Stanley Arthur Cook

“ It takes its name from Joshua [1] the son of Nūn, an Ephraimite who, on the death of Moses, assumed the leadership to which he had previously been designated by his chief (Deut. xxxi. 14 seq., 23) , and proceeded to the conquest of the land of Canaan. The book differs from the Pentateuch or Torah in the absence of legal matter, and in its intimate connexion with the narrative in the books which follow. It is, however, the proper sequel to the origins of the people as related in Genesis, to the exodus of the Israelite tribes from Egypt, and their journeyings in the wilderness. ”

“ In general the literary problems are exceedingly intricate, and no attempt can be made here to deal with them as fully as they deserve.
The Invasion.—The book falls naturally into two main parts, of which the first, the crossing of the Jordan and the conquest of Palestine (i.–xii.) is mainly due to Deuteronomic compilers. It opens with the preparations for the crossing of the Jordan and the capture of the powerful city Jericho. Ai, near Bethel, is taken after a temporary repulse, and Joshua proceeds to erect an altar upon Mt Ebal (north of Shechem) . ”

“ Israelite monarchy gain in weight when the traditions of both recognize the inclusion or possession of Judah, and thus stand upon quite another plane as compared with those of David the founder of the Judaean dynasty. Instead of rejecting the older stories of Joshua’s conquests it may be preferable to infer that there were radical divergences in the historical views of the past. ”

“ As an attendant of Moses at the tent of meeting he appears in quite secondary passages (Exod. xxxiii. 7–11; Num. xi. 28) . His defeat of the Amalekites is in a narrative (Exod. xvii. 8–16) which belongs more naturally to the wilderness of Shur, and it associates him with traditions of a movement direct into south Palestine which finds its counterpart when the clan Caleb (q.v.) is artificially treated as possessing its seats with Joshua’s permission. ”

“ The address (which is extremely important for its representation of the religious conditions) is made the occasion for a solemn covenant whereby the people agree to cleave to Yahweh alone. This is commemorated by the erection of a stone under the oak by the sanctuary of Yahweh (for the tree with its sacred pillar, see Gen. xxxv. 4; Judges ix. 6) . The people are then dismissed, and the book closes in ordinary narrative style with the death of Joshua and his burial in his inheritance at Timnath-serah in Mt Ephraim (cf. xix. 49 seq.) ; the burial of Joseph in Shechem ”

“ His argument that “the circumstantiality, local knowledge and evidently full recollection of the narratives (in Joshua) give confidence in the truth of their statements” is one which historical criticism in no field would regard as conclusive, and his contention that a redactor would hardly incorporate conflicting traditions in his narrative “if he believed they contradicted it” begs the question and ignores Oriental literature. ↑ E.g. the vicissitudes of Levitical families, other migrations into Palestine, &c. ”

“ An older account of the divine commission to Joshua appears in the archaic passage v. 13–15 (cf. Moses in Exod. iii.) . Fusion of sources is obvious in the story of the fall of Jericho (contrast vi. 5 and v. 10, vv. 21 and 24, vv. 22 and 25) ; according to one (E?) the people march seven times round the city on one day, the ark and the priests occupying a prominent position (vi. 4–6, 7b–9, 12 seq., 16a, 20 [part] , 22–24) ; but in the other they march every day for seven days. ”

“ It opens with Judah, its borders (xv. 1–12) and cities (vv. 20–62) , and continues with the two Joseph tribes, Ephraim (xvi. 4–9, contrast details in vv. 1–3) and Manasseh (xvii. 1–10, cf. Num. xxvi. 30–32, xxvii. 1–11; P) . There is now a break in the narrative (xviii. 2–10, source uncertain) ; seven tribes have not yet received an inheritance, and Joshua (alone) encourages them to send three men from each tribe to walk through the land—excluding the territory of Judah and Joseph—and to bring a description of it to him, after which he divides it among them by lot. ”

“ Dillmann, however, would place it after xi. 23. The capture of Jericho and Ai is followed by the successful stratagem of the Gibeonites to make peace with Israel (ix.) . This involves them in a war with the southern Canaanites ”