Joshua, Judges, and Ruth

by Pressler, Carolyn

• ISBN13: 9780664255268
• ISBN10: 0664255264
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-04-01
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Pr

Summary

Who is God? How does God act in our lives? How are we to act as God's faithful people? Joshua, Judges, and Ruth represent a chorus of voices reflecting on Israel's earliest days in its land. In Joshua, God empowers an obedient Israel to conquer the promised land. In Judges, Israel's faithlessness and God's wrath lead to a downward spiral of sin, subjugation, and social disintegration. Ruth narrates a story of divine blessing worked out through human loyalty.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

Table of Contents

Series Foreword	xi
Introduction to Joshua and Judges
The Deuteronomistic History	1	(4)
Joshua and Judges as Chapters of the Deuteronomistic History	3	(2)
Implications for Interpretation	5	(4)
JOSHUA
Setting the Stage	9	(11)
Joshua 1
God's Speech to Joshua (1:2-9)	12	(3)
Commissioning of Joshua	12	(1)
The Gift of the Land	13	(2)
Joshua's Speeches to the Tribes (1:10-15)	15	(1)
The People's Response (1:16-18)	16	(4)
The Outsider's Faith	20	(8)
Joshua 2
Miracles and Memory: Crossing the Jordan	28	(8)
Joshua 3-4
The Crossing: God's Mighty Act (3)	29	(4)
To Remember and to Teach (4)	33	(3)
Rites of Passage	36	(8)
Joshua 5
The Indigenous Kings (5:1)	38	(1)
Circumcision at Gilgal (5:2-9)	38	(2)
Passover and Passage (5:10-12)	40	(1)
The Commander of the Army of the Lord (5:13-15)	41	(3)
And the Walls Came Tumblin' Down	44	(10)
Joshua 6
A Liturgical Victory (6:1-20)	47	(2)
Holy War and Herem (6:21)	49	(5)
The Battle of Ai: A Cautionary Tale	54	(10)
Joshua 7-8:29
The Sin of Achan (7)	55	(5)
The Conquest of Ai (8:1-29)	60	(4)
Joshua's Altar	64	(4)
Joshua 8:30-35
The Gibeonite Ruse	68	(6)
Joshua 9
The Gibeonite Ruse (9:3-15)	71	(1)
Condemnation (9:16-27)	72	(2)
The Promise Fulfilled	74	(13)
Joshua 10-12
The Conquest: Story or History?	74	(2)
``Holy'' War?	76	(1)
The Conquest of the South (10)	77	(6)
The Northern Campaign (11)	83	(4)
Possessing the Land	87	(13)
Joshua 13-19
Unfinished Business (13)	89	(2)
Caleb's Claim (14)	91	(2)
The Territory of Judah (15)	93	(2)
Boundary Lists (15:1-12)	94	(1)
Another Calebite Tradition (15:13-19)	94	(1)
City Lists (15:20-63)	95	(1)
The House of Joseph (16 and 17)	95	(2)
Distribution at Shiloh (18-19)	97	(3)
For the Sake of Justice	100	(3)
Joshua 20
Priestly Presence	103	(3)
Joshua 21
Tension and Unity	106	(6)
Joshua 22
Task Fulfilled; A Blessing Given (22:1-8)	106	(2)
War Averted; Unity Affirmed (22:9-34)	108	(4)
Joshua's Farewell	112	(4)
Joshua 23
Covenant and Final Note	116	(11)
Joshua 24
Choose This Day Whom You Will Serve (24:1-28)	117	(6)
Three Burial Notices (24:29-33)	123	(4)
JUDGES
Introduction	127	(13)
Judges 1:1-3:6
Setting the Stage (1)	127	(7)
Judah's Success	130	(2)
Trouble in the North	132	(2)
Theological Key (2:1-5)	134	(1)
Theological Introduction (2:6-3:6)	135	(5)
Faithful Generation, Faithless Generation (2:6-10)	137	(1)
Sin, Wrath, and Mercy (2:11-23)	137	(2)
The Nations (2:22-3:6)	139	(1)
Othniel, Ehud, and Eglon	140	(12)
Judges 3:7-31
Othniel: The Pattern of Leadership (3:7-11)	140	(1)
The Theological Framework	141	(4)
The Israelites Did Evil	142	(1)
Divine Judgment	142	(1)
They Cried to the Lord: Distress and Mercy	143	(2)
Ehud and Eglon: An Ancient Adventure Tale (3:12-30)	145	(5)
The Theological Framework (3:12-15, 30)	146	(1)
The Adventure Tale (3:15-29)	147	(3)
Reflections on Ehud	150	(1)
Shamgar Ben Anath: A Very Short Tale (3:31)	150	(2)
Deborah and Barak	152	(15)
Judges 4-5
The Adventure Story (4)	153	(5)
All Glory, Laud, and Honor (5)	158	(9)
Gideon	167	(17)
Judges 6-8
The Theological Framework (6:1-10; 8:28)	168	(2)
Call and Commissioning of Gideon (6:11-24)	170	(2)
``Break Down Their Altars and ... Burn Their Sacred Poles'' (6:25-32)	172	(2)
Tests and Omens (6:33-7:15)	174	(2)
The ``Battle'' (7:16-25)	176	(2)
Gideon's Diplomacy and Gideon's Violence (8:1-21)	178	(3)
Kingship Offered and Rejected (8:22-35)	181	(3)
Abimelech: A(nother) Cautionary Tale	184	(8)
Judges 9
Abimelech Seizes Kingship (9:1-6)	185	(1)
Jotham's Curse (9:7-21)	186	(2)
The Curse Unfolds (9:22-57)	188	(4)
The ``Minor'' Judges	192	(3)
Judges 10:1-5; 12:7-15
Jephthah	195	(13)
Judges 10:6-11:40; 12:1-7
Theological Introduction (10:6-18)	196	(3)
Recruitment of Jephthah (11:1-11)	199	(2)
Negotiations with the Ammonites (11:12-28)	201	(1)
Triumph and Tragedy (11:29-40)	202	(3)
Intertribal War (12:1-7)	205	(1)
Conclusions	206	(2)
Samson	208	(18)
Judges 13-16
The Birth of Samson (13)	210	(3)
The Adventures of Samson	213	(11)
Samson's Marriage (14:1-20)	213	(4)
Escalating Vendetta (15:1-20)	217	(2)
The Death and Final Victory of Samson (16:1-31)	219	(5)
The Purpose of the Samson Story	224	(2)
Thieves, Thugs, and Idol Worshipers	226	(12)
Judges 17 and 18
Religious Chaos on a Personal Level: Micah, His Idol, and His Priest (17)	228	(3)
Religious Chaos on the Tribal Level: An Anticonquest Story (18)	231	(7)
The Body Severed	238	(27)
Judges 19-21
Consider It, Take Counsel, and Speak (19)	239	(7)
The Political Body Severed (20)	246	(8)
Bitter Fruits (21)	254	(7)
RUTH Introduction to the Book of Ruth
The Style, Genre, Location, and Dating of Ruth	261	(1)
The Message of the Book of Ruth: An Ongoing Conversation	262	(2)
The Message of the Book of Ruth: One Reading	264	(1)
Loss and Loyalty	265	(10)
Ruth 1
Setting the Stage (1:1-5)	265	(2)
Going Back Home (1:6-18)	267	(5)
A Bitter Return (1:19-22)	272	(3)
A Provisional Resolution	275	(9)
Ruth 2
As Luck Would Have It (2:1-3)	275	(2)
Boaz and Ruth in the Barley Field (2:4-17)	277	(4)
Provisional Blessing (2:18-23)	281	(3)
Scandalous Valor	284	(10)
Ruth 3
What Was She Thinking? (3:1-5)	285	(3)
Scandal and Valor (3:6-15)	288	(4)
An End to Emptiness (3:16-18)	292	(2)
Negotiations and Blessings	294	(15)
Ruth 4
At the Gate (4:1-12)	295	(7)
Marriage and a Child (4:13)	302	(1)
A Son Is Born to Naomi (4:14-17)	303	(3)
A Son Is Born to Israel (4:18-22)	306	(3)
Works Cited	309	(2)
For Further Reading	311