The More Things Change …

Joshua Chapter 23, the Strange and the Spectacular

Verses: 16

Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: Joshua’s statement in Verse 14 that he is about to go “the way of all the earth” is the same expression for death used by King David during his last words to his son Solomon (I Kings 2:2).

Basic Plot: We’ve made a time jump to the end of Joshua’s life, with the Israelites firmly in the land. Before his farewell address to the entire nation, Joshua gathers the Israelite leadership for some initial thoughts. His words are pretty much what you’d expect: God has protected us and will continue to as long as the people observe the commandments, but if your descendants mix with other nations too much, the local nations will threaten their sovereignty over the land. Just as God has given the people the land, God is equally willing to take them away from it if they stray from the covenant.

What’s Strange: There are times when the book of Joshua very much feels like a sequel to the book of Deuteronomy, and other times when the former feels like its own entity. In his commentary on the Hebrew Bible, Robert Alter argues that Verse 6 of this chapter indicates a heavy influence of the Deuteronomist. The phrase “be most resolute to observe faithfully all that is written in the Book of the Teaching of Moses” recalls language common in Deuteronomy, and provides yet another link between Moses and Joshua.

What’s Spectacular: … or tragic, in this case. It was hard for me to read this chapter this week without fixating on the descriptions of tension with neighboring nations. Israel — in its ancient form, in its modern form, and every form in between — has never known an era devoid of external threats. Part of what makes last week’s senseless slaughter of six hostages by Hamas so hurtful is that we have read this story so many times in our history; the names and enemies may change, but the tale remains the same.

May the cycle of tension described by Joshua be broken, and may we one day remember the assassinations of Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Ori Danino as the beginning of the end of that cycle.

Shabbat Shalom!