Pekka Pitkänen, ‘Reading Genesis–Joshua as a Unified Document from an Early Date: A Settler Colonial Perspective’, Biblical Theology Bulletin, 45, 1, 2015, pp. 3–31
Abstract: This essay proposes based on literary-compositional considerations how two authors working together could
have composed Genesis–Joshua. After this, it suggests that Genesis–Joshua can be seen to reflect a sociopolitical
transformation of ancient Canaanite societies into an Israelite one(s) through a process that can be labeled as
ancient settler colonialism, and that the document could have been written concomitantly. Subsequently, relevant
ancient Near Eastern and archaeological evidence will be considered, suggesting compatibility with the idea that
Genesis–Joshua has reused and readapted existing traditions together with creative narrative retelling for its sociopolitical
purposes, and that this could have already taken place from the late second millennium bce on. The essay
concludes by drawing out some explicit contemporary implications of such a reading of Genesis–Joshua.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Closed
settler colonial studies blog 