Book of Joshua

==== Entry into the land and conquest (chapters 2–12) ====
[[File:Benjamin West - Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant'', painted by [[Benjamin West]], 1800]]
[[File:James Jacques Joseph Tissot - The Ark Passes Over the Jordan - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|right|''The Ark Passes Over the Jordan'' (watercolor c. 1896–1902 by [[James Tissot]])]]

[[Rahab]], a Canaanite [[Women in the Bible|woman of the Bible]], sets in motion the entrance into Canaan by the Israelites.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Reading the women of the Bible|last=Frymer-Kensky, Tikva Simone.|date=2002|publisher=Schocken Books|isbn=978-0-8052-4121-1|edition=1st|location=New York|oclc=49823086|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/readingwomenofbi00frym}}</ref> To avoid repeating failed attempts by [[Moses]] to have notable men of Israel predict the success rate of entry into Canaan mentioned in the [[book of Numbers]], Joshua tasks two regular men with entering Jericho as spies. They arrive at Rahab's house and spend the night. The king of Jericho, having heard of possible Israelite spies, demands that Rahab reveal the men. She tells him that she is unaware of their whereabouts, when in reality, she hid them on her roof under flax. The next morning, Rahab professes her faith in God to the men and acknowledges her belief that Canaan was divinely reserved for the Israelites from the beginning. Because of Rahab's actions, the Israelites are able to enter Canaan.<ref name=":0" />

The Israelites cross the [[Jordan River]] through a miraculous intervention of [[God]] with the [[Ark of the Covenant]] and are [[Circumcision in the Bible|circumcised]] at [[Gilgal|Gibeath-Haaraloth]] (translated as ''hill of foreskins''), renamed [[Gilgal]] in memory. ''Gilgal'' sounds like ''Gallothi'', "I have removed", but is more likely to translate as "circle of standing stones". The conquest begins with the [[battle of Jericho]], followed by [[Ai (Canaan)|Ai]] (central Canaan), after which Joshua builds an altar to Yahweh at [[Mount Ebal]] in northern Canaan and renews the [[Covenant (biblical)|Covenant]] in a ceremony with elements of a divine land-grant ceremony, similar to ceremonies known from [[Mesopotamia]].<ref name=Younger />{{rp|180}}

The narrative then switches to the south. The [[Gibeon (ancient city)|Gibeonites]] trick the Israelites into entering an alliance with them by saying that they are not [[Canaanites]]. Despite this, the Israelites decide to keep the alliance by [[Slavery|enslaving]] them instead. An alliance of [[Amorites#Biblical Amorites|Amorite]] kingdoms headed by the Canaanite king of [[Jerusalem]] attacks the Gibeonites but they are defeated with [[Yahweh]]'s miraculous help of stopping the [[Sun]] and the [[Moon]], and hurling down large [[hail]]stones (Joshua 10:10–14). The enemy kings were eventually hanged on trees. The [[Deuteronomist]] author may have used the then-recent 701&nbsp;BCE campaign of the [[List of Assyrian kings|Assyrian king]] [[Sennacherib]] in the [[Kingdom of Judah]] as his model; the hanging of the captured kings is in accordance with [[Assyria]]n practice of the 8th century BCE.<ref>{{Cite book|last= Na'aman |first=Nadav|title= Ancient Israel and Its Neighbors: Collected Essays | volume = 2|publisher= Eisenbrauns |year= 2005 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=HmTOoQmf23AC&pg=PA378 |isbn= 978-1-57506-113-9 |page=378}}</ref>

With the south conquered the narrative moves to the northern campaign. A powerful multi-national (or more accurately, multi-ethnic) coalition headed by the king of [[Tel Hazor|Hazor]], the most important northern city, is defeated at the [[Battle of the Waters of Merom]] with Yahweh's help. Hazor itself is then captured and destroyed. Chapter 11:16–23 summarises the extent of the conquest: Joshua has taken the entire land, almost entirely through military victories, with only the Gibeonites agreeing to peaceful terms with Israel. The land then "had rest from war" (Joshua 11:23, repeated at 14:15). Chapter 12 lists the vanquished kings on both sides of the [[Jordan River]]: the two kings who ruled east of the Jordan who were defeated under Moses' leadership (Joshua 12:1–6; cf. Numbers 21), and the 31 kings on the west of the Jordan who were defeated under Joshua's leadership (Joshua 12:7–24). The list of the 31 kings is quasi-tabular:

:''the king of [[Jerusalem]], one; the king of [[Hebron]], one'';
:''the king of [[Jarmuth]], one; the king of [[Tel Lachish|Lachish]], one''; (etc.; Joshua 12:10–11).
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