Joshua

Life and work

Joshua was born an Ephraimite named Hoshea ("salvation"); Moses renamed him Joshua ("the LORD saves") (Numbers 13:16), and he first appears commanding Israel's forces against Amalek at Rephidim (Exodus 17:8-13) and later as Moses's personal attendant who accompanied him partway up Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:13) and guarded the tent of meeting (Exodus 33:11).

He is best known in the wilderness narrative as one of the twelve spies sent to scout Canaan. Alone with Caleb, Joshua urged Israel to trust God and enter the land despite the fortified cities and the intimidating report of the other ten spies; the people instead threatened to stone them, and God condemned that generation to die in the wilderness — sparing only Joshua and Caleb to enter Canaan (Numbers 13-14).

Toward the end of the wilderness period, God instructed Moses to commission Joshua publicly as his successor, laying hands on him before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation (Numbers 27:18-23). Moses reiterated the charge before his death, telling Joshua directly, "Be strong and of good courage... for the LORD your God, he it is that doth go with thee" (Deuteronomy 31:7-8), a commissioning God repeated to Joshua himself after Moses died (Joshua 1:1-9).

Joshua opened his campaign by sending spies into Jericho, where Rahab hid them, then led Israel across the Jordan River on dry ground when the priests carrying the ark stepped into the water — a deliberate echo of the Red Sea crossing under Moses (Joshua 3-4). At Gilgal he had the new generation circumcised and the people kept Passover before the manna ceased (Joshua 5:2-12).

The conquest proper began with Jericho, whose walls fell after Israel marched around the city for seven days per divine instruction (Joshua 6). A subsequent defeat at Ai, caused by Achan's theft of devoted items from Jericho, was reversed once Achan was identified and executed and Israel took the city by ambush (Joshua 7-8).

The Gibeonites tricked Joshua into a treaty by disguising themselves as distant travelers (Joshua 9); when five Amorite kings attacked Gibeon for making peace with Israel, Joshua marched all night to defend his new allies, routing the coalition in a battle remembered for hailstones and the day the sun and moon reportedly "stood still" (Joshua 10:1-15). A subsequent northern campaign against a coalition led by Jabin of Hazor extended Israelite control further (Joshua 11).

With the major campaigns complete, Joshua — by then elderly — presided over the division of Canaan among the twelve tribes by lot, a lengthy process detailed across Joshua 13-21, including setting aside six cities of refuge and towns for the Levites.

In his final acts, Joshua assembled Israel at Shechem, reviewed their history, and challenged them to renounce foreign gods and serve the LORD, declaring, "as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD" (Joshua 24:15). The people renewed the covenant, and Joshua died at 110, buried in Ephraim (Joshua 24:29-30).

Dating

Died at 110 (Joshua 24:29), but Scripture never states his birth year or exactly how long he led Israel after the conquest began in 1406 BC — the end date here is a reasonable back-calculation, not a stated figure. As with Moses, a 'late date' Exodus view shifts Joshua's whole life roughly two centuries later, a real point of debate even among evangelicals.

Questions and debates

The conquest narrative is one of the most debated topics in biblical archaeology and ethics. Kathleen Kenyon's mid-20th-century excavations at Jericho found the site largely unoccupied during the Late Bronze Age window most scholars associate with a 13th-century conquest, though other archaeologists (notably Bryant Wood) have challenged her dating on ceramic and stratigraphic grounds — the debate remains unresolved among specialists.

The herem ("devoted to destruction") warfare described in the conquest account has drawn sustained scholarly and theological scrutiny over its ethics, with interpreters divided between reading it as hyperbolic ancient Near Eastern conquest rhetoric (common in extrabiblical royal inscriptions of the era), a limited/localized campaign rather than total annihilation, or a genuine moral difficulty within the text.

Extra-biblical evidence

Scripture references

• Numbers 13-14 — One of twelve spies; alone with Caleb urges Israel to trust God and enter Canaan
• Deuteronomy 31:7-8 — Publicly commissioned by Moses as his successor
• Joshua 1:1-9 — God commissions Joshua directly after Moses's death
• Joshua 3-6 — Crossing the Jordan and the fall of Jericho
• Joshua 10:1-15 — Defense of Gibeon; the sun "stands still"
• Joshua 24 — Farewell covenant renewal at Shechem; death
• Acts 7:45 — Stephen recalls Joshua bringing the tabernacle into Canaan
• Hebrews 4:8 — Argues that Joshua's conquest did not provide Israel's ultimate "rest," pointing to a greater rest still to come

Further reading

• Encyclopaedia Britannica: Joshua
• Bryant Wood, "Did the Israelites Conquer Jericho?", Biblical Archaeology Review

Reflect

Joshua was told again and again in one charge: be strong and courageous — where do you need to hear that today?