Book of Joshua - Revision history

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External links

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 [[Category:Nevi'im]]
 [[Category:Books of the Hebrew Bible]]
 {{Donate}}

Nick: /* References */

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References

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	~~== References ==~~
	* Morton, William H. ''Joshua. The Broadman Bible Commentary, Vol. 2.'' Ed. Clifton J. Allen, et al. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1970.
	* Halley, Henry H. ''Halley's Bible Handbook.'' Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1927, 1965.
	* Mazar, Amihai. ''The Archaeology of the land of the Bible.'' New York: Doubleday, 1990.
	* Anati, Emmanuel. ''The Time of Exodus In the Light of Archaeological Testimony, Epigraphy and Palaeoclimate.'' Har Karkom, a guide to major sites, Capo di Ponte [Edizioni del Centro], 2005.

	==External links==		==External links==

Nick: /* Notes */

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Notes

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	The Book of Joshua has been traditionally ascribed to Joshua himself by early Jewish writers and by the Early Church Fathers.		The Book of Joshua has been traditionally ascribed to Joshua himself by early Jewish writers and by the Early Church Fathers.

	~~== Notes ==~~
	* 1. Israel Finkelstein, The Bible Unearthed
	* 2. ibid
	* 3. Sturgis, Matthew (2001). It Ain't Necessarily So. Headline Publishing Group. ISBN 0747245061.
	* 4. [[Deuteronomy 20]]:16-18
	* 5. Morton, pp. 324-325
	* 6. Ronald F. Youngblood, F. F. Bruce, R. K. Harrison and Thomas Nelson Publishers, “Joshua, Book of,” in, Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Rev. Ed. of: Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary.; Includes Index. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995).

	== References ==		== References ==

Nick: /* Ethical problem of war and genocide */

2017-07-25T10:50:57Z

Ethical problem of war and genocide

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	~~== Ethical problem of war and genocide ==~~
	One difficulty in this book arises out of the command given by God to completely exterminate "anything that breathes" in the cities in the land to be inherited.<sup>[]</sup> During the conquest God commands his people to kill inhabitants of numerous cities (often including women and children). No explicit justification is given in the book for these commands. However, it is given in the [[Book of Deuteronomy]] 9:4, and that reason is on account of the wickedness of these nations, which in many cases involved child sacrifice to Molech and perverse sexual practices, among other things.

	~~At many points in the Tanakh, God orders men to kill other people for their faithlessness including at the scene of the golden calf when 4,000 Jews were slain for idolatry.~~

	[[Liberal Christianity\|Liberal theologians]] see this as an ethically unjustifiable order to commit [[genocide]], which is inconsistent with the overall view in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures of God as a loving, compassionate Creator. They see it as a theological polemic, with the majority of events invented during or after the [[Babylonian captivity]], to encourage faithfulness to the Jewish creed at a time when it was being threatened. For instance, Morton says that Joshua "should be understood as a rite of ancient peoples (Israel among them) whereby within the context of their times, they attempted to please God (or the gods)".<sup>[]</sup>

	[[evangelicalism\|Conservative theologians]], who see the book as a historically accurate account written during or soon after the life of Joshua, justify the cruelty of the Israelites through pleading moral relativism (the Canaanites were even worse), or [[Progressive revelation (Christian)\|progressive revelation]] (God reveals himself partially to Joshua and the Jews, but fully through Christ to Christians).

	==Authorship==		==Authorship==

Nick: /* Historicity */

2017-07-25T10:50:20Z

Historicity

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	[[Jabin]], king of [[Hazor (archaeological site)\|Hazor]], his army, and his [[vassal]]s, rendezvous at [[Merom]]. Joshua, however, executes a swift attack and is able to defeat them. Pursuing them to a great distance, he hamstrings their horses, burns their chariots, captures Hazor, slaughters its inhabitants, and burns it to the ground. Lesser royal residences are also captured and their inhabitants slaughtered, although the cities on the hill remain.		[[Jabin]], king of [[Hazor (archaeological site)\|Hazor]], his army, and his [[vassal]]s, rendezvous at [[Merom]]. Joshua, however, executes a swift attack and is able to defeat them. Pursuing them to a great distance, he hamstrings their horses, burns their chariots, captures Hazor, slaughters its inhabitants, and burns it to the ground. Lesser royal residences are also captured and their inhabitants slaughtered, although the cities on the hill remain.

	~~== Historicity ==~~

	The archaeological evidence tends to disprove the historical reliability of the Book of Joshua: the time periods involved in the destruction layers of the cities overlap the campaigns of the [[Sea Peoples]] (who consistently burnt rich cities to the ground, even if they intended to later settle on the ruins), and the currently unexplained general late Bronze Age collapse of civilisation in the whole eastern Mediterranean; it is far more plausible, from the point of view of an increasing majority of archaeologists, for these causes to have been responsible for the destruction of the cities, rather than an invasion of Israelites lasting only about 20 or so years.<sup>[]</sup> In addition, since archaeological remains show a smooth cultural continuity in this period, rather than the destruction of one culture (Canaanite) and replacement by another (Israelite), a large body of archaeologists believe that the Israelites were simply an emergent subculture within Canaanite society — i.e. that an Israelite conquest would be a logical nonsense — it would have involved the Canaanites invading themselves, from Canaan.<sup>[]</sup> From the point of view of [[Biblical criticism\|Biblical scholars]], it is more plausible that the author(s) of Joshua combined a series of independent traditions about battles and destruction of various cities at differing times, in order to create a [[nationalism\|nationalistic]] narrative that could dovetail neatly with the tradition of an exodus from Egypt.<sup>[]</sup>

	== Ethical problem of war and genocide ==		== Ethical problem of war and genocide ==

Nick: /* Summary */

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Summary

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	[[Ai (Bible)\|Ai]] is surveyed and pronounced weak, so the Israelite army sends only a small group to attack them. However they are defeated, causing Joshua and the people to despair. But God announces that the people have sinned: someone has stolen some of the spoils from Jericho which are meant to be for the temple. Consequently the Israelites set out to discover the sinner by [[Urim and Thummim\|casting lots]], whittling them down first by tribe ([[Tribe of Judah\|Judah]]), then clan ([[Zarhites]]), then sept ([[Zabdi]]), then finally detecting it as [[Achan (Bible)\|Achan]]. Achan admits having taken a costly Babylonian garment, besides silver and gold, and his confession is verified by the finding of the treasure buried in his tent, so Achan is taken into the valley of [[Achor]], where he and his household are stoned and burned to death.		[[Ai (Bible)\|Ai]] is surveyed and pronounced weak, so the Israelite army sends only a small group to attack them. However they are defeated, causing Joshua and the people to despair. But God announces that the people have sinned: someone has stolen some of the spoils from Jericho which are meant to be for the temple. Consequently the Israelites set out to discover the sinner by [[Urim and Thummim\|casting lots]], whittling them down first by tribe ([[Tribe of Judah\|Judah]]), then clan ([[Zarhites]]), then sept ([[Zabdi]]), then finally detecting it as [[Achan (Bible)\|Achan]]. Achan admits having taken a costly Babylonian garment, besides silver and gold, and his confession is verified by the finding of the treasure buried in his tent, so Achan is taken into the valley of [[Achor]], where he and his household are stoned and burned to death.

	Afterwards, 30,000 Israelites set an ambush of Ai overnight, and in the morning another Israelite force attack and then feign retreat, drawing the forces of Ai far away from the city. When Joshua raises his lance, the 30,000 men preparing the ambush strike, while Joshua starts attacking again, thus surrounding Ai's forces. The entire city is burned and its inhabitants slaughtered. The king of Ai, however, is taken alive and delivered to Joshua. He is then impaled on a stake for public display before being buried outside the city gates, following Hebrew guidelines for the guilty. (see Deuteronomy 21.23).		Afterwards, 30,000 Israelites set an ambush of Ai overnight, and in the morning another Israelite force attack and then feign retreat, drawing the forces of Ai far away from the city. When Joshua raises his lance, the 30,000 men preparing the ambush strike, while Joshua starts attacking again, thus surrounding Ai's forces. The entire city is burned and its inhabitants slaughtered. The king of Ai, however, is taken alive and delivered to Joshua. He is then impaled on a stake for public display before being buried outside the city gates, following Hebrew guidelines for the guilty. (see [[Deuteronomy 21:23]]).

	Joshua erects an altar on Mount Ebal and makes offerings upon it and carves into it the law of Moses. The people are arranged into two sections, with one facing [[Ebal]] and the other facing [[Gerizim]]. They each read the blessings and curses specified in [[Deuteronomy]] as appropriate.		Joshua erects an altar on Mount Ebal and makes offerings upon it and carves into it the law of Moses. The people are arranged into two sections, with one facing [[Ebal]] and the other facing [[Gerizim]]. They each read the blessings and curses specified in [[Deuteronomy]] as appropriate.

	The [[Hivites]] fool the Israelites into thinking them foreigners and gain a non-aggression treaty from the Israelites. Even after its detection, the fraud is not abrogated, though the Hivites are punished by being treated as the lowest social class (referred to via the Hebrew [[idiom]] "hewers of wood and drawers of water for the altar of ~~Yhwh~~").		The [[Hivites]] fool the Israelites into thinking them foreigners and gain a non-aggression treaty from the Israelites. Even after its detection, the fraud is not abrogated, though the Hivites are punished by being treated as the lowest social class (referred to via the Hebrew [[idiom]] "hewers of wood and drawers of water for the altar of Jehovah").

	[[Image:Dore joshua sun.jpg\|left\|thumb\|300px\|An 1883 depiction of Joshua commanding the sun to stand still in the sky.]]		[[Image:Dore joshua sun.jpg\|left\|thumb\|300px\|An 1883 depiction of Joshua commanding the sun to stand still in the sky.]]
	[[Adonizedek]], king of [[Jerusalem]], brings about an alliance of the "five kings of the Amorites" (the kings of [[Hebron]], [[Jarmuth]], [[Lachish]], and [[Eglon]], and himself), and they besiege the Hivites in [[Gibeon (ancient city)\|Gibeon]], whom they perceive as [[treason\|traitors]]. The Hivites implore Joshua's help, and so he launches a surprise attack following a night march, causing the Amorites to panic and flee as far as [[Beth-horon]]. A poem is quoted from the [[Sefer haYashar (Biblical references)\|Book of Jasher]], which states that the sun stood still at Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of [[Ajalon]], in order that Joshua could complete the battle. Despite the five kings' cowardly attempt at avoiding retribution by hiding inside a cave, they are discovered and trapped there until their army has been completely obliterated. Afterwards, the kings are brought to Joshua, who first humiliates them, then orders their death and has them impaled for public display. At sunset, the bodies are thrown back into the cave from which they hid, and the entrance sealed.		[[Adonizedek]], king of [[Jerusalem]], brings about an alliance of the "five kings of the Amorites" (the kings of [[Hebron]], [[Jarmuth]], [[Lachish]], and [[Eglon]], and himself), and they besiege the Hivites in [[Gibeon (ancient city)\|Gibeon]], whom they perceive as [[treason\|traitors]]. The Hivites implore Joshua's help, and so he launches a surprise attack following a night march, causing the Amorites to panic and flee as far as [[Beth-horon]]. A poem is quoted from the [[Sefer haYashar (Biblical references)\|Book of Jasher]], which states that the sun stood still at Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of [[Ajalon]], in order that Joshua could complete the battle. Despite the five kings' cowardly attempt at avoiding retribution by hiding inside a cave, they are discovered and trapped there until their army has been completely obliterated. Afterwards, the kings are brought to Joshua, who first humiliates them, then orders their death and has them impaled for public display. At sunset, the bodies are thrown back into the cave from which they hid, and the entrance sealed.

	[[Jabin]], king of [[Hazor (archaeological site)\|Hazor]], his army, and his [[vassal]]s, rendezvous at [[Merom]]. Joshua, however, executes a swift attack and is able to defeat them. Pursuing them to a great distance, he hamstrings their horses, burns their chariots, captures Hazor, slaughters its inhabitants, and burns it to the ground. Lesser royal residences are also captured and their inhabitants slaughtered, although the cities on the hill remain.		[[Jabin]], king of [[Hazor (archaeological site)\|Hazor]], his army, and his [[vassal]]s, rendezvous at [[Merom]]. Joshua, however, executes a swift attack and is able to defeat them. Pursuing them to a great distance, he hamstrings their horses, burns their chariots, captures Hazor, slaughters its inhabitants, and burns it to the ground. Lesser royal residences are also captured and their inhabitants slaughtered, although the cities on the hill remain.

Nick: /* Authorship */

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Authorship

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	==Authorship==		==Authorship==

	The Book of Joshua has been traditionally ascribed to Joshua himself by early Jewish writers and by the Early Church Fathers. Modern scholars believe that Joshua is the work of writers from the 8th and 7th centuries BC, with retouchings from the exilic period. In terms of composition it forms a continuation of the [[JE]] version of the [[torah]], and thus two of the main spliced-together narrative sources within it - [[Jahwist]] (''J''), and [[Elohist]] (''E'') - or at least deriving from sources from the same ''schools of thought'' as these. The [[Deuteronomist]]s detached the ''Joshua'' section of this at some later point and embedded it within the [[Deuteronomic history]], making a number of minor edits and [[framing narrative\|framing additions]] (mainly Joshua [[Joshua 1]], [[Joshua 21:43], [[Joshua 22:6 HE]], and [[Joshua 23]]).<ref name="NIBD">Ronald F. Youngblood, F. F. Bruce, R. K. Harrison and Thomas Nelson Publishers, “Joshua, Book of,” in, Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Rev. Ed. of: Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary.; Includes Index. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995).</ref>		The Book of Joshua has been traditionally ascribed to Joshua himself by early Jewish writers and by the Early Church Fathers.

	== Notes ==		== Notes ==

Beza 1598 at 08:06, 5 March 2016

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	[[Category:Genocide]]		[[Category:Genocide]]
	[[Category:Year of work unknown]]		[[Category:Year of work unknown]]

			{{Donate}}

Nick: /* Ethical problem of war and genocide */

2012-05-07T05:12:05Z

Ethical problem of war and genocide

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	== Ethical problem of war and genocide ==		== Ethical problem of war and genocide ==
	One difficulty in this book arises out of the command given by God to completely exterminate "anything that breathes" in the cities in the land to be inherited.<~~ref~~>~~Deuteronomy 20:16-18~~</~~ref~~> During the conquest God commands his people to kill inhabitants of numerous cities (often including women and children). No explicit justification is given in the book for these commands. However, it is given in the [[Book of Deuteronomy]] 9:4, and that reason is on account of the wickedness of these nations, which in many cases involved child sacrifice to Molech and perverse sexual practices, among other things.		One difficulty in this book arises out of the command given by God to completely exterminate "anything that breathes" in the cities in the land to be inherited.<sup>[]</sup> During the conquest God commands his people to kill inhabitants of numerous cities (often including women and children). No explicit justification is given in the book for these commands. However, it is given in the [[Book of Deuteronomy]] 9:4, and that reason is on account of the wickedness of these nations, which in many cases involved child sacrifice to Molech and perverse sexual practices, among other things.

	At many points in the Tanakh, God orders men to kill other people for their faithlessness including at the scene of the golden calf when 4,000 Jews were slain for idolatry.		At many points in the Tanakh, God orders men to kill other people for their faithlessness including at the scene of the golden calf when 4,000 Jews were slain for idolatry.

	[[Liberal Christianity\|Liberal theologians]] see this as an ethically unjustifiable order to commit [[genocide]], which is inconsistent with the overall view in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures of God as a loving, compassionate Creator. They see it as a theological polemic, with the majority of events invented during or after the [[Babylonian captivity]], to encourage faithfulness to the Jewish creed at a time when it was being threatened. For instance, Morton says that Joshua "should be understood as a rite of ancient peoples (Israel among them) whereby within the context of their times, they attempted to please God (or the gods)".<~~ref~~>~~Morton, pp. 324-325~~</~~ref~~>		[[Liberal Christianity\|Liberal theologians]] see this as an ethically unjustifiable order to commit [[genocide]], which is inconsistent with the overall view in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures of God as a loving, compassionate Creator. They see it as a theological polemic, with the majority of events invented during or after the [[Babylonian captivity]], to encourage faithfulness to the Jewish creed at a time when it was being threatened. For instance, Morton says that Joshua "should be understood as a rite of ancient peoples (Israel among them) whereby within the context of their times, they attempted to please God (or the gods)".<sup>[]</sup>

	[[evangelicalism\|Conservative theologians]], who see the book as a historically accurate account written during or soon after the life of Joshua, justify the cruelty of the Israelites through pleading moral relativism (the Canaanites were even worse), or [[Progressive revelation (Christian)\|progressive revelation]] (God reveals himself partially to Joshua and the Jews, but fully through Christ to Christians).		[[evangelicalism\|Conservative theologians]], who see the book as a historically accurate account written during or soon after the life of Joshua, justify the cruelty of the Israelites through pleading moral relativism (the Canaanites were even worse), or [[Progressive revelation (Christian)\|progressive revelation]] (God reveals himself partially to Joshua and the Jews, but fully through Christ to Christians).

Nick: /* Historicity */

2012-05-07T05:10:44Z

Historicity

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	== Historicity ==		== Historicity ==

	The archaeological evidence tends to disprove the historical reliability of the Book of Joshua: the time periods involved in the destruction layers of the cities overlap the campaigns of the [[Sea Peoples]] (who consistently burnt rich cities to the ground, even if they intended to later settle on the ruins), and the currently unexplained general late Bronze Age collapse of civilisation in the whole eastern Mediterranean; it is far more plausible, from the point of view of an increasing majority of archaeologists, for these causes to have been responsible for the destruction of the cities, rather than an invasion of Israelites lasting only about 20 or so years.<~~ref~~>[~~[Israel Finkelstein~~]~~], ''[[The Bible Unearthed]]''~~</~~ref~~> In addition, since archaeological remains show a smooth cultural continuity in this period, rather than the destruction of one culture (Canaanite) and replacement by another (Israelite), a large body of archaeologists believe that the Israelites were simply an emergent subculture within Canaanite society — i.e. that an Israelite conquest would be a logical nonsense — it would have involved the Canaanites invading themselves, from Canaan.<~~ref~~>~~ibid~~</~~ref~~> From the point of view of [[Biblical criticism\|Biblical scholars]], it is more plausible that the author(s) of Joshua combined a series of independent traditions about battles and destruction of various cities at differing times, in order to create a [[nationalism\|nationalistic]] narrative that could dovetail neatly with the tradition of an exodus from Egypt.<~~ref~~>~~cite book\|first=Matthew\|last=Sturgis\|title=It Ain't Necessarily So\|year=2001\|publisher= Headline Publishing Group\|isbn=0747245061~~</~~ref~~>		The archaeological evidence tends to disprove the historical reliability of the Book of Joshua: the time periods involved in the destruction layers of the cities overlap the campaigns of the [[Sea Peoples]] (who consistently burnt rich cities to the ground, even if they intended to later settle on the ruins), and the currently unexplained general late Bronze Age collapse of civilisation in the whole eastern Mediterranean; it is far more plausible, from the point of view of an increasing majority of archaeologists, for these causes to have been responsible for the destruction of the cities, rather than an invasion of Israelites lasting only about 20 or so years.<sup>[]</sup> In addition, since archaeological remains show a smooth cultural continuity in this period, rather than the destruction of one culture (Canaanite) and replacement by another (Israelite), a large body of archaeologists believe that the Israelites were simply an emergent subculture within Canaanite society — i.e. that an Israelite conquest would be a logical nonsense — it would have involved the Canaanites invading themselves, from Canaan.<sup>[]</sup> From the point of view of [[Biblical criticism\|Biblical scholars]], it is more plausible that the author(s) of Joshua combined a series of independent traditions about battles and destruction of various cities at differing times, in order to create a [[nationalism\|nationalistic]] narrative that could dovetail neatly with the tradition of an exodus from Egypt.<sup>[]</sup>

	== Ethical problem of war and genocide ==		== Ethical problem of war and genocide ==