Joshua

In Hebrew, Joshua’s name means “the Lord is salvation.”¹ Moses gave this name to Joshua to describe “a special role that Moses wished Joshua to have.”^[1] Joshua’s original name was Hoshea until Moses renamed him (Num. 13:16). Hess comments, “Joshua’s earlier name, Hoshea, simply means ‘he has saved’. In the name Hoshea, the person or god who saves is not made clear. Moses specified the Lord as the source of salvation by renaming Joshua.”^[2]

Authorship

The book of Joshua never explicitly states the author, and this isn’t mentioned throughout the rest of the OT either. However, there are good reasons for thinking that Joshua himself wrote this text:

For one, the text tells us that Joshua was literate (Josh. 8:32). In a society of people who were mostly and recently all slaves of Egypt (or children of slaves), the pool of literate people was very small. Joshua would, therefore, be a good candidate for being the author.

Second, the text states that Joshua added to the “Book of the law of God.” At the end of the book, we read, “Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord” (Josh. 24:26).^[3] What is “the Book” to which Joshua was adding? In our estimation, this most likely refers to the growing canon of Scripture: the Bible.

Third, ancient extrabiblical Jewish sources attribute the book to Joshua’s authorship (Baba Bathra 14b), as do medieval commentators like Rashi.^[4]

How could Joshua be the author if he wrote about his own death? Many object to Joshua’s authorship, because the book concludes with his death (which he hardly could have written!). However, Madvig writes, “Those who hold [Joshua as the author] attribute to Eleazer or Phinehas the account of the death of Joshua and other short passages that Joshua could not have written.”^[5] Likewise, Woudstra writes, “According to the Talmud, ‘Joshua wrote his own book,’ although the Talmudic tradition posited that the death of Joshua had been recorded by Eleazar son of Aaron, and the latter’s own death by his son Phinehas. Jewish medieval expositors such as Rashi and David Kimchi believed that most of the book came from Joshua’s time.”^[6]

What about later additions to Joshua? Others object to Joshua as the author, because Joshua 19:47 describes the tribes of Dan living in the north, which occurred far after Joshua’s time (Judg. 18:27-29). Conservative scholars are open to this being a later scribal insertion or update to the text, but “a substantial part of the book of Joshua was written by the Israelite leader himself with some supplementary material added possibly shortly after his death.”^[7] In short, holding that small parts of the text were updating is a far cry from the JEDP theory, which holds that multiple authors and editors stitched the text together centuries after the events in question.

Who was Joshua?

Joshua appears throughout the Pentateuch 27 times.[8] For instance, Joshua was with Moses right before he went up on the mountain to receive the Law (Ex. 24:13), and he would stick around the tent of meeting, where God would often appear to Moses (Ex. 33:11). He must have seen many of God’s visitations to Moses. God had prepared Joshua as a military leader, giving him an opportunity to fight the Amalekites (Ex. 17), and he was one of the first spies to reconnoiter the Promised Land (Num. 13). This must have given him a special advantage when leading the men into battle 40 years later, because he had already seen the land of Israel with his own eyes.

Joshua took over prophetic succession from Moses. The book makes this clear in a number of ways: First, the book of Joshua begins with his commission as the leader, which Moses had already predicted in his writings (Num. 27:18-23; Deut. 31:7-8). Second, Joshua had the Holy Spirit to serve as the next leader of Israel (Num. 27:18). The “spirit of wisdom” filled Joshua after Moses laid hands on him (Deut. 34:9). Third, Joshua performed miracles like the crossing of the Jordan River (Josh. 3). Fourth, God promised to be with Joshua, as he was with Moses (Josh. 1:5). Fifth, Joshua renewed the covenant given through Moses (Josh. 8:30-35; 24:1ff). And finally, Joshua was called the “servant of the Lord” just like Moses (Josh. 24:29; Num. 12:7).

Date

Critical scholars[9] argue that the book of Joshua is a literary legend used to explain the destruction of Canaan. However, there are multiple reasons for affirming the historicity of Joshua:

First, the genre of Joshua is similar to other documents in the second millennium BC. Rooker writes, “Records from the second and first millennia BC from Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Anatolia display genres similar to what is found in Joshua 1-11.”^[10]

Second, the book of Joshua doesn’t contradict archaeology. Critics argue that the burning and destruction of Canaan isn’t reflected by the archaeological data. However, when read closely, the Bible teaches that most of the cities and territories of Canaan were conquered, but not burned to the ground (Ex. 23:24; Num. 33:50-56; Deut. 20:10-20). While some cities were incinerated, these were relatively few by comparison (Josh. 11:13).

Third, historical data point to an early date for the writing of Joshua.^[11] For example:

(1) Joshua uses ancient names for the Canaanite cities he mentions. These would include Baalah for Kirjath-jearim (15:9), Kirjath-sannah for Debir (15:49), and Kirjath-arba for Hebron (15:13).^[12]

(2) Joshua emphasizes Sidon over Tyre—even though Tyre was more popular after the 12^th century BC. Sidon is called the major city of Phoenicia, rather than Tyre (Josh. 13:6). This statement would only be true before the rise of the monarchy (~1000 BC). In fact, Tyre became more important than Sidon around the 12^th century BC.^[13]

(3) Joshua states that the Jebusites inhabited Jerusalem, rather than the Israelites (Josh. 15:63). Again, this would’ve only been true before the time of David (~1,000 BC).

(4) Joshua states that the Canaanites occupied Gezer when he wrote the book (Josh. 16:10). But even by Solomon’s day (970-931 BC), the Canaanites were completely destroyed by the Egyptians (1 Kin. 9:16).

(5) The borders of Canaan match those mentioned by the Egyptians in the 2^nd millennium BC. In Joshua 1:4, the author gives the same borders that the Egyptians gave at this time (See the Papyrus Anastasi I in the Amarna letters, especially EA 148 and 151.).^[14]

(6) Achan’s stolen items matches the 2^nd millennium BC. Achan told Joshua, “When I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I coveted them and took them” (Josh. 7:21 NASB). The author uses the term “Shinar” to describe their origin. Yet, the “cuneiform correspondent, Šanhar, is used of Babylon in cuneiform texts only in the sixteenth to thirteenth centuries BC.”^[15] This hardly fits with a late date. Moreover, the “bar [or ‘ingot’] of gold fifty shekels” is similar language to the “ingot of gold of 1,000 shekels” used in the Amarna Letters (see 29, lines 34 and 39).^[16]

(7) The names of individuals date very early. For instance, Caleb drove out three sons of Anak: Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai. Hess comments, “Sheshai and Talmai are Hurrian names, originating in the Hurrian culture to the north of Palestine which was influential in 1550-1200 BC.”^[17]

(8) The covenant in Joshua 24 is similar to treaties in the 2^nd millennium BC. Hess writes, “Joshua 24:2-27 contains a report of a covenant that, in its form and content, most closely resembles the Hittite vassal-treaty structure unique to the second millennium BC.”^[18]

This cumulative case supports an early date for the writing of Joshua—not a late date.

What are the major themes in Joshua?

First, Joshua is a type of Christ. Moses spoke of Joshua’s role as that of a shepherd, “Appoint a man over the congregation, who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord will not be like sheep which have no shepherd” (Num. 27:16-17). If Moses typologically represents the Law (foreshadowing the inadequacy of the Law), then Joshua represents the Sabbath rest of Jesus (Heb. 3-4). Moses took the people to the border of the Promised Land, but Joshua took them in. The Law cannot bring us the promise of God—only faith can.

Second, Joshua helps to fulfill what was promised to Abraham. In the unfolding of salvation history, Joshua inherited the great promises of the land handed down from Abraham 400 years earlier (Gen. 15). Just to put this in comparison, the United States hasn’t even been a nation for this long. Needless to say, this promise took a long time to be fulfilled.

Third, Joshua shows that God has promises for the people, but the people need to trust and act on those promises. Repeatedly, God tells the people that they own the land. Fair enough. But will they enter the land and take what God has promised? The book of Joshua explains the battle of belief that the armies of Israel encountered.

Fourth, Joshua shows us the balance of God’s power and human responsibility. Joshua needed to give order, and the soldiers needed to fight. However, the power came from clinging to God’s promises. It would be an enormous mistake to understand that the lesson of Joshua was human military might (Deut. 7:1-2). The Israelites were mighty because they served the infinite-personal God. Schaeffer writes that one of the main lessons of Joshua was this: “Power is not merely the capability of the general and the sword, but power is of God… In the midst of battle, is one to fight? Yes. To be a good general? Yes. But when everything is done, the power is to be understood as God’s, not man’s.”^[19]

Fifth, Joshua can be split evenly down the middle. Joshua chapters 1-12 is about the conquering of the land, and chapters 13-24 are about the dividing of the land. The first half describes Joshua’s military leadership, and the second half describes his governmental leadership. While the second half of the book can seem tedious and even boring, it would’ve meant a tremendous amount to the original audience. After all, they suffered severe losses to take that land, and this was the culmination of God’s promises over hundreds of years of slavery. It’s no wonder that the author gives great detail over the land boundaries: this was precious and valuable land to the original audience.

Consulted Commentaries

H. Madvig, “Joshua,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992).

Richard S. Hess, Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 6, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996).

Hess is an expert in difficult passages in the OT—particularly with regard to the Conquest. Philosopher Douglas Groothuis gave an appendix in his massive apologetics tome to Hess to write on the subject in his book.[20] Consequently, Hess’s commentary on Joshua stands out for this reason. While Hess goes to great lengths to connect the events in Joshua with their foreshadowing in the new covenant in Christ, this can fall into an allegorical reading of the text.

David M. Howard Jr., Joshua, vol. 5, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998), 375.

Howard’s commentary was quite detailed insightful. While it was longer than other commentaries, it didn’t seem to be redundant.

Francis A. Schaeffer, Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History, Second U.S. edition (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004).

We love Schaeffer’s work, but this book didn’t follow the text of Joshua closely at all. Schaeffer jumped around the Bible, rather than focusing on the text. Schaeffer was insightful as usual, but he strayed from the text too much.

How to Teach Joshua

For teaching through this book, read our earlier article “Inductive Bible Study.”

Week 1: Read “What About the Canaanite Genocide?”

Week 2: Joshua 1-2 (Introduction and Rahab)

Week 3: Joshua 3-4 (Crossing the Jordan)

Week 4: Joshua 5-7 (Angel of the Lord, Jericho, and Ai)

Week 5: Joshua 8-12 (Mopping Up)

Week 6: Joshua 13-24 (Dividing the Land and Joshua’s Farewell. Consider summarizing the geography in a few minutes, but focusing your time on the narrative portions of this section.

¹ The Greek transliteration of this name is identical to ‘Jesus’ in the New Testament. J. D. Fowler, Theophoric Personal Names in Ancient Hebrew. A Comparative Study, JSOT Supplement 49 (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1988), pp. 114-115.

^[1] Richard S. Hess, Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 6, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 18.

^[2] Richard S. Hess, Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 6, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 18.

^[3] Howard doesn’t think that this refers to the growing canon of Scripture. Under his view, “the nature of this book is not so clear.” Because these words don’t occur in the Pentateuch, he holds that these cannot be adding to the “book of the Law of God” (i.e. the Pentateuch). Fair enough. However, this fails to acknowledge the fact that this expression (“the book of the Law of God”) is wider than just the Pentateuch. Furthermore, Howard states, “The essence of its contents is known to us via the present canonical Book of Joshua.” Thus, this might be a distinction without a difference. David M. Howard Jr., Joshua, vol. 5, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998), 440.

[4] Eugene Merrill, Mark F. Rooker, and Michael A. Grisanti, The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2011), 278.

^[5] H. Madvig, “Joshua,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 242.

See also Gleason Archer Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, 3rd. ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1994), 287.

^[6] Woudstra states that the partitioning and granting of the cities in Josh 15 and 19 could be examples of later additions from a scribe. See our comments on that below. Marten H. Woudstra, The Book of Joshua, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1981), 5.

[7] Eugene Merrill, Mark F. Rooker, and Michael A. Grisanti, The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2011), 519.

[8] Exod. 17:9, 10, 13, 14; 24:13; 32:17; 33:11; Num. 11:28; 13:16; 14:6, 30, 38; 26:65; 27:18, 22; 32:12, 28; 34:17; Deut. 1:38; 3:21, 28; 31:3, 7, 14 (twice), 23; 34:9.

[9] See Albrecht Alt, Martin Noth, Robert Coote, and John Van Seters.

[10] Eugene Merrill, Mark F. Rooker, and Michael A. Grisanti, The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2011), 277.

[11] These insights were generously taken from Eugene Merrill, Mark F. Rooker, and Michael A. Grisanti, The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2011), 278.

^[12] Gleason Archer Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, 3rd. ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1994), 286.

^[13] Gleason Archer Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, 3rd. ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1994), 286.

^[14] Richard S. Hess, Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 6, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996).

^[15] Richard S. Hess, Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 6, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 30.

^[16] Richard S. Hess, Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 6, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 30.

^[17] Richard S. Hess, Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 6, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 33.

^[18] Richard S. Hess, Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 6, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 33.

^[19] Francis A. Schaeffer, Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History, Second U.S. edition (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 16-17.

[20] See Appendix 2 in Douglas Groothuis, Christian Apologetics (2^nd ed. Downers Grove, IL, 2022), pp. 717-731.