Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 75:1 (NA 2024)
Article: Determining Implied Instructions In Joshua 3 And 7: A Contextual Hermeneutic Of Consecration Activities
Author: Allen Hamlin, Jr.

TynBull 75:1 (2024) p. 131

Determining Implied Instructions In Joshua 3 And 7: A Contextual Hermeneutic Of Consecration Activities

Allen Hamlin Jr

Adjunct Lecturer in Biblical Languages
Trinity College Bristol
[email protected]

Abstract

Commands directed toward individuals and groups to consecrate themselves occur with highest concentration in the Pentateuch. However, there is a variety of instructions which occasionally accompany these mandates, leading to a lack of clarity about the process of consecration and how those commands are fulfilled. This ambiguity is especially notable in encountering very blanket commands as in the narrative texts of Joshua 3:5 and 7:13, where no additional ritual instructions are provided alongside the consecration imperatives nor revealed in the ensuing stories. By examining selected Pentateuchal instances of consecration (especially of persons), evaluating the links between passages and the paradigmatic nature of occurrences in Exodus 19 and 29, and considering the broader ancient West Asian context of consecration activities, this paper will offer a hermeneutic to facilitate determining what instructions, if any, may be implied when the commands to consecrate oneself or others are issued in a narrative context.

1. Introduction

Twice in the book of Joshua we encounter the imperative ‘consecrate yourselves’ – once in 3:5, prior to the people crossing the Jordan, and then again in 7:13, as a prelude to the ceremony in which the one who has taken things under the ban (Achan) will be identified and punished. However, neither in the initial mandate nor in the ensuing narratives is there a description of how the people went about fulfilling this command.1 What rituals did they have to engage in,

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what practices did they have to undertake, what prohibitions did they have to abide by in order to fulfil this directive?

Within the Hebrew Bible, the Pentateuch contains the greatest number2 and variety of consecratory3 vignettes. Many of these appear in legal, procedural, or expository discourse, as in the instructions found in Exodus 29 concerning the ordination of Aaron and his sons for the priesthood. Others occasionally appear in narra...