History vs. Heroic Story
excerpt from Joshua and the Promised Land
by Roy H. May, Jr.
Almost everything that happens in the Book of Joshua is momentous, powerful, and miraculous: rivers divide so Israel can cross on dry land; the sun and the moon stand still; walls fall down at the sound of trumpets; Joshua's army kills everyone and none of the enemy is left alive, not even their animals; walled cities are leveled; the whole land is conquered; not a single Israelite is killed in battle; Joshua obeys everything he is commanded. Lines between right and wrong, good and bad, are sharply drawn. There is neither historical nor moral ambiguity. This suggests that historical study as we know it was not part of the editors' intent. Rather, they were seeking heroic metaphor for the power of God in a time of need. This provides a key to understanding the Book of Joshua.
I remember as a teenager reading a magazine article about changing perceptions of the first battle of the American Revolution in Lexington. The article was based on paintings of the battle by artists over the years. The very earliest renderings done shortly after the battle show the American patriots crouched around rock fences and hidden behind trees, even running from the marching British soldiers. Years later, however, artists showed the Americans heroically standing across an open yard, forsaking all protection as they confronted the British. American heroism was enlarged or exaggerated. Artists "re-read" history according to changing perceptions of our past. National self-image, not historical accuracy, was their guide. (13)
The editor of the Book of Joshua did much the same thing. First, this person wrote the history of the taking of the Promised Land nearly 700 years after it occurred. Available sources were mostly popular stories. Those stories undoubtedly presented the actual facts as bigger than life itself! That's the way--and power--of stories. That would make it difficult for any historian who wanted to "present the facts." There simply were none!
Remember, the editor was not interested in writing history "as facts." History was written in terms of the present. What counted was theological significance, not historical accuracy. To do that, "the facts" were enlarged in order to underscore the active power of God in history, to emphasize the imperative of faithful living, and to recover the centrality of the covenant.
Footnote:
13. Harold Murdock, "Harold Murdock's ‘The Nineteenth of April 1775,'" introduction by Arthur Berman Tourtellot, American Heritage (August 1959), pp. 60-64, 82-84. (return to text)
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