Silencing the Land: Joshua as a Military Ritualist
In Joshua’s opening military salvo at Jericho (6:8–21), he institutes a strange, oft-overlooked act of communal speechlessness. This absence of speech can be understood as itself a kind of ritual speech. As this paper will argue, Joshua can kill things with and without words. When seen against a bac...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2023
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| In: |
Biblical interpretation
Year: 2023, Volume: 31, Issue: 2, Pages: 158-178 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Bible. Josua 6
/ War
/ Ritual
/ Speech
/ Silence
|
| IxTheo Classification: | HB Old Testament |
| Further subjects: | B
Silence
B Ritual B War B Speech B Joshua |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In Joshua’s opening military salvo at Jericho (6:8–21), he institutes a strange, oft-overlooked act of communal speechlessness. This absence of speech can be understood as itself a kind of ritual speech. As this paper will argue, Joshua can kill things with and without words. When seen against a backdrop of Near Eastern magic and divine warfare, Joshua emerges as a powerful ritualist, someone who weaponizes speech and speechlessness in service of military victory. As with Joshua’s adjuration in the Aijalon battle (10:12–14) and his curse over Jericho (6:26), his wordless march around the city can be understood as a ritual act with the performative force of cessation. The silencing of the land is both his ritual objective and the ultimate goal of conquest (11:23). |
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| ISSN: | 1568-5152 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Biblical interpretation
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15685152-20221678 |