Introductory Issues in Joshua

Revised by Monica Melanchthon (07/23)

Sources in JoshuaThe successor of Moses, Joshua led the Israelites into Canaan.

The contents of the book are of varied genres and derived from diverse sources. The similarities between the call of MosesProphet who led Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land and received the law at Sinai. in Exodus 3 and Joshua’s experience in Joshua 5, the crossing of the river Jordan (3:2-5), the intercession of Joshua (7:6-9), or the holding up of his arms in 8:18 as Moses did in Exodus 17:11 are a few examples among others that point to the likeness between Joshua and the Exodus traditions, and especially with the Yahwist and Priestly documents. The book’s familiarity with Deuteronomy is apparent (compare Joshua 1:3-5a and Deuteronomy 11:24-25; or Joshua 1:5c-7a and Deuteronomy 31:7-8; Joshua 1:13-15 and Deuteronomy 3:18-20). The book also mentions a much older and now lost source, namely the “Book of Jashar,” in Joshua 10:13, that narrates the incident of the Lord stopping the sun so Joshua could finish the battle. The “Book of Jashar” was apparently a collection of ancient Hebrew songs and poems praising the heroes of Israel and their exploits in battle, some of which may be contemporaneous with the time of Joshua (13th century BCE). It is therefore concluded that the book is a blend of material drawn from these various written sources and oral traditions, nationalist and tribal, and etiologies that span a lengthy period. That the book is not the work of a single author/writer but more likely the work of a compiler or a collector/redactor is generally accepted. This work was done perhaps in two or three phases during the seventh century (the time of JosiahJudean king noted for his reforms of Israel’s worship in the time of Jeremiah.) and later in the post-exilic era, first with a historical focus, later with a prophetic focus, and lastly a nomistic (law) focus.   

Joshua the warrior

Joshua, known as Hoshea, or Yehoshua in Hebrew (literally, “YHWH is salvationSalvation can mean saved from something (deliverance) or for something (redemption). Paul preached that salvation comes through the death of Christ on the cross which redeemed sinners from death and for a grace-filled life.”), is the son of Nun from the Northern tribe of Ephraim. Born in Egypt, he journeys with and assists Moses (Exodus 17:8-16; 24:13). He is an obedient warrior who also leads the 12 spies sent by Moses to explore Canaan (Numbers 13). Along with CalebFaithful leader of Israel alongside Moses and Joshua. the son of Jephunneh, Joshua encourages Moses and the community to enter the land (Numbers 14:6-9), contradicting the other ten spies who were not too sure they were equipped for it. The community chooses to ignore Joshua and Caleb. In response, God allows only Joshua and Caleb, from the generation that left Egypt, to enter the Promised Land. 

Joshua is therefore presented as an apprentice to Moses (Exodus 24:13; 33:11) and a servant of God (24:29), a loyal and an obedient practitioner of the covenantA covenant is a promise or agreement. In the Bible the promises made between God and God’s people are known as covenants; they state or imply a relationship of commitment and obedience., who embodies the command to be, “strong and very courageous,” “careful to act in accordance with all the law” and who does not turn from it to the right hand or to the left (Joshua 1:7). He succeeds Moses as the leader of the Israelites and is sometimes referred to as the “second Moses.” He is fully accepted by YHWH the God of Israel, who accompanies him in his endeavors as a leader. He is guided by the TorahThe Torah is the law of Moses, also known as the first five books of the Bible. To many the Torah is a combination of history, theology, and a legal or ritual guide. (Joshua 1:8), organizes warriors (Joshua 4:12-13), and makes treaties (Joshua 9:15). The qualities and characteristics of Joshua as described by the text are akin to that required of an ideal king (Deuteronomy 17:14-20). Joshua is not identified as a judge or a prophet but leads his army as a general and achieves success in war. He is not attributed with any faults or weaknesses and earns the respect of his people, similar to that accorded to Moses (Joshua 4:14). Despite the major role he plays in these beginnings of Israel’s history, Joshua is not a major character in the biblical traditions. Outside of the Hexateuch (the first six books of the Bible), he is mentioned only in a few places (Judges 1, 1 Kings 16:34, 1 Chronicles 7:27). No mention of him is made in the summaries of Israel’s history (1 SamuelThe judge who anointed the first two kings of Israel. 12, NehemiahThe governor of Jerusalem who rebuilt the city walls after the exile. 9, Psalms 105 and 106), but one can see references to him in post-exilic texts (Sirach 46;1-8; 1 Maccabees 2:55; Acts 7:45 and Hebrews 4:8). 

The Deuteronomistic HistoryDeuteronomistic history refers to the narrative contained in the books of Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings. This narrative, probably written in the age of Israel’s exile (mid-6th century B.C.E.), recounts Israel’s history prior to the exile.

Joshua is the first book of what scholars call the Deuteronomistic History (Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings), which tells the story of Israel from Moses’ death to the Babylonian exile. Its name comes from the fact that the writers or compilers of this history used the book of Deuteronomy as the theological basis for their work and the introduction to it. Indeed, the “book of the law” referred to in Joshua seems to be the book of Deuteronomy (Joshua 1:7-8; 8:30-35; 23:6; 24:26). The Deuteronomistic History is marked by concern for covenant obedience, an emphasis on centralized power, and a pattern of human sin, divine punishment, and divine mercyMercy is a term used to describe leniency or compassion. God’s mercy is frequently referred to or invoked in both the Old and New Testaments.. Joshua clearly alludes to Deuteronomy and employs its language and phraseology requiring the reader to don a Deuteronomic narrative lens to understand it. 

The Book of Joshua concerns the possession of the land and its distribution among the tribes; its contents are shaped by and framed within a Deuteronomistic theological framework. In its final form, the book is a theological reflection of a community in exile with dreamsDreams often have potency and predictive power in the Bible, for they were seen as messages from God. In the Old Testament Joseph dreamed about the seven fat and lean years. In the New Testament Joseph dreamed about escaping to Egypt with Mary and Jesus. of re-entering the land which they have lost. But this community is not equipped with military might and hence the book in its reworked form emphasizes several things – recognition of a loyal, faithful, and courageous leader not too different from Moses, the collective effort of all Israel to conquer the land, the observance and obedience to the dictates of God. The community is reminded that the possession of the land and its loss is dependent on one’s obedience to divine law. But the contradictions and tensions between a violent conquest of the land and the demand to live a life of deference and submission to God is a complex issue within the book.  

 HolyHoly is a term that originally meant set apart for the worship or service of God. While the term may refer to people, objects, time, or places, holiness in Judaism and Christianity primarily denotes the realm of the divine war

Many modern readers of Joshua find the book disturbing because of its depiction of holy war; that is, war that is commanded by God. Conquest and plunder of native peoples, especially “devoting” people to destruction, is an idea foreign to most Christians’ conception of God. In pondering this legitimate theological problem, two things should be kept in mind. First, the Book of Joshua was addressed in its final form to an oppressed people in exile who had no military ability to engage in holy war. Second, the land of Canaan is occupied by people seen as idolators, contaminating the land. For God to reside in such a land, it must be purified and rid of these contaminants – the Canaanites annihilated. But the Israelites were not able to completely eradicate the Canaanites or set up base in a land that represented this desired purity. The actual narratives of conquest in Joshua appear incomplete as compared with the extensive claims in the summaries (Joshua 10:40-43). Archaeological evidence demonstrates–and the book of Joshua itself acknowledges–that the “conquest” of Canaan did not result in the annihilation of the native population (see Joshua 11:22; 13:1-6; 15:63; 16:10; 17:12-13). In other words, the theological ideal in Joshua of a land settled only by Israelites and devoted to the law of Moses does not reflect historical reality. The purpose behind this exaggerated telling of this story is perhaps to bolster pride and hope in a community that is displaced and in the depths of despair. The story of conquest and its sweeping claims credits God for God’s help. The victory over Canaan, even if partial, was possible because of God’s gracious intervention. The community in exile is able to understand and acknowledge that the land acquired for them by God is now lost because of Israel’s disobedience to the law and for breaching the covenant.    

Community and identity

Outside of the violence, killing, and destruction that characterize the book, there is also a concern for distinguishing between who is a part of Israel and who is not.  The Book of Joshua is therefore concerned with the question of Israelite identity, an important issue during the exile, when the book reached its final form. The tribes east of the Jordan are careful to assert their identity as Israelites, though most of their fellow Israelites have settled west of the Jordan (Joshua 22). There are warnings in the book not to associate with the peoples of the land, lest the Israelites be tempted to worship foreign gods (23:6-13; 24:19-28). The destruction of “devoted thingsDevoted things are objects dedicated to God for worship. In the book of Joshua Israel committed a transgression against God by stealing and misusing some of the devoted things. In Judges devoted things (cherem) included women and children and were granted protection.,” both possessions and people, seems to be motivated by this fear of assimilation (see Deuteronomy 20:16-18). It is noteworthy, however, that a few non-Israelites are treated positively in the book, namely, RahabProstitute who sheltered Joshua’s men when they came to spy on Jericho. and the Gibeonites, who both profess faith in the Lord, the God of Israel (Joshua 2:11; 9:9-10). The outsiders become insiders, and, at times, the insiders (native Israelites) become “devoted things” themselves when they break the covenant (Joshua 7).

Joshua and archaeology

The story in Joshua of an invasion and occupation of the land of Canaan by a large external force in the 13th-12th centuries BCE is not supported by the findings of archaeology. The cities of Jericho and Ai, for instance, which play a prominent role in the Book of Joshua, were not major population centers in that time period, Jericho having already been destroyed. The emergence of a distinct people called “Israel” in Canaan is traced by archaeologists to hundreds of small settlements in the central hill country founded in the 13th-12th centuries BCE. Features of these settlements suggest that they were made up of egalitarian agricultural societies not under the control of the Canaanite city-states. The Amarna letters (documents from the 14th century BCE) give us evidence that these Canaanite city-states were governed by kings, priests, and nobles, who oppressed the people of lower classes. Many of the oppressed people left this Canaanite social structure and became armed outlaws known as “Habiru.” It has been suggested that the book of Joshua reflects the historical memory of an outside group, worshipers of the LORD, who came into Canaan and joined with the Habiru and other disaffected people to form a new, egalitarian, agriculturally based society, which later identified itself as “Israel.” (For other theories of the beginnings of Israel in Canaan, see “The Emergence of Israel.”)

The Emergence of Israel

An unsettled issue in the reconstruction of Israelite history is how the tribes secured possession of the land and what their first settlements were like. According to the Book of Joshua, the land was acquired by military conquest in less than five years of struggle (Joshua 14:7, 10) and was divided among the nine tribes and one half-tribe that had not yet received their territorial allotments (Joshua 13:8-19:51). The Israelites are depicted as having displaced the various peoples that occupied the towns and villages, and all Israel in a collective effort was involved in taking the land and settling the portions allotted to the various tribes (Joshua 21:43).

The discrepancy between Joshua’s sweeping claims regarding the conquest of Canaan and the textual evidence in the book that contradicts this, plus the lack of archaeological evidence to support the idea of an invasion, has led to a questioning of this account and four different explanations regarding the rise and formation of Israel have been offered. 

• The first is the traditional view that does not question the biblical account, which is that Israel as a collective invaded Canaan and through several military strikes took over the land. This view is not fully supported by archaeological evidence, which shows, for example, that Jericho was already destroyed before the entry of the Israelites into Canaan; and some cities supposedly taken over by Israel were actually unpopulated.  
• The second suggests that there was no unified attempt by all Israel to conquer the land. Instead, separate tribes came into the land, some settled peacefully alongside the locals, while others engaged in short military strikes either when settling or when conflict arose over border issues. Over the course of time, the latter became a dominant part of the memory, which was applied to all of Israel. 
• The third holds the position that Israel emerged from the melting pot of Canaanite culture in a revolutionary social movement among the people already in Canaan. It was a revolt of the peasants against Canaanite overlords in the cities, an internal uprising that pitted the villages against the cities. A group of runaway slaves from Egypt joined this revolt and Yahwism provided the religious and theological foundations for this resistance to the city states. As per this view, there was neither a unified effort on the part of all Israel nor was there any killing of local inhabitants.  
• The fourth view suggests that Israel was the result of the gradual unification of a diverse group of peoples – diverse in origin, in ethnicity, and in religion. Israel emerged into a nation out of a long process of struggle both internal (between diverse tribes and groups) and external (the common enemy, namely the Philistines). In short, the Canaanites became the Israelites. Among these were refugees from slavery in Egypt who brought Yahwism with them and who eventually came to dominate the composite people, Israel.   

Joshua and history

As noted in “Joshua and archaeology,” the story in the Book of Joshua about a large-scale invasion and occupation of the land of Canaan by Israel is not supported by the archaeological evidence. Though Joshua is part of the Deuteronomistic History, it should not be read as one reads modern history books. It includes some historical memories, but it is also compiled of many other types of literature: hero legends, folktales, administrative lists, liturgical texts, etc. Its concern is not so much with historical dates and events, but with a story of origins: How did this entity known as “Israel” come to be in the land? How did God fulfill God’s promises to Israel? The book may very well contain a historical memory of those origins, the memory of a group of worshipers of the LORD who came into Canaan and joined with disaffected Canaanites to form a new nation, centered on the law of Moses. The historical parts of the Book of Joshua, however, have more to do with the time of its compilation than with the time of Joshua. The lists of land allotments in chapters 13-19, for instance, are probably derived from administrative lists during the time of the monarchy, when the first “edition” of Joshua was probably completed.

What are “devoted things”?

The LORD commands the Israelites on a number of occasions to “devote” things or people to destruction. The Canaanite cities they conquer are to be utterly destroyed, along with everyone and everything in them. This command seems to have the primary purpose of maintaining religious purity, so that the Israelites will not be tempted by the Canaanites to worship other gods (see Deuteronomy 20:16-18; Joshua 23:4-13). The command about ‘devoted things’ or herem also has sacrificial overtones. The devoted things are devoted “to the LORD,” and they are to be burned with fire, like a burnt offering (Joshua 6:17, 24; 7:11, 15). For more on this topic, see “Community and Identity” and “Holy War.”

Women in Joshua

While women and girls are members of the Israelite and Canaanite nations, they are rarely, if ever, named or explicitly mentioned in Joshua. Those named are Rahab, the sex worker in Joshua 2, Achsah, the daughter of Caleb in Joshua 15:16-19, who asks for water resources to be added to her inheritance, and a brief note about the daughters of Zelophehad – Mahlah, NoahBuilt the ark in which his family and the animals were saved from a flood., Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah in Joshua 17:3-6. One would have to use one’s imagination to understand how women and girls, made invisible in the text, may have contributed to or experienced life during this entry into Canaan and takeover of Canaan. We must in our reading of this book ensure that we read them into the story, recognizing that women too are making this journey, crossing the Jordan, participating in the various rituals, and suffering the consequences of decisions, both good and bad, that either God, or the male leader, or head of the householdA household is a living unit comprised of all the persons who live in one house.  A household would embrace all the members of a family, including servants and slaves.  In the book of Acts, stories are told of various persons and their households, like…, makes. Equally important is the impact of the Israelite invasion on the native Canaanite women. One cannot deny that women on both sides shoulder the heavy burden of sustaining embattled societies, while at the same time attending to trauma, miseries, and violence during conflict, both armed and unarmed.