The Unity of Joshua 1-8, its Relation to the Story of King Keret, and the Literary Background to the Exodus and Conquest Stories

摘要

The story of the campaign against Jericho and its taking in Joshua 1-6 is usually assumed to be a composite narrative, in which episodes from various sources have been put together, resulting in a text which exhibits a considerable number of discontinuities, especially in the field of chronology. In this article it is argued that the chronological indications can be joined in one framework of twice seven days. In the middle of the first week the crossing of the Jordan is found, whereas the second week is concerned with the taking of Jericho. It is argued that this scheme mirrors the Ugaritic story of King Keret going to the city of Udum in order to obtain the princess Hurriy as his wife. The arguments in favour and against the assumption of a relationship of emulation between the two texts are discussed, and the possibility of an encompassing intertextual relationship of the Biblical account of Exodus and Conquest with the story of king Keret is cautiously advanced.