Joshua and Judges: a sociological analysis of Hebrew biblical war narrative in its ancient Near Eastern context
<p>Descriptions of warfare persist throughout the Hebrew Bible as well in the extra- biblical texts from the ancient Near East. This thesis seeks to discern what is common among ancient Near Eastern warfare accounts, and what is distinctive about the accounts of warfare in the books of Joshua...
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| Format: | Thesis |
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2018
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| _version_ | 1797055578251460608 |
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| author | Pomeroy, M |
| author2 | Southwood, K |
| author_facet | Southwood, K Pomeroy, M |
| author_sort | Pomeroy, M |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p>Descriptions of warfare persist throughout the Hebrew Bible as well in the extra- biblical texts from the ancient Near East. This thesis seeks to discern what is common among ancient Near Eastern warfare accounts, and what is distinctive about the accounts of warfare in the books of Joshua and Judges. This research aims to address the question: What purposes within the context of warfare in the ancient Near East do warfare accounts fulfill, and might the accounts of warfare in Joshua and Judges serve a similar function?While others have examined the Hebrew texts concerning conquest and warfare the purpose of such scholarship has often been to gain an ethical understanding of the texts by answering the question: How could God (whether as a literary figure in the text, or as an actual being) command or allow the violence described in the Hebrew Bible? This thesis argues, however, that the texts ought first to be understood for what they are, that is war narrative, and within their wider purpose qua war narrative. While others have sought to understand biblical accounts of warfare in their ancient Near Eastern context, these studies lacked the benefit of current sociological theory concerning the emergence of warfare. This thesis brings current sociological insights into the emergence of large-scale organised violence, that is, warfare, to bear on the ancient Near Eastern texts and the books of Joshua and Judges. In doing so, this thesis illustrates that there are persistent themes that run throughout ancient Near Eastern warfare accounts. These themes are equally present in the books of Joshua and Judges and they appear to reflect and contribute to the social, ideological, and military forces necessary for the achievement of ancient Israelite military goals.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:12:08Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oxford-uuid:1721df81-c3b9-4589-96ec-e29c39694353 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:12:08Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:1721df81-c3b9-4589-96ec-e29c396943532022-03-26T10:35:18ZJoshua and Judges: a sociological analysis of Hebrew biblical war narrative in its ancient Near Eastern contextThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:1721df81-c3b9-4589-96ec-e29c39694353ORA Deposit2018Pomeroy, MSouthwood, K<p>Descriptions of warfare persist throughout the Hebrew Bible as well in the extra- biblical texts from the ancient Near East. This thesis seeks to discern what is common among ancient Near Eastern warfare accounts, and what is distinctive about the accounts of warfare in the books of Joshua and Judges. This research aims to address the question: What purposes within the context of warfare in the ancient Near East do warfare accounts fulfill, and might the accounts of warfare in Joshua and Judges serve a similar function?While others have examined the Hebrew texts concerning conquest and warfare the purpose of such scholarship has often been to gain an ethical understanding of the texts by answering the question: How could God (whether as a literary figure in the text, or as an actual being) command or allow the violence described in the Hebrew Bible? This thesis argues, however, that the texts ought first to be understood for what they are, that is war narrative, and within their wider purpose qua war narrative. While others have sought to understand biblical accounts of warfare in their ancient Near Eastern context, these studies lacked the benefit of current sociological theory concerning the emergence of warfare. This thesis brings current sociological insights into the emergence of large-scale organised violence, that is, warfare, to bear on the ancient Near Eastern texts and the books of Joshua and Judges. In doing so, this thesis illustrates that there are persistent themes that run throughout ancient Near Eastern warfare accounts. These themes are equally present in the books of Joshua and Judges and they appear to reflect and contribute to the social, ideological, and military forces necessary for the achievement of ancient Israelite military goals.</p> |
| spellingShingle | Pomeroy, M Joshua and Judges: a sociological analysis of Hebrew biblical war narrative in its ancient Near Eastern context |
| title | Joshua and Judges: a sociological analysis of Hebrew biblical war narrative in its ancient Near Eastern context |
| title_full | Joshua and Judges: a sociological analysis of Hebrew biblical war narrative in its ancient Near Eastern context |
| title_fullStr | Joshua and Judges: a sociological analysis of Hebrew biblical war narrative in its ancient Near Eastern context |
| title_full_unstemmed | Joshua and Judges: a sociological analysis of Hebrew biblical war narrative in its ancient Near Eastern context |
| title_short | Joshua and Judges: a sociological analysis of Hebrew biblical war narrative in its ancient Near Eastern context |
| title_sort | joshua and judges a sociological analysis of hebrew biblical war narrative in its ancient near eastern context |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pomeroym joshuaandjudgesasociologicalanalysisofhebrewbiblicalwarnarrativeinitsancientneareasterncontext |