Book of Joshua

== Themes ==
=== Faith and wrath ===
The overarching theological theme of the Deuteronomistic history is faithfulness and God's mercy, and their opposites, faithlessness and God's wrath. In the [[Book of Judges]], the [[Books of Samuel]], and the [[Books of Kings]], the [[Israelites]] become faithless and God ultimately shows his anger by sending his people into exile.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Laffey|first=Alice L|chapter=Deuteronomistic history|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k85JKr1OXcQC&pg=PA337|editor=Orlando O. Espín |editor2=James B. Nickoloff|title=An introductory dictionary of theology and religious studies|publisher=Liturgical Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-8146-5856-7}}</ref> But in Joshua Israel is obedient, Joshua is faithful, and God fulfills his promise and gives them the land as a result.<ref name=Pressler />{{rp|3–4}} Yahweh's war campaign in [[Canaan]] validates Israel's entitlement to the land<ref name=McConville2001>{{Cite book|last=McConville|first=Gordon|chapter=Joshua|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ef1QEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA158|editor=John Barton|editor2=John Muddiman|title=Oxford Bible Commentary|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2001|isbn=978-0-19-875500-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordbiblecomme0000unse}}</ref>{{rp|158–159}} and provides a paradigm of how Israel was to live there: twelve tribes, with a designated leader, united by [[covenant (historical)|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]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Coogan|first=Michael D.|title=A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nlb1PQAACAAJ}}</ref>{{rp|162}}

=== God and Israel ===
[[File:JoshuaSun Martin.jpg|350px|thumb|''Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gideon'' ([[John Martin (painter)|John Martin]])]]
The Book of Joshua takes forward Deuteronomy's theme of Israel as a single people worshipping [[Yahweh]] in the land God has given them.<ref name=McConville2001 />{{rp|159}} Yahweh, as the main character in the book, takes the initiative in conquering the land, and Yahweh's power wins the battles. For example, the walls of [[Jericho]] fall because Yahweh fights for Israel, not because the Israelites show superior fighting ability.<ref name=Creach />{{rp|7–8}} The potential disunity of Israel is a constant theme, the greatest threat of disunity coming from the tribes east of the Jordan. Chapter 22:19 even hints that the land across the Jordan is unclean and that the tribes who live there have secondary status.<ref name=Creach />{{rp|9}}

=== Land ===

Land is the central topic of Joshua.<ref name=McConville2010 />{{rp|11}} The introduction to Deuteronomy recalled how Yahweh had given the land to the Israelites but then withdrew the gift when Israel showed fear and only Joshua and [[Caleb]] had trusted in God.<ref name=MillerDeut>{{Cite book|last=Miller|first=Patrick D|title=Deuteronomy|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1990|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-yoFvN_QOjYC|isbn=978-0-664-23737-0}}</ref>{{rp|33}} The land is Yahweh's to give or to withhold, and the fact that he has promised it to Israel gives Israel an inalienable right to take it. For [[Babylonian captivity|exilic]] and [[Second Temple period|post-exilic]] readers, the land was both the sign of Yahweh's faithfulness and Israel's unfaithfulness, as well as the centre of their ethnic identity. In Deuteronomistic theology, "rest" meant Israel's unthreatened possession of the land, the achievement of which began with the conquests of Joshua.<ref name=Nelson />{{rp|15–16}}

=== The enemy ===
[[File:Tissot The Taking of Jericho.jpg|thumb|''The Taking of Jericho'' (watercolor c. 1896–1902 by James Tissot)]]
Joshua "carries out a systematic campaign against the civilians of Canaan&nbsp;– men, women and children&nbsp;– that amounts to [[genocide]]."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dever|first=William|title=Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From?|publisher=Eerdmans|year=2003|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A_ByXkpofAgC&pg=PA38|isbn=978-0-8028-0975-9|page=38}}</ref> This practice was known as ''[[Herem (war or property)|herem]]'', as described in Deuteronomy 20:17, which entailed no [[Treaty|treaties]] with the enemy, no [[mercy]], and no [[Exogamy|intermarriage]].<ref name=Younger />{{rp|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."<ref name=Nelson />{{rp|18–19}} The divine call for massacre at [[Battle of Jericho|Jericho]] and elsewhere can be explained in terms of cultural norms (Israel was not the only [[Iron Age]] state to practice ''herem'') and theology (e.g. to ensure Israel's purity, fulfill God's promise, judge the Canaanites for their "sexual misconduct")<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Strawn |first=Brent A. |date=2012 |title=On Vomiting: Leviticus, Jonah, Ea(a)rth |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43727983 |journal=The Catholic Biblical Quarterly |volume=74 |issue=3 |pages=445–464 |jstor=43727983 |via=JSTOR}}</ref><ref name=Younger />{{rp|175}} but [[Patrick D. Miller]] in his commentary on Deuteronomy remarks, "there is no real way to make such reports palatable to the hearts and minds of contemporary readers and believers."<ref name=MillerDeut />{{rp|40–41}}

=== Obedience ===

Obedience versus disobedience is a constant theme of the work.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Curtis|first=Adrian H.W|title=Joshua|publisher=Sheffield Academic Press|year=1998|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6pCu7R5ubdwC|isbn=978-1-85075-706-1}}</ref>{{rp|79}} Obedience ties in the Jordan crossing, the defeat of Jericho and [[Ai (Canaan)|Ai]], circumcision and Passover, and the public display and reading of the Law. Disobedience appears in the story of [[Achan (biblical figure)|Achan]] ([[Stoning|stoned]] for violating the ''herem'' command), the [[Gibeon (ancient city)|Gibeonites]], and the altar built by the Transjordan tribes. Joshua's two final addresses challenge the Israel of the future (the readers of the story) to obey the most important command of all, to worship Yahweh and no other gods. Joshua thus illustrates the central Deuteronomistic message, that obedience leads to success and disobedience to ruin.<ref name=Nelson />{{rp|20}}

=== Moses, Joshua and Josiah ===
The Deuteronomistic history draws parallels in proper leadership between [[Moses]], Joshua and [[Josiah]].<ref name=Nelson />{{rp|102}} God's commission to Joshua in chapter 1 is framed as a royal installation. The people's pledge of loyalty to Joshua as the successor of Moses recalls royal practices. The covenant-renewal ceremony led by Joshua was the prerogative of the kings of Judah. God's command to Joshua to meditate on the "book of the law" day and night parallels the description of Josiah in 2 Kings 23:25 as a king uniquely concerned with the study of the law. 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.<ref>{{Cite book|last1= Finkelstein |first1=Israel |last2= Silberman|first2=Neil Asher |title=The Bible Unearthed |publisher= Free Press |year= 2001 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=lu6ywyJr0CMC&pg=PA95 |isbn= 978-0-7432-2338-6|page=95}}</ref>

Some of the parallels with Moses can be seen in the following, and not exhaustive, list:<ref name= Younger />{{rp|174}}
* Joshua sent [[Espionage|spies]] to scout out the land near Jericho, just as Moses sent spies from the wilderness to scout out the [[Promised Land]]<ref>Num. 13; Deut. 1:19–25</ref>
* Joshua led the Israelites out of the wilderness into the Promised Land, crossing the Jordan River as if on dry ground,<ref>Exodus 3:16</ref> just as Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt through the [[Red Sea]], which they crossed as if on dry land<ref>Exodus 14:22</ref>
* After crossing the [[Jordan River]], the Israelites celebrated the [[Passover]] just as they did immediately before [[the Exodus]]<ref>Exodus 12</ref>
* Joshua's vision of the "commander of Yahweh's army" is reminiscent of the divine revelation to Moses in the [[burning bush]]<ref>Exodus 3:1–6</ref>
* Joshua successfully intercedes on behalf of the Israelites when Yahweh is angry for their failure to fully observe the "ban" ([[herem (war or property)|herem]]), just as Moses frequently persuaded God not to punish the people<ref>Ex. 32:11–14, Num. 11:2, 14:13–19</ref>
* Joshua and the Israelites were able to defeat the people at Ai because Joshua followed the divine instruction to extend his sword,<ref>Joshua 8:18</ref> just as the people were able to defeat the [[Amalekites]] as long as Moses extended his hand that held the [[Staff of Moses|staff of God]]<ref>Exodus 17:8–13</ref>
* Joshua is "old, advanced in years" at the time when the Israelites can begin to settle on the promised land, just as Moses was old when he died having seen, but not entered, the Promised Land<ref name="auto">Deuteronomy 34:7</ref>
* Joshua served as the mediator of the renewed covenant between Yahweh and Israel at Shechem,<ref>Joshua 8:30–35; 24</ref> just as Moses was the mediator of Yahweh's covenant with the people at [[Mount Sinai]]/[[Mount Horeb]].
* Before his death, Joshua delivered a farewell address to the Israelites,<ref>Joshua 23–24</ref> just as Moses had delivered his farewell address.<ref>Deuteronomy 32–33</ref>
* Moses lived to be 120<ref name="auto"/> and Joshua lived to be 110.<ref>Joshua 24:29</ref>