This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: • This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. • A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. • The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. • When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. THE 'CITIES OF THE LEVITES' IN JOSHUA XXI AND 1 CHRONICLES VI Presented for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by J. P. ROSS Faculty of Divinity University of Edinburgh September 1973 CONTENTS SUMMARY 3 I THE EVIDENCE FOR THE LEVITES BEFORE THE EXILE 5 1. The etymology of Levi 5 2. The secular tribe 12 3. The Levites in the Deuteronomic History 20 4. The Levites in the Deuteronomic Code 22 5. The Levites in Deuterononomy xxvii 32 6. The Levite oracle in the Blessing of Moses 34 7. The Levites in Deuteronomy: summary 38 8. The Levites in Joshua and Judges 41 9. Other evidence 49 II INTRODUCTION TO THE TEXTS 56 1. The material in Joshua and the Pentateuch 56 2. The material in Chronicles 76 3. The age of the sources 89 III THE CITY LISTS 92 1. The summary of the allocations 94 2, The clan framework 107 3. The cities of refuge 127 4. The pasture-lands 142 5. The eastern cities 148 6. The division into tribes 152 7. The development of the Levite city list 168 IV THE CITIES IN HISTORY AND TRADITION 171 1. The history of the listed cities 174 2. The setting of the lists 189 3. Comparison with other city lists 194 4. Conclusions 219 V WHAT WERE THE CITIES OF THE LEVITES'? 223 1. Mazar's hypothesis 225 2. Maier's reconstruction 243 3. Haran's analysis 247 VI CONCLUSIONS 253 1. The relation of the cities to Israel 253 2. A further suggestion 275 APPENDIX: THE CITY NAMES 285 BIBLIOGRAPHY 291 ABBREVIATIONS 309 2 SUMMARY The 'cities of the Levites' have left no trace in the historical and prophetical literature of Israel; they appear only in P and Chronicles. They must then be either a fiction of the later compilers of the Law, or an earlier institution which made no great impact in monarchic times. This study therefore begins with a review of the materials of Levite history up to the Exile; the Levite cities must find a place somewhere within this setting, if they ever had any real existence. In the second chapter we turn to survey the development of modern critical study of Joshua and Chronicles, culminating in the classic interpretations of Wellhausen and, for Chronicles, of Rothstein and Rudolph. These provide the presuppositions widely accepted by more recent scholars. We then examine and compare the texts of the two versions of the Levite city list, from a literary standpoint, and conclude that, contrary to previous opinion, the one in Chronicles represents an earlier stage in the development of the tradition than that in Joshua. There are signs that at some time the list has been remoulded, with additions and deletions, to fit the pattern of four cities from each of the twelve tribes. Having recognised the difficulties in supposing the list to be entirely a late invention, in the second half of this 3 study we try to find the Levite cities' place in history. First, the findings of archaeologists, traditio-historians and form-critics are examined, When their proposals appear not wholly satisfactory, we turn in chapter five to those who have attempted to re-appraise the character of the 'Levites' of these contexts. In pursuing this enquiry further, we reach the conclusion that these 'Levites' must be distinct both from the old secular tribe of Levi, and from the sacerdotal Levites of the Deuteronomic and Priestly literature. The 'cities of the Levites' seem to be towns which, in the second millennium, entered Israel by alliance rather than by conquest. Finally, we observe the measure of correspondence between the areas of 'Levite' and Hivite/Hurrian occupation, and raise the question whether the term 'Levite' here may not stem from a textual corruption of 'Hivite' in the Jerusalem archives. 4 I THE EVIDENCE FOR THE LEVITES BEFORE THE EXILE A study of the 'cities of the Levites' must seek to view them in their Old Testament context, and in particular in their setting in the whole history of the Levites; and to that history, such a study may in its turn hope to make some contribution. So before focussing upon our narrower subject, we shall first review what is known of the Levites before the exile. 1. The etymology of Levi The origins of the name 'Levi' are obscure<1>. In the Biblical account of the birth of Jacob's children, Leah associates her third-born, Levi, with the hope that her husband may now appreciate her, and that their relationship may become less coldly formal than hitherto<2>. The name is thus derived here from the root 7717, which is well attested in the niph'al in the sense 'be joined to', 'be attached to'. The story is not intended as scientific history, and can not be taken as giving the actual origin of 'Levi'. Von Rad speaks of 11a delicate and very free etymological game in which the narrator sparkles; and of "free allusions to which the narrator is inspired by the names and which the hearers receive as ingeniousb>. The same word-play is used in Num.xviii.2 and 1. For a general review of the suggested etymologies, see E. Nielsen, Shechem, Copenhagen, 1955, pp.264ff.; A. Cody, A History of Old Testament Priesthood, Rome, 1969, pp.29f. 2. Gen. xxix.34 3. G. von Rad, Genesis, London, 1961, p.289 5 4, where the Levites are attached to Aaron for the service of the Tent of Meeting. Similarly in Ex.xxxii.26 the sons of Levi are gathered to Moses, in opposition to the rest of Israel (though a different word is used)<4>. These are late stories, and serve only to show how the name was understood in and after the monarchy. But the fact that this evidence does not go back to the actual origins of Levi does not in itself rule the etymology out of court. It remains possible that the story- tellers may on this occasion have lit upon an explanation which is historically sound. Those who favour this etymology have made various proposals about how the idea of 'adherence' originally applied. Baudissin argued that the Levites were originally the escort of the ark on its wanderings<5>. Such a view is not tenable in the light of modern criticism; P's account of the 'camp' is not historical, and Levites are not associated with the ark in the early narratives of I Sam.iv-vi and II Sam.vi. Budde offered two suggestions, one derived from the adherence of the Levites to Moses in Ex.xxxii.26ff., and the other from their possible attachment to the sanctuary of Sinai or Kadesh<6>. Dhorme compares the expression 'sons of Levi'<7> with 'sons of the prophets <8>, and offers the rather vague interpretation 4. K. F. R. Budde, Die altisraelitische Religion, Giessen, 3rd ed., 1912, pp.45f.; p.137 n.6 5. W. W. von Baudissin, Die geschichte des alttestamentlichen Priesterthums, Leipzig, 1889, pp.72f. 6. Budde, loc.cit. 7. E.g. Num.xvi.7ff.; xviii.21; Dt.xxi.5; xxxi.9; etc. 8. 1 Ki.xx.35; 2 Ki.ii.3,5,7,15; iv.1,38; v.22; vi.1; ix.l. (The expression does not appear in Chr.) 6 associe au culte0<9>. The quest for a really convincing explanation along these lines continues. There appear however to be two other Hebrew roots i714. One is found only in rare derivatives: Z '17 and 71'7, denoting jjqj, some sort of ornament<10>, a sea-monster<11>. On the basis of Arabic and Assyrian parallels, the root is supposed to have the basic meaning 'coil' or 0twist A<12>, Meek, following G. H. Skipwith and others, argues that the Levites had the serpent as their tribal god<13>. He does this by collecting all the passages where Moses or Aaron (regarded as Levites) performed mighty acts with a serpent, or a serpent on a pole, or a rod which turned into a serpent, or any other wonder-working wand<14>. The name of the serpent, where it appears in these passages, is from the root LJJI7L. Secondly, he adduces "the presence of serpent names among the Levites15>,- Hobab, Nahshon, perhaps Shuppim, and probably (with the LXX of I Chron.xxvi.4) Nahash<16>,- and the popularity of the serpent-cult in Palestine<17>, And thirdly, he points 9. E. P. Dhorme, lA Religion des Hebreux nomades, Brussels, 1937, pp,226f. 10. Prov.i.9; 1.Ki.vii,29,30,36 11. Job xli.1; Pss.lxxiv.14; civ.26; Is,xxvii,l(x2) 12. BDB 13. G. H. Skipwith, note 'The Name of Levi', in Jewish Quarterly Review, 11, 1899, pp.264f,; E. Meyer, Die Israeliten and ihre Nachbarstamme, Halle, 1906, pp.116, 426f.; T.