Book of Joshua - Read, Study Bible Verses Online

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summary of the book of joshua

This summary of the Book of Joshua provides information on the title, author(s), date written, chronology, subject, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the Book of Joshua.

conquest and the ethical question of war

many readers of joshua (and other old testament books) are deeply concerned about the role war plays in this account of god’s dealings with his people. Not a few alleviate their ethical qualms by ascribing the author’s perspective to a pre-Christian (and sub-Christian) stage of moral development that the Christian, in light of the teaching of Christ, must repudiate and transcend. therefore, the main thread of joshua’s narrative line is an offense to them.

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It must be remembered, however, that the book of Joshua does not address the abstract ethical question of war as a means to achieve human ends. it can only be understood in the context of the story of redemption that unfolds in the Pentateuch, with its interplay of divine grace and judgment. of that story is the direct continuation.

Joshua is not an epic account of Israel’s heroic generation or the story of Israel’s conquest of Canaan with the help of their national deity. It is rather the story of how God, to whom the entire world belongs, at one stage in the history of redemption reconquered a portion of the earth from the powers of this world who had claimed it for themselves, defending their claims to the force of arms. and trust in their false gods. tells how god commissioned his people to serve as his army under the leadership of his servant joshua, to take canaan in his name from the idolatrous and dissolute canaanites (whose measure of sin was now full; see ge 15:16 and note). He further tells how he aided them in the enterprise and gave them conditional tenure in his land in fulfillment of the ancient promise he had made to Israel’s forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

joshua is the story of the kingdom of god breaking into the world of nations at a time when national and political entities were seen as the creation of the gods and living proof of their power. thus, the lord’s triumph over the canaanites testified to the world that the god of israel is the only true and living god, whose right over the world is absolute. It was also a warning to the nations that the irresistible advance of the kingdom of God would end by disinheriting all who opposed it, giving place on earth only to those who recognize and serve the Lord. act of redemption and judgment at the same time, announced the outcome of history and anticipated the final destiny of humanity and creation.

the battles for canaan were, therefore, the war of the lord, undertaken at a particular moment of the redemption program. God did not give his people under Joshua any commission or license to conquer the world with the sword, but rather a particular and limited mission. the conquered land itself would not become israel’s national possession by right of conquest, but belonged to the lord. so the earth had to be cleansed of all traces of paganism. their people and their wealth were not for israel to take as spoils of war to enrich themselves with (as achan tried to do, ch. 7) but were placed under god’s ban (they had to be dedicated to god to spare them as he delighted). in that land israel had to establish a community faithful to the just government of god and thus be a witness (and a blessing) for the nations. If Israel became unfaithful and conformed to Canaanite culture and practice, they would in turn lose their place in the land of the Lord, as Israel almost did in the days of the judges, and as it eventually did in exile.

War is a terrible curse that the human race brings upon itself as it seeks to possess the earth by its own unjust ways. but it pales before the curse that awaits all those who do not heed god’s testimony about himself or his warnings, those who oppose god’s rule and reject his offer of grace. the god of the second joshua (jesus) is the god of the first joshua too. though now, for a time, he reaches out to all the world with the gospel (and urgently commissions his people to carry his offer of peace to all nations), the sword of his judgment waits in the wings, and his second Joshua he will wield it (rev 19:11-16; see notes there).

title and theological theme

joshua is a story of conquest and fulfillment for the people of god. After many years of slavery in Egypt and 40 years in the desert, the Israelites were finally allowed to enter the land promised to their fathers. abraham, always a migrant, never owned the country to which he was sent, but left his sons the legacy of god’s covenant that made them the eventual heirs of all of canaan (see ge 15:13,16,18; 17: 8). Joshua was destined to make that promise a reality. where deuteronomy ends, the book of joshua begins: the tribes of israel are still encamped on the east side of the jordan river. The narrative begins with God’s order to advance and cross the river on dry land. He then recounts the series of victories in central, southern, and northern Canaan that gave the Israelites control of the entire mountainous region and the Negev. It continues with a description of tribal assignments and ends with Joshua’s final addresses to the people. The theme of the book, therefore, is the establishment of God’s people Israel in the land of the Lord, the land that he had promised to give them as their “resting” place on earth (1:13,15; 21:44 ; 22:4; 23:1; see also Deut 3:20 and note; 12:9-10; 25:19; 1ki 5:4 and note; 8:56). so the great king’s promise to the patriarchs and moses to give the land of canaan to the chosen people of his kingdom is now fulfilled historically (1:1-6; 21:43-45).

In the story told in the book, three main actors play a role: “the lord” (as the god of israel), his servant joshua, and his people israel (the latter a collective “character” in the story). we meet all three immediately in ch. 1, where all three are clearly introduced in the distinctive roles they will play in the story that follows. chap. 1 also introduces the reader to the main concern of the book as a whole.

the role of the central human actor in the events narrated here is reinforced by the name he bears. Early in his life, Joshua was simply called Hoshea (No. 13:8, 16), meaning “salvation.” but later, moses changed his name to joshua, which means “the lord saves” (or “the lord gives victory”). when this same name (Greek for jesus; see niv text note at mt 1:21) was given to mary’s firstborn son, it identified him as the servant of god who would preliminary complete what god did for israel through the first joshua, i.e. defeating all the powers of evil in the world and bringing god’s people to their eternal “rest” (see heb 4:1-11 and notes).

in the hebrew bible the book of joshua begins a division called the ancient prophets, also including judges, samuel and kings. all of these are of historical content but are written from a prophetic point of view. They do more than simply record the nation’s history from Moses to the fall of Judah in 586 B.C. They prophetically interpret God’s covenant ways with Israel in history: how he fulfills and stays true to his promises (especially through his servants like Joshua, the judges, Samuel, and David) and how he deals with the rebellion of the Israelites. In Joshua it was the Lord who won the victories and “gave to Israel all the land that he had sworn to give to his ancestors” (21:43).

author and date

in the opinion of many scholars, joshua was not written until the end of the period of the kings, some 800 years after the actual events. but there are significant reasons to question this conclusion and place the time of composition much earlier. The oldest Jewish traditions (Talmud) state that Joshua wrote his own book except for the final section on his funeral, which is attributed to Eleazar son of Aaron (the last verse must have been added by a later editor).

on at least two occasions the text reports writing by order of joshua or by joshua himself. We are told that when the tribes received their territories, Joshua instructed his men “to make a reconnaissance of the land and write a description of it” (18:8). then in the last scene of the book, when joshua led israel in a renewal of the covenant with the lord, it is said that “he wrote decrees and laws” (24:25). on another occasion the narrator speaks as if he had been a participant in the event; he uses the pronouns “we” and “we” (5:1,6).

In addition, the author seems to be familiar with ancient city names, such as “the Jebusite city” (15:8; 18:16,28) for Jerusalem, kiriath arba (14:15; 15:54; 20:7 ; 21:11) for Hebron, and greater Sidon (11:8; 19:28) so that it later became simply Sidon. and Tire is never mentioned, probably because in Joshua’s time it had not yet become a major port.

but if some features suggest an author from joshua’s own life, others point to a writer from a somewhat later period. The account of the long day when the sun stood still in Ajalon is supported by a citation from another source, the Book of Jashar (10:13). this would hardly be natural for an eyewitness to the miracle he was writing about shortly after it occurred. in addition, there are 12 cases in which the phrase “to this day” appears.

It seems safe to conclude that the book is based on ancient sources. it may date from the beginning of the monarchy. Some think that Samuel may have helped shape or compile the materials for the book, but in fact we are not sure who the final author or editor was.

the life of joshua

Joshua’s remarkable life was filled with excitement, variety, success and honor. he was known for his deep trust in god and as “a man in whom the spirit is” (nu 27:18). As a young man he experienced the bitter realities of slavery in Egypt, but he also witnessed supernatural plagues and the miracle of Israel’s flight from the Egyptian army when the waters of the sea parted before them. in the sinai peninsula it was joshua who led the troops of israel to victory over the amalekites (ex 17,8-13). he alone was allowed to accompany moses to the holy mountain where the tablets of the law were received (ex 24:13-14). and it was he who stood guard over the temporary tent of meeting that moses pitched before the tabernacle was erected (ex 33:11).

Joshua was chosen to represent his own tribe of Ephraim when the 12 spies were sent to Canaan to survey the land. only joshua and caleb, representing the tribe of judah, were ready to follow god’s will and take immediate possession of the land (see nu 14:26-34). the rest of the Israelites of that generation were condemned to die in the desert. even moses died before reaching the finish line and was told to give everything to joshua. God promised to guide and strengthen Joshua, just as he did Moses (Dt 31:23; cf. Jos 1:5 and note).

joshua was god’s chosen servant (see 24:29 and note on dt 34:5) to complete the work of moses and establish israel in the promised land. To that special divine appointment he was faithful—as leader of God’s army, as administrator of God’s division of the land, and as God’s spokesman to promote Israel’s covenant faithfulness. in all this he was a remarkable type (foreshadow) of christ (see notes on heb 4:1,6-8).

historical environment

At the time of the Israelite migration to Canaan, the ancient Near Eastern superpowers were relatively weak. the Hittites had vanished from the scene. Neither Babylon nor Egypt could maintain a permanent military presence in Canaan, and the Assyrians would not send their armies until centuries later.

as the tribes circled east of the dead sea, the edomites denied them passage, so israel turned them east. However, when Sihon and Og, two regional Amorite kings of Transjordan, tried to stop the Israelites, they were easily defeated and their lands occupied. moab was forced to let israel pass through his territory and camp on his plains. The Midianites were also hit hard.

Biblical archaeologists call this period the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 BC). today thousands of artifacts testify to the richness of Canaanite material culture, which was in many ways superior to that of the Israelites. When the ruins of the ancient kingdom of Ugarit were discovered in modern Ras Shamra on the north coast of Syria (see chart, p. xxiii), a great deal of new information about the domestic, commercial, and religious life of Ugarit came to light. the Canaanites. from a language close to Hebrew emerged stories of ancient kings and gods revealing their immoral conduct and cruelty. Additionally, pagan temples, altars, tombs, and ritual vessels have been discovered, shedding more light on the culture and customs of the peoples surrounding Israel.

Excavations at the ancient sites of Megiddo, Beth Shan, and Gezer show how heavily fortified these cities were and why they were not captured and occupied by Israel in Joshua’s day. However, many other fortified cities were taken, so that Israel was firmly established in the land as the dominant power. Aside from Jericho and Ai, Joshua is reported to have only burned Hazor (11:13), so attempts to date these events by the levels of destruction in the mounds of ancient Canaan cities are questionable undertakings. It should also be remembered that other groups were involved in campaigns in the region at this time, including the Egyptian rulers and the Sea Peoples (including the Philistines). there were also many intercity wars among the Canaanites, and afterward the period of the judges was marked by general turbulence.

Much of the archeology data seems to support a date for the Joshua invasion c. 1250 BC This fits well with an exodus that would have taken place 40 years earlier under the famous Rameses II, who ruled from the Nile Delta in a city of the same name (Ex 1:11). it also places joseph in egypt in a favorable situation. Four hundred years before Rameses II the pharaohs were the Semitic Hyksos, who also ruled from the delta near the land of Goshen.

on the other hand, a good case can be made for the traditional view that the invasion occurred c. 1406 BC The oppression would have taken place under Amunhotep II after the death of his father Thutmose III, who is known to have used slave labor in his construction projects. The earlier date also fits better with the two numbers found at Thurs 11:26 and 1ki 6:1, as it allows for an additional 150 years between Moses and the monarchy. see also introductions to genesis: author and date of writing; exodus: chronology; judges: background; and note on 1K 6:1.

scheme

entry into the land (1:1; 5:12)
- exhortations to conquer (ch. 1)
- reconnaissance of Jericho (ch. 2 ) )
- the crossing of the Jordan (ch. 3-4)
- the consecration at Gilgal (5:1-12)
- the initial battles (5:13;8:35)
  1. the victory at Jericho (5:13;6:27)
  2. the failure at woe due to achan’s sin (ch. 7)
  3. victory at ai (8:1-29)
  4. covenant renewal at shechem (8:30-35)

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Book of Joshua – Read, Study Bible Verses Online