Debating Authority by Katharina Pyschny Sarah Schulz

Author:Katharina Pyschny, Sarah Schulz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Published: 2018-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

4A Dual Leadership

Conceptualizing leadership in modelling Israel’s first leader post mortem Mosi, the deuteronomistic tradition in the Book of Joshua offers ample material for the protagonist acting in the “political” arena (see above). In contrast, subsequent literary layers show less and less interest in his person. Rather than focusing on Joshua as the successor of Moses and leader of all Israel, the post-priestly redaction to be discerned in Josh 2; 3–4; 6; and 7 is concerned with the Canaanite peoples and their relationship with both Israel and Yhwh, critically revisiting the deuteronomistic view of non-Israelite inhabitants of the land (Krause 2017). At a still later time, the report of the first Passover in the promised land in Josh 5:10–12 depicts a milestone event in the “history” of Israel without even mentioning the leader by name.239 Against this backdrop the priestly style passages of the Book of Joshua (for their provenience, see Albertz 2007) are to be appreciated, presenting as they do the priest Eleazar as co-leader next to Joshua. Or should one rather reverse the order, calling Joshua the co-leader of Eleazar?

The third son of Aaron (Exod 6:23; Num 3:2; 26:60; 1Chr 5:29; 6:35), Eleazar is invested into the priesthood according to Yhwh’s command (Exod 28:1; Lev 8–9). Further, the priestly portions of the Pentateuch relate that, after the death of his elder brothers Nadab and Abihu (Lev 10), Eleazar serves as “chief over the leaders of the Levites” and has “oversight of those who had charge of the sanctuary” (Num 3:32) and of the sanctuary itself (Num 4:16). Eventually, he succeeds his father Aaron as high priest (Num 20:25–28; Deut 10:6). As did Aaron, so does Eleazar appear as a pair with Moses in leading position (Num 26:1,3,63; 27:2; 31; 32:2). This dual leadership is carried on with Joshua (see already Num 32:28). In fact, the alternate account of Joshua’s appointment as successor of Moses to be found in Num 27:12–23 (Noort 2008) takes their correlation even further. According to Yhwh’s command, Moses commissions Joshua “before” Eleazar (v. 19). While Moses is commanded to give Joshua some of his “majesty” the NRSV renders “authority”) so that “all the congregation of the Israelites may obey” him (v. 20), Joshua “shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the decision of the Urim before Yhwh at his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the Israelites with him, the whole congregation” (v. 21).240

To be sure, the latter passage remains a discrete description in many respects. At the same time, it goes well with a certain tendency to be observed in the priestly style passages in Joshua. As early as in Num 34:17, the dual leaders’ task is defined as distributing the land among the tribes of Israel, and this is indeed what they do according to the pertinent passages in Joshua (Josh 14:1; 17:4; 19:51; 21:1; cf. Samuel 2014, 320). All of these verses mention Eleazar first and Joshua second.

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