Biblical Hebrew Forum

["B. M. Rocine" <brocine AT twcny.rr.com>]

B-Haverim,

Other discourse features of Joshua 1:1 gives us the idea that Joshua
continuesfrom the end of Deuteronomy, namely that the cast of the characters
is the same, the place is the same, and even some of the props are the same.
For instance, the last clause of Deu mentions Mosheh as does the first
clause of Jos in such a way that the participant tracking could be
intra-documentary.  Jos 1:8 refers to sepher hattorah hazzeh on its first
reference to the book in Jos.  Speaker/writer rules of cooperation require a
previous mention of the book to enable the use of the pronoun hazzeh in this
phrase.

That is not to say that the wayyiqtol form at the beginning of Jos, by
virtue of its own meaning and use, *must* be continuing a narrative.  I
agree with most if not all of what I have read so far in this thread.  Jonah
1:1 certainly doesn't continue from Obediah!

However, the wayyiqtol is *the most appropriate choice* of form for
continuing a narrative.  The wayyiqtol in Jos 1:1 together with the
cohesion/coherence created by other discourse features suggests that Jos is
indeed a continuation of Deu.

Shalom,
Bryan

B. M. Rocine
Living Word Church
6101 Court St. Rd.
Syracuse, NY 13206

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