Overview

The Hebrew text of the Samaritan Book of Joshua was edited by Moses Gaster and published with a German translation in 1908. It is surprising that it has never been translated to English before and that it is little known to Biblical scholars, because it helps us to understand the Biblical Book of Joshua and to understand ancient Israelite history. Siegel's introduction makes it clear that the similarities between the Biblical and Samaritan Books of Joshua show that they were both based on an earlier source text that was written in the northern kingdom of Israel before it was conquered and exiled by Assyria. What we can gather about this source book helps us understand the northern kingdom's thinking about the Israelite religion. We are familiar with the Judean view of Israelite history, which we see in the Bible. It centers on the temple in Jerusalem. Its great hero is King David, who established the religion in Jerusalem and was rewarded by conquering a great empire. It says the northern kingdom was conquered and exiled as punishment for worshipping other gods and for abandoning Jerusalem and setting up rival temples in Bethel and Dan. Now we can also see the Israelite view of this history. It centers on Bethel, which it identifies with Mt. Gerizim. Its great hero is Joshua, who established the religion on Mt. Gerizim and was rewarded by conquering a great empire. It repeatedly talks about ""Mt. Gerizim Bethel."" In this version of history, Joshua conquers a large empire after conquering Canaan, and there is a long period of peace and prosperity under ""King Joshua"" and the kings who succeed him, which ends when the religion moves away from Mt. Gerizim. The Biblical book removes these later conquests because it does not want King Joshua to rival King David as the greatest Israelite military hero. The Samaritan Book of Joshua lets us move beyond the usual Judean perspective and understand how all the ancient Israelites viewed their history.

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