§ 169.

DATE OF THE COMPOSITION OF THE BOOK.

We can by no means suppose the whole book is the work of a contemporary author, as König has recently maintained. The communicative style of speaking, in v. 1, where the author uses the first person," Until we had passed over," - proves nothing. The same form occurs, Ps. lxvi. 6, and the Psalmist speaks as if he and his contemporaries had passed through the Red Sea "There did we rejoice in him." The book nowhere contains separate contemporary documents."

a

According to what has been said above," the

passages

[It is sometimes said (e. g. by Rosenmüller) that these accounts of the boundaries of the separate tribes must be old, and must have been written at the time of the division, for they could not be retained in the memory of the people. But after the lines of each tribe were determinately settled, by actual possession, it would not be difficult for a writer, after the times of David or Josiah, to write down the boundaries of each tribe; and it seems most probable that the narrative originated in this manner. The real and the imaginary are not often separated with great care in Oriental histories, and it would not be unnatural for a Hebrew writer, in a later time, to refer the exact division of the land to the mythological hero Joshua, who conducted the nation into the territory, and conquered it for them.

The catalogues in the second part (xiii., sqq.) cannot be contemporary, as it appears from the later names of places, Beeroth, Luz, Dan, &c., and from the phrase until this day. Perhaps the author of the Jehovistic fragments had before him not only popular legends and oral or written traditions, but also fragments of popular songs and ballads, the substance of which he wrote down in historical prose, thus sometimes taking a figure for a fact. In one instance he refers to a written volume of songs or ballads - "Behold, it is written in the book of Jasher." In this way it is possible the accounts of the passage of the Jordan, the destruction of Jericho, the appearance of a divine being, and many others, originated. Sometimes, however, it is evident the original author uses the documents at present contained in the book of Judges; e. g. compare Josh. xvi. 10, with Judg. i. 20; xviii. 12, with i. 27; xix. 47, with xvii.; xxiv. 28-31, with ii. 6—9.] § 158.

b

of the document "Elohim" belong to Saul's time. Some passages refer to that period.

Thus, xvi. 10,- "And they drave out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer, but the Canaanites dwell among: the Ephraimites until this day," (Judg. i. 29,)—refers to 1 Kings ix. 16, where Pharaoh conquers the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer up to that time, and gives the place to Solomon as a portion for his daughter. In Josh. xviii. 25, Beeroth is mentioned among the cities of Benjamin; and, 2 Sam. iv. 2, it is said that "Beeroth was reckoned to Benjamin."

If the other parts of the book proceeded from the Jehovistic author in the first four books of the Pentateuch, then their age is already determined, (§ 159.) The book of Jasher (mentioned x. 13) points to the time of David ; for his lamentation over Saul and Jonathan is contained in it, (2 Sam. i. 18.) The sixty cities of Jair, in Bashan, (xiii. 30,) point to Solomon's time, (1 Kings iv. 13,) though Judg. x. 4, seems to conflict with this.

a

It is still a matter of doubt whether the names Jerusalem (x. 1) and mountain of Israel (xi. 16, 21) first originated in David's time.' It is doubtful, also, whether the statement respecting the inhabitants of Jerusalem, (xv.63,)- -"As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out, but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah unto this day," extends after the time of David's conquest. If the book of Deuteronomy was written later than

[Dr. Palfrey (1. c. vol. ii. p. 159, note) thinks the book of Jasher had an earlier date, but, as it was a collection of poems, "was likely to receive accessions from time to time, while it would be quoted at its different stages

by the same name;" which, however, appears quite improbable.]

The gloss, xviii. 28, is, perhaps, from a later hand. Comp. verse 16.

Comp. 2 Sam. v. 6, xxiv. 16. Maurer, 1. c. On the opposite side, Bertholdt, Stahelin, and others.

the first four books of the Pentateuch, then the book of Joshua, in its present form, belongs to a time far more recent. The curse, (vi. 26,)" Cursed be the man that riseth up and buildeth Jericho. He shall lay the foundation thereof in his first-born, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates thereof,"-refers to Ahab's time, 923, 922, B. C.; for, in 1 Kings xvi. 34, it is said, in Ahab's time "did Hiel...... build Jericho; he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of Jehovah...... by Joshua the son of Nun."

But Hosea, about 785 B. C.,—in ii. 15, (14,) in the mention of Achor,--seems to allude to Josh. vii. 26.

[I can by no means find the allusion the author refers to. In Josh. vii. 26, a certain spot is called Achor, on account of an event alleged to have taken place there. Hosea speaks of Achor. Now, if the place received that name in the time of Joshua, or at any time subsequent, and previous to the age of Hosea, the reference is explained without the unnecessary hypothesis of supposing that Hosea was acquainted with this book. Besides, in Hos. ii. 15, I find an allusion to something not contained in the book of Joshua-"She shall sing there (at Achor) as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt." Now, we do not read in Joshua that the nation sang for joy at Achor; it was rather a place of weeping. It seems Hosea alludes to some legend which has not come down to us; but even if he refers to the story in Joshua, it would not follow the book itself was in his hands, for the story might be preserved either orally or in a written form, as an explanation of the name of the place. me there is one mark which, more than all others, per

To

haps, shows the late origin of the book; that is, the frequent mention of the "Law of Moses," and the "Book of the Law." If what has been said above respecting the origin and date of the Pentateuch in its present form, may be relied on as correct, then such appeals to the Law Book of Moses could not have taken place before the reformation under Josiah, about 624 B. C. How long after this date they were made, we cannot tell. The Law is appealed to in Joshua, as in the very late books, Ezra and Nehemiah. The reference (viii. 31) to the "Law of Moses," which is contained in Deut. xxvii. 5, 6, could not have been written until after the time of Josiah, at the earliest." The Levitical spirit of the book, and its entire character, taken in connection with the historical circumstances, might lead one to place it after the commencement of the exile."]

§ 170.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK.

There are but few and feeble arguments to show the book of Joshua was composed by an author who was different from the Jehovist or the Deuteronomist, and who imitated him."

G

Andrew Masius, Spinoza and Leclerc, Hasse and

· [The Babylonian mantle (7) seems to indicate a late date. But we know too little of the early history of Babylon, and its traffic with other states in remote antiquity, to infer at what time the inhabitants of Palestine became acquainted with the Babylonians. See Heeren, Researches, &c.; Oxford, 1833, vol. i. p. 59, sqq.]

[See the combinations of De Wette, in the fourth edition of this work.] These arguments are as follows, to prove the later character of the language: , for Dy; xxiii. 15. i, for ; xiv. 12, xxiii. 19. (But see Lev. xv. 15, 24.) The numeral placed after a word; xii. 94, sqq., xv.

Maurer, date the book after the exile. Baba Bathra" mentions Joshua as the author. This is also the opinion of König. [The following are the opinions of some of the Christian writers.

Athanasius' says the book of Joshua, and those which follow, till the book of Ezra, were not written by the men whose names they bear, and of whom they treat, but by prophets, who lived at various times. Theodoret thinks the whole book an extract from the book of Jasher, and that the author, suspecting men would not credit him when he spoke of the sun and moon standing still, referred to his authority; "whence," he says, "it is plain that some other person, [not Joshua,] of a later date, wrote this, taking the occasion from another book." Dr. Palfrey refers it to the time of Saul.

The opinion of De Wette, that the book was brought into its present form by the Jehovist or Deuteronomist, seems at variance with the fact that he appeals to the Law of Moses, and even to passages in Deuteronomy, as to a well-known and recognized authority. But this difficulty may, perhaps, be avoided on the supposition

d

36, 59, xviii. 28, xix. 30, xxi. 32. (See Gesenius, Lehrgebäude, p. 695, sqq.) But it occurs also in document " Elohim.", riches; xxii. 8, as in 2 Ch. i. 11, sqq., Eccl. v. 18., to be happy; i. 7, 8. 7; xiv. 8, (Chaldaism for 1.) (See, however, Ewald, Gram. Krit. p. 422.) The article as a relative; x. 24. ; ix. 23. (But comp. 1 Kings ii. 4, et al., Jer. xxxii. 17, et al.) Hävernik (l. c. p. 198) cites the abbreviation of the proverb, (x. 21,) as a sign of a later usage.

The following differ from the peculiarities of the Jehovist and Deuteronomist: Lord of all the earth, 7 3 7778; iii. 11, 13. Treasure of the house of Jehovah; vi. 24. Description of cowardice; ii. 11, v. 1. (Comp. vii. 5.) The sacred lot; vii. 16, sqq. (See 1 Sam. x. 20, 21, xiv. 41, 42.) [Synop. tom. ii. Opp. p. 73.] [Quæst. xiv. in Jos. Opp. i. pt. i. p. 202. See these and others in Carpzov, p. 150.]

a

[Fol. xiv. c. 2.]

C

d [Comp. viii. 31, with Deut. xxvii. 5, 6.]