Including the Stranger

In this monograph David Firth studies the role and characterization of foreigners in the Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings). The idea for the study partly arose out of his own experience as a foreigner: he was raised in Australia but lived in Africa for many years and now teaches in the United Kingdom. He also says that his social position as a foreigner has influenced how he has read the OT (pp. 2–3), though it would have been interesting to know how this social position influenced his interpretations. He does not discuss race directly, preferring a general sense of being foreign: “‘foreignness’ (however defined) depends on the attitude of a speaker to another and whether someone is defined as ‘us’ or ‘other’ and this is something that can vary” (p. 2). While the scholarship on defining topics such as race, ethnicity, and nationality is admittedly vast, as least some engagement with the material would have been beneficial for this work.Firth’s first substantive chapter focuses on Joshua, which he immediately recognizes as a book not known for honoring foreigners due to its depiction of the destruction of the Canaanites. He divides the book of Joshua into six sections, focusing on how foreigners in Canaan could follow Yhwh. The first two sections contrast Rahab as the foreigner who follows Yhwh, with Achan as the Israelite who rejects him. These two stories serve as paradigms for later narratives in the Former Prophets in which foreigners follow Yhwh and Israelites follow a foreign faith. The rest of the chapter moves on to less familiar territory, such as the foreigners who are present with the Israelites at Mount Ebal (Josh 8:33, 35) and the prominent role given to Caleb the Canaanite in the land division (he is specifically called a Kenizzite, connecting him to the Canaanites).Firth reads the Gibeonite story rather positively based on the lack of narratival condemnation, their dedication to Yhwh (serving in the temple), and their later incorporation into Israel more fully. He also reads many of the references to the unconquered Canaanite land at least neutrally, if not positively, based also on the lack of narratival comment and the incorporation of these groups into Israel later, like the Archites. The altar controversy in Josh 22 also provides Firth a means to discuss foreignness among the Israelites: do those who live on the eastern side of the Jordan forfeit their membership within Israel? As he notes, the presence of the cities of refuge on both sides of the Jordan strengthen the connection between the two groups. One of the occasional weaknesses of Firth’s method that is particularly prominent in the chapter on Joshua is his positivity about the characters in the story. In the introduction to the book, he responds to concerns about Jephthah’s sacrifice of his daughter by saying that the narrator does not articulate everything directly (p. 8). However, he seems to desire clear condemnations by the narrator for topics such as the unconquered Canaanites and the interaction with the Gibeonites in Joshua before he is willing to read them negatively.According to Firth, the role of foreigners in Judges shifts to highlighting how God worked through foreigners. Clearly, one major part of this theme is that God used foreigners to judge Israel when they rejected him. However, God also used foreigners to work on behalf of Israel, similar to Rahab in Joshua. Well-known examples of the latter model include Shamgar and Jael. However, other, less well-known examples that Firth helpfully highlights include the paradigmatic judge Othniel and the Kenites (Judg 1:16). Judges ends with the opposite paradigm: like Achan, Israel took on the faith of foreigners and effectively became Canaanite.In Samuel, the previous roles of foreigners continue, but a new role is assessing Israel: “The foreigners with whom Saul associates (such as Doeg the Edomite) reflect negatively on him. What is perhaps surprising is that David is frequently contrasted with foreigners (such as Uriah the Hittite), so that we see his flaws more clearly through them” (p. 94). Firth believes that Uriah is descended from the Canaanite Hittites rather than the neo-Hittites in Aram. Another foreigner in the book is Hushai, an Archite. The material on Samuel highlights how the title of the book is a bit misleading: Including the Stranger implies that the main focus will be on those foreigners who join Israel, like Rahab. Firth certainly discusses this, but the study overall is better reflected in the subtitle—Foreigners in the Former Prophets—because he analyzes a variety of roles that the foreigners play in these books, which extend far beyond merely joining Israel.Finally, the book of Kings looks beyond the borders of Israel. If Joshua focused on the Rahab paradigm within the borders of Israel, then Naaman in 2 Kgs 5 follows that pattern in a foreign country. Another significant marker of this theme is Solomon’s prayer on behalf of foreigners who come to Israel to pray to Yhwh (1 Kgs 8:41–43). However, Israelites who follow foreign faith continue to cause difficulties for Israel, ranging from Solomon at the beginning of Kings to Manasseh near the end. One of Firth’s more interesting arguments is possibly seeing Elijah as a foreigner based on the description of him as a settler in Gilead (pp. 147–48).A concluding chapter offers several observations relevant for today: (1) the attitude of the Former Prophets to foreigners is generally positive, (2) the people of God were defined by faith and not by ethnicity even in the OT, and (3) the people of God should be welcoming to foreigners. Given our current cultural moment, these valuable observations leave us wishing for further reflection on how these themes integrate into contemporary situations. Certainly, a book like this should be very helpful for pastors preaching through any part of the Former Prophets so that they can highlight how foreigners are highly viewed there and encourage the church today to think in similar ways

Ancient history · Art · Depiction · Faith · Firth · Immigration · Israelites · Literature · Narrative · Nationality · Political science · Scholarship · Sociology · Theology · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Gender Studies · Historical and Linguistic Studies · History · Law · Philosophy

• “You Shall Not Marry a Canaanite!” Endogamy, (Canaanite) Exogamy and Theology in Genesis 12–50

  William Ford•Horizons in Biblical Theology•2023

  Add to list