Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Harold Holmyard <hholmyard3 AT earthlink.net>]

Kevin,
>  
> Yigal wrote: "But the principle is still, that the whole purpose of the
> story is to emphasize to Israel and to everyone else that the victory is
> God's. So having it all look like a freak storm would defeat the purpose."
>
> I write:
> Yes, but this is only part of it.  Notice the narrator finds especial import
> not only in the victory, but in Joshua's request being instantly answered.
> Verse 14 ends with the narrator's idea of what was most important: "There
> has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD hearkened to the
> voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel" (RSV). The narrator tells us
> the purpose of his story with that, one of dual import.  In that sense, it
> wasn't just "a freak storm" but the storm that God sent at Joshua's request,
> which killed the Canaanites.
>
> Looking at it from a phenomenological perspective, an ancient would have
> seen precisely the situation we see the narrator describe. The Israelites
> were not killed by hailstones, but the Canaanites were.  Therefore, the
> storm that dropped the hailstones was sent by Israel's God.  The ancients
> wouldn't have considered it "a freak storm" occasioning unfortunate
> weather-related deaths. That wasn't their mindset.  They would've seen
> Divine warfare on behalf of the Israelites.  And there, the narrator agrees,
> as do you and I.
>   

HH: Thanks for sharing your parallel Near Eastern text in your blog:

http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=6

HH: God answered the voice of man in prayer in warfare situations on 
many occasions, so that would not be unique. There is God answering 
Moses and parting the Red Sea when the Egyptians were attacking, and 
then causing the Egyptian soldiers to drown when they chased Israel into 
the sea. There is Moses praying with arms upraised while Joshua fought 
the Amalekites. There is God answering David's prayer in the midst of 
battle in Psalm 18:6-14 to give him the victory. There is story after 
story along these lines.

HH: As has been said, the uniqueness of the day relates particularly to 
how God answered Joshua's prayer, and the nature of the prayer. It is 
the sun standing in the sky for nearly a whole day. Joshua asks for the 
day to be extended so he can defeat his enemies. This fact is stated 
three times because of the incredible nature of the event. Joshua knew 
that God was on his side to give him the victory, so he had confidence 
to make this unheard of request.

12  On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua 
spoke to the LORD in the presence of Israel: "Sun, stand still over 
Gibeon, and moon, over the valley of Aijalon." 13 And the sun stood 
still and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on its 
enemies. Isn't this written in the Book of Jashar? So the sun stopped in 
the middle of the sky and delayed its setting almost a full day. 14 
There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD listened to 
the voice of a man, because the LORD fought for Israel.

HH: The words plainly describe an extended day. Thee is no way around 
it. It is described as unique and unnatural in this extension. Perhaps 
the idea of the sun or moon stopping do occur elsewhere (consider the 
sun going back on Ahaz's sun dial for Hezekiah as a sign). It is easy to 
see how people at one time or another could think the moon or sun were 
unnaturally fixed in place, and in relation to a storm. But the writer 
clearly saw this day as unique for its extension, and for the fact that 
it happened as an answer to a prayer that the whole army heard.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard
>