for
a population explosion at
the end of the 13th century
BCE, coinciding with the
end of the Bronze Age. Large
numbers of peoples outside of
the Canaanite borders moved
into unoccupied or sparsely
populated areas of Canaan and
united with local inhabitants.
These outsiders were mainly
pastoralists and herders who
combined with the local rural
Canaanite population to attack
the major cities. This theory
combines the peasant revolution
with those who support the
theory of a military invasion.
Whether or not any or all of
the four theories are ultimately
true, what seems clear is that the
account of the conquest of Canaan
expressed in the books of Joshua
and Judges are not reliable.
In the book of Joshua itself we see
different invasion narratives that
suggest a more complex story.
One view expressed repeatedly
throughout the book of Joshua is
that of a conquest of Canaan.
“Joshua conquered the whole of this
region, the hill country of
Judah, all the Negev, the
whole land of Goshen, the
Shephelah, the Aravah, and
the hill country and coastal
plain of Israel, everything
from Mount Halak, which
ascends to Seir, all the way
to Baal-gad in the valley
of the Lebanon at the
foot of Mount Hermon,
and he captured the
kings there, and executed
them.” (Josh. 11:16-17)
Other verses tell a different story.
Joshua was now old and advanced
in years. The Lord said to him:
TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING
“You have grown old and advanced
in years and very much of the
land still remains to be taken
possession of…the land of the
Gabalites, with the whole valley
of Lebanon, from Baal-gad at the
foot of Mount Hermon to Lebohamath
on the east.” (Josh. 13:1-6)
The Walls of Jericho fall down - Dutch Bible
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