The goal of this assignment is to assess different scholarly views on the conquest of Canaan as reported in the book of Joshua.
Recent scholarship has debated the reality of the biblical conquest (of Canaan) as recorded in the book of Joshua. Various theories have been proposed to explain the biblical narrative in some other fashion.
Create the following chart in a Word doc. Briefly research each of the four positions (see resource links and library sources, below) and then summarize the key points of that theory in the column provided. In the next column, provide an assessment of the theory in light of the biblical material.
Theory Name and support Description of the main points of this theory. What makes it distinctive? Assessment of each theory in light of the actural biblical record.
Military Conquest (Joshua)
Peaceful Infiltration (Alt/Noth)
Peasant Revolt (Mendenhall/Gottwald)
Agro-Pastoral Ecological/Economic (Coot, Whitelam, Finkelstein)
Resource links:
Hess, “Early Israel in Canaan (Links to an external site.)”
Baker, “The Origins of Israel (Links to an external site.)”
Library sources:
Daniel I. Block. Judges, Ruth. The New American Commentary. Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999, 28-30. [Available in the library and Logos Silver]
David Howard, Jr. Joshua. The New American Commentary. Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998, 36f. [Available in the library and Logos Silver]
Tremper Longmann III and Raymond B. Dillard. An Introduction to the Old Testament. Zondervan Press, 2nd edition, 2006, 125-127.
William Dever. Archaeology and the Israelite Conquest, The Anchor Bible Dictionary. Doubleday, Volume III, 552-3.
Note: The bibliography is only a few suggested sources. There are many other works on the Old Testament including histories of Israel and commentaries on the book of Joshua that discuss these views. Each theory, however, may have a slightly different title. The peaceful infiltration view is sometimes known as the settlement view while the peasant revolt view has been called the social revolution view.
Links for the assignment available below thank you.
http://individual.utoronto.ca/mfkolarcik/jesuit/richardhess.htm
https://kenbaker.wordpress.com/2007/05/05/the-origins-of-israel/
