Introduction to Joshua

From BibleWiki

The book of Joshua, is, quite literally, Joshua's book. It begins with his call and commission, and ends with his death.

Inbetween it records the Israelite invasion of Canaan and the subsequent partition amongst the tribes. It the story of two military campaigns after crossing the Jordan, and the subsequent progress throughout the land.

In the Hebrew Bible it immediately follows the Pentateuch, and some strands of scholarly criticism have incuded it, forming a Hexateuch. Other scholars, however, such as Martin Noth and John Bright, stress that Joshua looks forward as the beginning of the history of Israel in its homeland.

Outline

• Invasion (1-12)
  • Joshua's Comission (1:^1-9)
  • Entry into Canaan (1:¹⁰ - 5:¹²)
  • Stage 1 - Jericho and Ai (5:¹³ - 8:³⁵)
  • Stage 2 - Campaign in the South (9 - 10)
  • Stage 3 - Campaign in the North (11)
  • List of Conquered Kings (12)
• Settlement (13-24)
  • Allocation to the tribes (13 - 19)
  • Cities of Refuge and Levitical Towns (20 - 21)
  • Return of Eastern Tribes (22)
  • Joshua's farewell and Renewal of Covenant (23 - 24)

Authorship and Date

The author of the book is not identified internally. Jewish tradition ascribed the bulk of the book to Joshua himself. Early critical scholarship place it much later. Anderson (1959) and Pfeiffer (1949) place it in the mid 6th Century, with later additions, and Smith (1900) places it into the 3rd Century.

Some of the text points towards an early composition:

• Seeming "eyewitness" notes (5:1, 5:6, 15:4) etc.
• 6:25 implies that Rahab was still alive, although it may refer to her descendants
• 15:63 states that the Jebusites were in Jerusalem "to this day" - they were dislodged by David (2 Sam 5:6)
• 16:10 states that the Canaanites were in Gezer "to this day" - they were killed in Solomon's time (1 Kg 9:16)
• 19:28f refers to Great Sidon and to Tyre, and 13:4ff refers to Phoenicians as Sidonians. However, in the 12th Century Tyre replaced Sidon as the most important Phoenician city.
• 11:22 states that the Anakim live in cities later occupied by the Philistines. According to Egyptian records, the Philistines became a major threat to the Israelites after 1200 BC.
• Ancient names are given for Caananite cities, which would be expected to die out after the conquest:
  • 14:15 - Kiriath Arba - later Hebron
  • 15:9 - Baalah - later Kiriath Jearim
  • 15:49 - Kiriath Sannah - later Debir

Other parts of the text point towards a later composition:

• 11:2 - references to the "hill country of Judah" and the "hill country of Israel" implies a composition after the schism (c. 930)
• 15:13ff - Conquest of Hebron by Caleb, which is retold in Judges 1 after Joshua's death
• 15:15ff - Capture of Debir by Othniel, again recounted in Judges 1 as being after Joshua's death. (Although Kitchen argues that Debir was smitten twice)
• 19:47 - Migration of the Danites to Laish, which is described in detail in Judges 17 & 18.
• 24:29ff - accounts of the death of Joshua and Eleazar are obviously from after Joshua's death