Authors: Uzi Avner, Daniel Vainstub, Hezi Yizhaq,
Publisher: Brill
Doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/15685330-12341412
Abstract
This article deals with one of the most striking images in the Bible, a spectacular vision of a sudden change in the natural course of the heavenly bodies, in which the two great luminaries changed their daily conduct before astonished observers, an event that was inscribed in its observers’ memories for generations. Numerous interpretations have been suggested for the line that reads literally, “O sun, at Gibeon, stand still! O moon, in the Valley of Aijalon!” (Josh 10:12). Some deny that it has any historical basis, others seek a historical kernel that developed over time. Obviously, all these approaches assume the absolute impossibility of attributing truth to the line if it is understood literally, as describing an actual halt of the two luminaries.1 This difficulty falls into a more general set of difficulties, as the story of the miracle in the heavens over Gibeon falls within the first part of the book of Joshua, which consists of its first twelve chapters. This literary unit, which crystalized into its final form hundreds of years after the period it describes, is the subject of a fierce debate between those who deny that it has any historical veracity and those who try to identify kernels of historical accounts, at least in some of the descriptions of war, which were later woven into a complete work.2 The suggestion presented here does not pretend to resolve these general systemic questions, but it can make a significant contribution in two areas: (a) The story of the miracle of the sun and moon above Gibeon reflects a real astronomical event that occurred in the conquest and settlement period, indicating that the basic kernel of the story originated in that period, even if it developed later. (b) The establishment of a precise date for the event in the year 1207 BCE makes the story a reliable chronological anchor for the period. It joins the stele of Pharaoh Merneptah of Egypt, who reigned during that period, to establish a solid chronological foundation for dating the period, since Merneptah’s inscription constitutes a direct external testimony for the presence of Israelite tribes in a process of settlement, and according to some scholars even indicates a situation in which those tribes saw themselves as masters of the land of Canaan, undermining Egyptian hegemony. Our proposal is the fruit of multidisciplinary research, which arrived at the conclusion that the description of the miracle over Gibeon can only be portraying
an annular solar eclipse from the point of view of ancient observers. And the only annular eclipse that it can possibly be portraying is the one that occurred on October 30, 1207, not long before sundown.