It derives from the custom of sacrifice, in which the victims were cut in pieces and offered to the deity invoked in ratification of the engagement. The Lord commands Joshua to take his people across the Jordan and into the land, promising success wherever he goes so long as he and the people keep the Lord's Word. [5]:9, Land is the central topic of Joshua. [8]:175, Rahab, a Canaanite woman of the Bible, sets in motion the entrance into Canaan by the Israelites. F. R. Fay, Joshua, Langes Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (1870); C. F. Keil, Joshua, KD (1874); W. G. Blaikie, Joshua, ExB (1893); J. Garstang, Joshua-Judges: The Foundation of Bible History (1931); M. L. Margolis, The Book of Joshua in Greek (1931-1938); H. J. Blair, Joshua, NBC (1953); J. The Book of Joshua is an anonymous work. 11 employs an equally isolated Galilean tradition. Characterized as a historical account, the book of Joshua tells how a leader's obedience to God resulted in divine help in the face of overwhelming odds. [8]:183 The "Cities of Refuge" and Levitical cities are attached to the end, since it is necessary for the tribes to receive their grants before they allocate parts of it to others. He shows love and mercy to the heathen (e.g. Joshua 1 God Instructs Joshua ( Deuteronomy 11:8-17) 1 Now after the death of His servant Moses, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying, 2 a Heb. But that's not why you should care. 253-259.). It is named after Joshua (q.v. Scholars believe some of the judges ruled simultaneously in . "[66] In doing this he is carrying out herem as commanded by Yahweh in Deuteronomy 20:17: "You shall not leave alive anything that breathes". Sign up now for the latest news and deals from Bible Gateway! Joshua is "old, advanced (or stricken) in years" by this time.[12]. Most of the major doctrines in the . In fact, the word "Torah" is in the text at . He would have been about forty years old at the time of the invasion of Canaan, apparently having been born in Egypt before the Exodus (Exod 6:25). The enemy kings were eventually hanged on trees. from the Heb., are secondary, rendered from the Gr. He identifies Israels previous generation by saying, To them the Lord swore that he would not let them see the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give us (5:6, italics mine). Bat. 1. Exegetical problem. To argue for two or three successive waves of conquest or infiltration is to invalidate the Biblical record. If the Hyksos afflicted instead of favored the Israelites, forcing them to build Pithom and Raamses (the Hyksos capital also known as Avaris or Tanis, most likely to be identified with the site of Qantir in the NE Delta), this would explain why Israel did not flee Egypt when native Egyptians thrust out the Hyksos before 1550 b.c. Joshua served as the mediator of the renewed covenant between Yahweh and Israel at Shechem. In holy war they and their cities were to be devoted to destruction lest the religious life of Gods people be endangered through contact with such idolatrous peoples (W. F. Albright, From the Stone Age to Christianity [1957], pp. For less than $5/mo. They say that the Book of Joshua belongs to the Pentateuch in that it continues the story of those books, but the method of using the various strands or sources is different. Peace was restored between eastern and western tribes (ch. The events set forth in the Book of Joshua follow immediately after those of the lifetime of Moses. Evidence already has been given that the law always was distinguished from the other books. [50] He gives particular weight to what were then recent digs at Hazor by Yigael Yadin. [60][61], The overarching theological theme of the Deuteronomistic history is faithfulness and God's mercy, and their opposites, faithlessness and God's wrath. Joshua himself wrote the words of the covenant renewal and various statutes and ordinance for the people in the book of the law of God at Shechem (24:25, 26). The events recorded in Joshua are selective to set forth God's special intervention on behalf of His people against all kinds of tremendous odds. The word "promise" appears fourteeen times in the book of Joshua, and for good reason. Transfer of leadership to Joshua (1:118), II. Joshua, son of Nun, was from the tribe of Ephraim.His name was originally Hoshea (Hosea) but was changed by Moses to Yehoshua (Joshua). Bible Joshua heads the division known as the Former Prophets, which covers Israelite history from the Conquest to the Babylonian Exile, including the Books of Joshua, Judges, 1, 2 Samuel, and 1, 2 Kings in the Eng. According to the eighteenth dynasty date for the Exodus, Joshua would have led Israel across the Jordan c. 1405 b.c., at the close of the Late Bronze I Age (1550-1400). Numbers 21), and the 31 kings on the west of the Jordan who were defeated under Joshua's leadership (Joshua 12:724). An alternate view dates Josephs career to the Hyksos period and the Exodus during the reign of Pharaoh Rameses II (1304-1237) or even of his successor Merneptah. b.c., and on the widespread destruction of Canaanite cities c. 1250-1200. Date of Writing: The Book of Genesis does not state when it was written. 1. A few traces of the Yahwist or J (Jehovistic) writer still may be seen in 5:13, 14; 9:6, 7; 17:14-18. He then erected a memorial stone "under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord" in Shechem. [86] This kind of critique is not new; Jonathan Boyarin notes how Frederick W. Turner blamed Israel's monotheism for the very idea of genocide, which Boyarin found "simplistic" yet with precedents. date for the destruction of Jericho and the occurrence in inscrs. Thus each human writer, performing the function of a prophet, added to the existing Word that already had been recorded and recognized as canonical. Were they actually more wicked in Joshuas day than other idolatrous peoples on earth? He was given a town in the hill country of Ephraim (Josh 24:33). The people chose to serve the Lord, a decision which Joshua recorded in the Book of the Law of God. After making the tribal allotments, Joshua lived on until 1390-1380, or even later. [9], The Israelites cross the Jordan River through a miraculous intervention of God with the Ark of the Covenant and are circumcised at Gibeath-Haaraloth (translated as hill of foreskins), renamed Gilgal in memory. When one recognizes the different types of literary materials found in the Book of Joshuanarrative, topographic description, exhortationthere remain no strong arguments against the internal unity or that would demand explanation by resorting to the fiction of editing and re-editing. Achan, on the other hand is remembered for having betrayed both God and his people and the Book of Joshua records that his grave "is still there today" where he is remembered as a . 7) and worship and covenant ceremony must have priority over further conquest (8:30-35). [8]:175 "The extermination of the nations glorifies Yahweh as a warrior and promotes Israel's claim to the land," while their continued survival "explores the themes of disobedience and penalty and looks forward to the story told in Judges and Kings. God promised the land of Canaan to the Israelites, and the book of Joshua . Joshua thus illustrates the central Deuteronomistic message, that obedience leads to success and disobedience to ruin. It is perhaps significant that none of the extant Amarna letters come from or mention Jericho, Ai, Bethel, or Gibeon, cities destroyed or controlled by Joshua and the Israelites. [33], The Book of Joshua closes with three concluding items (referred to in the Jerusalem Bible as "Two Additions"):[34], There were no Levitical cities given to the descendants of Aaron in Ephraim, so theologians Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch supposed the land may have been at Geba in the territory of the Tribe of Benjamin: "the situation, 'upon the mountains of Ephraim', is not at variance with this view, as these mountains extended, according to Judges 4:5, etc., far into the territory of Benjamin".[38]. The two figures had identical territorial goals; Josiah died in 609 BCE while attempting to annex the former Israel to his own kingdom of Judah. The next morning, Rahab professes her faith in God to the men and acknowledges her belief that Canaan was divinely reserved for the Israelites from the beginning. The traditional historic view of Joshua's reference to the "book of the Law" is it refers to the Pentateuch that was written by Moses. That the Book of Joshua was accepted by the Early Church as the Word of God may be seen in the quotation from Joshua 1:5 to be found in Hebrews 13:5, for he has said, I will never fail you nor forsake you. Numerous other references may be found in the NT to persons and events mentioned in Joshua, showing that there was no doubt as to the authenticity of its record. The book of Joshua covers the exploits of the Israelites and their leader Joshua as they cross the Jordan River and begin the conquest of the land of Canaan. The Septuagint (Greek translation) is found in manuscripts such as Washington Manuscript I (5th century CE), and a reduced version of the Septuagint text is found in the illustrated Joshua Roll. Equally severe judgment was inflicted upon false prophets and idolaters among the ranks of Israel (Exod 32:25-29, 35; Deut 13:1-18). Here are just a few of them. canon. began with the Book of Deuteronomy as its introduction. 5:5); hence it would exert an influence on the rest of the world throughout history out of all proportion to its size. The Torah must, therefore, have existed as a separate Pentateuch at the time of the Samaritan schism (A Survey of Old Testament Introduction [1964], p. 253). The Promised Land is given by God to His people as their conditional inheritance, contingent upon obedient loyalty to the Mosaic covenant. He, rather than Joshua, is the prominent figure in settling the dispute over the altar erected by the two and one-half eastern tribes in the Jordan valley (Josh 22:10-34). The land then "had rest from war" (Joshua 11:23, repeated at 14:15). A major Deuteronomic revision that agreed with the E tradition of the conquest of Canaan took place around the time of King Josiah, perhaps to reflect the northward expansion of the kingdom of Judah during his reign. Failure to seek the mind of the Lord as to the identity of the Gibeonites led Joshua to make an unholy alliance that generations later erupted in much bitterness and grief (ch. Abraham arrived at Shechem and Bethel (Gen 12) c. 2000 b.c. 18-21), including the cities of refuge and Levitical towns, before the tribes had begun to colonize their portions. [44] Some alternate sites for Ai, such as Khirbet el-Maqatir or Khirbet Nisya, have been proposed which would partially resolve the discrepancy in dates, but these sites have not been widely accepted. They gave to him the city for which he asked, Thamnath Sarach gave they him in Mount Ephraim, and Joshua built the city, and dwelt in it. Young (Introduction to the Old Testament [1949], p. 158) points out, there are linguistic peculiarities in the Pentateuch which do not appear in Joshua. He specifically refers to the book of Jashar (10:13) and indicates that Joshua ordered a description of the land to be written (18:9). But burials in tombs and stratification on the town site (a portion of a house floor with an oven and juglet) testify to occupation in the Late Bronze Age II. David Ben-Gurion saw in the war narrative of Joshua an ideal basis for a unifying national myth for the State of Israel, framed against a common enemy, the Arabs. It shows the geographical boundaries given to each tribe of Israel. Joshua's own immediate obedience is seen in his speeches to the Israelite commanders and to the Transjordanian tribes, and the Transjordanians' affirmation of Joshua's leadership echoes Yahweh's assurances of victory. Friends take advantage of Mary and Joe. God fulfills His promises. JOSHUA, BOOK OF. [14] Joshua 14:1 also makes reference to the role of Eleazar the priest (ahead of Joshua) in the distribution process. 23. Contagion would be possible by sudden fraternization before immunity could develop (R. E. D. Clark, The Christian Stake in Science [1967], pp. 22); he urged the officials to cleave to the Lord (ch. Since Moses sinned, he was not allowed to enter the land (Numbers 20:12; Deuteronomy 3:23-28; 32:48-52). The people make a covenant with God while encamped at Gilgal, and then most of the book describes the conquest of Canaan and the division of the Promised Land among the . [85] A related moral condemnation can be seen in "The political sacralization of imperial genocide: contextualizing Timothy Dwight's The Conquest of Canaan" by Bill Templer. [4] The earliest parts of the book are possibly chapters 211, the story of the conquest; these chapters were later incorporated into an early form of Joshua likely written late in the reign of king Josiah (reigned 640609BCE), but the book was not completed until after the fall of Jerusalem to the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 586 BCE, and possibly not until after the return from the Babylonian exile in 539 BCE. 230-235, 281; SOTI, p. 261). LXX. Purpose of Writing: The Book of Joshua provides an overview of the military campaigns to conquer the land area that God had promised. In Joshuas time Canaan benefited from civilizations on either side which were already illustrious and old. By 1400 b.c. [16]:5, The wording of Joshua 18:14 suggests that the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Judah, Ephraim and Manasseh received their land allocation some time before the "remaining seven tribes",[17] and a 21-member expedition set out to survey the remainder of the land with a view to organising the allocation to the tribes of Simeon, Benjamin, Asher, Naphtali, Zebulun, Issachar and Dan. G. Content and outline. Further difficulties for the theory of a deuteronomic history of Israel occur in the lack of any recognizable deuteronomic framework (the covenant renewal pattern of Deut and Josh) for the Books of Judges through 2 Kings. of the Vul. Deuteronomy set forth the historical basis of Gods election of Israel and fully stated the covenant (or theocratic constitution) which was revised and mediated to Israel afresh by Moses before his death. When you read it you will find this to be true because of the more intricate details it gives us of patriarchs, such as Moses, Nimrod, Esau and Jacob Where Is the Book Of Jasher Mentioned? God delayed judging Canaan because in Abrahams time the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete (Gen 15:16). Date of Writing: The Book of Joshua was likely written between 1400 and 1370 B.C. 23); and he gathered all the people to Shechem to lead them formally and solemnly to pledge anew their covenant allegiance to God (ch. This was a time of change with the influx of new peoples such as the Amorites. According to the early date view, by the time of the Israelite invasion of Canaan, Pharaoh Amenhotep III (1417-1379) was losing interest in his Asiatic territories. [54]:34 Yahweh's war campaign in Canaan validates Israel's entitlement to the land[63]:158159 and provides a paradigm of how Israel was to live there: twelve tribes, with a designated leader, united by covenant in warfare and in worship of Yahweh alone at a single sanctuary, all in obedience to the commands of Moses as found in the Book of Deuteronomy. Joshua is the story of the kingdom of God breaking into the world of nations at a time when national and political entities were viewed as the creation of the gods and living proofs of their power. Rom 2:1-9; Eph 4:17-24; 5:3-11; 2 Thess 1:5-9; Rev 21:8). Paul teaches that the events of the Exodus and the Conquest are highly typical (1 Cor 10:1-11). Did God miraculously prolong the daylight about a whole day? The Exodus would be only 300 years before Solomon began his Temple, or c. 1270 b.c. It would seem that the book was written prior to the 12th cent., for the Philistines were not yet considered to be a menace, occupying at that time only a part of the south, The Negeb, along with the Geshurites and the Avvim; and the territory as a whole was reckoned as Canaanite (13:2b-4a; the Philistines are mentioned only here in Joshua). The spiritual victory which God provides in Christ is beautifully pictured in this book. Since there is repeated mention of the fact that no territorial inheritance was allotted to the tribe of Levi (13:14, 33; 14:3, 4; 18:7), perhaps he was a Levite if not a priest (see J. J. Lias, Joshua, Pulpit Commentary, III, xi, xii). Evidently true prophets of the Lord were enrolled in the register of the house of Israel (Ezek 13:9), implying that they and their writings were accepted during their own lifetime as having divine authority. Some tribal groups may never have left Canaan to sojourn in Egypt. But why exterminate the Canaanites? The very name Joshua, the Gr. Was it really removed by the Catholic Church. B. As Joshua led the Israelites to victory over the enemies of God, so Christ makes possible victory over sin (Rom 8:37; 2 Cor 1:10; 2:14) and over Satan (Heb 2:14, 15; 1 John 3:8). It even describes the formal reading of the law by the entire nation at the foot of Mount Gerizim (8:33), where the Samaritans later worshiped (cf. [20] The tribes to whom Moses had granted land east of the Jordan are authorized to return home to Gilead (here used in the widest sense for the whole Transjordan district),[21] having faithfully 'kept the charge'[22] of supporting the tribes occupying Canaan. There remains some question as to which LXX recension, the Lucianic or the shorter form, preserves the more original text. 13-24). On the other hand, the various higher critical theories have proved to be destructive of one another, without proposing an explanation in line with Jewish tradition and the Bibles own testimony concerning itself. Josephus clearly states that the Jews of his day had five books belonging to Moses, and thirteen by prophets who wrote down what was done in their times from the death of Moses till the reign of Artaxerxes (Jos. Genesis 14 suggests a time after the collapse of the Sumer. What I found during this study was quite surprising. Start your free trial today. [7]:63, The prevailing scholarly view is that Joshua is not a factual account of historical events. The book's opening scene is tense. Since it was a holy war, sin in his own camp could not go unpunished (ch. Consider also his detailed narratives (2:3-22; 3:14-17; 4:8-18; 7:16-26) and the repeated use of preconquest place names (15:9, 49, 54). The region of Goshen would have been a comfortable distance from the palace (Gen 46:28-34). Sin must be atoned for through the offering of proper sacrifices (chapters 8-10). These may be designated as theological, archeological, and exegetical. The D (Deuteronomistic) additions were chiefly chs. [5]:1011. The book must be pre-Solomonic, since Canaanites still held Gezer (Josh 16:10; cf. Theological problem. This idea is supported by several facts discovered by scholars examining the text. 1:2-6 and 21:43-45). It is known that Pharaoh Sesostris III (1878-1843) broke the power of the landed nobility, reducing the monarchs to the status of servants of the crown and doing away with their feudal states (W. C. Hayes, The Sceptre of Egypt, I [1953], 196). 3; 4); and of dealing with the reproach of Egypt by circumcising the men of Israel at Gilgal (5:2-9). Furthermore, source analysis spotted the familiar Pentateuchal documents in the sixth book. The reason for this request is that following their all-night forced march from Gilgal Joshuas troops would become exhausted quickly by having to pursue the Amorites in the hot sunlight. The Book of Joshua is your history; a story about a foreigner in a strange land with a special talent. In each generation the tribes must renew the vows taken by their ancestors at Sinai. D. Canonicity. Moses is dead. But the promise of salvation is very much alive. This puzzle has spawned such attempted explanations as Ai being simply a military outpost of Bethel, leaving no occupational debris; or Joshua 7, 8 really refers to the destruction of Bethel (cf. The imposing ruins of et-Tell, two m. ESE of Bethel and covering an area of c. twenty-five acres, well fits the Biblical geographical description (Josh 7:2; 8:9, 12). b.c. Several events are mentioned which did not occur until after Joshuas death: Calebs conquest of Hebron (15:13b, 14; cf. 1 Kings 9:16); pre-Davidic, because Jerusalem was still inhabited by the Jebusites (Josh 15:8, 63; cf. This book is filled with a lot of bloody battles, human conflict, and pump your fist in the air moments. It celebrates God as general, defender, and king. Crisis in Israel The book of Judges describes a period in the life of the nation of Israel between the prophetic leadership of Moses and Joshua and the establishment of the monarchy and kingship in Israel. Yet in His control of history God grants freedom of will and motive to His agents. b.c., but not the 13th. Just as Moses wrote down the words and works of God and had the scroll(s) placed beside the Ark of the covenant in the sanctuary to remain there as a witness to the nation (Deut 31:9, 24-27), so also later prophets such as Samuel wrote additional material in the book (MT, , 1 Sam 10:25) and laid it up before the Lord. The seat of government remained in the Memphis area just S of Cairo throughout the twelfth and thirteenth dynasties. It is clear, however, in Jewish history that Deuteronomy always has been considered as part of the Torah, as one of the five books of the law. The data for determining this background are supplied by the Biblical records and archeological research. The chief emphasis was upon fertility and sex. He speaks of the Lords blocking Jordan until we were passed over (Josh 5:1, consonantal Heb. armies did not always attempt to invade the mountains but stuck to the coastal route when going to campaign against the Hittites in Syria. 1-12) and settlement (chs. [62] But in Joshua Israel is obedient, Joshua is faithful, and God fulfills his promise and gives them the land as a result. the fragments from Cave IV, indicate that there was existent in Pal. As a result, the land is called the Promised Land. When the book ends, Joshua is dead and . To us, that screams freshman year of high school. The cultural and historical setting for the conquest of Pal. Actually, the connection of Joshua with Deuteronomy is no closer than its connection with Judges. records of Rameses III did the Philistines come in force to the Palestinian coastal plain. The covenant-renewal ceremony led by Joshua was the prerogative of the kings of Judah. Subsequently, 48 cities with their surrounding lands were allocated to the Tribe of Levi.[18]. 3. The Book of Joshua was written to continue the sacred history of Israel begun in the Pentateuch. Phinehas, the son and successor of Eleazar the high priest, stood firmly for the Lord at Peor (Num 25:7-13) and fought the Midianites, killing Balaam (31:6-8). 7, 8). The identification of Ai with any known archeological site cannot yet be established. Bubastis where Pharaoh could be in residence during the time of the plagues. [55]:102 God's commission to Joshua in chapter 1 is framed as a royal installation. The Book of Joshua was written to continue the sacred history of Israel begun in the Pentateuch. Judg 1:1, 11-15), and the migration of the Danites to Leshem (Josh 19:47; cf. Bright, Joshua, IB (1953); Y. Kaufmann, The Biblical Account of the Conquest of Palestine (1953); G. E. Mendenhall, Law and Covenant in Israel and the Ancient Near East (1955); K. Elliger, Tribes, Territories of, IDB (1962), IV, 701-710; J. Rea, Joshua, WBC (1962); S. Gevirtz, Jericho and Shechem, VT, XIII (1963), 52-62; I. Jensen, Joshua: Rest-Land Won (1966); Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible (1967).
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