Twilight of the Gods: Hidden Polemics in Joshua 10:12–14

Abstract

This study examines the unusual representations of the sun and the moon at the end of the conquest narratives in Joshua (10:12–14), interpreting the inactivity of the luminaries as an indication of Yhwh’s defeat of Canaanite religion through symbolic domination over two most conspicuous representations of local deities. Contrary to the assumptions of both traditional and modern scholarship, the sun and the moon are not stopped just to elongate the day and thus provide Joshua with sunlight to complete the rout of the Canaanites. Rather, the article contends that in this pericope the Deuteronomist subtly represents Yhwh as the conqueror of both the physical and cultic spaces of Canaan. In a polemical fashion, Yhwh is shown arresting the two celestial bodies and turning them against their worshippers. By way of an important ideological climax to the conquest narratives in Joshua, Canaanite cults head into the sunset.

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