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.

are generally accepted to be typical Deuteronomic language, style and theological concepts⁶. Against this background, the epilogue of the "Book of the Covenant" has been characterised as "proto-Deuteronomic". Since then, a scholarly discussion about the Deuteronomistic components of Exod 23,20-33 has become much more prominent in Pentateucal research⁷.

        Within the debate on the Deuteronomistic origin of Exod 23,20-33*, the discussion about recovering an independent tradition of the "war of YHWH" has played an important role. In this respect, several items are referred to as indicative of this tradition. As such, the use of the terms xl#$ (v. 20)⁸, Kl)m (vv. 20.23)⁹, ynpl Klh (v. 23)¹⁰, hmy) (v. 27)¹¹, Mmh (v. 27)¹², Pr( Ntn(v. 28) ¹³, h(rc (v. 28)¹⁴, #$rg (vv. 28-31)¹⁵ and dyb Ntn (v. 31)¹⁶ is referred to as characteristic of the YHWH-war tradition. According to some scholars, the elements related to this tradition clearly demonstrate the antiquity, i.c. the proto-Deuteronomic character, of the pericope¹⁷. To others, however, pointing to the similarities with Deuteronom(ist)ic literature, several of these elements are peculiar to the Deuteronomistic cycles¹⁸.