Josh 5:9-12, Psalm 32 Second cut
1) OK, I must be thick as I do not get why this passage from Joshua appears in the readings. But here we go.

2) We are after the setting up of a memorial, a cairn,  at Gilgal for the crossing of the Jordan on dry land.My guess is that Gilgal was a cultic site of some importance at some point. With that, it is good to note that Joshua is not a particularly reliable source of accurate information; but it is history with a point. In particular, it uses the conquest story as a way for its readers to reflect on one's present experience. Many people are fascinated when digs bring up material that may coincide with a Biblical narrative, but evidence rarely backs up the Joshua material for dating. See the entry on the book before the commentary in the NIB, for instance. National Geographic has an excellent new picture book atlas on the bible and Oxford published some years ago a wonderful edited volume on the biblical world. One could introduce maximalist v. historical minimalist views from BAR or bible World as well.

3) We are in transition where the manna ceases, because they can eat the crops of the land. abar means to cross over and abur is a word for produce, so a pun may be involved that they have crossed over to eat the produce.

4) Passover figures prominently in the book. i do not think it  goes too far to see it linked as a passover from sin's and slavery's deadly effect to a new start. It is as if the wilderness experience cleansed the people of the stench of slavery's pervasive effects on them.

5) Surely we are facing a priestly insertion about circumcision in the chapter.

6) Perhaps one could link this to the prodigal's story of lack of food and ritual issues with the pigs. ould look at the issue of being responsible v. dependent, of starving when abundance is available.

 

 

Psalm 32

1) First we need to face squarely the decline of guilt in our culture, so the power of the psalm is lessened automatically. Do you sense any relief during our confession of sin and declaration of pardon in Reformed churches?

2) this is one of the traditional penitential psalms:6,38, 51, 102, 130, 143.

3) we get a Hebrew breviary of sin here. Sin =pesa, like the Gk. hamartia is to miss the mark. transgression has a sense of rebellion (awon) hata-a=iniquity an enduring stain of sin's effects. Sin is not merely doing something against the rules but a disposition that ranges across time, space, and society itself.

4) Still, the emphasis here is on forgiveness=sins been 'covered' Perhaps this is in the sense of out of sight out of mind.

5) Blessed works in v. 1 but happy would work better here, I think.

6) Notice the effect of denial and silence in v. 3 to the cathartic openness of v. 5