An Integrative Approach to Textual History: How Fluid Textual Traditions Challenge Methodology

Some texts in the Hebrew Bible exist in particularly fluid forms. This becomes clear when one compares all of the extant documented evidence, beyond the anachronistic categories of “biblical” and “non-biblical”. Nevertheless, the repercussions of this textual fluidity for text-historical methodology has not yet been investigated enough. This contribution examines the transmission and interpretation of the curse upon the rebuilder of Jericho as preserved in various divergent traditions of Joshua, 1 Kings, and Qumran scrolls. Methodological repercussions of this case for the diachronic study of the Hebrew Bible are discussed. It is argued that an integrative approach combining a plurality of texts and methods is needed.