Table Of ContentBryan J.Whitfield
Joshua Traditions and the Argument of Hebrews 3 and 4
Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die
neutestamentliche Wissenschaft
und die Kunde der älteren Kirche
Herausgegeben von
James D. G. Dunn · Carl R.Holladay
Hermann Lichtenberger · Jens Schröter
Gregory E. Sterling · Michael Wolter
Band 194
De Gruyter
Bryan J. Whitfield
Joshua Traditions and the
Argument of Hebrews 3 and 4
De Gruyter
ISBN 978-3-11-029777-5
e-ISBN 978-3-11-029781-2
ISSN 0171-6441
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
ACIPcatalogrecordforthisbookhasbeenappliedforattheLibraryofCongress.
BibliographicinformationpublishedbytheDeutscheNationalbibliothek
TheDeutscheNationalbibliothekliststhispublicationintheDeutscheNationalbibliografie;
detailedbibliographicdataareavailableintheInternetathttp://dnb.dnb.de.
(cid:2)2013WalterdeGruyterGmbH,Berlin/Boston
Printing:Hubert&Co.GmbH&Co.KG,Göttingen
(cid:2)Printedonacid-freepaper
PrintedinGermany
www.degruyter.com
To my parents
Acknowledgements
ThisbookisareviseddissertationdefendedatEmoryUniversityinOc-
tober2007.ThethanksIowearemanyanddeep.IamgratefulforLuke
T. Johnson, who guided this project with grace and forbearance. Carl
R. Holladay, Steven J. Kraftchick, and Carol A. Newsom generously
gave their time and expertise in conversation and response. Others to
whomIamindebtedincludeHendrikBoers,RobertKysar,andVernon
K. Robbins. I am especially indebted to Gail O’Day for her contribu-
tions in the early development of the project.
Other colleagues at Emory also deserve thanks. Foremost among
them, Karoline Lewis provided encouragement from start to finish.
Kathy Lopez enthusiastically shared her passion for and knowledge of
Zechariah 3 and the Levi-priestly tradition. Rob von Thaden and
Erika Fitz read and discussed early drafts with care and improved
them greatly.
My debts also extend to a wide circle of colleagues at Mercer Uni-
versity’s College of Liberal Arts. Dean Richard C. Fallis arranged a re-
duction in my teaching load in 2005–06 at a critical point of research.
My colleagues in the Department of Christianity, particularly the chair,
Richard F. Wilson, have proved consistent sources of support.
Thestaffmembersof thePittsTheologicalLibraryatEmoryandthe
Jack Tarver Library at Mercer have provided space for research and gra-
cious assistance. William Godfrey provided able bibliographic help. Ar-
lette Copeland and Lilli Lindbeck read the entire manuscript with keen
editorial eyes. All errors that remain are, of course, my own.
I am grateful as well for the encouragement of the members of the
First Baptist Church of Athens, Georgia and the First Baptist Church of
Christ of Macon, Georgia, two congregations who have opened wide
their hearts.
For financial support, I indebted to Emory University, particularly
for a Dean’s Teaching Fellowship in 1999–2000, to the Myrtle Arnall
Mann Missions and Scholarship Fund of the Central Baptist Church
of Newnan, Georgia, and to my parents. Indeed, those most deserving
of thanksfortheirinvestmentinmyeducationacrossmanyyearsaremy
VIII Acknowledgements
father, Sam,my mother Grace, andmy “bonus mom” Peggy. Inmy fa-
ther’s honor and in their memory, I offer my deepest thanks.
September 25, 2012 Macon, Georgia
Contents
Chapter1: The Puzzle of Hebrews ....................... 1
One Puzzle Among Many .............................. 3
Appeals to the Structural Analysis of Hebrews ............... 5
Topical Analyses .................................... 5
Earlier Examples .................................. 6
Contemporary Examples ............................ 7
Literary Analyses .................................... 8
F. Büchsel ....................................... 8
Rafael Gyllenberg ................................. 9
F. Thien ........................................ 9
Leon Vaganay .................................... 10
A. Descamps ..................................... 12
Albert Vanhoye ................................... 12
Wolfgang Nauck .................................. 13
Rhetorical Analyses .................................. 14
Hermann Frhr. von Soden .......................... 15
Keijo Nissilä ..................................... 15
Walter G. Übelacker ............................... 16
Craig R. Koester .................................. 16
Linguistic Analyses .................................. 17
Observations ....................................... 20
Appeals to Conceptual Worlds ........................... 22
Gnosticism ......................................... 23
Philo and Middle Platonism ........................... 27
Qumran ........................................... 30
The Samaritans ..................................... 33
Merkabah Mysticism ................................. 35
Observations ....................................... 37
Appeals to Reading Practices ............................ 39
J. Rendel Harris and the Two Joshuas ................... 39
F. C. Synge and Jesus–Joshua .......................... 41
Albert Vanhoye and Numbers 14 ....................... 42
George Wesley Buchanan and Hebrews as Homiletical Midrash 44
David Flusser and Midrashic Fungi ...................... 45
X Contents
Observations ....................................... 46
The Way Forward ..................................... 48
Chapter2: A Wider Intertextuality: Excavating the Cave of
Resonance with the History of Scriptural Interpretation ....... 50
Lessons from Pauline Interpreters ......................... 51
Richard Hays’s Echoes of Scripture ....................... 52
Initial Responses to Echoes of Scripture .................... 56
James A. Sanders .................................. 56
Craig A. Evans ................................... 58
William Scott Green ............................... 59
Christopher D. Stanley ............................. 60
Subsequent Modifications of Echoes of Scripture ............. 61
Frank Thielman ................................... 61
James M. Scott ................................... 62
Sylvia C. Keesmaat ................................ 63
Andrew H. Wakefield .............................. 65
Observations ....................................... 69
Lessons from Hebrew Bible Interpreters .................. 72
Michael Fishbane .................................. 73
Aggadic Exegesis .................................. 74
Mantological Exegesis .............................. 77
James L. Kugel ................................... 78
Observations ....................................... 83
Chapter3: Reading Traditions for Num 13–14 ............. 85
Reading Traditions for Num 13–14 ...................... 86
Numbers .......................................... 87
The Scouts’ Expedition ............................. 87
The Scouts’ Report ................................ 89
The People’s Response ............................. 89
God’s Response ................................... 90
The People’s Expedition ............................ 90
Deuteronomy ...................................... 91
The Scouts’ Expedition ............................. 91
The Scouts’ Report ................................ 91
The People’s Response ............................. 92
God’s Response ................................... 92
