Achan, Achar, and the Valley of Achor

April 20, 2022April 20, 2022 ~ unofficialbible ~ 1 Comment

This post summarizes Richard S. Hess, “Achan and Achor: Names and Wordplay in Joshua 7,” Hebrew Annual Review 14 (1994): 89-98. My words are limited to the sections written in gray.

The house of Achan

The tribe of Judah: Zerah > Zabdi > Carmi > Achan

The text gives us four generations of Achan’s genealogy. Hess points out that there are no other passages in Joshua that provide personal genealogies in such detail (Josh 7:1).

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아간, 아갈, 아골 골짜기

April 5, 2022April 19, 2022 ~ unofficialbible ~ Leave a comment

이 글은 다음 소논문을 요약, 정리한 것입니다: Richard S. Hess, “Achan and Achor: Names and Wordplay in Joshua 7,” Hebrew Annual Review 14 (1994): 89-98. 회색 글자를 제외한 나머지 모든 부분은 Hess의 주장입니다.

아간의 가문

유다 지파: 세라 > 삽디 > 갈미 > 아간

여호수아서에서 아간보다 더 자세히 인물의 족보를 소개하는 경우가 없다. 무려 4대씩이나 아간의 족보를 싣고 있다(수 7:1).

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The Commander of the Army of the LORD

March 27, 2022March 27, 2022 ~ unofficialbible ~ Leave a comment

This post summarizes Thomas Römer’s “Joshua’s encounter with the commander of YHWH’s army (Josh 5:13–15): literary construction or reflection of a royal ritual?” My words are limited to the sections written in gray, Intro, and Closing words.

Intro

The book of Joshua has many cruxes, and the passage about the commander of YHWH’s army in Josh 5:13-15 is one of them. The scene reminds the reader of the event that Moses encountered when he was keeping his father-in-law’s flock near Horeb. There, Moses received the vocation to save Israel from Egypt. The commander of YHWH’s army likewise appeared in front of Joshua and said, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy.” Then he disappeared with no other words of revelation. Why did he appear if he was not to deliver any other words?

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여호와의 군대 대장 (야웨의 군대 대장)

March 20, 2022 ~ unofficialbible ~ Leave a comment

이 글의 모든 내용은 뢰머의 글 “Joshua’s encounter with the commander of yhwh’s army (Josh 5:13–15): literary construction or reflection of a royal ritual?”을 정리한 것이다. 출처를 일일히 밝히지 않아도 모두 그의 연구이며 나의 의견은 회색 글자로 기입한 부분과 들어가는 말/나가는 말에 한정되어 있다.

들어가는 말

Image by Maurizio Lanciotti from Pixabay (이 이미지는 글의 흥미 유발을 위한 것으로 야웨의 군대 장관과 전혀 상관이 없음)

여호수아서는 다양한 난제들을 가지고 있는데, 그중 하나가 바로 야웨의 군대 대장이 등장하는 수 5:13-15이다. 그는 갑자기 여호수아 앞에 나타나 뜬금 없이 “네 발에서 신을 벗으라 네가 선 곳은 거룩하니라”라는 말을 남기고 사라진다. 야웨께서 불타는 떨기나무 속에서 모세에게 하셨던 말씀이다. 야웨는 모세에게 자세한 계시를 내리셨지만, 이 본문에서 군대 장관은 별다른 말이 없다. 어떻게 이해해야 할까?

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Where is the treasury of the house of the LORD (YHWH)?

March 12, 2022 ~ unofficialbible ~ 1 Comment

Raising a question: an anachronism

source: pinterest.com: original painting, “Girl with a Pearl Earring” by Vermeer (1665). This modified painting shows an anachronistic digital camera in the hand of a 17th-century girl.

One of the most famous stories in the book of Joshua is the narrative about the battle of Jericho. Israelites marched around the city once every day for six days. On the seventh day, they marched around the city seven times and shouted out. Then the wall fell down, and Israel occupied the city. Everyone knows this much.

But there is a small portion of the story, rarely known to those familiar with the story. That is, there appears the mention of “the treasury of the house of the LORD (literally YHWH). Joshua commanded the people not to take spoils of metal, such as silver and gold (which means money), and vessels of bronze and iron, as those items should be taken into the treasury of the LORD (v. 19). So, according to the text in v. 24, the people put the metal spoils in “the treasury of the house of the LORD.”

Here, we need to pay attention to the expression, “the treasury (אוֹצַר) of the house of the LORD (בֵּית־יְהוָה)” (otsar bet-YHWH). If the text just said “the treasury of the LORD” as in v. 19, it is fine. But “the house of the LORD (YHWH)” seems an anachronism because there was no “house” of the LORD when they arrived in Canaan.

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