Joshua

Overview

Joshua opens the second major section of the Hebrew Bible, the Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings). It continues directly from Deuteronomy. Moses has died on Mount Nebo, and Joshua son of Nun, his assistant since the Exodus, leads Israel across the Jordan into Canaan. The book tells how the promise God made to Abraham, that his descendants would have the land, is fulfilled. It covers Joshua's whole career, from the crossing (traditionally dated to the late Bronze Age) to his death at 110.

Jewish tradition credits Joshua with writing most of the book. Many modern scholars see it as part of a "Deuteronomistic History" put into its final form centuries later. Archaeologists debate how the conquest happened and how quickly. The book itself both summarises sweeping victories ("so Joshua took all that land") and admits that much land was still unconquered. Its accounts of war, including the "ban" (herem) by which cities were devoted to destruction, are hard for modern readers. Jewish and Christian interpreters have read them in different ways: as judgement on Canaanite wickedness (Genesis 15:16), as stylised ancient war reporting, and as lessons about faithfulness.

The book has four parts: entering the land (chs 1–5), the conquest (chs 6–12), dividing the land among the tribes (chs 13–22), and Joshua's farewell and the covenant at Shechem (chs 23–24).

Part 1 — Crossing into Canaan (chapters 1–5)

Joshua's commission (1). "Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan." God promises Joshua, "As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." He tells him three times to "be strong and of a good courage", and to keep the book of the law: "thou shalt meditate therein day and night." The eastern tribes (Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh) promise to fight alongside the others.

Rahab and the spies (2). Two spies go into Jericho and lodge with Rahab, a prostitute whose house is built into the city wall. She hides them under stalks of flax on her roof and sends the king's men off on a false trail. She confesses that "the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath." She lets them down through her window on a rope, and they swear to spare everyone in her house if she ties a scarlet cord in the window. Later Scripture honours her for her faith (Hebrews 11:31), and Matthew lists her among the ancestors of David.

Crossing the Jordan (3–4). The river is in flood at harvest time. As soon as the priests carrying the ark step into the water, the river stops and stands "upon an heap" far upstream at Adam, and the people cross on dry ground. One man from each tribe carries a stone from the riverbed, and Joshua sets up the twelve stones at Gilgal so that "when your children shall ask… What mean ye by these stones?" the story will be told.

Gilgal (5). The men born in the wilderness are circumcised, and God says, "This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt." Israel keeps Passover on the plains of Jericho. The next day they eat the produce of Canaan and the manna stops. Near Jericho, Joshua meets a man with a drawn sword who says he has come as "captain of the host of the LORD". Joshua takes off his sandals, as Moses did at the burning bush, "for the place whereon thou standest is holy."

Part 2 — The Conquest (chapters 6–12)

Jericho (6). For six days the army marches once round the shut-up city in silence, led by seven priests blowing rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day they march round seven times. At the long trumpet blast Joshua cries, "Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city," the people shout, and "the wall fell down flat." The city is devoted to God and burned, its metals go to the LORD's treasury, and Rahab's family is rescued as promised. Joshua curses anyone who rebuilds Jericho (fulfilled in 1 Kings 16:34).

Ai and Achan (7). A small force sent against Ai is routed and thirty-six men die. Joshua tears his clothes in grief. God reveals that "Israel hath sinned": someone has taken some of the devoted spoil. Lots are drawn by tribe, clan, family and man, and they point to Achan of Judah. He confesses to hiding a Babylonian robe, two hundred shekels of silver and a gold wedge under his tent. He and his household are stoned in the Valley of Achor ("trouble").

Ai taken; the covenant at Ebal (8). Joshua sets an ambush behind Ai, draws its defenders out by pretending to retreat, and at God's command holds out his javelin. The hidden troops take the city and burn it. Then, as Moses commanded, Joshua builds an altar on Mount Ebal, writes a copy of the law on stones, and reads "all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings" to the whole assembly, including women, children and foreigners.

The Gibeonite trick (9). The people of Gibeon put on worn-out clothes and sandals, carry mouldy bread and pretend to come from a far country. Israel's leaders "asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD" and make a treaty with them. When the truth comes out three days later, the oath stands. The Gibeonites are spared and become "hewers of wood and drawers of water" for the sanctuary.

The long day and the southern campaign (10). Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem and four other Amorite kings attack Gibeon. Joshua marches all night from Gilgal and routs them. As they flee down the pass of Beth-horon, God throws down great hailstones, which kill more than the sword. Joshua prays, "Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon," and the sun stays in the sky "about a whole day", a day like no other, "for the LORD fought for Israel." The five kings, found hiding in a cave at Makkedah, are executed. Joshua takes Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Hebron and Debir, from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza.

The northern campaign (11). Jabin king of Hazor gathers a huge coalition "as the sand that is upon the sea shore", with many horses and chariots, at the waters of Merom. God tells Joshua, "Be not afraid." Joshua attacks suddenly, hamstrings the horses, burns the chariots and burns Hazor, "the head of all those kingdoms". The war is described as lasting "a long time". The Anakim, the giants who had frightened the spies, are wiped out except in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod.

The list of kings (12). Two kings defeated east of the Jordan under Moses (Sihon and Og) and thirty-one west of the Jordan under Joshua are listed. "And the land rested from war" (11:23).

Part 3 — The Inheritance (chapters 13–22)

Land still to take (13). God tells the aged Joshua, "There remaineth yet very much land to be possessed": Philistia, the coast and Lebanon. The land east of the Jordan given by Moses to Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh is described. Levi receives no territory: "the LORD God of Israel was their inheritance."

Caleb's request (14). Caleb, now 85, reminds Joshua of the spying mission forty-five years earlier. "As my strength was then, even so is my strength now… Now therefore give me this mountain." Joshua gives him Hebron "because that he wholly followed the LORD." Caleb drives out the Anakim there, and his nephew Othniel captures Debir and marries Caleb's daughter Achsah (15).

Judah and Joseph (15–17). Judah receives the south, with a detailed boundary and town list, though it cannot drive the Jebusites out of Jerusalem. Ephraim and the other half of Manasseh receive the central hill country. The daughters of Zelophehad receive land as Moses ordered. The Joseph tribes complain of too little room, and Joshua tells them to clear the forests and take the hill country, iron chariots or not.

Shiloh and the seven tribes (18–19). The whole community gathers at Shiloh and sets up the tabernacle there. Joshua asks the seven tribes still without land, "How long are ye slack to go to possess the land?" Surveyors map the remaining territory in seven parts, and Joshua casts lots before the LORD for Benjamin, Simeon (within Judah), Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and Dan. Joshua is given Timnath-serah in Ephraim.

Cities of refuge and Levite towns (20–21). Six cities of refuge are named: Kedesh, Shechem and Hebron west of the Jordan, and Bezer, Ramoth-gilead and Golan east of it. Forty-eight towns with pasture lands are given to the Levites throughout the tribes. The section ends: "There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass" (21:45).

The altar by the Jordan (22). Joshua sends the eastern tribes' soldiers home with his blessing. At the Jordan they build a large altar, and the other tribes, fearing a rival sanctuary and God's anger, gather for war. Phinehas the priest leads a delegation to find out why. The eastern tribes explain that the altar is only a copy, a "witness between us" that their descendants also belong to the LORD. The delegation is satisfied and war is avoided.

Part 4 — Joshua's Farewell (chapters 23–24)

Charge to the leaders (23). Joshua, now "old and stricken in age", gathers Israel's leaders. God has fought for them, and "not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake." He tells them to keep the law, to "cleave unto the LORD your God", and not to intermarry with or worship the gods of the remaining nations, which would otherwise become "snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides".

The covenant at Shechem (24). At Shechem, where Abraham first built an altar in Canaan, Joshua retells Israel's history as God's own words: Terah and Abraham serving other gods "on the other side of the flood"; Isaac, Jacob and Esau; Moses and Aaron; the plagues and the sea; the wilderness; Balaam; Jericho; "a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not." Then he calls for a decision: "Choose you this day whom ye will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD" (24:15). The people promise three times to serve the LORD. Joshua warns, "Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God," and tells them to put away their foreign gods. He makes a covenant, writes it in "the book of the law of God", and sets up a large stone under the oak by the sanctuary as a witness.

Three burials (24:29–33). Joshua dies at 110, the same age as Joseph, and is buried at Timnath-serah. Joseph's bones, carried out of Egypt as he had asked (Genesis 50:25), are buried at Shechem in the plot Jacob bought. Eleazar the priest dies and is buried in Ephraim. "Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua."

Key themes, and the bridge to Judges

• Promise kept. The land sworn to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is given. The book repeatedly says that God's word did not fail.
• The LORD fights for Israel. The river parts, walls fall, hail and a lengthened day bring the victories. Joshua's role is to obey and to trust.
• Obedience and its opposite. Rahab, a Canaanite, is saved by faith, and Achan, an Israelite, is destroyed for disobedience. Belonging to God's people depends on loyalty as well as birth.
• A continuation of Moses. Joshua repeats Moses' signs (a crossing on dry ground, holy ground, intercession) and leads by "the book of the law".
• Land as inheritance. The long boundary lists show that every tribe, clan and family, including Caleb and the daughters of Zelophehad, receives its share as a gift.
• Unfinished work. Canaanites remain in Jerusalem, Gezer and the Philistine coast. Joshua warns that what is left could become a trap.
• Choice. The book ends with the choice at Shechem. Each generation has to decide whom it will serve.

Joshua closes with Israel settled, faithful while Joshua and the elders live, and three graves in the hill country. The question left open is what the next generation will do. Judges answers straight away: "there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD."