Joshua

Joshua, book of the Old Testament. According to the traditional view, its author was Joshua, the military leader and hero chosen by Moses to be his successor and to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. Most modern biblical scholars, however, reject this view; their studies have shown that the book contains material drawn from a number of different sources. Attempts to date the various strands have largely been inconclusive. The only conclusion widely accepted today is that the oldest passages of the book, which some scholars date from the middle of the 10th century bc, were completely rewritten and much elaborated upon in the 7th century bc by a member (or members) of the so-called Deuteronomic school (see Deuteronomy; Pentateuch). Later, probably after 500bc, editors concerned primarily with priestly matters added to or rewrote much of the latter half of the book.

The Book of Joshua concludes the accounts begun in Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy of the origin and early history of the Jews. It begins (chap. 1-6) with an account of the Hebrews' entry into the Promised Land, Canaan, and the sack of the ancient Palestinian walled city of Jericho. It then relates (chap. 7-12) how the Hebrews established themselves throughout Canaan by their conquest of another ancient city, Ai. They did this by making a covenant with the fearful Gibeonites, by their bloody rout of an army led by the kings of five other southern Canaanite cities, and by the slaughter of an army gathered by yet other Canaanite kings “at the waters of Merom” (11:5) in the north. Much of the latter half of the book (chap. 13-24) describes how Joshua distributed the conquered land among the 12 tribes of Israel. The book concludes with Joshua's final exhortation (chap. 23) to Israel to honor the covenant entered into with God on Mount Sinai and an account of the last gathering of the tribes under Joshua (chap. 24), at which time the people and Joshua entered into another covenant to serve and obey God.

The central theme of the Book of Joshua is that God will lead his people if they observe his law; but if they deny him, he will turn from them, giving them over to marauding nations and to foreign rule.