A Stratified Account of Jephthah's Negotiations and Battle: Judges 11:12-33 from an Archaeological Perspective

The account of Jephthah's battle against the Ammonites in Judg 11:12-33 contains glaring inconsistencies. Negotiations preceding the battle invoke Israelite conflicts with Amorites and Moabites-none of which pertain to Ammon. An archaeological survey of the vacillating fortunes of Transjordania...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bloch-Smith, Elizabeth M. 1952- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Scholar's Press [2015]
In: Journal of Biblical literature
Year: 2015, Volume: 134, Issue: 2, Pages: 291-311
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Bible. Judge 11,12-33 / Biblical archaeology / Moab / Ammonites / Gilead
IxTheo Classification:HB Old Testament
HH Archaeology
KBL Near East and North Africa
Further subjects:B AMMONITES (Semitic people)
B Jews
B Moabites
B Conflict Management
B Archaeological surveying
B Amorites
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:The account of Jephthah's battle against the Ammonites in Judg 11:12-33 contains glaring inconsistencies. Negotiations preceding the battle invoke Israelite conflicts with Amorites and Moabites-none of which pertain to Ammon. An archaeological survey of the vacillating fortunes of Transjordanian Moab, Ammon, and Gilead suggests historical contexts and approximate dates for periods of territorial contention between Israel and its neighbors. Reading the invocation of war against Sihon/Moab (early ninth century) in the context of later conflicts with Ammon (late ninth or eighth century) explains some of the apparent inconsistencies and dates the historical contexts invoked in this and other biblical texts that pit Israel against these Transjordanian nations. Archaeological remains from H?esban (Heshbon) and Dhiban (Dibon) add datable parameters for texts or the updating of passages that feature these sites. So, for example in the Judges text, celebrating Heshbon rather than Dibon as Sihon's capital city likely dates this version of events to the seventh or perhaps the sixth century.
ISSN:1934-3876
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of Biblical literature
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.15699/jbl.1342.2015.2707