How are we to read JoshuaThe successor of Moses, Joshua led the Israelites into Canaan. More today?
Identification with the Israelites’ conquest of the Canaanites played a political role in various historical contexts. In today’s context though, the issue of the fate of the Canaanites and of biblical texts that have a recourse to violence is generally more problematic, creating tension between this biblical description of conquest and modern moral standards. The Book of Joshua is a particularly disturbing book for colonized peoples for it seems to provide a blueprint for invasion and conquest of another’s land, for destruction of communities, homes, religious centers, and livestock. Is the objective of the book to provide license for invasion or is it a critique of this manner of take-over (Compare with Judges Chapter 1)? Is this book an example of how God punishes those who oppress (namely the Canaanites, etc.), or is it a warning to the Israelites that the same will be done to them if they are to go astray? How might we read accounts of displacement and dispossession? How are we to live with indigenous people or the original inhabitants of the land?
The violence of the conquest in Joshua: A theological problem
The overwhelming, categorical character of this book, the central role given to warfare, invasion and genocide has long disturbed many peoples – particularly because God seems to mandate the killing of innocents. The ban or herem was a religious act and bodies of the enemy were seemingly offered as sacrifices to one’s God. For the Deuteronomist who upheld a God of life, the killing of the enemy and the destruction of their shrines was a way to ensure that all possible negative (read: foreign) influences were subdued or eliminated. It was a way of cleansing and purifying the land.
The Israelites obviously failed even with God’s help to establish a land purified and free of all offending influences. They were not able to drive out the native peoples as evidenced within the book of Joshua and chapter one of the Book of Judges. The violence of the Conquest and God’s role in it and therefore what it says about God, does not seem to be a problem for the writer as it is part of a larger theological lesson. The narratives in Joshua however have been employed and used by conquering people to invade the land of others and these texts have been used to justify their actions – in South America, Central America, North America, Australia, and South Africa, just to name a few. We might also understand these texts in Joshua to be at the root of the struggle for and conflict over land in modern day Israel and Palestine.
Resistance to conquest in Joshua
It needs to be borne in mind that the narrative of conquest as it is written serves the needs of the Israelite authors. The story is told from the perspective of the Israelites, and hence includes only information that would not jeopardize its reputation as a community chosen and blessed. Stories of resistance from the native inhabitants were either suppressed or erased in order to present a narrative that glorifies the conquest and invasion of this land. But resistance takes many forms and one can detect instances of resistance by individuals and communities that diminish the glorious tale of a sweeping conquest.
Three stories – two of non-Israelites (RahabProstitute who sheltered Joshua’s men when they came to spy on Jericho. More and the Gibeonites – chapters 2 and 9) and one of a typical Israelite (Achan – chapter 8) are significant. Achan of JudahJudah was the name of Jacob’s fourth son and one of the 12 tribes. More ignores Joshua’s instructions to destroy all property belonging to the people of Jericho. Achan’s offense brings God’s judgment upon himself and Israel. Achan’s burial site offers both a testimonial and a warning to those who oppose God and the leader Joshua, be they Canaanites or Israelites. The Rahab and Gibeon narratives, on the other hand, disrupt established lines of identity and the narration of a widespread successful conquest. These narratives have been retained and celebrated because these people as foreigners succumbed to Israelite domination and servitude. These narratives are illustrative of the co-optation or help of others in fulfilling the Israelite agenda. They could also highlight resistance. Both Rahab and the Gibeonites fight their marginality by seemingly acquiescing to the Israelites, while still claiming their right to live in the land.
Rahab and sex work
How are we to respond to Rahab who plays a crucial role in the Israelite effort to invade Jericho? We cannot bypass the fact that Rahab was a sex worker. What led her to such work we are not told. Not all women become sex workers out of choice. She may have been the sole breadwinner in the family. There seemed to be no condemnation of her work by her immediate family who were later rescued because of her clear thinking and courage. She is the first point of contact for the Israelites and her story in this book helps distinguish between the Canaanites and the Israelites. She was the one to whom the spies came, and she was the one who protected them and helped them get away by sending the king’s men in the wrong direction, but not before she negotiated a deal and was assured that she and her family would be spared from death. She was loyal to the Israelites and the Israelites remembered the promise they made to her. As a non-Israelite she articulates her understanding of the God of Israel in an almost prophet-like manner. Her speech is impressive, authoritative, and clear (2:9-11). She becomes in some ways an agent of God with authority; she acts with courage and is willing to take risks.
Why was Rahab receptive to the spies and the Israelite agenda? Was she a traitor as some have suggested? Did she betray her own people? It could have been fear of the invaders; of certain abuse and violation as a woman, as war booty, and of death as herem. She craved life, life for herself and for her family and used the opportunity to secure the same. It has also been suggested that she was marginalized, abused, and demeaned as a sex worker and might have therefore been a member of the resistance movement against the Canaanite city-state overlords and keen to see their downfall because she was being persecuted by them. This is not hard to imagine. She colludes with and is assimilated into the community of invaders. What this narrative also makes clear is the fact that the colonizer depends on the cooperation of the colonized to succeed in their colonizing agenda.
What does the Rahab narrative teach us about women? About sex workers? About colonizers? About God? Readers must decide for themselves, but it is worth noting that Rahab is one of only four women listed in the genealogyGenealogy involves the study and tracing of families through the generations – in short, family history. One genealogy in Genesis traces the nations descended from Noah. In the New Testament Matthew traces the ancestry of Jesus back to Abraham, while Jesus’ genealogy in Luke goes… More of JesusJesus is the Messiah whose life, death, and resurrection are God’s saving act for humanity. More in MatthewA tax collector who became one of Jesus’ 12 disciples. More 1. As such, she and her story continue to be worth our attention.
