Joshua

"Jehovah is his help, or Jehovah the Saviour. The son of Nun, of" "the tribe of Ephraim, the successor of Moses as the leader of" "Israel. He is called Jehoshua in Num. 13:16 (A.V.), and Jesus in" "Acts 7:45 and Heb. 4:8 (R.V., Joshua)." "He was born in Egypt, and was probably of the age of Caleb, with whom he is generally associated. He shared in all the events of "the Exodus, and held the place of commander of the host of the" Israelites at their great battle against the Amalekites in "Rephidim (Ex. 17:8-16). He became Moses' minister or servant," and accompanied him part of the way when he ascended Mount Sinai to receive the two tables (Ex. 32:17). He was also one of the twelve who were sent on by Moses to explore the land of Canaan "(Num. 13:16, 17), and only he and Caleb gave an encouraging" "report. Under the direction of God, Moses, before his death," invested Joshua in a public and solemn manner with authority over the people as his successor (Deut. 31:23). The people were encamped at Shittim when he assumed the command (Josh. 1:1); and "crossing the Jordan, they encamped at Gilgal, where, having" "circumcised the people, he kept the Passover, and was visited by" "the Captain of the Lord's host, who spoke to him encouraging" words (1:1-9). "Now began the wars of conquest which Joshua carried on for many "years, the record of which is in the book which bears his name." Six nations and thirty-one kings were conquered by him (Josh. "11:18-23; 12:24). Having thus subdued the Canaanites, Joshua" "divided the land among the tribes, Timnath-serah in Mount" Ephraim being assigned to himself as his own inheritance. (See [321]SHILOH; [322]PRIEST.) "His work being done, he died, at the age of one hundred and ten "years, twenty-five years after having crossed the Jordan. He was" "buried in his own city of Timnath-serah (Josh. 24); and "the" "light of Israel for the time faded away." "Joshua has been regarded as a type of Christ (Heb. 4:8) in the following particulars: (1) In the name common to both; (2) Joshua brings the people into the possession of the Promised "Land, as Jesus brings his people to the heavenly Canaan; and (3)" "as Joshua succeeded Moses, so the Gospel succeeds the Law." "The character of Joshua is thus well sketched by Edersheim:, "Born a slave in Egypt, he must have been about forty years old" "at the time of the Exodus. Attached to the person of Moses, he" led Israel in the first decisive battle against Amalek (Ex. "17:9, 13), while Moses in the prayer of faith held up to heaven" the God-given `rod.' It was no doubt on that occasion that his "name was changed from Oshea, `help,' to Jehoshua, `Jehovah is" help' (Num. 13:16). And this name is the key to his life and "work. Alike in bringing the people into Canaan, in his wars, and" "in the distribution of the land among the tribes, from the" miraculous crossing of Jordan and taking of Jericho to his last "address, he was the embodiment of his new name, `Jehovah is" help.' To this outward calling his character also corresponded. "It is marked by singleness of purpose, directness, and" "decision...He sets an object before him, and unswervingly" "follows it" (Bible Hist., iii. 103)"

Contains a history of the Israelites from the death of Moses to that of Joshua. It consists of three parts: (1.) The history of the conquest of the land (1-12). (2.) The allotment of the land "to the different tribes, with the appointment of cities of" "refuge, the provision for the Levites (13-22), and the dismissal" of the eastern tribes to their homes. This section has been compared to the Domesday Book of the Norman conquest. (3.) The "farewell addresses of Joshua, with an account of his death (23," 24). "This book stands first in the second of the three sections, (1) "the Law, (2) the Prophets, (3) the "other writings" =" "Hagiographa, into which the Jewish Church divided the Old" Testament. There is every reason for concluding that the uniform tradition of the Jews is correct when they assign the authorship "of the book to Joshua, all except the concluding section; the" last verses (24:29-33) were added by some other hand. "There are two difficulties connected with this book which have "given rise to much discussion, (1.) The miracle of the standing" still of the sun and moon on Gibeon. The record of it occurs in "Joshua's impassioned prayer of faith, as quoted (Josh. 10:12-15)" "from the "Book of Jasher" (q.v.). There are many explanations" "given of these words. They need, however, present no difficulty" if we believe in the possibility of God's miraculous interposition in behalf of his people. Whether it was caused by "the refraction of the light, or how, we know not." "(2.) Another difficulty arises out of the command given by God "utterly to exterminate the Canaanites. "Shall not the Judge of" "all the earth do right?" It is enough that Joshua clearly knew" "that this was the will of God, who employs his terrible" "agencies, famine, pestilence, and war, in the righteous" government of this world. The Canaanites had sunk into a state of immorality and corruption so foul and degrading that they had "to be rooted out of the land with the edge of the sword. "The" "Israelites' sword, in its bloodiest executions, wrought a work" of mercy for all the countries of the earth to the very end of "the world." "This book resembles the Acts of the Apostles in the number and "variety of historical incidents it records, and in its many" references to persons and places; and as in the latter case the epistles of Paul (see Paley's Horae Paul.) confirm its historical accuracy by their incidental allusions and "undesigned coincidences, so in the former modern discoveries" confirm its historicity. The Amarna tablets (see [323]ADONIZEDEC) are among the most remarkable discoveries of "the age. Dating from about B.C. 1480 down to the time of Joshua," "and consisting of official communications from Amorite," "Phoenician, and Philistine chiefs to the king of Egypt, they" afford a glimpse into the actual condition of Palestine prior to "the Hebrew invasion, and illustrate and confirm the history of" "the conquest. A letter, also still extant, from a military" "officer, "master of the captains of Egypt," dating from near the" "end of the reign of Rameses II., gives a curious account of a" "journey, probably official, which he undertook through Palestine" "as far north as to Aleppo, and an insight into the social" condition of the country at that time. Among the things brought to light by this letter and the Amarna tablets is the state of confusion and decay that had now fallen on Egypt. The Egyptian garrisons that had held possession of Palestine from the time of "Thothmes III., some two hundred years before, had now been" withdrawn. The way was thus opened for the Hebrews. In the history of the conquest there is no mention of Joshua having encountered any Egyptian force. The tablets contain many appeals to the king of Egypt for help against the inroads of the "Hebrews, but no help seems ever to have been sent. Is not this" just such a state of things as might have been anticipated as "the result of the disaster of the Exodus? In many points, as" "shown under various articles, the progress of the conquest is" remarkably illustrated by the tablets. The value of modern discoveries in their relation to Old Testament history has been thus well described: "The difficulty of establishing the charge of lack of historical "credibility, as against the testimony of the Old Testament, has" of late years greatly increased. The outcome of recent excavations and explorations is altogether against it. As long "as these books contained, in the main, the only known accounts" "of the events they mention, there was some plausibility in the" theory that perhaps these accounts were written rather to teach moral lessons than to preserve an exact knowledge of events. It was easy to say in those times men had not the historic sense. But the recent discoveries touch the events recorded in the Bible at very many different points in many different "generations, mentioning the same persons, countries, peoples," "events that are mentioned in the Bible, and showing beyond" question that these were strictly historic. The point is not that the discoveries confirm the correctness of the Biblical "statements, though that is commonly the case, but that the" discoveries show that the peoples of those ages had the historic "sense, and, specifically, that the Biblical narratives they" "touch are narratives of actual occurrences."

Definition of Joshua:
"a savior; a deliverer"

Related Bible Dictionary Terms:
Joshua The Book of