Images of Joshua in the Bible and Their Reception by Zev Farber

Author:Zev Farber
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Published: 2016-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

The Typology Goes Latin: Tertullian

The usefulness of the Joshua as Jesus typology for polemics between Jews and Christians can be seen by the way it is used by Tertullian in his Adversus Iudaeos.522 Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus (c.160 –225) lived in Carthage and was one of the first of the Church Fathers to write in Latin. He was a prolific writer, and many of his works have survived. His works are characterized by strong language and a solid knowledge of Latin and Greek style rhetorical conventions.523

In putting together his Adversus Iudaeos, it is clear that Tertullian had access to Justin’s Dialogue with Trypho and that this work served both as an inspiration for this genre and as a source for a number of the specific arguments Tertullian made use of in his own polemics.524 However, even though Tertullian does begin his treatise with a description of a debate between a Jew and a Christian that turned sour, he does not cast his work in the form of a debate, but rather in the form of an essay; Geoffrey Dunn calls it a “position paper” or a “pamphlet.”525

The overall project of Adversus Iudaeos is to prove that the Old Testament both foreshadows the salvation of Christians and that the Christian claim actually supersedes that of the Jews. In other words, not only is it true that gentiles (and Jews) who accept Jesus are granted salvation according to the Bible, but once Jesus was resurrected, belief in him is now the only way to receive salvation, with the Jewish adherence to Torah outdated and no longer effective. In order to prove this point, Tertullian must make the argument directly from the Old Testament; otherwise the argument would not be effective against Jews in future polemics and would not inoculate Christians against Jewish attacks on Christianity as biblically inauthentic. It is within this context that Tertullian makes use of the Joshua-Jesus typology.

Tertullian’s most extensive discussion of Joshua comes towards the end of chapter 9.526

20 Sed Christus, inquiunt, qui venturus creditur, non et Iesus dicitur. Quare igitur is qui venit, Iesus Christus appellatur? 20 “But if Christ”, they say, “who is believed to be coming is not called Iesu, why, therefore, was he that has come called Iesu Christ?”527

21 Constabit autem utrumque nomen in Christo dei, in quo invenitur etiam Iesus appellatus. Disce et erroris tui morem: dum Moysi successor destinaretur Auses filius Naue, transfertur certe de pristino nomine et incipit vocari Iesus. “Certe”, inquis. Hanc prius dicimus figuram futuri fuisse. 21 However, each name will stand together in the Christ of God, in whom is found also the name Iesu. Learn the nature of your errors: As the successor to Moses is determined to be Ausi (Hosea) son of Nau, certainly his original name is transposed and he begins to be called Iesu (Joshua). “Certainly,” you say. This first [Iesu] we declare to have been a figure of the future [Iesu].

22 Nam quia Iesus Christus secundum populum, quod sumus nos nationes in saeculi

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