Intro

To study the connection between Joshua and Deuteronomy, understanding the book of Deuteronomy is a prerequisite. So I will talk about the basics of Deuteronomy first here and the relationship between Joshua and Deuteronomy later.

Martin Noth First

It is also a prerequisite to know Martin Noth’s contribution to the studies of the two books’ relatedness. 

Martin Noth claimed that the first section of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (known as the Pentateuch) was originally composed of four books (Gen~Num, known as “Tetrateuch”); Deuteronomy was only inserted much later. In other words, the older version of Deuteronomy was not intended to conclude the “Pentateuch.” Instead, as Noth argued, a creative author/historian wrote Israel’s history, making Deuteronomy its preface and the following books as Deuteronomistic history. Before him, de Wette had already innovatively argued that Deuteronomy needs to be separated from the rest of the Pentateuch and related to Josiah’s reform. Wellhausen also recognized how Deuteronomy affected the texts of the Former Prophets. So Noth’s work is heavily influenced by de Wette and Wellhausen. Nonetheless, Noth’s contribution is still noteworthy as he went much further than the two scholars. It was a popular idea at that time that ancient writers, like the ones who were responsible for the composition of the Pentateuch, were “compilers.” And no one really thought that Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings were a combined work of an author. Under such circumstances, Noth claimed that the books of Josh~Kings are an authored work and designated the literary corpus as Deuteronomistic history. Noth believed that the author is not just a compiler but a creative writer with clear theological intentions. The fact that the four books (Josh ~ Kings) are still usually called “Deuteronomisic history” these days tells us how great Noth’s contribution was to Biblical studies.