The Four Deaths of Joshua: Why the Septuagint is Pivotal for the Study of Joshua 24

The article reconstructs the textual growth of the death and burial accounts of Joshua (Josh 24:28–31, Judg 2:6–9) in the light of documented evidence preserved in the LXX and the MT. It is argued that LXX Josh 24:28–31 generally preserves the earliest extant version from which the others have been edited to various new contexts. The article then discusses some implications of this reconstruction for literary and redaction criticism of Josh 24. Since redaction critics often neglect the LXX as a witness to an earlier Hebrew text, untenable conclusions have been advanced about the compositional history of Josh 24.