What is meant by the term Deuteronomic History?

Answer 1

The Hebrew Bible is almost always thought of as a record of a great monotheistic religion, sometimes beset by the rebelliousness of the Israelites, who kept introducing polytheistic gods. However, a close analysis of the Old Testament quickly shows that it is really a record of a polytheistic religion, superficially redacted to remove some of the polytheistic influences and provide a gloss of monotheism. The Bible itself provides the best clues as to how this transformation came about.

After the fall of Israel, large numbers of refugees fled south into the much smaller kingdom of Judah, bringing with them different cultural and religious influences. King Hezekiah saw the need for national unity, including unity of religion. He centralised the religion and destroyed places and objects of worship that were outside of the control of the Jerusalem Temple and its priesthood. Subsequent kings of Judah, influenced by their Assyrian overlords, restored the places and objects of worship outside the temple. However, Hezekiah's great grandson Josiah instituted a new reform, now known as the Deuteronomistic reform.

According to 2 Kings, in 622/621 BCE, Josiah's high priest Hilkiah found the "book of laws" in the Temple, a mainly spartan and empty building where it had supposedly lain unnoticed for centuries. Having read the text, King Josiah again centralised the religion and destroyed places and objects of worship which were neither the Jerusalem Temple nor specified to be housed in it. Scholars say that the "book of laws" was the Book of Deuteronomy, written by an anonymous source now known as the Deuteronomist ('D' source) at Josiah's instigation and "found" to justify his actions.

The Deuteronomist went on the write the Deuteronomic History (Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Kings). Regardless of the king having instigated the Deuteronomistic reforms, the text show that the religious establishment put their own stamp on the contents, justifying the power of the priesthood. There is an underlying unity of content, style and language throughout the books of the History. They are all written in the same, relatively late Hebrew language and each book begins its story as the previous book closes, with no noticeable gap or overlap in the narrative.

The term "Deuteronomistic History" was first used by Martin Noth in 1943. In modern usage, it is also called the Deuteronomic History.

Answer 2

The books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings provide a history of Israel and Judah, largely from a Judahite perspective, from the legendary conquest of the Promised Land until the end of the Judahite monarchy. They are a well-integrated set of books clearly written by a single author, although written anonymously.

Scholars recognise the style and language of these books as being consistent with those of the Book of Deuteronomy, which is believed to have been written during the seventh-century BCE reign of King Josiah. Because of this, the author is called the Deuteronomist and the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings have become known as the Deuteronomic History.

Answer 3

A:The name of the fifth book of the Bible, Deuteronomy, comes from the Greek for 'a second law' and is based on a mistranslated phrase in the Septuagint, the early Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures.

Biblical scholars recognise that the 'book of the law' supposedly found in the Jerusalem Temple during the seventh-century-BCE reign of King Josiah was almost certainly the Book of Deuteronomy. Scholars say that the relatively modern Hebrew language in the book, along with its similarity of style to other books written during the reign of Josiah (Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Kings), indicate that this book was also written during this time and only placed in the Temple in order to be 'found' there. This view is founded on good grounds, given the evidence that the religious authorities were well aware of the practice. Jeremiah chapter 36 tells how just a few years later, the scribes hid another scroll in the Temple, to be found and read to the king. Thus, the biblical history books were written around the same time as Deuteronomy and by the same author, now known as the Deuteronomist. Because of this association, the Books of Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Kings are now known as the Deuteronomic History. The term simply says the books belong to the Deuteronomist. The religious reforms that King Josiah instituted, including the introduction of monotheism as the official religion, are also known as the Deuteronomic Reforms or Deuteronomistic Reforms.

An elaboration of this hypothesis, known as the Documentary Hypothesis, is that Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic History were so considerably amended during the Babylonian Exile that it is proper to talk of two Deuteronomists - I Deuteronomist and II Deuteronomist. A minority view is that here were no Deuteronomistic Reforms under Josiah and that the Deuteronomic books were really written during the Babylonian Exile with references to Josiah's reforms inserted in order to give the books the appearance of antiquity. Another view is that they could have been written during the reign of King Hezekiah, who made an earlier, failed attempt to introduce monotheism as the official religion of Judah..