Joshua

VIEW:29 DATA:01-04-2020

a savior; a deliverer
(same as Jehoshua, Jeshua, Oshea)
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary


JOSHUA (on forms and meaning of the name see next art.).—1. The successor of Moses. See next article. 2. The Bethshemite in whose field was the stone on which the ark was set, on its return from the land of the Philistines (1Sa_6:14; 1Sa_6:18). 3. The governor of Jerusalem in the time of Josiah (2Ki_23:8). 4. The high priest who along with Zerub. directed affairs at Jerusalem after the restoration (Hag_1:1; Hag_1:12; Hag_1:14 etc., Zec_3:1; Zec_3:3; Zec_3:6 etc.). In the books of Hag. and Zec. he is called Joshua, in Ezr. and Neh Jeshua (wh. see). See also Jesus, 2.
JOSHUA (cf. Jesus, 1).—The successor of Moses as leader of Israel. He is called Hoshea in Deu_32:44, Num_13:8; and in Num_13:16 this is represented as his original name. But Num_13:1-33 is late, and the versions in Dt. show that ‘Joshua’ was probably the original reading. The most likely rendering of the name is ‘Jahweh is salvation.’ The son of Nun and of the tribe of Ephraim, he commanded the army in the battle with Amalek (Exo_17:8-16), attended on Moses at Mt. Sinai (Exo_32:17 f.), and at the Tent of Meeting (Exo_33:11; all these passages are from E [Note: Elohist.] ); acted as one of the twelve spies (Num_13:8; Num_14:6-9), was spared along with Caleb (Num_14:30; Num_14:38; all P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] ). His subsequent history belongs to the story of the conquest of Canaan (see following article). He was buried in Timnath-serah (Jos_19:50; Jos_24:30) or Timnath-heres (Jdg_2:9), in the hill-country of Ephraim.
The view is widely held that Joshua has no historical reality as a person, that his name is merely the name of a clan in Ephraim, and that his leadership in Israel represents, and puts back into the period of the conquest the commanding position which Ephraim had come to hold in the Israelite confederation. And the effort is made to show that he makes his appearance first in E [Note: Elohist.] , the N. Israelite or Ephraimite source. But the old poetic fragment Jos_10:12 f. represents him as speaking in the name of united Israel, and Jos_17:14-18 brings him into view in his dealings with his own tribe as having more than their interests in his mind, as being in some sense the arbiter of the confederacy. And while it is difficult on any reading of the history to understand why all our sources say nothing about the conquest of Central Palestine, this becomes doubly difficult if originally this was the scene of Joshua’s first activity and influence. The historical foundation for making the hero of Ephraim into the conqueror of all Canaan is absent.
It seems more probable that Joshua led the nation in their first assault on Palestine, that under his leadership the entry by Jericho was won, and a wedge thrust into the land by the capture of Bethel and Ai. After this early and united victory, the tribes may have divided for their future settlements, and the separate conquests may have been carried out, as the traditions in Jg. represent them, in a more piecemeal and imperfect fashion. But this is not incompatible with the fact that Joshua may have retained such a position of arbiter as, e.g., Jos_17:1-18 gives him. The loose confederacy, which still recognized its unity against its enemies, may have turned naturally for guidance to one who led its early efforts. In our later sources the conquest was conceived in a different fashion. It was represented as thorough, and as carried out by a united people. The writers naturally grouped all this round the name of one who had been able, though only for a short time, to give the tribes a sense of unity and to begin their assault on their new land. They idealized both his person and his work. But only on the supposition that there was something to idealize is it possible to understand why a man, who belongs to a clan in Ephraim which is otherwise unknown, came to be set up as the hero under whom they won their foothold among the nations, and passed from wandering tribes into a people.
A. C. Welch.
JOSHUA
1. Place in the Canon.—The book was placed by the Jews among the Early Prophets, i.e. Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings. The reason generally accepted for this is that Joshua, unlike Exodus or Leviticus, does not contain Torah or law. But Genesis, which recounts only the origins of the nation to which the Torah was delivered, was included in the Pentateuch; Joshua, which relates the conquest of the land where the Torah was to be practised, was excluded. Jewish tradition worked with criteria of which we are ignorant, but in separating Joshua from the Pentateuch it may have recognized the presence of different documents.
Modern criticism has insisted on connecting the book more closely with the Pentateuch, on the ground that, since all the Pentateuch documents look forward to the fulfilment of Jahweh’s promise of Palestine, Joshua, which relates the conquest, is a necessary sequel. This, however, forgets (a) that all Hebrew history is a unity in which the conquest of Palestine is merely an incident; (b) that Deuteronomy looks forward beyond the conquest to the erection of a national sanctuary, for which Joshua provides no more than the foundation. And there are other evidences that Joshua formed part of a history which extended through the period of the Judges to the establishment of the kingdom in Jerusalem. It is possible that a wider recognition of this fact may help to clear up some of the difficult questions as to the composition of the book.
2. Structure and contents.—The book falls into three parts: (a) the conquest, chs. 1–12; (b) the division of the land, chs. 13–21; (c) a conclusion, chs. 22–24. It is convenient to discuss these separately.
(a) In chs. 1–12, an account, closely akin to JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] , supplies the foundation. It relates the mission of the spies to Jericho (Jos_2:1-9; Jos_2:12-24), and the consequent passage of Jordan (Jos_3:1; Jos_3:5; Jos_3:10-17, Jos_4:1-11 a, 15–18, 20). In the latter story a difference in substance proves the presence of two accounts, but every effort to identify one of these with J [Note: Jahwist.] , the other with E [Note: Elohist.] , fails from insufficient criteria. It recounts the circumcision at Gilgal, which it views as a novelty (‘the second time’ of Jos_5:2 is absent from the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] ), since by this means the reproach of the circumcised Egyptians is removed from the people (Jos_5:2 f., 8f.). The story of the capture of Jericho and Ai (in both of which the presence of two accounts is clear) follows (Jos_5:13 to Jos_6:27, Jos_7:2-26, Jos_8:1-29), with the trespass of Achan. Joshua then makes a compact with the Gibeonites (Jos_9:3-9 a, 11–15a, 16, 22f., 26, 27a), and advances to the victory at Beth-horon (Jos_10:1-7; Jos_10:9-12 b–14a), to the execution at Makkedah (Jos_10:15-24; Jos_10:26 f.), and to the victory at the Waters of Merom (Jos_11:1-9 [in part]).
This account has been thoroughly revised by an editor who is closely akin in spirit and language to the author of the framework of Deuteronomy. He added an introduction into which he has fused earlier material (ch. 1). He brought out certain features in connexion with the passage of Jordan—the fear inspired in the Canaanites, the presence of the 21/2 tribes, the exaltation of Joshua by Jahweh (Jos_2:10 f., Jos_3:2-4; Jos_3:6-9, Jos_4:11 b, 12, 14, 21–24, Jos_5:1). He gave a different reason for the circumcision at Gilgal (Jos_5:4-7), and added some details to the fraud of the Gibeonites (Jos_9:1 f., 9b, 10, 24f., 27b.), and to the story of Beth-horon (Jos_9:8; Jos_9:12 a, 14b, 25). He concluded the conquest of the South (Jos_10:28-43) and the victory at Merom (Jos_11:10-23), with a summary of the result; and he added a review of the entire conquest in ch. 12. In his work he does not add independent material to his original, but by his arrangement and omissions gives a new aspect to the account. Thus several indications point to his having omitted much from his documents. It is sufficient to mention one—the absence of any account of the conquest of Central Palestine. This is the more remarkable since at Jos_8:30-35 we have a statement of how Joshua built an altar at Ebal, before the country between Gilgal and Mount Ephraim was subdued. Probably this formed the conclusion to JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] ’s narrative of the conquest of Central Palestine; possibly it was derived from E [Note: Elohist.] , a source which was specially interested in North Israelite sanctuaries, and which (see Deuteronomy) was a favourite source with D [Note: Deuteronomist.] . Further, the conquest of South Palestine in its present form does not agree with Jos_15:14-19 = Jdg_1:10-15. The latter passages represent South Palestine as conquered, not in one sweeping rush, but gradually; not by the action of the united tribes under one head, but by the effort of one tribe or of several in combination. Again, Jos_11:21 f. assigns to Joshua the victory over the Anakim, which in Jos_14:12, Jos_15:15 ff. and Jdg_1:10-15 is attributed to Judah, and especially to Caleb. Evidently the editor has sought to group round one representative figure, and assign to a specific period, the conquest which covered a considerable time and engaged many leaders. His chief interest in the details of history centres round their capacity to be used to point a moral. Thus it is noteworthy bow few chronological data appear in the chapters in comparison with earlier books. He gives prominence to the motives which governed Joshua, and to the Divine support promised to and received by him. He magnifies the leader’s successes, and considers him the representative of the nation and the successor of Moses.
A few verses in this section, Jos_4:13; Jos_4:19, Jos_5:10-12, Jos_7:1, Jos_9:15 b, 17–21, are generally assigned to P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] , but they are so isolated and so vague that nothing can be done with them except catalogue them, and express the doubt whether they ever belonged to a separate work.
(b) In chs. 13–21 the situation is different, and the critical results more uncertain. The same three sources can be traced as in the earlier section; but, on the one hand, the portions assigned to P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] take a character and range wholly unlike those which characterize this document throughout the Pentateuch; on the other, it is still a subject of debate whether the section owes its final form to a Deuteronomic or a Priestly editor, D [Note: Deuteronomist.] or P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] . The present writer’s view is that D [Note: Deuteronomist.] edited this section also, using as his sources JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] and what is called P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] . (The other view is held, e.g., by Driver.)
(1) P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] (so called), as the more complete, is given first. It began with the assembly of the tribes at Shiloh for the division (Jos_18:1), and a statement as to the lot assigned to the 21/2 tribes (Jos_13:15-32). It then proceeded to the division (Jos_14:1-5). The lot of Judah is first described (Jos_15:1-13; Jos_15:20-44; Jos_15:48-62). Then follows the lot of the children of Joseph (Jos_16:4-8, Jos_17:1 a, 3f., 7, 9a, 9c, 10a), who are counted as two, and of whom Manaseeh, as firstborn, is named first. The lots of Benjamin (Jos_18:11-28), Simeon (Jos_19:1-8), Zebulun (Jos_19:10-16), Issachar (Jos_19:17-23), Asher (Jos_19:24-31), Naphtali (Jos_19:32-39), Dan (Jos_19:40-46; Jos_19:48) are described, and then comes a conclusion (Jos_19:51) corresponding with the opening (Jos_18:1). On this followed the law and list of the cities of refuge (Jos_20:1-3; Jos_20:6 a, 7–9), and a list of the Levitical cities (Jos_21:1-42).
(2) D [Note: Deuteronomist.] incorporated with this, material drawn from JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] . He introduced the division of the land with a review of the undivided land, and a statement of the lot assigned to the 21/2 tribes (Jos_13:1-14). He therefore dislodged the introduction (Jos_18:1). Into the lot of Judah he inserted the account of Caleb’s settlement there (Jos_14:6-15, Jos_15:14-19), and of Jerusalem (Jos_15:63).[Jos_15:45-47 may be a late addition, written, after the Philistines had disappeared, to conform Judah’s boundary to the ideal of Jos_15:12]. Into the lot of the children of Joseph he inserted material from the older source (Jos_16:1-3; Jos_16:9 f., Jos_17:1 b, 2, 5, 8, 9b, 10b–18), which represented the lot of the sons as one (Jos_17:14-18). Before the lot of Benjamin he placed the statement of a survey made for the seven remaining tribes (Jos_18:2-6; Jos_18:8-10 [from JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] ; Jos_18:7 is from D [Note: Deuteronomist.] ]). This may represent the historical fact that the two strong clans of Judah and Ephraim were the first to be settled. But the break at this point in the original source gave occasion to insert Jos_18:1 here. In the description of the remaining seven lots only a few verses (Jos_19:9; Jos_19:47; Jos_19:49 f.) come from JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] , but the list of Naphtali’s cities (Jos_19:32-39), which is entirely different in character from the description of the other lots, may be from JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] , according to which (Jos_18:9) the country was distributed by cities. This is one of the facts which support those who hold that P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] edited JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] .
It deserves notice that the account of Judah, Benjamin, and Simeon—the districts which were inhabited after the Exile—is more exhaustive than that of the others. The fact suggests that the editor, who gave the book its final form, wrote at a late date, or at least that late hands retouched the book.
In the account of the cities of refuge (ch. 20), Jos_18:4 f., 6b, which have been added to the earlier source, are absent from the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] . They must have been added at a late date to bring the section into agreement with the Deuteronomic law.
(3) D [Note: Deuteronomist.] concluded the section on the division of the land with his formal close, Jos_21:43-45.
(c) In chs. 22–24 D [Note: Deuteronomist.] took the account of the dismissal of the 21/2 tribes (Jos_22:9-34) from P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] , providing it with his own introduction (Jos_22:1-6). The account is late, since it views the conquest as simultaneous, complete, and national. He took ch. 24—the renewal of the covenant—from JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] (probably E [Note: Elohist.] ), and added only a few verses (Jos_24:11 b, Jos_24:13; Jos_24:31). To these he attached Joshua’s parting counsels (ch. 23).
The source named P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] takes much the same position about the conquest as the final editor. The chief difference lies in the fact that it associates Eleazar with Joshua, but these two formally divide the conquered territory.
It seems probable that the Book of Joshua once formed part of a greater whole—a history written in the Deuteronomic spirit and based on earlier sources, which covered the period from the conquest to the kingdom. This view is tenable along with the opinion that P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] was the final editor, who, adding some sections on the division which he extracted from older sources, brought the book to its present form.
A. C. Welch.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909

Canaan, on Procopius' inscription in Mauritania confirming the historical facts). (See CANAAN.) JOSHUA or JEHOSHUA.
1. He was Hoshea only ("he will save") up to his noble witness after spying Canaan. Henceforth, Jehovah's name is prefixed, Jehovah by him would save Israel (Num_13:16). This forms the contrast in the Antitype (Mat_1:21), "thou shalt call His name Jesus, for Himself (Greek, not merely 'Jehovah by him') shall save His people." Son of Nun, of Ephraim (1Ch_7:27). Born about the time when Moses fled to Midian, he endured in youth the slave labour amidst Egyptian brick kilns. Probably he even in Egypt was recognized as an officer among his brethren; for at his first public act, choosing and leading picked men of Israel against the attacking Amalekites at Rephidim (Exo_17:9) he is introduced abruptly without description as one already well known by the designation Joshua (not Hoshea) given by anticipation. (See AMALEKITES.) Moses discerned by the Spirit his sterling qualities, solid rather than brilliant.
Joshua learned to rule by obeying first; then he ruled for God, not self. God commanded Moses to write in the book (Hebrew, namely, the history of God's dealings with Israel) and rehearse it in Joshua's ears. Joshua inflicted the first decisive blow on the doomed nations; this was an earnest to him of the subsequent conquest of Canaan. Next as Moses' "minister" Joshua accompanied him along with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 elders up the mountain of God; but Moses went alone into the cloud (Exo_24:9; Exo_24:13-15). On the descent Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, and with a warrior's thought he said to Moses, "there is a noise of war in the camp"; but it was the noise of singers in the calf worship. When Moses removed the tabernacle of meeting between God and His people from the camp, Joshua, then "a young man" (perhaps an official term for an attendant, Num_11:28; Deu_1:38 "Joshua who standeth before thee"), departed not out of the tabernacle; the Lord's house and communion is the best qualification for those who are afterward to fight the Lord's battles.
Sent to spy out Canaan as representing Ephraim; Caleb represented Judah. (See CALEB.) They two alone of the 12 brought a good report, and encouraged the people not to fear the inhabitants for the Lord was with Israel (contrast Psa_106:24; Num_13:8; Num_13:16; Numbers 14). The people would have stoned both, but the glory of Jehovah suddenly appeared in the tabernacle. The ten other spies were smitten with the plague and died. Joshua and Caleb alone of all that generation above 20 years of age survived the 40 years' wilderness wanderings that ensued, because "they wholly followed the Lord" (Num_32:11-12). Moses shortly before death, by Jehovah's direction, solemnly invested Joshua with authority as his successor. The Spirit was already in Joshua. Moses by laying on hands added the formal and public sign, and instrumentally gave him thereby more of "the spirit of wisdom." The previous receiving of inward grace does not dispense with the outward sign (Num_27:18-23; Act_9:1-18; Act_10:44-48).
Moses put some of his own honour (dignity and authority) upon Joshua, making him vice leader, that Israel might obey him preparatory to his becoming chief after Moses' death. Joshua was inferior to Moses in standing before Eleazar the high priest to inquire through him and his Urim and Thummim, of Jehovah; Moses enjoyed direct communion with God. When Joshua omitted to inquire in the Gibeonites' case he suffered for it. Moses gave Joshua a charge before the high priest and congregation. Joshua's solemn inauguration to the office to which he had previously been called is in Deu_31:14-23. God Himself recognizes Joshua in it by summoning him into the tabernacle with Moses, while the divine pillar of cloud manifested Jehovah's presence (compare Num_11:25; Num_12:5). He commands Moses and Joshua to write Moses' song, and teach it to Israel as a witness against them of God's benefits, their duties, and the penalty of their apostasy. Jehovah's "charge" by Moses was: "be strong and of a good courage, for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them, and I will be with thee."
Once only did Joshua show an envious spirit, but it was in behalf of his beloved master Moses, not for self. When Eldad and Medad prophesied in the camp separately from the rest of the 70 who received of the spirit that was upon Moses, in his presence, Joshua said, "my lord Moses, forbid them;" he replied, "enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord's people were prophets," etc. (Num_11:28-29; compare Joh_3:26; Luk_9:49; Act_15:8-9; Act_11:17). Jehovah repeated the charge (Jos_1:1-9), enjoining" courage" in "doing according to all the law, turning not from it to the right or left," and promising consequent prosperity and Jehovah's continual presence as "his God wheresoever he went." God kept His promise, working mighty miracles in his behalf, and giving Israel all the land and rest round about; no good thing failed which the Lord had spoken (Jos_21:43-45). The people honoured Joshua as they had Moses. During his lifetime Israel came nearest to realizing the ideal of the people of God (Jos_11:15; Jos_24:31).
Joshua took the command at Shittim, sent spies to Jericho, crossed Jordan, fortified his camp at Gilgal, circumcised the people (for Israel's work was a spiritual one, and men still having the badge of fleshliness were not fit agents for the Lord's work: Jos_10:40; Jdg_5:31), kept the Passover, (after which on their eating the old grain of the land the manna ceased,) and received the assurance of Jericho's fall and God's fighting against Israel's foes from the uncreated Angel of Jehovah (Jos_5:13-15; Jos_6:2-5), the Captain of Jehovah's host (Mat_26:53; Exo_23:20-23; Rev_19:11-14). The charge "loose thy shoe from off thy feet" identifies Him with the Jehovah of Exo_3:5. Ganneau suggests that Sartabeh the mountain was the spot whereon the Captain of Jehovah's host, Hebrew: Sarsaba, appeared to Joshua, and thence takes its name. It is invisible W. of Jericho; but to one starting from Riha to the E. it appears at all points.
The divine Captain was on a height above Joshua, for "he lifted up his eyes" toward Him, and went unto Him. Jericho fell by miracle. (See JERICHO.) The repulse at AI, through Achan's sin, taught Israel their success depended on their doing God's work of wrath in God's holy way, without greed. (See ACHAN.) Ai then fell. Joshua wrote the law on EBAL, and read it before the assembled people, half on that side and half. over against Gerizim. (See GERIZIM.) By neglecting to consult Jehovah Joshua was entrapped into the league with Gibeon; but having sworn he honourably kept his oath (Psa_15:4; Ecc_5:2; contrast 2Sa_21:2-6, etc.). (See GIBEON.) This brought on the attack of the five confederate kings whom he defeated at Makkedah, aided by a divinely sent hailstorm and prolongation of daylight: the condition of the air was probably rendered by God, at Joshua's believing prayer, highly refractive so as to cause the sun to be seen long after its actual descent beneath the horizon, as the fata morgana in Sicily and the arctic region; compare the recession of the sun dial shadow under Hezekiah (2Ki_20:11).
The miracle was local, not universal, if we are to judge from the language, "stand ... upon Gibeon, ... in the valley of Ajalon;" so Exo_8:22; Exo_10:23. The mention of the moon with the "sun" hints at the true theory of the earth's rotation on its axis, which requires that if the sun apparently stood the moon should apparently stand too. Habakkuk (Hab_3:10-11) refers to it: "the sun and moon stood still in their habitation." The words "hasted not to go down" imply a gradual not a sudden check to the ordinary phenomena of the sun's apparent motion. Joshua subdued the S. to Kadesh Barnea and Gaza, then the northern confederated kings under Jabin, at Merom, and the country even unto Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon under Mount Hermon and unto "great Zidon." (Tyre was still inferior, merely a stronghold subordinate to Zidon. In the books Samuel and Kings this is reversed, marking the early date of the book of Joshua). Israel often disliked destroying all; but God's command required utter extermination of the Canaanites (Jos_10:40).
Like the earthquake or pestilence, they were simply God's executioners, without personal bloodthirstiness, required to exhibit His hatred of idolatry, and learning themselves to hate it. For 500 years God had borne with longsuffering those guilty nations. Neither the piety of Melchizedek nor the awful punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah had led them to repentance. Now their "iniquity was full" (Gen_15:16). In six years six nations and 31 kings, including the giant Anakim, their former dread, fell before Joshua. (See ANAKIM.) Their extermination was "a work of mercy for all the countries of the earth to the very end of the world." Next Joshua, now aged, allotted the land, along with Eleazar and the tribal heads (Jos_14:1; Jos_17:4). Timnath Serah in Ephraim was assigned to Joshua himself," the city which he asked" (Jos_19:49). His singular unselfishness herein appears; he who might have claimed the first and best is served the last, and with no extraordinary possession above the rest. The congregation set up the tabernacle at Shiloh (Joshua 18).
Six cities of refuge were appointed, 48 to the Levites; and the two and a half transjordanic tribes were dismissed home with blessings (Joshua 20-22). The slackness of Israel in taking possession of the promised land and destroying the Canaanites was the drawback to the completeness of Joshua's work (Jos_18:3); after their long nomadic life the people were slow in settling down in separate homes; fear of the foes' attack too made them shrink from the trouble of defending themselves severally: a root of bitterness left which bore deadly fruit under the judges.
A long time after Jehovah had given rest unto Israel from all foes, Joshua, now old, convened all Israel (Joshua 23) represented by their heads, judges, and officers, to either Timhath Serah his home or Shiloh the sanctuary, and exhorted them to love and serve Jehovah ("be ye very courageous to do all that is written in the law, turn not aside to the right or to the left," Jos_23:6; the same as God had enjoined Himself, Jos_1:7), constrained by His past benefits, His promises of future help, and His threats of leaving the nations to be snares, scourges, and thorns to vex and destroy Israel in the event of apostasy. Again he gathered all the tribes with their heads and officers to Shechem, as being the place where Abram received God's first promise of the land after his migration into Canaan (Gen_12:6-7); more especially because here Jacob on his return from Mesopotamia settled, and removed his household's strange gods (Gen_33:19; Gen_35:2-4), just as Joshua now wished Israel to renew the covenant binding them to renunciation of all idols. Here too Joseph's bones were buried (Jos_24:32). Joshua was buried at 110 years of age in Timnath Serah. His piety comes brightly out in his dying exhortation:
(1) God's call to Abraham was one of pure grace, not for his merit; Israel's fathers and Terah had "served other gods" (Jos_24:2; Jos_24:14; Gen_31:53; Gen_19:34), but Jehovah has through miraculous interposition brought Israel to the promised land; put away therefore all the gods ye served in Egypt (Lev_17:7; Eze_20:18; Jos_24:14); but, if not,
(2) choose you (if you are bent on self destruction) which idols you like, "but as for me and my house (Gen_18:19) we will serve the Lord" (compare Rth_1:15; 1Ki_18:21; Joh_6:67; Luk_10:42).
When the people, self confidently (like Peter, Luk_22:33), promised faithfulness, Joshua replied "ye cannot serve the Lord," i.e. without putting away heart idols (for they had no wooden, stone, or metal images to put away): Deu_6:5-6; Mat_6:24. See Jos_24:23, "put away the strange gods which are IN you," heart idols, inconsistent with the service of Jehovah who is "a jealous God" (Eze_20:39). On the people expressing still their resolution to serve Jehovah, Joshua made a covenant between God and them; and wrote the covenant and the words spoken on both sides in the law book of God, adding it to that written by Moses, and set up a stone as a memorial on the spot, under a terebinth tree by the sanctuary (or place hallowed to Jehovah by Abraham), and as a visible silent witness of their engagement. His influence under God kept them faithful both in his own time and that of the elders who outlived him.
A pious warrior, almost without blemish, one who learned to command in advanced age by obeying when a youth, ever looking up to Jehovah with childlike faith, worshipping with devout prostration the Captain of the Lord's host, dispensing kingdoms yet content at the last with a petty inheritance, as disinterested and unselfish as he was brave, generous, and patriotic. Joshua typifies Jesus whose name he bears (Act_7:45; Heb_4:8). Moses representing the law could not bring Israel into Canaan; that was reserved for Joshua. So Jesus perfects what the law could not, and brings His people into the heavenly inheritance (Act_13:39; Hebrew 4; Heb_7:19-25). He leads His people through a Jordan-like flood of troubles and death itself without being overwhelmed (Isa_43:2). He bruises Satan under their feet (Jos_10:24; Psa_110:5; Mal_4:3; Rom_16:20). Jesus is the minister of the true circumcision (Jos_5:2-9; compare Rom_15:8; Rom_2:29; Col_2:11; Col_2:13).
Joshua was buried in the border of his inheritance in Timnath Serah (probably now Kefr Haris) in Mount Ephraim, on the northern side of the hill Gaash (Jos_24:30). (See TIMNATH SERAH.) The Septuagint adds: "there they laid with him in the tomb the stone knives with which he circumcised the children of Israel in Gilgal ... and there they are unto this day." If this addition of the Septuagint be trustworthy, it will be a curious proof that flint knives lay in situ for 12 centuries, from the 16th to the third century B.C., the date of Septuagint. At all events it shows that flint knives are no proof of a barbarous race ages before the historic period; such knives were used by civilized races in the historic times. M. Guerin professes to have discovered at Tigne (Timnath Serah), Joshua's tomb. In the hill there one tomb has a vestibule, into which the light penetrates. There are 300 niches for lamps. The vestibule admits to two chambers, one with 15 receptacles for bodies, the other but one; many sharp flint knives were found on removing the dirt from the floor of the tomb, as also in Gilgal, the passage of Jordan. The pillars in the vestibule are surrounded by a fillet of Egyptian style.
2. 1Sa_6:14-18.
3. 2Ki_23:8.
4. (See JESHUA.)
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.

Josh'ua. (saviour, or whose help is Jehovah). His name appears in the various forms of Hoshea, Oshea, Jehoshua, Jeshua and Jesus.
1. The son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim. 1Ch_7:27. (B.C. 1530-1420). He was nearly forty years old when he shared in the hurried triumph of the Exodus. He is mentioned first in connection with the fight against Amalek at Rephidim, when he was chosen by Moses to lead the Israelites. Exo_17:9 Soon afterward, he was one of the twelve chiefs who were sent, Num_13:17, to explore the land of Canaan, and one of the two, Num_14:6, who gave an encouraging report of their journey.
Moses, shortly before his death, was directed, Num_27:18, to invest Joshua with authority over the people. God himself gave Joshua a charge by the mouth of the dying lawgiver. Deu_31:14; Deu_31:23. Under the direction of God, again renewed, Jos_1:1, Joshua assumed the command of the people at Shittim, sent spies into Jericho, crossed the Jordan, fortified a camp at Gilgal, circumcised the people, kept the Passover, and was visited by the Captain of the Lord's host.
A miracle made the fall of Jericho more terrible to the Canaanites. In the great battle of Beth-horon, the Amorites were singularily routed, and the south country was open to the Israelites. Joshua returned to the camp at Gilgal, master of half of Palestine. He defeated the Canaanites under Jabin, king of Hazor. In six years, six tribes, with thirty-one petty chiefs, were conquered.
Joshua, now stricken in years, proceeded to make the division of the conquered land. Timnath-serah in Mount Ephraim was assigned as Joshua's peculiar inheritance. After an interval of rest, Joshua convoked an assembly from all Israel. He delivered two solemn addresses, recorded in Jos_23:24. He died at the age of 110 years, and was buried in his own city, Timnath-serah.
2. An inhabitant of Beth-shemesh, in whose land was the stone at which the milch-kine stopped when they drew the Ark of God with the offerings of the Philistines from Ekron to Beth-shemesh. 1Sa_6:14; 1Sa_6:18. (B.C. 1124).
3. A governor of the city who gave his name to a gate of Jerusalem. 2Ki_23:8. (In the reign of Josiah, B.C. 628).
4. Jeshua the son of Jozadak. Hag_1:14; Hag_2:12; Zec_3:1 etc.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863

the son of Nun. He was of the tribe of Ephraim, and born A.M. 2460. He devoted himself to the service of Moses, and in Scripture he is commonly called the servant of Moses, Exo_24:13; Exo_33:11; Deu_1:38, &c. His first name was Hosea, or Oshea; Hoseah signifying saviour; Jehoshua, the salvation of God, or he will save. The first opportunity which Joshua had to signalize his valour was in the war made by the divine command against the Amalekites, Exo_17:9-10.
He defeated and routed their whole army. When Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the law of the Lord, and remained there forty days and forty nights without eating or drinking, Joshua remained with him, though, in all probability, not in the same place, nor with the same abstinence, Exo_24:13; Exo_32:17. Joshua was “filled with the spirit of wisdom,” qualifying him for the arduous and important station of governing Israel, to which he was called by the special command of God, Num_27:18-20; Deu_31:7; Deu_31:14; Deu_34:9; Jos_1:5. His piety, courage, and disinterested integrity are conspicuous throughout his whole history; and, exclusive of the inspiration which enlightened his mind and writings, he derived divine information, sometimes by immediate revelation from God, Jos_3:7; Jos_5:13-15; at others from the sanctuary, through the medium of Eleazar, the high priest, the son of Aaron, who, having on the breast plate, presented himself before the mercy seat on which the Shechinah, or visible symbol of the divine presence, rested, and there consulted Jehovah by the Urim and Thummim, to which an answer was returned by an audible voice.
Joshua succeeded Moses in the government of Israel about the year of the world 2553, and died at Timnathserah in the hundred and tenth year of his age, A.M. 2578. He was about the age of eighty-four when he received the divine command to pass over Jordan, and take possession of the promised land, Jos_1:1-2. Having accomplished that arduous enterprise, and settled the chosen tribes in the peaceable possession of their inheritance, he retired to Shechem, or, according to some Greek copies, to Shiloh; where he assembled the elders of Israel, the heads of families, the judges and other officers; and, presenting themselves before God, he recapitulated the conduct of Divine Providence toward them, from the days of Abraham to that moment; recounted the miraculous and gracious dispensations of God toward their fathers and themselves; reminded them of their present enviable lot, and concluded his solemn address with an exhortation in these emphatic words: “Now, therefore, fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord,” Joshua 24.
The book of Joshua continues the sacred history from the period of the death of Moses to that of the death of Joshua and of Eleazar; a space of about thirty years. It contains an account of the conquest and division of the land of Canaan, the renewal of the covenant with the Israelites, and the death of Joshua. There are two passages in this book which show that it was written by a person contemporary with the events it records. In the first verse of the fifth chapter, the author speaks of himself as being one of those who had passed into Canaan: “And it came to pass when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted.” And from the twenty-fifth verse of the following chapter, it appears that the book was written before the death of Rahab: “And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.” Though there is not a perfect agreement among the learned concerning the author of this book, yet by far the most general opinion is, that it was written by Joshua himself; and, indeed, in the last chapter it is said that “Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God;” which expression seems to imply that he subjoined this history to that written by Moses. The last five verses, giving an account of the death of Joshua, were added by one of his successors; probably by Eleazar, Phinehas, or Samuel.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.

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 (Num_13:8); and it seems that the subsequent alteration of it by Moses (Num_13:16) was significant, and proceeded on the same principle as that of Abram into Abraham (Gen_17:5), and of Sarai into Sarah (Gen_17:15).
In the Bible Joshua is first mentioned as being the victorious commander of the Israelites in their battle against the Amalekites at Rephidim (Exo_17:8-16). 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 (Num_27:18-23; Deu_3:28; Deu_31:23). After the death of Moses he led the Israelites over the Jordan, fortified a camp at Gilgal (Jos_9:6; Jos_10:6-43), 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; Jos_23:13; Jdg_1:27-35). 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 (Jos_15:13 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 Jos_1:5-6 : '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 Jos_10:13, 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 Jos_3:1. 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 Jos_5:1, 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. Jos_4:9; Jos_7:26; Jos_8:28-29; Jos_10:27). 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 (Jos_6:25). 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 Jos_18:4, 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 Jos_18:6, 'Ye therefore shall describe the land into seven parts.' Compare also Jos_18:8-9. '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 Num_34:13-14, with Jos_13:7 sq.; Num_32:37, with Jos_13:17 sq.; Numbers 35 with Joshua 21.
There is also considerable similarity between the following passages in the books of Joshua and Judges:
Jos_13:3-4, Jdg_3:3
Jos_15:13 sq., Jdg_1:10; Jdg_1:20
Jos_15:15-19, Jdg_1:11-15
Jos_15:63, Jdg_1:21
Jos_16:10, Jdg_1:29
Jos_17:12, Jdg_1:27
Jos_19:47, Judges 18
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 Jos_24:26, 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 Jos_24:28; to which a friendly hand subjoined some brief notices, contained in Jos_24:29-33, 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 1Ki_16:34 (comp. Jos_6:26). Psa_44:2-3 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 Psa_68:12-14; Psa_78:54-55; Psa_114:3; Psa_114:5, which refer to the book of Joshua). Also, Hab_3:11 : 'The sun and moon stood still in their habitation,' etc.; Heb_13:5 : 'For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee' (compare Jos_1:5). Heb_11:31 : 'By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace;' and Jam_2:25 : '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 Jos_6:22-25). Act_7:45 : '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 Jos_3:14). Heb_11:30 : 'By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days' (compare Jos_6:1; Jos_6:7-23). Heb_4:8 : '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 (1Sa_6:14; 1Sa_6:18), 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 (2Ki_23:8), the governor of the city of Jerusalem at the commencement of the reign, of Josiah.
Joshua, the son of Josedec (Hag_1:1; Hag_1:12; Hag_1:14; Zec_3:1; Zec_3:3; Zec_3:9; Zec_6:11), a high-priest in the time of Haggai and Zechariah [JESHUA].
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.

Jos_1:1 (c) He is a type of the Lord JESUS who, as the Commander and Leader of His people, conquers their enemies and leads them in triumph into blessed resting places.
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types
press 1957.

Joshua
(Heb. Yehoshu'a, יַהוֹשׁוּע, Jehovah is his help, or Jehovah the Savior, according to Pearson, On the Creed, art. 2, p. 89, ed. 1843:; Sept., N.T., and Josephus Ι᾿ησοῦς; Auth. Vers. "Jehoshua" in Num_13:16, and "Jehoshuah" in 1Ch_7:27; "Jesus" in Act_7:45; Heb_4:8, SEE JESHUA; SEE JESUS ), the name of several men.
I. The son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, the assistant and successor of Moses, whose history is chiefly contained in the book that bears his name. His name was originally HOSHEA (הוֹשֵׁע, salvation, Num_13:8), and it seems that the subsequent alteration of it by Moses (Num_13:16) was significant, and proceeded on the same principle as that of Abram into Abraham (Gen_17:5), and of Sarai into Sarah (Gen_17:15). In Neh_8:17, he is called by the equivalent name JESHUA (יֵשׁוּע, salvation). SEE JESUS.
1. Personal History. — According to the Tsemach David, Joshua was born in Egypt, in the year of the Jewish era 2406 (B.C. 1037); but as he was probably about the age of Caleb, with whom he was associated, we may assign his birth to B.C. cir. 1698 (or, as below, 1693). The future captain of invading hosts grew up a slave in the brick fields of Egypt. Born about the time when Moses fled into Midian, he was a man of some forty years when he saw the ten plagues and shared in the hurried triumph of the Exodus. The keen eye of the aged Lawgiver soon discerned in Hoshea those qualities which might be required in a colleague or successor to himself. In the Bible he is first mentioned as being the victorious commander of the Israelites in their battle against the Amalekites at Rephidim (Exo_17:8-16 B.C. 1658. When Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive for the first time (compare Exo_24:13; Exo_33:11) the two Tables, Joshua, who is called his minister or servant, accompanied him part of the way, and was the first to accost him in his descent (Exo_32:17). Soon afterwards he was one of the twelve chiefs who were sent (Num_13:17) to explore the land of Canaan, and one of the two (14:6) who gave an encouraging report of their journey. B.C. 1657. The forty years of wandering were almost passed, and Joshua was one of the few survivors, when Moses, shortly before his death, was directed (Num_27:18) to invest Joshua solemnly and publicly with definite authority, in connection with Eleazar the priest, over the people (Deu_3:28). After this, God himself gave Joshua a charge by the mouth of the dying Lawgiver (Deu_31:14; Deu_31:23). B.C. 1618. Under the direction of God again renewed (Joshua 1, 1), Joshua, now in his 85th year (Josephus, Ant. 5, 1, 29), assumed the command of the people at Shittim, sent spies into Jericho, crossed the Jordan, fortified a camp at Gilgal, circumcised the people, kept the Passover, and was visited by the captain of the Lord's host. (See below.) A miracle made the fall of Jericho more terrible to the Canaanites. A miraculous repulse in the first assault on Ai impressed upon the invaders the warning that they were the instruments of a holy and jealous God. Ai fell; and the law was inscribed on Mount Ebal, and read by their leader in the presence of all Israel. The treaty which the fear stricken Gibeonites obtained deceitfully was generously respected by Joshua. It stimulated and brought to a point the hostile movements of the five confederate chiefs of the Amorites. Joshua, aided by an unprecedented hail storm and a miraculous prolongation of the day (see below), obtained a decisive victory over them at Makkedah, and proceeded at once to subjugate the south country as far as Kadesh-barnea and Gaza. He returned to the camp at Gilgal master of half of Palestine.
In another campaign he marched to the waters of Merom, where he met and overthrew a confederacy of the Canaanitish chiefs in the north, under Jabin, king of Hazor; and in the course of a protracted war he led his victorious soldiers to the gates of Zidon and into the valley of Lebanon under Hermon. In six years, six nations, with thirty-one kings, swell the roll of his conquests; amongst others the Anakim — the old terror of Israel — are specially recorded as destroyed everywhere except in Philistia. It must be borne in mind that the extensive conquests of Joshua were not intended to achieve, and did not achieve the complete extirpation of the Canaanites, many of whom continued to occupy isolated strongholds throughout the land. (See below.)
Joshua, now stricken in years, proceeded, in conjunction with Eleazar and the heads of the tribes, to complete the division of the conquered land; and when all was allotted, Timnath-serah in Mount Ephraim was assigned by the people as Joshua's peculiar inheritance. The tabernacle of the congregation was established at Shiloh, six cities of refuge were appointed, forty-eight cities assigned to the Levites, and the warriors of the trans- Jordanic tribes dismissed in peace to their homes.
After an interval of rest, Joshua convoked an assembly from all Israel. He delivered two solemn addresses reminding them of the marvelous fulfilment of God's promises to their fathers, and warned them of the conditions on which their prosperity depended; and, lastly, he caused them to renew their covenant with God at Shechem, a place already famous in connection with Jacob (Gen_35:4) and Joseph (Jos_24:32). He died at the age of 110 years, and was buried in his own city, Timnath-serah (Joshua 24). B.C. 1593. According to Schwarz (Palest. p. 147), his grave, ornamented with a handsome monument, is still pointed out at Kefar Charas.
2. His Character. — Joshua's life has been noted as one of the very few which are recorded in history with some fullness of detail, yet without any stain upon them. In his character have been traced, under an Oriental garb, such features as chiefly kindled the imagination of Western chroniclers and poets in the Middle Ages: the character of a devout warrior, blameless and fearless, who has been taught by serving as a youth how to command as a man; who earns by manly vigor a quiet, honored old age; who combines strength with gentleness, ever looking up for and obeying the divine impulse with the simplicity of a child, while he wields great power and directs it calmly, and without swerving, to the accomplishment of a high, unselfish purpose.
All that part of the book of Joshua which relates his personal history seems to be written with the unconscious, vivid power of an eyewitness. We are not merely taught to look with a distant reverence upon the first man who bears the name which is above every name. We stand by the side of one who is admitted to hear the words of God, and see the vision of the Almighty. The image of the armed warrior is before us as when in the sight of two armies he lifted up his spear over unguarded Ai. We see the majestic presence which inspired all Israel (Jos_4:14) with awe; the mild father who remonstrated with Achan; the calm, dignified judge who pronounced his sentence; the devoted worshipper prostrating himself before the captain of the Lord's host. We see the lonely man in the height of his power, separate from those about him, the last survivor, save one, of a famous generation; the honored old man of many deeds and many sufferings, gathering his dying energy for an attempt to bind his people more closely to the service of God whom he had so long served and worshipped, and whom he was ever learning to know more and more.
The great work of Joshua's life was more exciting but less hopeful than that of Moses. He gathered the first fruits of the autumn harvest where his predecessor had sown the seed in spring. It was a high and inspiring task to watch beside the cradle of a mighty nation, and to train its early footsteps in laws which should last for centuries; and it was a fit end to a life of expectation to gaze with longing eyes from Pisgah upon the Land of Promise. But no such brightness gleamed upon the calm close of Joshua's life. Solemn words, and dark with foreboding, fell from him as he sat "under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord in Shechem." The excitement of his battles was past; and there had grown up in the mind of the pious leader a consciousness that it is the tendency of prosperity and success to make a people wanton and worldly minded, idolaters in spirit if not in act, and to alienate them from God.
Holy Scripture itself suggests (Heb_4:8) the consideration of Joshua as a type of Christ. Many of the Christian fathers have enlarged upon this view; and Bishop Pearson, who has collected their opinions (On the Creed, art. 2, p. 87-90, and 94-96, ed. 1843), points out the following and many other typical resemblances:
(1.) the name common to both;
(2.) Joshua brings the people of God into the land of promise, and divides the land among the tribes; Jesus brings his people into the presence of God, and assigns to them their mansions;
(3.) as Joshua succeeded Moses and completed his work, so the Gospel of Christ succeeding the law, announced One by whom all that believe are justified from all things from which we could not be justified by the Law of Moses (Act_13:39);
(4.) as Joshua, the minister of Moses, renewed the rite of circumcision, so Jesus, the minister of the circumcision, brought in the circumcision of the heart (Rom_2:29; Rom_15:8).
3. Difficulties in his Narrative. — It has been questioned whether the captain of the Lord's host (Joshua 5, 13-15) was a created being or not. Dr. W.H. Mill discusses this point at full length and with great learning, and decides in favor of the former alternative (On the Historical Character of St. Luke's First Chapter. Camb. 1841. p. 92). But J.G. Abicht (De Duce Exercitus, etc., ap. Nov. Thes. Theologico-philolog. 1, 503) is of opinion that he was the uncreated angel, the Son of God. Compare also Pfeiffer, Dif. Script. Loc. p. 173. SEE ANGEL.
The treatment of the Canaanites by their Jewish conquerors is fully discussed by Dean Graves, On the Pentateuch, pt. 3, lect. 1. He concludes that the extermination of the Canaanites was justified by their crimes, and that the employment of the Jews in such extermination was quite consistent with God's method of governing the world. Professor Fairbairn (Typology of Scripture, bk. 3, ch. 4, § 1, ed. 1854) argues with great force and candor in favor of the complete agreement of the principles on which the war was carried on by Joshua with the principles of the Christian dispensation. SEE CANAANITES.
Among the supernatural occurrences in the life of Joshua, — none has led to so much discussion as the prolongation of the day of the battle of Makkedah (10, 51, 14). No great difficulty is found, in deciding as Pfeiffer has done (Diff. Script. loc. p. 175) between the lengths of this day and that of Hezekiah (2Ki_20:11), and in connecting both days with the Egyptian tradition mentioned by Herodotus, 2, 142. But since modern science revealed the stupendous character of this miracle, modern criticism has made several attempts to explain it away. It is regarded by Le Clerc, Dathe, and others as no miracle, but an optical illusion, by Rosenmüller, following Ilgen, as a mistake of the time of day; by Winer and many recent German critics, with whom Dr. Davidson (Introd. to O.T. p. 644) seems to agree, as a mistake of the meaning or the authority of a poetical contributor to the book of Jasher. So Ewald (Gesch. Isr. 2, 326) traces in the latter part of 2Ki_20:13 an interpolation by the hand of that anonymous Jew whom he supposes to have written the book of Deuteronomy, and here to have misunderstood the vivid conception of an old poet; and he cites numerous similar conceptions from the old poetry of Greece, Rome, Arabia, and Peru. But the literal and natural interpretation of the text, as intended to describe a miracle, is sufficiently vindicated by Deyling, Observ. Sacr. 1, § 19, p. 100; and J.G. Abicht, De statione Solis ap. Nov. Thes. Theol.-philol. 1, 516; and is forcibly stated by Bishop Watson in the fourth letter in his Apology for the Bible. Barzillai (Josua und die Sonne, from the Italian, Trieste, 1869) understands the word,דּוֹ, "stand still" (lit. be dumb), to signify merely cease to shine, and the expression "hasted not to go down a whole day" as equivalent to withheld its full light! — in other words, there was an eclipse: how this could be of service to the Hebrews does not appear. SEE GIBEON; SEE JASHER.
4. Length of his Administration. — According to Josephus (Ant. 5, 1, 29), Joshua commanded the Jews twenty-five years, but, according to other Jewish chronologers, twenty-seven years. The Tsemach David, on the years of the Jewish era 2489 and 2496, remarks: "It is written in the Seder Olam that Joshua judged Israel twenty-five years, commencing from the year 2488, immediately from the death of Moses, to the year 2516. This, however, would not be known to us but for cabalistic tradition, but in some degree also by reasoning," etc. Hottinger (Smegma, p. 469) says: "According to the Midrash, Rahab was ten years old when the Israelites left Egypt; she played the harlot during the forty years in which the Israelites were in the desert. She became the wife of Joshua, and eight prophets descended from her, viz. Jeremiah, Mahasia, Hanamael, Shallum, Baruch, Ezekiel. Some say also that Huldah the prophetess was her descendant." Some chronologers have endeavored to reduce the rule of Joshua to seventeen, and others to twenty-one years. There is no good reason for departing from the number assigned by Josephus (see Meth. Quar. Rev. 1856, p. 450). SEE CHRONOLOGY.
5. Other Traditionary Notices. — Lightfoot (Hor. Heb. in Mat_1:5, and Chronogr. Lucoe proemis. 4, § 3) quotes Jewish traditions likewise to the effect that the sepulchre of Joshua was adorned with an image of the sun in memory of the miracle of Ajalon. The Sept. and the Arab. Ver. add to Jos_24:30 the statement that in his sepulchre were deposited the flint knives which were used for the circumcision at Gilgal (Jos_5:2). There also occur some vestiges of the deeds of Joshua in other historians besides those of his own country. 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" (De Bell. Vandal. 2, 10). Suidas (sub voce Χαναάν): "We are the Canaanites whom Joshua the robber persecuted." Compare Fabricii Codex Pseudepigraphus Veteris Testamenti, 1, 889 sq., and the doubts respecting this statement in Dale, De Origine et Progressu Idolatrioe, p. 749 sq. Ewald (Gesch. Isr. 2, 297, 298) gives sound reasons for forbearing to use this story as authentic history. It is, however, accepted by Rawlinson (Bampton Lecture for 1859, 3, 91). A letter of Shaubech, byש, king of Armenia Minor, in the Samaritan book of Joshua (ch. 26), styles Joshua אכֹדיב אלקאתול, lupus percussor, "the murderous wolf;" or, according to another reading in the book Juchasin (p. 154, f. 1), and in the Shalsheleth Rakkabbalah (p. 96), זאב ערבות, lupus vespertinus, "the evening wolf" (comp. Hab_1:8; Hottinger, Historia Orientalis, Tiguri, 1651, p. 40 sq.; Buddeus, Hist. Eccles. p. 964 sq.). A comparison of Hercules, according to the Phoenician and Greek mythology, with Joshua has been attempted by Hercklitz (Quod Hercules idem sit ac Josua, Lipsiae, 1706; comp. Anton. Commpar. libror. sac. V.T., et scrpt. profan. 4, 5, Gorlic. 1817).
6. Additional Literature on Joshua personally, and his Exploits. — The principal occurrences in the life of Joshua are reviewed by Bishop Hall in his Contemplations on the O.T. bks. 7, 8, and 9. –See also T. Smith, Hist. of Joshua (Lond. 1862); Overton, Life of Joshua (Lond. 1866); Hess, Gesch. Josuas (Zur. 1759); Masius, Josuoe historia (Antw. 1754); Plumptre, Hist. of Joshua (Lond. 1848).

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.

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