Joshua

Introduction

THE CENTURY OF JOSHUA

Moses’ mission had ended on Mt. Nebo. As we saw in the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses had been called by God to guide the people and to make them “go up” from slavery in Egypt to the doors of the Promised Land. The people had arrived there, at the very edge of that land that God had given them as their heritage and at that moment, it was Joshua, the first Jesus (since in Hebrew Joshua and Jesus have the same spelling) who was going to take the people into the Promised Land.

A People of Immigrants

To speak of a people may be going too far. In fact, they were no more than a few clans who had been led by Moses through the desert and who had no doubt grown by incorporating the new elements that they had encountered in the sacred place of Kadesh-barnea. However few these nomads, now entrusted to Joshua, may have been, they were bringing with them such a rich experience, that after joining the other tribes that had not abandoned Palestine, they were to transform that experience into the spiritual heritage of everyone.

In the presence of the Canaanites who were living in cities and cultivating the lands surrounding them, these nomads became gradually aware of their originality and their identity. The One who had revealed himself to Moses at Sinai and who had multiplied his marvels for the fugitives from Egypt. The Lord–God made a Covenant with these nomadic people, with these tribes of Bedouins. The Lord–God gave them his law and his promise at the same time. From that moment on, they would be the people that God chose for himself and he would be their God. It was during that period of Joshua and the Judges that the people of Israel would really be established.

However, even though they must have felt blessed by Yahweh, these nomads must have felt admiration for the Canaanites among whom they were living. Historians tell us that this period of the second millennium before Christ was the most prestigious period of the history of Palestine at the cultural level. Compared to the Canaanite cities with their fortifications, their temples and their palaces with coffered cedar ceilings decorated with marble inlays, these nomads seemed to have a very poor standard of living. The same contrast was found at the religious level: the Canaanites of the cities had countless celebrations, feasts, and rituals in full view of the Bedouins who did not even have a temple.

The temptation was great and the Books of Joshua and Judges as well as the Books of Samuel and Kings would constantly show us how easily the Israelites let themselves be carried away. Attracted by that brilliant civilization, they abandoned their own customs and their faith at the same time, to adopt the rites of the inhabitants of the country. During this entire period of the kings, the prophets would never stop reminding the people of the demands of the Covenant and of fidelity in Yahweh.

The Truth about the Conquest

A people seduced by Canaanite culture, men of God who resisted and proclaimed the call to fidelity, such was the permanent conflict that the texts of the Scripture present to us with regard to this period. The Book of Joshua seems to present a systematic conquest of the country carried out by Joshua as the head of the tribes but in reality, things must have happened in a very different way.

City people and nomads were very different and the fact that they were forced to live together on the same territory did not prevent conflicts. At times, the Canaanites won and at times, the nomads did. However, little by little, the tribes began to impose their own law on the early inhabitants of the country and in Saul’s days, the nomads of former times who had become city people as the years went by, had seized power in the country. First, David and then, Solomon were to confirm this situation.

Active minorities are the ones who make up history. When we speak of the Church and of its impact in the world, oftentimes we are only dealing with a minority of believers. The groups of prophets, who several centuries after Joshua, compiled the traditions and the documents on the conquest, did not claim to give us an exact and complete history of that conquest. We should not allow ourselves to be deceived by the triumphant aspect of these accounts in which all of Israel obtains victories with Joshua: the Book of Joshua relates small things that made up a great history.

THE BOOK OF JOSHUA AND ITS AUTHORS

When the book was written, the history of Joshua was lost in a past whose many details had already been forgotten. However, a few images and memories were sufficient to illustrate the vocation of the people of God and the meaning of their adventures.

Joshua inaugurates the series of books that the Hebrew Bible calls the Early Prophets, meaning, by this title, these historical books tell us about a history that started long before the prophets. However, these books were conceived and written in the prophets’ groups. The entire series that takes us from Joshua to the Books of the Kings actually forms a unit with a reflection on Deuteronomy. Today, we usually speak of Deuteronomic history to refer to this series.

For the most part, the Book of Joshua was written in the last days of the kingdom of Judah. Thus, the idea that the land of Palestine was God’s great gift to this people and the sign of his Covenant, was an invitation to find in the past a correspondence between the conquests and fidelity to the Covenant, between infidelity and failure.

The author was familiar with the days of Joshua by way of many sources: oral traditions (no doubt very distorted due to the 500 years that had elapsed), documents that may have been kept in Israel’s ancient Sanctuaries (like the one in Gilgal), and documents going back to the days of the monarchy concerning the official land registry of the tribes.

The book must have been modified at the time of the Babylonian Exile. This was the time when priests intervened and imposed another interpretation in many passages. At the same time, they emphasized the liturgical aspect of important events.

1.1 The hero of the Book is Joshua, son of Nun, who succeeded Moses (Dt 34:9). The conquest of the Promised Land is narrated here as if Joshua had directed everything. In this way, the image of a savior is enhanced (“Joshua,” like “Jesus,” means Yahweh-saves) who leads the people of God into their land and to their rest. Joshua prefigures Jesus, as we are told in the Letter to the Hebrews (4:8). The phrase the Lord spoke to Joshua should not be taken literally. This merely means that, in taking such an initiative, Joshua fulfilled the Lord’s plan. Like all the prophets seen later in Israel, Joshua appears here as the “servant of the Lord” who, day and night, ponders his word (Ps 1:2). The first biblical image that will come to the mind of the primitive Christian community when speaking of Jesus will be that of the “holy servant of God” (Acts 3:13; 3:26; 4:27; 4:30).

I give you all the places where you set your feet (v. 3). In this way, we ought to expect God’s benefits. He does not do the work for us; instead, he sees to it that we make the necessary effort. The land, which the Lord gives to the Israelites, will belong to them once they conquer it.

Sometimes religious people have the reputation of being unconcerned about social problems, and of not committing themselves to tasks involving the common good. It is true that the Gospel does not speak of earthly conquests, but biblical history shows that the Gospel could not have been understood deeply except by people who had fought to conquer their land and to forge their own identity, so as later to create their own culture. The Church knows by experience that evangelization cannot be divorced from human development.

2.1 A prostitute receives Joshua’s spies. They, in turn, promise to spare her life and that of her entire household. The huge walls of Jericho had been destroyed a century earlier but new inhabitants had settled inside without bothering to repair them. We may imagine all these people assembled together in a house which was built from the debris of the same walls.

This minor incident has symbolic value. The author of the book places on the lips of Rahab a profession of faith in the Lord, the living God, who will entrust the country to the Hebrew people. Because of this faith, Rahab will be saved.

Jewish tradition recognizes her as an ancestress of King David, and the Gospel mentions her name in the genealogy of Jesus (Mt 1:5).

3.1 The Jordan has not always been the boundary of Israel: according to its victories or defeats Israel possessed the land to the east of the Jordan or lost that in the west. Nevertheless, the Jordan has always been recognized as the border of the Promised Land of the people of God. Consequently, we see how the tribes of Reuben and Gad, already settled to the east of the river, are constrained by Moses, and later by Joshua to cross the river with their families: only on this condition will they be recognized as true heirs of the Promised Land. That is why the passage of the Jordan led by Joshua has had such importance in both Jewish and Christian traditions.

In this crossing as in that of the Red Sea, God alone has the major role. It is at the moment that the bearers of the Ark, on which rests the glory of the Lord, touches the river, that it ceases to flow. When the bearers go up from the river, the water begins to flow again.

God, resting on his Ark, opens and closes the gate of the Promised Land (Rev 3:7). Likewise, Jesus, the new Ark of the Covenant, in whom resides the fullness of the divinity (Col 2:9), will go down into the water of the Jordan to open the gates of the Promised Land. This crossing is, together with that of the Reed Sea, the baptism of the people of God. Reading this narrative, we understand that this book is not a military record of Joshua’s conquest; it is a liturgical book in which we see God at work: he grants or withdraws his blessings according to the fidelity or infidelity of his people. At the end of the book, we see his people invited to make a solemn profession of faith (Jos 24). Each time that the Church invites us, like Joshua, to renew our profession of faith, whether at baptism or the paschal vigil, we are taking part in a long-established Christian tradition.

The water stood still, forming something like a dam (v. 16). In 1267 a landslide took place in the Jordan valley much higher than Jericho, leaving the riverbed dry until a current washed out the obstacle a few hours later. A similar phenomenon could have allowed Joshua and his people to enter the Promised Land dry foot after crossing the riverbed. The miracle lies in the fact that the event happens at the moment when Joshua and his followers are waiting for the Lord to open a passage for them. God often uses natural causes to keep a seemingly impossible promise.

What do these stones mean for you? (4:6) What is the meaning of such a monument, of such a feast? Each time, this was answered by narrating some event in which the Lord had helped his people. In Israel, the faith was taught through similar questions. The Israelites did not have much knowledge of religion; yet every place in their land reminded them that God was the savior of his people.

Joshua pitches his camp in Gilgal from where he organizes his assaults, and he returns wisely to Gilgal after each victory before the Canaanite forces can regroup.

It is evident that several accounts, which are not entirely in accord with one another, are combined here. Did they put twelve stones in the camp (cf. 4:3), or did they put them on the riverbed of the Jordan (4:9)? It really does not matter. At best, these stones were already near Gilgal even before Joshua and the Israelites arrived; this was a sanctuary devoted to a pagan cult. But after the conquest, the priests wanted to give them a religious meaning in consonance with their faith, as we saw in Exodus 12:15.

5.1 At their first encampment, Joshua’s men celebrated their first religious cult performing circumcision (see Gen 17:10). In Israel, this was the sign of one’s entrance into the religious community. In order to insist on this obligation, the book notes that, upon entering the Holy Land, all the men were circumcised.

On the following day, they ate of the produce of the land (v. 11). See commentary on Exodus 16 for the explanations concerning the manna and legends about it.

Then begins a new era. Up to this time, the religion of the Israelites had been that of a nomadic people. Now begins a deep crisis which will last until King David’s time, with the Israelites trying to adapt themselves to their new situation as farmers and city-dwellers and gradually evolving a kind of religion suitable for this new situation. This text goes even further: the time of the journey, the time of the march towards the Promised Land is over; the people have entered this land. The manna, nourishment for the journey, no longer falls and the people satisfy their hunger with the fruit of the country. So it will be at the end of time when all humanity will have reached the Father and his kingdom, no longer will the Church give people bread for the journey—what they will have is the eternal presence of God.

6.1 With the capture of Jericho, the conquest begins. Jericho is made “anathema,” i.e., set apart for God. The people renounce all booty, entrust the spoils to the Lord’s treasury and kill all living beings instead of taking possession of the animals and reducing the inhabitants to slavery. This same word “anathema” will eventually be used to refer to someone who bears the curse of God (see Rom 9:3). This was a practice among a number of peoples. By destroying everything Canaanite, Israel safeguarded itself from adopting the culture and materialism of the Canaanites.

Sometimes the modern reader is scandalized: how could God order such a war? And how could Joshua think of pleasing God by ordering the killing of all the inhabitants including babies?

One should bear in mind when this conquest took place and when the book was written.

The conquest took place in the thirteenth century B.C. It is difficult for us to understand the mentality of such ancient times. In Canaan, babies were burned as an offering to the pagan gods. In Assyria, prisoners were skinned alive. Israel conquered Palestine by force like any nomadic people in the world. God was beginning to instruct his people. To start with, he could not expect that they had already been educated. The bloody victories were a step on the way to the shaping of a national conscience. In this sense, we cannot, in the name of peace, despise heroes of past wars.

Moreover, the present book was written in the seventh century B.C., in the small kingdom of Judah, which was surrounded by powerful neighbors with whom they tried to be at peace. Hence, the accounts of past victories and massacres were amplified (compare 2 S 12:31 written by contemporaries of the events, and 1 Chr 20:2, written four centuries later). The author wanted to show his contemporaries that they had nothing to fear since God was with them. By imaginatively amplifying the massacres of Canaanites in times past, he wanted to say to his compatriots: do not follow any pagan practices, but preserve the holy germ of Israel’s faith. Using these bloody examples, the Scripture gives us a lesson: since the people of God had a unique hope for the world, no sacrifice would be too big to keep it intact. The Gospel is no less sharp than the sword of Joshua, it is no less indulgent against our idols and our fears, even when it refuses the violence and, of course, the fanaticism of these primitive times.

In like manner then, when we read: The Lord ordered Joshua the anathema (v. 21), we should not think this was a special intervention of God (see commentary on Gen 16). These words only mean that Joshua decided to declare and implement the anathema, and, in so doing, preserved Israel’s faith from idolatry, a situation even more contradictory to God’s plans. But they did this as a people who did not yet know the value of human life.

It is difficult to know really what is true in this story: see footnotes on Joshua 2:1.

7.1 All the spoils had been made “anathema,” i.e., consecrated to God. Whether they were burnt or deposited in the treasury of the Sanctuary, they were offered to the Lord. Achan had robbed God and, in the manner of speaking and thinking of ancient people, the stolen thing turned into a curse which clung to his person and his family. Perhaps this event should make us reflect on the seriousness of our commitment once we have decided to consecrate our time and person to God.

8.30 What is the meaning of this Covenant celebrated in Shechem? Scripture presents the ancient history of Israel in a hyperbolic form when it writes that the twelve tribes were together in Egypt, that they left together with Moses, and that all twelve tribes reached the Promised Land with him. At best, the whole history of the Exodus is that of a much smaller group who freed themselves with Moses’ leadership and went through the decisive experience of an encounter with the Saving God.

Later, in the oasis of Kadesh, they encountered other Hebrew groups who had also been in Egypt and who accepted their faith (see commentary on the map of Exodus).

Subsequently, when they settled in Palestine, they allied themselves with other tribes from their own race who were already living in the midst of the Canaanites. It was then that Israel first became a people of twelve tribes. Among them, Ephraim and Manasseh were the predominant tribes. Later, however, in the south, the tribe of Judah developed. It was formed from diverse groups particularly the Calebites (Jdg 1:12; Num 13:30) and the Kenites (Jdg 1:16).

Finally, the Covenant at Shechem could have been the occasion when all of them accepted the faith and the commandments given by Moses.

10.1 The sun of Gibeon has caused enough worry to those who take everything they read in the Scriptures literally.

Some thought that at that moment the sun stood still in the sky. Later, when people learned that it is the earth that revolves around the sun, they thought the earth must have stopped turning. But this explanation is not acceptable either; for, had the earth suddenly stood still, the resulting momentum would have caused total destruction. Therefore, we have to remark that Scripture is citing, in this case, poetic literature, the “Book of the Just,” and that the poets are led by their imagination and do not write in the manner of historians or scientists. Hence, they may have wanted to say that simply it was a great day.

11.1 In Chapter 11, Joshua’s campaign in the north of Palestine is described. There he captured Hazor which, with its 40,000 inhabitants, could be called a big city. We are given the impression that he conquered the entire country. Yet, Chapters 13–19 show that each tribe had to conquer a section of land in a series of individual operations.

13.1 Joshua divides the Promised Land among the twelve tribes.

Different people left together, as we read in Exodus 12:38. In Palestine, others joined them (see Jos 8:33). They did not belong to one race nor were they a closely-knit group; and they were certainly not yet an organized nation. Nevertheless, they were already a group of tribes of unequal strength. Two of these tribes assumed a predominant role: Ephraim in the north, and Judah down south.

Among nomads such as these, the members of each tribe all claimed to be descendants of the founder of their tribe, a prestigious man of the past whose name they bore. Inasmuch as the Israelites considered themselves descendants of Jacob-Israel, each of the twelve tribes considered itself as descending from one of the sons of their ancestor, Jacob, from whom they had received their name.

In reality, there were thirteen tribes in all and not twelve. Let us compare the list of Jacob’s sons in Genesis 35:23 with that of the twelve tribes listed in the present book. The list shows agreement in the following names: Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, and Benjamin. The “house of Joseph” formed two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh (Jos 16:4). Including the tribe of Levi, there were thirteen. But this last tribe was formed by families traditionally dedicated to a religious cult who did not have their own territory (Jos 21:10). In this way, the number twelve will be restored when Joshua divides the land.

They apportioned the land by casting lots. In this manner, the lesson is imparted that the Promised Land is a gift from God (Ps 16 uses the same imagery). Each tribe receives a portion which they did not choose and which they must now conquer in order to own. Each of us has received from God his or her own share in life. We have to accept our share in the same way the tribes accepted their “share of their inheritance.” Then we must achieve our destiny with courage and confidence in God just as they did.

22.1 The situation of the tribes settled towards the east of the Jordan was ambiguous: they were outside the Promised Land with the Jordan as its boundary (see note Jos 3). Chapter 22 affirms the rightful claim of Transjordanian tribes as belonging to the people of Israel and wants to justify the existence in those times of the provincial Sanctuaries. It was only in the time of Josiah, at the end of the seventh century B.C., that all cult would be centered at the Sanctuary of Jerusalem.

24.1 By the time Joshua disappears, the presence of Israel in the hills and plains of Palestine was well-established. They had asserted themselves either by peaceful infiltration or conquest. What is even more important, they were aware of their common destiny.

The twelve tribes gather together in Shechem in central Palestine, where the tribes of Joseph have settled and are stronger and keep the memory of Moses alive zealously. Here the Covenant celebrated by Moses is renewed. See Exodus 24 and last chapters of Deuteronomy.

After recalling the interventions made by the Lord to help Israel, Joshua invites the assembly to choose the Lord and to reject foreign gods. The law of the Covenant is committed to writing.

Remembrance of the Covenant of Shechem will keep alive the aspiration for unity and fidelity to the Lord during those dark moments after Joshua’s death, that is, during the period of the Judges.