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Bible Encyclopedias
Joshua
Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
or Josh´ua. This is the name of four persons in the Old Testament, and means whose salvation is Jehovah. The most distinguished of the four persons so called, who occur in the Old Testament, is Joshua the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim the assistant and successor of Moses. His name was originally Oshea, salvation (); and it seems that the subsequent alteration of it by Moses () was significant, and proceeded on the same principle as that of Abram into Abraham (), and of Sarai into Sarah ().
In the Bible Joshua is first mentioned as being the victorious commander of the Israelites in their battle against the Amalekites at Rephidim (). He distinguished himself by his courage and intelligence during and after the exploration of the land of Canaan, on which occasion he represented his tribe, which was that of Ephraim (Numbers 13-14). Moses, with the divine sanction, appointed him to command the Israelites, even during his own lifetime (;; ). After the death of Moses he led the Israelites over the Jordan, fortified a camp at Gilgal (; ), conquered the southern and middle portions of Canaan (Joshua 6-10), and also some of the northern districts (Joshua 9). But the hostile nations, although subdued, were not entirely driven out and destroyed (Joshua 13;; ). In the seventh year after entering the land, it was distributed among the various tribes, which then commenced individually to complete the conquest by separate warfare ( sq.; 16:10; 17:12 sq.). Joshua died 110 years old (B.C. 1427), and was buried at Timnath-serah (Joshua 24), on Mount Ephraim.
There occur some vestiges of the deeds of Joshua in other historians besides those of the Bible. Procopius mentions a Phoenician inscription near the city of Tingis in Mauritania, the sense of which was:—'We are those who fled before the face of Joshua the robber, the son of Nun.'
The book of Joshua is so called from the personage who occupies the principal place in the narration of events contained therein, and may be considered as a continuation of the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch, and especially Deuteronomy, are repeatedly referred to in the book of Joshua, the narration of which begins with the death of Moses and extends to the death of Joshua, embracing a chronological period of somewhat less than thirty years. The subject of the book is thus briefly stated in : 'There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage; for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land which I sware unto their fathers to give them.' In these two verses is also indicated the division of the book into two principal portions, with reference to the conquest and the distribution of the land of Canaan. The conquest is narrated in Joshua 1-12, and the distribution in Joshua 13-22. In Joshua 23-24, are subjoined the events subsequent to the distribution up to the death of Joshua. The history of the conquest of Canaan is a series of miracles, than which none more remarkable are recorded in any part of sacred history. The passage into the Promised Land, as well as that out of Egypt, was through water. Jericho was taken not by might, but by the falling of the walls on the blast of the trumpets of seven priests; and in the war against Gibeon the day was prolonged to afford time for the completion of the victory.
It is generally granted that the first twelve chapters form a continuous whole: although the author, in , refers to another work, he not merely transcribes but intimately combines the quotation with the tenor of his narration. It is certain that there sometimes occur episodes which seem to interrupt the chronological connection, as for instance the portion intervening between Joshua 1-2, and . But it belongs to the nature of detailed historical works to contain such episodes.
The whole tenor of the first twelve chapters bespeaks an eye-witness who bore some part in the transactions—a fact proved not merely by such expressions as 'we passed over,' in , but especially by the circumstantial vividness of the narrative, which clearly indicates that the writer was an eye-witness.
The statement that the monuments which he erected were extant to this day, indicates that Joshua did not promulgate the book immediately after the events narrated (comp.;;; ). The book, however, could not have been written very long after the time of Joshua, because we find that Rahab was still alive when it was composed (). The section from Joshua 13-22 inclusive, which contains an account of the distribution of the land, seems to be based upon written documents, in which the property was accurately described. That this was the case is likely not merely on account of the peculiar nature of the diplomatic contents by which this 'Doomsday Book' is distinguished from the preceding part of Joshua, but also on account of the statement in , where Joshua says to the children of Israel, 'Give out from among you three men from each tribe: and I will send them, and they shall rise, and go through the land, and describe it according to the inheritance of them; and they shall come again to me.' Compare , 'Ye therefore shall describe the land into seven parts.' Compare also . 'And the men arose and went away; and Joshua charged them that went to describe the land, saying, Go, and walk through the land, and describe it, and come again to me, that I may here cast lots for you before the Lord in Shiloh. And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book, and came again to Joshua to the host at Shiloh.'
The author of the book of Joshua frequently repeats the statements of the Pentateuch in a more detailed form, and mentions the changes which had taken place since the Pentateuch was written. Compare , with sq.; , with sq.; Numbers 35 with Joshua 21.
There is also considerable similarity between the following passages in the books of Joshua and Judges:
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It seems to have been the intention of the author of Joshua 13-22 to furnish authentic records concerning the arrangements made by Joshua after the conquest of Canaan. Since we do not find in the subsequent history that the tribes, after the death of Joshua, disagreed among themselves about the ownership of the land, it would appear that the object of the book of Joshua, as a 'Doomsday Book,' was fully attained. The circumstance that the book of Joshua contains many Canaanitish names of places to which the Hebrew names are added, seems also to indicate that the second part originated in an early age, when neither the Canaanitish name was entirely forgotten, nor the Hebrew name fully introduced; so that it was expedient to mention both.
In Joshua 23-24 occur two orations of Joshua, in which he bids farewell to the people whom he had commanded. In , we read, 'And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God.' The expression, these words, seems to refer only to his last address, and the subsequent resolution of the people to follow his example. We are here, however, expressly informed that Joshua did write this much; and consequently we deem it the more likely that he also committed to writing the other memorable events connected with his career, such as the conquest and the distribution of the land.
Viewing all the circumstances together, we consider it highly probable that the whole book of Joshua was composed by himself up to; to which a friendly hand subjoined some brief notices, contained in , concerning the death, age, and burial of Joshua; the continuance of his influence upon the people; the interment, in Shechem, of the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought from Egypt; and the death and burial of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, whom his son Phinehas interred in his allotment on Mount Ephraim.
The authority of the book of Joshua mainly rests upon the manner in which it is treated in other parts of the Bible.
Besides the allusions in the book of Judges, we find Joshua referred to in (comp. ). contains a brief summary of the whole book of Joshua:—'Thou didst drive out the heathen with Thy hand, and plantedst them: Thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out. For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but Thy right hand and Thine arm, and the light of Thy countenance, because Thou hadst a favor unto them' (compare;;; , which refer to the book of Joshua). Also, : 'The sun and moon stood still in their habitation,' etc.; : 'For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee' (compare ). : 'By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace;' and : 'Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?' (compare Joshua 2, and ). : 'Which (the tabernacle) also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers' (compare ). : 'By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days' (compare; ). : 'For if Jesus [JOSHUA] had given them rest, then would he not afterwards have spoken of another day.'
Joshua, 3
The other persons of this name in the Bible are:
Joshua, a Bethshemite (; ), an Israelite, the owner of the field into which the cart came which bore the Ark on its return from the land of the Philistines.
Joshua (), the governor of the city of Jerusalem at the commencement of the reign, of Josiah.
Joshua, the son of Josedec (;;;;;; ), a high-priest in the time of Haggai and Zechariah [JESHUA].
Public Domain.
Kitto, John, ed. Entry for 'Joshua'. "Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature". https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/kbe/j/joshua.html.
