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The Crossing of the Jordan According to Josephus 1. Introduction

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The Crossing of the Jordan According to Josephus 1. Introduction Acta Theologica 2006:2 THE CROSSING OF THE JORDAN ACCORDING TO JOSEPHUS C. Begg1 ABSTRACT This study offers a detailed examination of Josephus’ retelling (in Ant. 5.16-21) of the account of Israel’s crossing of the Jordan and its immediate sequels found in Joshua 3-5. The investigation uncovers (limited) indications of Josephus’ use of various text- forms of the biblical passage. It also calls attention to the range of rewriting techniques applied by Josephus to the source narrative (abbreviations, amplifications, rearrange- ments, and other modifications) which result in a version of events that is, e.g., much more compact than the biblical one, even while it nuances the portrayal of the story’s characters in a number of respects. 1. INTRODUCTION Joshua 3:1-5:15 tells, in much circumstantial and confusing detail, of the Israelites’ crossing the Jordan and the immediate sequels to their arrival in the Cisjordan.2 In this article I propose to investigate Josephus’ (much compressed) version of these events in his Antiquitates judaicae (here- after Ant.) 5.16-21.3 I undertake this essay with two overarching questions in mind: (1) Given the differences among the various ancient witnesses for Josh. 3:1-5:15, i.e. MT (BHS), the Qumran manuscript 4QJoshb,4 Codex Vaticanus (hereafter B) of the LXX,5 the Vetus Latina (hereafter VL),6 1 Prof. Christopher Begg, Professor of Old Testament, Catholic University of America, Washington; and Research Associate of the Department of Old Testament Studies, University of Pretoria. E-mail: [email protected]. 2 On the (textual, historical-critical, etc.) problems posed by Josh. 3:1-5:15, see Boling & Wright (1982:153-199). 3 For the text and translation of Ant. 5.16-21 I use Marcus (1934:8-11). I have further consulted the relevant text, translation, and notes of Nodet (1995:118-120*) and the annotated translation of Begg (2005:6-7). 4 This manuscript preserves (parts of) Josh. 3:15-4:3. For the text, see Ulrich et al. (1995:155) and for the translation Abegg et al. (1999:203-204). 5 For the text of B Josh. 3:1-5:15, I use Brooke & Maclean (1917:681-690). I have also consulted the translation of and notes on this text in Moatti-Fine (1996:105-121). 6 For the VL text of Josh. 3:1-5:15, I use Robert (1900:56-61). 1 Acta Theologica 2006:2 the Vulgate (hereafter Vg.),7 and Targum Jonathan of the Former Prophets (hereafter Tg.),8 where do Josephus’ textual affinities in Ant. 5.16-21 lie?, and (2) What sorts of rewriting techniques has the histo- rian applied to the data of his Vorlage(n) and what is distinctive about his own version as a result of their application? To facilitate my comparison of them, I divide up the material of Ant. 5.16-21 and Josh. 3:1-5:15 into four parallel segments as follows: Preparations for crossing (5.16//3:1-13*); Crossing completed (5.17- 19//3:2,14-17; 4:18); Stones erected (5.20a//[3:12; 4:1-10a]; 4:20- 24); and Passover & cessation of manna (5.20b-21//5:10-12). I conclude this introduction with a word concerning the respective common contexts of Josh. 3:1-5:15 and Ant. 5.16-21. Both segments are preceded by the account of the visit of the Israelite spies to Rahab in Jericho (Josh. 2:1-24//Ant. 5.2-15).9 Both likewise have as their im- mediate continuation the story of the miraculous overthrow of Jericho (Josh 6:1-27//Ant. 5.22-32).10 2. PREPARATIONS FOR CROSSING Following the notice on Israel’s approach to the Jordan in Josh. 3:1, 3:2-13 prefaces Israel’s actual crossing of the river with a whole series of directives issued by various authorities to different hearers regarding the upcoming crossing. The series begins with words to the people by the “officers” (3:2-3) and by Joshua (3:5), continues with Joshua’s injunction to the priests (3:6), followed by the Lord’s communication to Joshua (3:7-8), and ending with a further proclamation by Joshua to the people (3:9-13). Josephus, as pointed out in n. 9, anticipates his equivalent to 7 For the targumic text of Josh. 3:1-5:15, I use Sperber (1959:4-8) and for the translation Harrington & Saldarini (1987:21-25). 8 For the text of B Josh. 3:1-5:15, I use Brooke & Maclean (1917:681-690). I have also consulted the translation of and notes on this text in Moatti-Fine (1996:105-121). 9 In his version of Joshua 2 in Ant. 5.2-15 Josephus works in elements drawn from the preceding and following context of Joshua. Specifically, in 5.3-4 he fills in the interlude during which the Israelites are awaiting the spies’ return from Jericho with a version of Josh. 1:12-18 (//5.3-4a [Joshua’s exchange with the Transjordanian tribes]) and 3:1 (//5.4b [Israel’s advance to the banks of the Jordan under Joshua’s leadership]). On Josephus’ retelling of Joshua 2, see Begg (2005). 10 On Josephus’ version of Joshua 6, see Begg (2005:323-340). 2 Begg The crossing of the Jordan according to Josephus the notice of 3:1 on Israel’s advance to the Jordan to an earlier moment in his own presentation; see 5.4b.11 Having done so, he now (5.16) offers a substitute content for the concatenation of discourses found in 3:2-13 (see above). This substitute opening for the crossing segment, inter alia, explains why the divine intervention promised in 3:7-8 was necessary to enable Israel to cross a relatively minor stream.12 It reads: Now since the army was afraid (dediovto") to cross the river, which had a strong current (rJeuvmati) and could not be crossed by bridges — for it had not been spanned by any hitherto, and should they wish to lay them now, the enemy would not, they imagined, afford them the leisure, and they had no ferry-boats13 — God14 promised to render the stream passable (diaba- tovn) for them by diminishing its volume.15 11 This reads: “... he [Joshua] with fifty thousand men-at-arms set out from Abele and advanced sixty stades towards the Jordan.” Compare Josh. 3:1: “Early in the morning Joshua rose and set out from Shittim with all the people of Israel [the words with... Israel are absent in LXX]; and they came to the Jordan.” (Biblical translations follow the RSV.) Josephus’ inserted figure concerning the number of the Israelite combatants anticipates and amplifies that given in Josh. 4:13, i.e. “about 40,000 armed ready for war.” As for Israel’s starting point, Josephus’ form “Abele” (compare Bible “Shittim”) is an abbreviation of the site’s full name, i.e. “Abel-shittim” cited in Num. 33:49. Finally, as often, Josephus sup- plies an indication (60 stades) concerning the distance between the two points in question for the benefit of readers unfamiliar with Palestinian geography. 12 See Nodet (1995:119, n.1) who speaks of Josephus’ remarks in 5.16 as “expli- cations embarrassées.” 13 The above sequence (throughout this essay I italicize such elements of Josephus’ presentation which lack a clear-cut biblical parallel) provides an explanation of the opening mention of the people’s “fear”: given the absence of bridges over the Jordan (and the unlikelihood that any could be built at this point in the face of enemy resistance) as well as the non-availability of ferry-boats, the only way for the Israelites to get across the stream was on foot, the frightfully strong current notwithstanding. Taken as a whole, Josephus’ formulation serves to highlight the magnitude of the logistical problem facing Israel’s leader Joshua (and ultimately God himself), but also their success in resolving it. 14 In Josh. 4:7aa it is “the Lord” who speaks to Joshua. On Josephus’ virtually total avoidance of the LXX’s use of Kuvrio" as divine title, this likely due to the non- currency of such a usage in secular Greek, see Begg (1993:45, n. 218). The divine words of 4:7abb-8 are formulated in direct address. In line with his frequent practice, Josephus recasts them in indirect discourse; on the phenomenon, see Begg (1993:12-13, n. 38). 15 Josephus’ version of the divine words differs markedly from those cited in Josh. 3 Acta Theologica 2006:2 3. CROSSING COMPLETED Having drastically condensed the Bible’s detailed presentation (3:1- 13) of the preparations for the crossing in 5.16, Josephus (5.17-19) does go into somewhat great detail in recounting the crossing itself, drawing selectively on various biblical data concerning this. He begins (5.17) the new segment with a delayed utilization of the time indication of 3:2 (“after three days,” the officers issue directives [see 3:3-4] to the encamped Israelites): “So Joshua, having waited two16 days....” He then continues with a detailed description, expatiating on the indications of 3:14, of the line of march adopted by the Israelites, at Joshua’s di- rection, for their crossing: ... (Joshua) proceeded to transport the army with the whole multitude in the following fashion.17 At the head went the priests bearing the ark,18 next the Levites carrying the tabernacle and the vessels for the ministry of the sacrifices,19 and, after the Levites, followed, tribe by tribe, the whole throng, 4:7-8, where the Lord promises to “magnify Joshua” (v.
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