FAITHFULNESS IN THE TIME OF WAITING: A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS OF JOSHUA 14:6–14 ON CALEB'S SPIRITUALITY
Keywords:
biblical spirituality, narrative criticism, waiting, Caleb, Joshua 14Abstract
This study addresses a significant gap in biblical spirituality scholarship concerning the narrative portrayal of waiting as a formative spiritual discipline. While poetic and prophetic texts on waiting have received substantial attention, narrative depictions of prolonged faithfulness remain underexplored. The research problem centers on Joshua 14:6–14, where Caleb's forty-five-year interval between divine promise and fulfillment has been examined primarily through historical-critical and geographical lenses, neglecting the pericope's theological and literary dynamics. Employing narrative criticism, this study analyzes the text's literary structure, characterization, and rhetorical strategies to articulate the spirituality of waiting embodied in Caleb's example. The analysis reveals that the narrative presents waiting not as passive endurance but as active, covenantal faithfulness sustained through wholehearted allegiance, covenantal memory, patient agency, and testimonial transmission. The study's novelty lies in its integration of narrative criticism with biblical spirituality, proposing the Faithful Waiting Framework—a four-dimensional model derived from the text's own emphases that offers a transferable heuristic for interpreting other biblical narratives of waiting. This contribution addresses both scholarly lacunae and pastoral needs, providing exegetically grounded resources for understanding faithfulness in seasons of delay and uncertainty within contemporary Christian communities.
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