I. Name

The book receives its name from the man whose life-work it records. Joshua (Heb., Jehoshua; in Neh. 8:17 Jeshua, "Jehovah is Salvation"; Greek equivalent, "Jesus"), the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, was born in Egypt, about forty years before the exodus, became the confidential counsellor of Moses, and succeeded to the leadership after Moses died. Num. 27:18. His great work, the conquest of Canaan and the settlement of the tribes, was done after he was eighty-five years old. His leadership continued for a quarter of a century, and after a farewell address he died and was buried in the city allotted him for his home, Timnath-Serah, 24:30, when he was one hundred and ten years old. He was a brave soldier, a great statesman, and a faithful servant of God.

II. Position

Its position has always been at the head of the Former Prophets, the second division of the Hebrew Bible, immediately after the Pentateuch, where its historical position would place it. Its close relation to the Pentateuch is intimated by the word "And" with which the book begins. It appears also in the fact that it gives completeness to much of which we find the beginning in the Pentateuch. We note further that there is a great similarity in the style and the general conditions surrounding the people.

These facts have led many later critics to ignore the old Jewish divisions of the books, and speak of the Hexateuch instead of the Pentateuch. But there is no good reason for such a change. At no time did the Jews ever consider them in any such relation, and the fact that the Samaritans accepted the Pentateuch but rejected Joshua shows there was abroad line of separation between them. The book has all the features of an independent work, having a definite purpose with a regular beginning and conclusion. As the Pentateuch closes with the death of Moses, their first leader, so Joshua closes with the death of Joshua. Some of the regulations made in the Pentateuch, in regard to the cities of refuge, are changed in the book of Joshua, and the orthography is different, implying independence of authorship.

III. Scope

It does not give us a complete history of the nation under Joshua's administration, but is limited to the story of the conquest and the settlement of Canaan, with a few details in regard to Joshua's death. Nor do we find anything like a full account of these matters, for it makes a record of only a few of the great battles, and gives only a general sketch of the location of the tribes, with almost nothing to indicate the extent or thoroughness with which the work was done. It covers the period from 1451 B. C. to 1426, about twenty-five years.

IV. Analysis

The book has three main divisions:

1. The Conquest. Chs. 1-12.

a. Preparation.

Commission of Joshua. Ch. 1.

Spies sent to Jericho. Ch. 2.

Crossing the Jordan. Chs. 3 and 4.

Consecration to the work. Ch. 5.

b. The war.

Capture of strongholds. Chs. 6-8.

Defeat of allied kings at Beth-Horon. Chs. 9-11.

Review of victories. Ch. 12.

2. Division of the land. Chs. 13-21.

Assignment of East Jordan. Ch. 13.

The gift to Caleb. Ch. 14.

Division of West Jordan. Chs. 15-21.

3. The farewell. Chs. 22-24.

Departure of tribes for East Jordan. Ch. 22.

Joshua's first farewell. Ch. 23.

His second address. Ch. 24.

His death. Ch. 24.

V. Literary Features

The general style so closely resembles that of the Pentateuch that later critics usually discuss them together, finding evidence of what they call a composite work, i.e., a work depending on earlier documents which have been here put together by one or more editors. The evidence for this is partly chronological and partly literary. Events are introduced, it is said, out of their chronological order, the editor not being careful in the use of his documents to arrange them as the events occurred. Or certain literary characteristics appear, such as different names for God; or contradictory statements, such as those relating to the conquest of the land and the destruction of the Canaanites, which show the careless use of documents rather than work of an original writer.

The unsatisfactory results of such criticism have so far prevented their general acceptance. It is found utterly impossible to discover any test by which these documents can be distinguished from each other. The attempt to reconstruct these so-called original documents so as to show they form separate accounts of the same facts has never yet proved satisfactory. And the apparent discrepancies are usually nothing more than we find in all historical writings where the same facts are considered from a different point of view, and items are mentioned or omitted as the immediate occasion demands. Almost any historical record, subjected to such arbitrary and elastic rules would encounter the same objections.

VI. Authorship

The book presents nothing by which we can determine positively as to its authorship. It seems certain that it must have been written soon after the death of Joshua, if he did not write it. We read, 6:25, "Rahab dwelleth in Israel unto this day." In 15:63 we are told, "The Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day." The writer identifies himself with the times, 5:1; speaking of the crossing of the Jordan he says, "Until we were passed over." On the other hand events are recorded which took place after the death of Joshua, as in 15:13-20, the account of Caleb's taking possession of Hebron; 12:14, the reference to Hormah (see Judges 1:17); 19:47, the migration of Dan, which took place during the Judges. But in 24:26 we read, "And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the Law of God," which may mean that he wrote all of the book which precedes this passage, or may be limited to the immediate context, the material prepared by Joshua being arranged in present form afterward. Conjectures as to authorship vary from Joshua to Ezra, and even later.

VII. Religious Value of the Book

The profound religious tone is manifest from the first summons of Joshua to the day of his death. In 1:6-9 Jehovah calls him to take the place from which Moses is taken; in 5:13-15 the Prince of the Host of Jehovah comes to him, and all through his leadership there is a close fellowship with Jehovah such as we find in no later leader. To all this his own heart was profoundly submissive, and when at the end of his honorable career he reviews his life-work he freely ascribes all the glory to God.

His biography shows how the soldier spirit can harmonize with devout loyalty to God. Exception has been taken to his treatment of the Canaanites, Ch. 11, but this can be defended, not only by the command of God, but by the stern necessities of the time, when the religious interests of Israel and the overflowing wickedness of the Canaanites demanded that the land be rescued from their power.

LITERATURE

Commentaries: Keil and Delitzsch, Dillmann, Bush, Calvin.

Literature: Stanley, History of the Jewish Church; Addis, Documents of the Hexateuch; Smith, The Old Testament in the Jewish Church; Smith's and Hastings' Bible Dictionaries.