ToC | Reading the Old Testament. . . Chapter 6. Joshua | ToC

4. Altar at Shechem

God instructed Joshua to build an altar on Mount Ebal. Mount Ebal, along with Mount Gerizim, flanks the important site of Shechem in central Canaan. Here Joshua paused with the people to recall to their memory the Torah of Moses.

30 Then Joshua built an altar to YHWH the Elohim of Israel on Mount Ebal, 31 just as Moses, YHWH's servant, commanded the Israelites, as it is written in the book of the Torah of Moses: "an altar of untrimmed stones on which no iron tool has worked." They offered burnt offerings to YHWH on it, and sacrificed peace offerings. 32 He wrote on the stones there a copy of the Torah of Moses. He wrote it in front of the Israelites. 33 All Israel (that is, the elders, the officers and the judges), foreigners as well as citizens, were standing on either side of the ark facing the levitical priests who carry the ark of the covenant of YHWH. Half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them were in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses, YHWH's servant, had commanded earlier, so that the people of Israel could get blessing. 34 Then he called out the words of the Torah, blessing and curse, according to all that was written in the book of the Torah. 35 There was not one word which Moses commanded that Joshua did not call out before the congregation of Israel, including women and children and the foreigners who lived among them. (8:30-35)

    It does not take long for us to come across another rock memorial. In this passage we find yet another pile of stones, this time forming an altar to Yahweh. The altar was erected in connection with the ceremony remembering the Torah of Moses; that is, the covenant God made with Israel through Moses.
    You may have noticed that this passage has strong Deuteronomic overtones. It is, in fact, a passage with many parallels to Deuteronomy 27:1-8, which calls for a time of remembering the covenant once the people reach the Promised Land. The event recorded here marks a milestone in the Joshua stories of conquest. This story seems to imply that after taking Jericho and Ai the Israelites were secure enough in the land that they could do what Moses had commanded them in Deuteronomy. Perhaps it also hints of their faithfulness.
    A further note of fulfillment echoes in this passage. Although Shechem is not mentioned, every Israelite would have known that it lay between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. Shechem had significant associations. It was the first stopping place of Abraham when he entered Canaan. There Abraham built an altar, and there God first promised him possession of Canaan (Genesis 12:6-7).
    Shechem also has important federation associations. As we will see in Joshua 24, this was where Joshua bound the tribes together in a covenant, and was the site where the Northern Kingdom rallied under Jeroboam after it broke away from Judah.
    After this Shechem interlude, the narrative returns to the business of securing the land. The first campaign in the central hill country established only a minimal Israelite presence in Palestine. New territory must now be taken--first south, then north, in two additional campaigns.
ToC | Reading the Old Testament. . . Chapter 6. Joshua | ToC