Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 68:1 (Mar 2025)
Article: The Joshua Theophany In Its Biblical And Ancient Near Eastern Context (Josh 5:13–15)
Author: John D. Doss

JETS 68.1 (March 2025) p. 49

The Joshua Theophany In Its Biblical And Ancient Near Eastern Context (Josh 5:13–15)

John D. Doss

John D. Doss is an adjunct professor at Asbury University and a PhD student at Asbury Theological Seminary. He may be contacted at [email protected]. I would like to thank Lawson G. Stone, my Joshua teacher, for his help and expertise with this article. I would also like to thank Ellen D. Forney for her tireless patience in resource acquisition.

Abstract: This article is a study of Joshua 5:13–15 in its biblical and ancient Near Eastern context. Part I surveys the contextual, intertextual, text-critical, source-critical, redaction-critical, and reception history of Joshua 5:13–15 to situate the text in its biblical context. Part II is a comparative study of ancient Near Eastern parallels to the passage, focusing on Sumerian, Ugaritic, Egyptian, and Assyrian literature. The Shockey method of comparative study is used to conduct a topical inquiry of the Joshua theophany. Recent claims of borrowing lack sufficient evidence. Instead, the comparative study reveals the diffusion of numerous ancient Near Eastern motifs in Joshua 5:13–15 and its immediate context. Hence, the article demonstrates the powerful combination of historical-grammatical, critical, and comparative methods in biblical hermeneutics and provides insight into Joshua’s mysterious encounter with the commander of the Lord’s army.

Key words: commander of the Lord’s army, theophany, Divine Warrior, holy war, ancient Near East, Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Ugarit, Umman-manda, Shockey method, cognitive environment criticism

This article studies Joshua 5:13–15 in its biblical and ancient Near Eastern (ANE) context. One of the book’s major themes is the Moses-Joshua parallel.1 Indeed, the comparison is established from the opening verse, “The Lord spoke to Joshua” (1:1), which resembles the recurring Pentateuchal phrase “The Lord spoke to Moses.”2 However, one notable difference is the lack of theophanies recorded in the book of Joshua compared with Moses’s frequent “face-to-face” meetings with God.3 The former contains only one “stunted, cryptic narrative”4 that could be labeled a theophany, namely, his encounter with “the commander of the army of