Hans Ausloos, «Exod 23,20-33 and the ‘War of YHWH’», Vol. 80 (1999) 555-563

Some crucial elements of the compositional structure of the "war of YHWH" which can be found in Exod 14, Josh 10, Judg 4 and 1 Sam 7, equally occur in Exod 23,20-33. The differences between the latter text and the former pericopes, however, point into the conclusion that Exod 14, Josh 10, Judg 4 and 1 Sam 7 on the one hand and Exod 23,20-33 on the other are separate witnesses of an earlier tradition about YHWH as warrior.

Ever since historical-critical research has been done on the "Book of the Covenant" (Exod 20,22–23,19), the epilogue of this legal corpus (23,20-33) has been given special attention. Making use of literary criteria (Numeruswechsel, doublets and contradictions), the origin of this pericope has been considered very complex¹. Moreover, almost every scholar who has analysed the passage has indicated its relationship with the book of Deuteronomy and the so-called Deuteronomistic literature². In this context and since the beginning of the 20th century, important parts of Exod 23,20-33 have been commonly characterised as dependent on Deuteronom(ist)ic literature³. Likewise, several scholars have even considered the entire