Book of Joshua

{{short description|Sixth book of the Bible}}
{{about|the [[Biblical canon|canonical]] book of the [[Hebrew Bible]]|information on the [[Samaritan]] version|Book of Joshua (Samaritan)}}
{{Tanakh OT|Nevi'im|historical}}
[[File:Papyrus with the fragments of the Book of Joshua (CBL Cpt 2019.8a).jpg|thumb|Early 4th-century CE manuscript of Joshua from Egypt, in [[Coptic language|Coptic]] translation.]]
The '''Book of Joshua''' ({{lang-he|סֵפֶר יְהוֹשֻׁעַ‎}} ''{{transl|he|Sefer Yəhōšūaʿ}}'', [[Tiberian Hebrew|Tiberian]]: ''Sēp̄er Yŏhōšūaʿ''{{px2}};<ref>{{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Geoffrey |title=The Tiberian Pronunciation Tradition of Biblical Hebrew, Volume 1. |publisher=Open Book Publishers |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-78374-676-7}}</ref> {{lang-gr|Ιησούς του Ναυή}}; {{lang-la|Liber Iosue}}) is the sixth book in the [[Hebrew Bible]] and the [[Old Testament]], and is the first book of the [[Deuteronomistic history]], the story of Israel from the conquest of [[Canaan]] to the [[Babylonian captivity|Babylonian exile]].<ref name= McNutt1999>{{Cite book|last= McNutt|first=Paula|title= Reconstructing the Society of Ancient Israel|publisher= Westminster John Knox Press|year=1999|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=hd28MdGNyTYC&pg=PA33|isbn=978-0-664-22265-9}}</ref>{{rp |42}} It tells of the campaigns of the [[Israelites]] in central, southern and northern Canaan, the destruction of their enemies, and the division of the land among the [[Twelve Tribes of Israel|Twelve Tribes]], framed by two set-piece speeches, the first by God commanding the conquest of the land, and, at the end, the second by [[Joshua]] warning of the need for faithful observance of the Law (''[[torah]]'') revealed to [[Moses]].<ref name=achb>{{Cite book|last1=Achtemeier|first1= Paul J |last2=Boraas|first2= Roger S|title=The Harper Collins Bible Dictionary|publisher= Harper San Francisco|year= 1996 |isbn= 978-0-06-060037-2}}</ref>

The strong consensus among scholars is that the Book of Joshua holds little historical value for early Israel and most likely reflects a much later period.{{sfn|Killebrew|2005 |p=152|ps=: "Almost without exception, scholars agree that the account in Joshua holds little historical value vis-à-vis early Israel and most likely reflects much later historical times.<sup>15</sup>"}} The earliest parts of the book are possibly chapters 2–11, the story of the conquest; these chapters were later incorporated into an early form of Joshua likely written late in the reign of king [[Josiah]] (reigned 640–609&nbsp;BCE), but the book was not completed until after the fall of [[Jerusalem]] to the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] in 586 BCE, and possibly not until after the return from the [[Babylonian exile]] in 539 BCE.<ref name= Creach>{{Cite book |last= Creach |first= Jerome F.D. |title= Joshua |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |year=2003|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1V6ca8r3DssC&pg=PR11|isbn=978-0-664-23738-7}}</ref>{{rp |10–11}}

== Contents ==
[[File:Dore joshua crossing.jpg|thumb|''Joshua and the Israelites crossing the Jordan'' ([[Gustave Doré]])]]

=== Structure ===
I. Transfer of leadership to Joshua (1:1–18)
:A. God's commission to Joshua (1:1–9)
:B. Joshua's instructions to the people (1:10–18)
II. Entrance into and conquest of [[Canaan]] (2:1–12:24)
:A. Entry into Canaan
::1. Reconnaissance of [[Tell es-Sultan|Jericho]] (2:1–24)
::2. Crossing the [[River Jordan]] (3:1–17)
::3. Establishing a foothold at [[Gilgal]] (4:1–5:1)
::4. [[Circumcision]] and [[Passover]] (5:2–15)
:B. Victory over Canaan (6:1–12:24)
::1. Destruction of Jericho (6)
::2. Failure and success at [[Ai (Canaan)|Ai]] (7:1–8:29)
::3. Renewal of the covenant at [[Mount Ebal]] (8:30–35)
::4. Other campaigns in central Canaan. The Gibeonite Deception (9:1–27)
::5. Campaigns in southern Canaan (10:1–43)
::6. Campaigns in northern Canaan (11:1–15)
::7. Summary of lands conquered (11:16–23)
::8. Summary list of defeated kings (12:1–24)
III. Division of the land among the tribes (13:1–22:34)
:A. God's instructions to Joshua (13:1–7)
:B. Tribal allotments (13:8–19:51)
::1. Eastern tribes (13:8–33)
::2. Western tribes (14:1–19:51)
:C. Cities of refuge and levitical cities (20:1–21:42)
:D. Summary of conquest (21:43–45)
:E. De-commissioning of the eastern tribes (22:1–34)
IV. Conclusion (23:1–24:33)
:A. Joshua's farewell address (23:1–16)
:B. Covenant at [[Shechem]] (24:1–28)
:C. Deaths of Joshua and [[Eleazar]]; burial of Joseph's bones (24:29–33)<ref name=achb />

=== Narrative ===

==== God's commission to Joshua (chapter 1) ====
<!--Linked from [[Template:Tanakh OT]]-->
Chapter 1 commences "after the death of [[Moses]]"<ref>Joshua 1:1</ref> and presents the first of three important moments in Joshua marked with major speeches and reflections by the main characters; here first [[God]], and then [[Joshua]], make speeches about the goal of conquest of the [[Promised Land]]; in chapter 12, the narrator looks back on the conquest; and in chapter 23 Joshua gives a speech about what must be done if [[Israelites|Israel]] is to live in peace in the land.<ref name=DePury>{{Cite book |last1=De Pury|first1= Albert |last2=Romer|first2= Thomas|chapter= Deuteronomistic Historiography (DH): History of Research and Debated Issues|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=rex7ASbY_bkC&pg=PA5 |editor1-first =Albert | editor1-last = de Pury |editor2-first =Thomas | editor2-last = Romer |editor3-first =Jean-Daniel | editor3-last = Macchi|title= Israel Constructs its History: Deuteronomistic Historiography in Recent Research|publisher= Sheffield Academic Press|year= 2000 |isbn=978-0-567-22415-6|author1-link= Albert de Pury }}</ref>{{rp |49}}

God commissions Joshua to take possession of the land and warns him to keep faith with the [[Mosaic covenant]]. God's speech foreshadows the major themes of the book: the crossing of the [[Jordan River]] and conquest of the land, its distribution, and the imperative need for obedience to the Law. Joshua's own immediate obedience is seen in his speeches to the Israelite commanders and to the [[Transjordan in the Bible|Transjordanian]] tribes, and the Transjordanians' affirmation of Joshua's leadership echoes [[Yahweh]]'s assurances of victory.<ref name=Younger>{{Cite book |last=Younger|first= K. Lawson Jr|chapter=Joshua|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=2Vo-11umIZQC&pg=PA174|editor1-first = James D.G. | editor1-last = Dunn |editor2-first =John William | editor2-last = Rogerson |title= Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible |publisher= Eerdmans |year= 2003 |isbn= 978-0-8028-3711-0}}</ref>{{rp|175}}

==== 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).

==== Division of the land (chapters 13–22) ====
[[File:The map of the Holy Land by Marino Sanudo (drawn in 1320).jpg|thumb|Map of the [[Holy Land]], [[Pietro Vesconte]], 1321, showing the allotments of the tribes of Israel. Described by [[Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld]] as "the first non-Ptolemaic map of a definite country."<ref name="Nordenskiöld1889">{{cite book| first =Adolf Erik | last = Nordenskiöld | via = Google books |title= Facsimile-atlas to the Early History of Cartography: With Reproductions of the Most Important Maps Printed in the XV and XVI Centuries|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=i-IMSQAACAAJ|year=1889 |publisher= Kraus |pages=51, 64}}</ref>]]
[[File:1759 map Holy Land and 12 Tribes.jpg|thumb|right|1759 map of the tribal allotments of Israel]]
Having described how the Israelites and Joshua have carried out the first of their God's commands, the narrative now turns to the second: to "put the people in possession of the land." Joshua is "old, advanced (or stricken) in years" by this time.<ref>Joshua 13:1</ref>

This land distribution is a "covenantal land grant": [[Yahweh]], as king, is issuing each [[Twelve Tribes of Israel|tribe]] its territory.<ref name= Younger />{{rp |183}} The "[[Cities of Refuge]]" and [[Levitical city|Levitical cities]] are attached to the end, since it is necessary for the tribes to receive their grants before they allocate parts of it to others. The Transjordanian tribes are dismissed, affirming their loyalty to Yahweh.

The book reaffirms Moses' allocation of land east of the Jordan to the tribes of [[Tribe of Reuben|Reuben]] and [[Tribe of Gad|Gad]] and the half-tribe of [[Tribe of Manasseh|Manasseh]],<ref>Joshua 13:8–32; cf. {{bibleverse ||Numbers|32:1–42|NKJV}}</ref> and then describes how Joshua divided the newly conquered land of [[Canaan]] into parcels, and assigned them to the tribes by [[Land lottery|lot]].<ref>{{cite book |last1= Hirsch |first1=Emil G. |title= Jewish Encyclopedia|date= 1906 |chapter-url= http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8907-joshua-book-of |chapter= Joshua, Book of}}</ref> Joshua 14:1 also makes reference to the role of [[Eleazar]] the priest (ahead of Joshua) in the distribution process.<ref>{{cite book|last1= Maclear |first1=G. F.|title= Joshua 14 in The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges| year =1897|publisher= Cambridge University Press | via = BibleHub|url= http://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/joshua/14.htm}}</ref> The description serves a theological function to show how the [[Promised Land|promise of the land]] was realized in the biblical narrative; its origins are unclear, but the descriptions may reflect geographical relations among the places named.<ref>{{cite book |  last = Dorsey | first = David A. | title= The Roads and Highways of Ancient Israel | publisher= Johns Hopkins University Press | year= 1991 | isbn= 978-0-8018-3898-9}}</ref>{{rp |5}}

The wording of Joshua 18:1–4 suggests that the tribes of Reuben, Gad, [[Tribe of Judah|Judah]], [[Tribe of Ephraim|Ephraim]] and Manasseh received their land allocation some time before the "remaining seven tribes",<ref>{{bibleverse||Joshua|18:1–4|NKJV}}</ref> and a 21-member expedition set out to survey the remainder of the land with a view to organising the allocation to the tribes of [[Tribe of Simeon|Simeon]], [[Tribe of Benjamin|Benjamin]], [[Tribe of Asher|Asher]], [[Tribe of Naphtali|Naphtali]], [[Tribe of Zebulun|Zebulun]], [[Tribe of Issachar|Issachar]] and [[Tribe of Dan|Dan]]. Subsequently, 48 [[Levitical city|cities]] with their surrounding lands were allocated to the [[Tribe of Levi]].<ref>{{bibleverse ||Joshua|21:1–41|NKJV}}, cf. {{bibleverse ||Numbers|35:7|NKJV}}</ref>

Omitted in the [[Masoretic Text]], but present in the [[Septuagint]], is a statement that:
{{Blockquote | Joshua completed the division of the land in its boundaries, and the children gave a portion to Joshua, by the commandment of the Lord. They gave to him the city for which he asked, [[Timnath-heres|Thamnath Sarach]] gave they him in Mount Ephraim, and Joshua built the city, and dwelt in it. And Joshua took the stone knives with which he had [[Circumcision|circumcised]] the children of Israel, which were in the way in the wilderness, and he placed them in Tamnath Sarach.<ref>{{cite book |title= Pulpit Commentary | chapter = Joshua 21 | year =1919|publisher=  Bible Hub |chapter-url= http://biblehub.com/commentaries/pulpit/joshua/21.htm |editor2-last =Exell  |editor2-first= Joseph S. |editor1-last =Spence-Jones |editor1-first= HDM}}</ref>}}

By the end of chapter 21, the narrative records that the fulfilment of God's promise of land, rest and supremacy over the enemies of the Israelites was complete.<ref>Joshua 21:43–45</ref> The tribes to whom Moses had granted land east of the Jordan are authorized to return home to [[Gilead]] (here used in the widest sense for the whole [[Transjordan in the Bible|Transjordan]] district),<ref>{{cite book |last1= Barnes |first1=Albert |title= Notes on the Bible: Joshua 22 | year = 1834 |publisher= Bible Hub |url= http://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/joshua/22.htm}}</ref> having faithfully 'kept the charge'<ref>Joshua 22:3, [[Revised Version|English Revised Version]]</ref> of supporting the tribes occupying Canaan.  They are granted "riches… with very much livestock, with [[silver]], with [[gold]], with [[bronze]], with [[iron]], and with very much clothing" as a reward.<ref>Joshua 22:1–9</ref>

==== Joshua's farewell speeches (chapters 23–24) ====
Joshua, in his old age and conscious that he is "going the way of all the earth",<ref>Joshua 23:14</ref> gathers the leaders of the Israelites together and reminds them of Yahweh's great works for them, and of the need to love Yahweh.<ref>Joshua 23:11</ref> The Israelites are told – just as Joshua himself had been told<ref>Joshua 1:7</ref> – that they must comply with "all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses",<ref>Joshua 23:6</ref> neither "turn[ing] aside from it to the right hand or to the left" (i.e. by adding to the law, or diminishing from it).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Poole |first1= Matthew |title= Commentary on the Holy Bible | chapter = Joshua 23 | year= 1853 |publisher= Robert Carter & Bros. | via = Bible Hub |chapter-url= http://biblehub.com/commentaries/poole/joshua/23.htm}}</ref>

Joshua meets again with all the people at [[Shechem]] in chapter 24 and addresses them a second time. He recounts the history of God's formation of the Israelite nation, beginning with "[[Terah]], the father of [[Abraham]] and [[Nahor, son of Terah|Nahor]], [who] lived beyond the [[Euphrates]] River and worshiped other gods."<ref>{{Bibleref2|Joshua|24:2|NIV| Joshua 24:2}}</ref> He invited the Israelites to choose between serving the Lord who had delivered them from [[Egypt]], or the gods which their ancestors had served on the other side of the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land they now lived. The people chose to serve the Lord, a decision which Joshua recorded in the Book of the Law of God. He then erected a memorial stone "under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord" in Shechem.<ref>Joshua 24:1–27</ref> The oak is associated with the Oak of [[Moreh]] where Abram had set up camp during his travels in this area.<ref>Genesis 12:6</ref>{{citation needed|date=August 2017}} Thus "Joshua made a covenant with the people", literally "cut a covenant", a phrase common to the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Greek language|Greek]], and [[Latin]] languages. It derives from the custom of [[sacrifice]], in which the victims were cut in pieces and offered to the [[deity]] invoked in ratification of the engagement.<ref>{{cite book |title=Pulpit Commentary | chapter = Joshua 24 | year = 1919|publisher= BibleHub|chapter-url= http://biblehub.com/commentaries/pulpit/joshua/24.htm |editor2-last =Exell  |editor2-first= Joseph S. |editor1-last =Spence-Jones|editor1-first= HDM}}</ref>

The people then returned to their inheritance, i.e., their allocated lands.<ref>Joshua 24:28</ref>

==== Closing items ====
The Book of Joshua closes with three concluding items (referred to in the Jerusalem Bible as "Two Additions"):<ref>[[Jerusalem Bible]], heading of Joshua 24:29–33</ref>
:The death of Joshua and his burial at Timnath-serah<ref>Joshua 24:29–31</ref>
:The burial of the bones of [[Joseph (Genesis)|Joseph]] at Shechem<ref>Joshua 24:32</ref>
:The death of Eleazar and his burial in land belonging to [[Phinehas]] in the mountains of Ephraim.<ref>Joshua 24:33</ref>

There were no Levitical cities given to the descendants of [[Aaron]] in Ephraim, so theologians [[Carl Friedrich Keil]] and [[Franz Delitzsch]] supposed the land may have been at [[Geba (city)|Geba]] in the territory of the [[Tribe of Benjamin]]: "the situation, 'upon the mountains of Ephraim', is not at variance with this view, as these mountains extended, according to Judges 4:5, etc., far into the territory of Benjamin".<ref>{{cite book|last1 = Keil|first1=Carl Friedrich|last2= Delitzsch|first2=Franz|title= Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua 24| year = 1878|publisher= BibleHub |url= http://biblehub.com/commentaries/kad/joshua/24.htm}}</ref>

In some manuscripts and editions of the [[Septuagint]], there is an additional verse relating to the apostasy of the Israelites after Joshua's death.

== Composition ==
[[File:Prise de Jéricho.jpg|thumb|''The Taking of Jericho'' ([[Jean Fouquet]], c. 1452–1460)]]

=== Authorship and date ===
The Book of Joshua is an [[anonymous work]]. The [[Talmud#Babylonian Talmud|Babylonian Talmud]], written in the 3rd to 5th centuries CE, attributed it to [[Joshua]] himself, but this idea was rejected as untenable by [[John Calvin]] (1509–[[1564|64]]), and by the time of [[Thomas Hobbes]] (1588–1679) it was recognised that the book must have been written much later than the period it depicted.<ref name= DePury />{{rp |26–30}} There is now general agreement that it was composed as part of a larger work, the [[Deuteronomistic history]], stretching from the [[Book of Deuteronomy]] to the [[Books of Kings]],<ref name= Younger />{{rp|174}} composed first at the court of king [[Josiah]] in the late 7th century BCE, and extensively revised in the 6th century BCE.<ref name= DePury />{{rp |63}}

=== Historicity ===
{{See also|History of ancient Israel and Judah}}
{{See also|Cities in the Book of Joshua}}
[[File:Shemesh Givon Dom 1.jpg|thumb|"''Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon''" (sculpture by [[Shmuel Bar-Even]])]]
The prevailing scholarly view is that Joshua is not a factual account of historical events.{{sfn|Killebrew|2005|p=152|ps=: "Almost without exception, scholars agree that the account in Joshua holds little historical value vis-à-vis early Israel and most likely reflects much later historical times.<sup>15</sup>"}}<ref name="Coote">{{cite book|last1=Coote|first1=Robert B.|title=Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible|publisher=Eerdmans|year=2000|isbn=978-90-5356-503-2|editor1-last=Freedman|editor1-first=David Noel|page=275|chapter=Conquest: Biblical narrative|editor2-last=Myers|editor2-first=Allen C.|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&pg=PA275}}</ref><ref name= McConville2010>{{Cite book |last1= McConville|first1=Gordon|last2= Williams|first2=Stephen|title= Joshua |publisher= Eerdmans |year= 2010|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=U_8LhXUU6NQC |isbn= 978-0-8028-2702-9}}</ref>{{rp |4}} The apparent setting of Joshua in the 13th century BCE<ref name= McConville2010 /> corroborates with the [[Late Bronze Age collapse|Bronze Age Collapse]], which was indeed a time of widespread city-destruction. However, with a few exceptions ([[Tel Hazor|Hazor]], [[Tel Lachish|Lachish]]), the destroyed cities are not the ones the Bible associates with Joshua, and the ones it does associate with him show little or no sign of even being occupied at the time.<ref name=MillerHayes>{{Cite book|last1 =Miller|first1 =James Maxwell |last2=Hayes|first2=John Haralson|title=A History of Ancient Israel and Judah|publisher= Westminster John Knox Press|year=1986|isbn= 978-0-664-21262-9 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uDijjc_D5P0C}}</ref>{{rp |71–72}} The archaeological evidence shows that [[Jericho]] and [[Ai (Canaan)|Ai]] were not occupied in the Near Eastern [[Late Bronze Age]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bartlett|first1=John R.|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordhandbookbi00roge_252|title=The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Studies|date=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-925425-5|editor1-last=Rogerson|editor1-first=J.W.|location=Oxford|page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordhandbookbi00roge_252/page/n81 63]|chapter=3: Archeology|editor2-last=Lieu|editor2-first=Judith M.|url-access=limited}}</ref> 

Ai was first excavated by [[Judith Marquet-Krause]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Wagemakers |first=Bart |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNAVBAAAQBAJ&dq=judith+marquet-krause&pg=PA47 |title=Archaeology in the 'Land of Tells and Ruins': A History of Excavations in the Holy Land Inspired by the Photographs and Accounts of Leo Boer |date=2014-02-28 |publisher=Oxbow Books |isbn=978-1-78297-246-4 |pages=47 |language=en}}</ref> According to some scholars,{{Who|date=December 2022}} the story of the conquest represents the nationalist [[propaganda]] of the 8th century BCE kings of [[kingdom of Judah|Judah]] and their claims to the territory of the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]];<ref name="Coote" /> incorporated into an early form of Joshua written late in the reign of king [[Josiah]] (reigned 640–609&nbsp;BCE). The book was probably revised and completed after the [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|fall of Jerusalem]] to the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] in 586 BCE, and possibly after the return from the [[Babylonian exile]] in 538 BCE.<ref name="Creach" />{{rp|10–11}}

In the 1930s [[Martin Noth]] made a sweeping criticism of the usefulness of the Book of Joshua for history.<ref name= Albright1939>{{cite journal|last1=Albright|first1=W. F.|title= The Israelite Conquest of Canaan in the Light of Archaeology |journal=Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research |volume=74|date=1939 |issue= 74|pages=11–23|doi= 10.2307/3218878 |jstor= 3218878|s2cid=163336577}}</ref> Noth was a student of [[Albrecht Alt]], who emphasized [[form criticism]] (whose pioneer had been [[Hermann Gunkel]] in the 19th century) and the importance of [[Origin myth|etiology]].<ref name= Albright1939 /><ref>Noort, Ed. 1998.  "4QJOSHª and the History of Tradition in the Book of Joshua," ''Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages'', '''24''' (2): 127–144.</ref> Alt and Noth posited a peaceful movement of the Israelites into various areas of Canaan, in contradiction to the Biblical account.<ref name= Rendsburg>{{cite journal|last1= Rendsburg|first1=Gary A.|title= The Date of the Exodus and the Conquest/Settlement: The Case for the 1100S|journal=Vetus Testamentum |date=1992 |volume=  42 |issue=4|pages=510–527|doi= 10.2307/1518961 |jstor= 1518961}}</ref> American archaeologist [[William F. Albright]] questioned the "tenacity" of etiologies, which were key to Noth's analysis of the campaigns in Joshua.

Archaeological evidence in the 1930s showed that the city of [[Ai (Canaan)|Ai]], an early target for conquest in the putative Joshua account, had existed and been destroyed, but in the 22nd century BCE.<ref name= Albright1939 />  Some alternate sites for Ai, such as Khirbet el-Maqatir or Khirbet Nisya, have been proposed which would partially resolve the discrepancy in dates, but these sites have not been widely accepted.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hawkins |first1= Ralph |title= How Israel Became a People |date=2013 |publisher= Abingdon |isbn= 978-1-4267-5487-6 |page= 109|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7QU7GFNe7nsC&pg=PT156 |access-date= 26 January 2017}}</ref> In 1951, [[Kathleen Kenyon]] showed that Jericho was from the [[Middle Bronze Age]] (c. 2100–1550 BCE), not the [[Late Bronze Age]] (c. 1550–1200 BCE). Kenyon argued that the early Israelite campaign could not be historically corroborated, but rather explained as an etiology of the location and a representation of the Israelite settlement.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kenyon|first1=Kathleen M.|title=Jericho|journal=Archaeology|date=1967|volume=20|issue=4|pages=268–275|jstor= 41667764}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1= Kenyon |first1=Kathleen M. |title= Some Notes on the History of Jericho in the Second Millennium B.C.|journal= Palestine Exploration Quarterly|date=2013|orig-date=1951|volume= 83 |issue=2|pages=101–138|doi=10.1179/peq.1951.83.2.101}}</ref>

In 1955, [[G. Ernest Wright]] discussed the correlation of archaeological data to the early Israelite campaigns, which he divided into three phases per the Book of Joshua. He pointed to two sets of archaeological findings that "seem to suggest that the biblical account is in general correct regarding the nature of the late thirteenth and twelfth-eleventh centuries in the country" (i.e., "a period of tremendous violence").<ref name=Wright>{{cite journal|last1=Wright|first1=G. Ernest|title= Archaeological News and Views: Hazor and the Conquest of Canaan|journal=The Biblical Archaeologist|date=1955|volume= 18 |issue=4|pages=106–108|doi= 10.2307/3209136|jstor= 3209136|s2cid=165857556}}</ref>  He gives particular weight to what were then recent digs at Hazor by [[Yigael Yadin]].<ref name=Wright /> 

Archaeologist [[Amnon Ben-Tor]] of the [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]], who replaced Yadin as the supervisor of excavations at Hazor in 1990, believed that recently unearthed evidence of violent destruction by burning verifies the Biblical account of the city's conquest by the Israelites.<ref name="huji2">{{cite web|title=The Hazor Excavations Project|url=http://unixware.mscc.huji.ac.il/~hatsor/hazor.html|access-date=2015-09-03|publisher=unixware.mscc.huji.ac.il|archive-date=2019-05-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507092552/http://unixware.mscc.huji.ac.il/~hatsor/hazor.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2012, a team led by Ben-Tor and Sharon Zuckerman discovered a scorched palace from the 13th century BC in whose storerooms they found 3,400-year-old ewers holding burned crops.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ben-tor|first=Amnon|date=2013-01-01|title=Who Destroyed Canaanite Hazor?|url=https://www.academia.edu/35948616|journal=BAR}}</ref> Sharon Zuckerman did not agree with Ben-Tor's theory, and claimed that the burning was the result of the city's numerous factions opposing each other with excessive force.<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/a-3-400-year-old-mystery-who-burned-the-palace-of-canaanite-hatzor-1.453095 A 3,400-year-old mystery: Who burned the palace of Canaanite Hatzor], [[Haaretz]]</ref>

In her commentary for the ''Westminster Bible Companion series,'' Carolyn Pressler suggested that readers of Joshua should give priority to its theological message ("what passages teach about God") and be aware of what these would have meant to audiences in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE.<ref name="Pressler">{{Cite book|last=Pressler|first=Carolyn|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7W4-RjlzWy4C&pg=PA1|title=Joshua, Judges and Ruth|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-664-25526-8}}</ref>{{rp|5–6}} [[Richard D. Nelson|Richard Nelson]] explained that the needs of the [[Centralisation|centralised]] monarchy favoured a single story of origins, combining old traditions of an [[The Exodus|exodus from Egypt]], belief in a [[national god]] as "divine warrior," and explanations for ruined cities, [[social stratification]] and ethnic groups, and contemporary tribes.<ref name="Nelson">{{Cite book|last=Nelson|first=Richard D|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Iwfg_zQHRR4C&pg=PR5|title=Joshua|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|year=1997|isbn=978-0-664-22666-4}}</ref>{{rp|5}}

===Manuscripts===
[[File:Washington Manuscript I - Deuteronomy and Joshua (Codex Washingtonensis).jpg|thumb|Washington Manuscript I, a Greek manuscript featuring the end of [[Deuteronomy]] and beginning of Joshua]]
Fragments of Joshua dating to the [[Hasmonean]] period were found among the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] (4QJosh<sup>a</sup> and 4QJosh<sup>b</sup>, found in [[Qumran Caves|Qumran Cave 4]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/explore-the-archive/manuscript/4Q47-1?locale=en_US|title=The Dead Sea Scrolls – 4Q Joshua|website=The Dead Sea Scrolls – 4Q Joshua}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MmHnBQAAQBAJ|title=The Rewritten Joshua Scrolls from Qumran: Texts, Translations, and Commentary|first=Ariel|last=Feldman|date=2014|publisher=De Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-029005-9}}</ref>
The [[Septuagint]] (Greek translation) is found in manuscripts such as [[Biblical Manuscripts in the Freer Collection|Washington Manuscript I]] (5th century CE), and a reduced version of the Septuagint text is found in the illustrated [[Joshua Roll]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/language-culture/discrepancies-in-manuscripts-show-how-old-testament-scribes-edited-the-book-of-joshua|title=Discrepancies in manuscripts show how Old Testament scribes edited the Book of Joshua|date=January 29, 2018|website=University of Helsinki}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=The septuagint-version of the book of Joshua|first=Martin|last=Rösel|authorlink=Martin Rösel|date=January 1, 2002|journal=Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament|volume=16|issue=1|pages=5–23|via=Taylor and Francis+NEJM|doi=10.1080/09018320210000329|s2cid=161116376}}</ref> The earliest complete copy of the book in [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew]] is in the [[Aleppo Codex]] (10th century CE).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-sep-28-adfg-aleppo28-story.html|title=Scholars search for pages of ancient Hebrew Bible|date=September 28, 2008|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aleppocodex.org/links/9.html|title=The Aleppo Codex|website=www.aleppocodex.org|access-date=2020-09-03|archive-date=2012-01-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115105923/http://www.aleppocodex.org/links/9.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== 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>

== Moral and political interpretations ==
[[File:Joshua Leading the Israelites Across the Jordan on 10th of Nisan.jpg|thumb|250px|Joshua Leading the Israelites Across the Jordan on 10th of Nisan]]
The Book of Joshua deals with the conquest of the Land of Israel and its settlement, which are politically charged issues in [[Culture of Israel|Israeli society]]. In her article "The Rise and Fall of the Book of Joshua in Public Education in the Light of Ideological Changes in Israeli Society," Israeli biblical scholar Leah Mazor analyzes the history of the book and reveals a complex system of references to it expressed in a wide range of responses, often extreme, moving from narrow-minded admiration, through embarrassment and thunderous silence to a bitter and poignant critique.<ref>{{Cite book|title=הבנת המקרא בימינו: סוגיות בהוראתו, עיונים בחינוך היהודי|publisher=ט, ירושלים תשס"ד, עמ‘ כא-מו|year=2004|editor-last=פרנקל|editor-first=מ"ל|pages=21–46|language=Hebrew|editor-last2=דיטשר|editor-first2=א'}}</ref> The changes in the status of the Book of Joshua, she shows, are the manifestations of the ongoing dialogue that Israeli society has with its cultural heritage, with its history, with the Zionist idea, and with the need to redefine its identity.

[[David Ben-Gurion]] saw in the war narrative of Joshua an ideal basis for a unifying national [[myth]] for the State of Israel, framed against a common enemy, the [[Arabs]].{{sfn|Havrelock|2013}} He met with politicians and scholars such as Biblical scholar [[Shemaryahu Talmon]] to discuss Joshua's supposed conquests and later published a book of the meeting transcripts; in a lecture at Ben-Gurion's home, archaeologist [[Yigael Yadin]] argued for the historicity of the Israelite military campaign pointing to the conquests of [[Tel Hazor|Hazor]], [[Bethel]], and [[Lachish]].{{sfn|Havrelock|2013}} [[Palestinians|Palestinian]] writer [[Nur Masalha]] claimed that Zionism had presented the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War|1948 Arab-Israeli War]] (which saw the creation of the [[State of Israel]]) as a "miraculous" clearing of the land based on Joshua, and the Bible as a mandate for the expulsion of the Palestinians.{{sfn|Masalha|2014}}

The biblical narrative of conquest has been used as an apparatus of critique against Zionism. For example, Michael Prior criticizes the use of the campaign in Joshua to favor "colonial enterprises" (in general, not only Zionism), which have been interpreted as validating [[ethnic cleansing]]. He asserts that the Bible was used to make the mistreatment of Palestinians more morally palatable.<ref>{{cite journal|last1= Prior|first1=Michael|title= Ethnic Cleansing and the Bible: A Moral Critique |journal= Journal of Holy Land and Palestine Studies|date=2002|volume= 1|issue=1|pages=37–59 |doi= 10.3366/hls.2002.0003}}</ref>  A related moral condemnation can be seen in "The political sacralization of imperial genocide: contextualizing Timothy Dwight's ''The Conquest of Canaan''" by Bill Templer.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Templer|first1=Bill|title= The political sacralization of imperial genocide: contextualizing Timothy Dwight's The Conquest of Canaan |journal= Postcolonial Studies: Culture, Politics, Economy|date= 1 December 2006|volume=9 |issue= 4 |pages= 358–391 |doi= 10.1080/13688790600993230|s2cid=154858344}}</ref> This kind of critique is not new; [[Jonathan Boyarin]] notes how [[Frederick W. Turner]] blamed Israel's [[monotheism]] for the very idea of genocide, which Boyarin found "simplistic" yet with precedents.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Boyarin|first1= Jonathan |title= Palestine and Jewish History: Criticism at the Borders of Ethnography|date=1996|publisher= University of Minnesota Press |isbn= 978-1-4529-0029-2 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=w6udrws0zE4C&pg=PA42 |chapter =  2: Reading Exodus into History|page= 42}}</ref> In her tenure as [[Ministry of Education (Israel)|Minister of Education]], [[Israeli Left|Israeli leftist]] politician [[Shulamit Aloni]] often complained about the centrality of the book of Joshua in the curricula, as opposed to the secondaryness of humane and universal principles found in the [[Nevi'im|Books of the Prophets]]. Her attempt to change the Bible study program was unsuccessful.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Book of Joshua: Chap. 12|url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/11198|access-date=2022-01-12|website=Israel National News|date=30 January 2012 |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
* ''[[The Bible Unearthed]]''
* "[[The Bible's Buried Secrets]]"
* [[Ed (biblical reference)]]
* [[Transjordan (Bible)]]
* [[Yom HaAliyah]]

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book|last1=Briggs|first1= Peter sr.|editor1-last= Carnagey |editor1-first=Glenn A. |editor2-last=Carnagey |editor2-first=Glenn jr.|editor3-last= Schoville|editor3-first=Keith N.|title= Beyond the Jordan: Studies in Honor of W. Harold Mare|date= 2005 |publisher=Wipf & Stock |isbn= 978-1-59752-069-0|pages= 157–196 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=RklLAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA157 |chapter= Testing the Factuality of the Conquest of Ai Narrative in the Book of Joshua}}
* {{Cite book |last= Bright |first= John|title=A History of Israel|publisher= Westminster John Knox Press |year=2000|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0VG67yLs-LAC |isbn= 978-0-664-22068-6 |edition=4th}}
* {{cite journal| last1 = Bruins | first1 = Hendrik J.| last2 = van der Plicht| first2 = Johannes | date = 1995| title = Tell Es-Sultan (Jericho): Radiocarbon Results… | journal = Radiocarbon | volume = 37 | number = 2 | pages = 213–220| url = https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/49BF732173E7890A2B0EC1B21CB6A817/S0033822200030666a.pdf/tell_essultan_jericho_radiocarbon_results_of_shortlived_cereal_and_multiyear_charcoal_samples_from_the_end_of_the_middle_bronze_age.pdf | doi = 10.1017/S0033822200030666| doi-access = free }}
* {{Cite book|last=Campbell|first=Anthony F|chapter=Martin Noth and the Deuteronomistic History |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=3gnxJjuqld0C&pg=PA178 |editor1-first =Steven L. | editor1-last = McKenzie |editor2-first =Matt Patrick | editor2-last = Graham |title= The history of Israel's traditions: the heritage of Martin Noth|publisher=Sheffield Academic Press |year=1994|isbn= 978-0-567-23035-5}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Campbell|first1= Anthony F | author1-mask = 3 |last2= O'Brien |first2= Mark |title= Unfolding the Deuteronomistic history: origins, upgrades, present text |publisher=Fortress Press|year= 2000 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=AvZWPFqd2sEC&pg=PP3 |isbn= 978-1-4514-1368-7}}
* {{Cite book|last=Day |first= John |title=Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan|publisher= Sheffield Academic Press |year=2002|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=y-gfwlltlRwC |isbn= 978-0-8264-6830-7}}
* {{cite journal|last1= den Braber |first1=Marieke|last2= Wesselius|first2=Jan-Wim|title= The Unity of Joshua 1–8, its Relation to the Story of King Keret, and the Literary Background to the Exodus and Conquest Stories|journal= Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament|date=November 2008|volume=22|issue=2|pages=253–274|doi= 10.1080/09018320802661218|s2cid=162220089}}
* {{Cite book
|last1           = Farber
|first1          = Zev
|url             = https://books.google.com/books?id=aLSvDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT19
|title           = Images of Joshua in the Bible and Their Reception |year = 2016 | publisher = Walter de Gruyter
|isbn = 978-3-11-038366-9
}}
* {{cite book |title=Joshua |last=Goldingay |first=John |publisher=Baker Books |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-4934-4005-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=acB8EAAAQBAJ |series=Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Historical Books}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Gyémánt|first1=Ladislau|title= Historiographic Views on the Settlement of the Jewish Tribes in Canaan|journal= Sacra Scripta |date=2003|volume=I|issue=1|pages= 26–30|url= https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=266704 |issn= 1584-7624}}
* {{cite book|last1=Harstad|first1= Adolph L.|title=Joshua|date= 2005|publisher=Concordia Pub. House|location=Saint Louis, MO |isbn=978-0-570-06319-3}}
* {{cite journal|last1= Havrelock|first1=Rachel|title= The Joshua Generation: Conquest and the Promised Land|journal= Critical Research on Religion|date= 2013|volume=1|issue=3 |page= 309 |doi= 10.1177/2050303213506473|s2cid=144093420}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Hawk|first1=L. Daniel|title=The Truth about Conquest: Joshua as History, Narrative, and Scripture |journal=Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology|date=13 March 2012|volume=66|issue= 2|pages=129–140|doi= 10.1177/0020964311434872|s2cid=145540152}}
* {{cite book|last1=Hess|first1= Richard S.|editor1-last=Hess|editor1-first=Richard S.|editor2-last=Klingbeil|editor2-first=Gerald A.|editor3-last=Ray|editor3-first=Paul J. Jr.|title= Critical issues in early Israelite history|date=2008|publisher=Eisenbrauns|location=Winona Lake, IN |isbn= 978-1-57506-804-6|pages=33–46|chapter= The Jericho and Ai of the Book of Joshua}}
* {{cite book |last1  = Jacobs |first1  = Paul F.|chapter= Jericho |editor1-last = Freedman |editor1-first = David Noel |editor2-last = Myers|editor2-first = Allen C.|title = Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible |year = 2000 |publisher = Eerdmans |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&pg=PA691 |isbn = 978-90-5356-503-2}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Japhet|first1=Sara|title=Conquest and Settlement in Chronicles |journal= Journal of Biblical Literature |date= 1979 |volume= 98 |issue=2|pages=205–218|doi= 10.2307/3265510 |jstor= 3265510}}
* {{Cite book|last=Killebrew|first= Ann E.|title=Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity: An Archaeological Study of Egyptians, Canaanites, and Early Israel, 1300–1100 B.C.E|publisher=Society of Biblical Literature|year=2005|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=VtAmmwapfVAC|isbn= 978-1-58983-097-4}}
* {{Cite book
|last1           = Masalha
|first1          = Nur
|url             = https://books.google.com/books?id=_b3oBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA108
|title           = The Zionist Bible: Biblical Precedent, Colonialism and the Erasure of Memory
|publisher       = Routledge
|year            = 2014
|isbn            = 978-1-317-54465-4
}}
* {{cite journal|last1= Mendenhall|first1=George E.|title= The Hebrew Conquest of Palestine|journal=The Biblical Archaeologist|date=1962|volume=25|issue=3|pages=66–87|doi= 10.2307/3210957|jstor= 3210957|s2cid=165615750}}
* {{cite book |last1 = Moore |first1 = Megan Bishop |last2  = Kelle |first2 = Brad E. |title  = Biblical History and Israel's Past |year = 2011 |publisher = Eerdmans |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Qjkz_8EMoaUC&pg=PA81 |isbn = 978-0-8028-6260-0}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Paton|first1=Lewis Bayles|s2cid=165671881|author-link=Lewis B. Paton |title= Israel's Conquest of Canaan: Presidential Address at the Annual Meeting, Dec. 27, 1912|journal=Journal of Biblical Literature|date=1913|volume=32|issue=1|pages=1–53|doi= 10.2307/3259319|jstor= 3259319}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Pienaar|first1=Daan|title=Some observations on conquest reports in the Book of Joshua|journal= Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages|date=1 January 2004 |volume=30|issue=1|issn=0259-0131|hdl=10520/EJC101285}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Prior|first1= Michael|title=Ethnic Cleansing and the Bible: A Moral Critique|journal=Holy Land Studies|date=September 2002|volume=1|issue=1|pages=37–59 |doi= 10.3366/hls.2002.0003}}
* {{cite journal|last1= Thompson |first1=Leonard L.|title=The Jordan Crossing: ?idqot Yahweh and World Building|journal= Journal of Biblical Literature|date=1981|volume=100|issue=3|pages=343–58|doi= 10.2307/3265959|jstor= 3265959}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Van Seters|first1=John|title= Joshua's campaign of Canaan and near eastern historiography|journal=Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament|date=January 1990 |volume=4|issue=2|pages= 1–12 |doi= 10.1080/09018329008584943}}
* {{Cite book |last=Van Seters |first=John |chapter=The Deuteronomist from Joshua to Samuel |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CoHhPAKgETkC&pg=PA204 |editor-first=Gary N. | editor-last=Knoppers |editor2-first=J. Gordon | editor2-last = McConville |title= Reconsidering Israel and Judah: Recent Studies on the Deuteronomistic History |publisher=Eisenbrauns |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-57506-037-8}}
* {{cite book|last1=Wazana|first1= Nili|editor1-last= Berthelot |editor1-first= Katell |editor2-last=David|editor2-first=Joseph E.|editor3-last=Hirshman|editor3-first= Marc|title=The gift of the land and the fate of the Canaanites in Jewish thought |date=2014|publisher=Oxford University press|isbn= 978-0-19-995982-2|pages=13–35|chapter=Chapter 1: “Everything Was Fulfilled” versus “The Land That Yet Remains"}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Wenham|first1=Gordon J.|s2cid=17518822|title=The Deuteronomic Theology of the Book of Joshua|journal=Journal of Biblical Literature|date=1971|volume= 90|issue= 2 |pages= 140–148 |doi=10.2307/3263755|jstor= 3263755}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Wood |first1=W. Carleton|title=The Religion of Canaan: From the Earliest Times to the Hebrew Conquest (Concluded)|journal= Journal of Biblical Literature|date=1916|volume=35|issue=3/4|pages=163–279|doi= 10.2307/3259942 |jstor= 3259942}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Zevit|first1= Ziony|title= Archaeological and Literary Stratigraphy in Joshua 7–8|journal= Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research|volume= 251|date= 1983|issue=251 |pages= 23–35 |doi=10.2307/1356824 |jstor= 1356824|s2cid= 163691750}}

== External links ==
{{Wikisource|Joshua (Bible)}}
{{Commons category}}
* Hebrew and English text:
** [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0601.htm יְהוֹשֻׁעַ ''Yehoshua''–Joshua] ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]–English at Mechon-Mamre.org, Jewish Publication Society translation)
* [[Judaism|Jewish]] translations:
** [http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=15749 Joshua (Judaica Press)] translation with [[Rashi]]'s commentary at chabad.org
* [[Christianity|Christian]] translations
** [http://www.gospelhall.org/bible/bible.php?passage=Joshua+1 ''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org]
** [[s:EN:Bible, King James, Joshua|Joshua at Wikisource]] (Authorised King James Version)
** {{librivox book | dtitle=Joshua | stitle=Bible Joshua}} Various versions

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou | [[Nevi'im|Prophets]]|||}}
{{s-bef | before= [[Book of Deuteronomy|Deuteronomy]] | rows = 2 }}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Tanakh|Hebrew Bible]] }}
{{s-aft | after = [[Book of Judges|Judges]] | rows= 2 }}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Christianity|Christian]]<br />[[Old Testament]] }}
{{s-end}}
{{Book of Joshua}}
{{Books of the Bible}}
{{The Bible and warfare}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joshua, Book Of}}
[[Category:Book of Joshua| ]]
[[Category:7th-century BC books]]
[[Category:6th-century BC books]]
[[Category:Nevi'im]]
[[Category:Non-fiction books about genocide]]
[[Category:Phoenicians in the Hebrew Bible]]
[[Category:Historical books]]
[[Category:Deuteronomistic history]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Joshua]]