Uncovering Ancient Editing: Documented Evidence of Changes in Joshua 24 and Related Texts

This study reconstructs the textual and editorial history of Josh 24 and related texts (most notably Josh 5:2–9 and Judg 2:6–9) as a case study for understanding the ancient editorial processes that produced the Hebrew Bible. It focuses on the documented evidence of editing; that is, variant versions of the same text. An analysis of the differences between the Septuagint (LXX) and the Masoretic text (MT) forms the core of the study, but texts from the Qumran and the Samaritan community are also discussed. Moreover, the relationship between the methods of textual, literary, and redaction criticism is examined, and it is argued that these should be integrated. Accordingly, this study aims at uncovering ancient editorial processes by bringing together many methods and approaches that are too often kept apart.