What the Bible says about Joshua
God Commissions Joshua
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant,
2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.
3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.
4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory.
5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.
6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.
7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.
8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua Assumes Command
10 And Joshua commanded the officers of the people,
11 “Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.’”
12 And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh Joshua said,
13 “Remember the word that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.’
14 Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brothers and shall help them,
15 until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they also take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and shall possess it, the land that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.”
16 And they answered Joshua, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.
17 Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you, as he was with Moses!
18 Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.”
1:1–18 Joshua as Israel’s new leader. The Lord initiated the action by commanding Joshua, his chosen replacement for Moses (see Dt 31:1–8), to lead Israel across the Jordan and take possession of the promised land. He urged courage and promised success—but only if Israel obeyed the law of God that Moses had given them. Ch. 1 consists of speeches significant in their content and order: The Lord commanded Joshua as his appointed leader over his people (vv. 1–9); Joshua, as the Lord’s representative, addressed Israel (vv. 10–15); Israel responded to Joshua as the Lord’s representative and successor to Moses (vv. 16–18). Thus the events of the book are set in motion and the roles of the main actors indicated (Introduction: Title and Theological Theme).
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6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes
7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land.
8 If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey.
9 Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”
10 Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.
Joshua and Caleb (14:6–10a)
Joshua and Caleb tore their clothes, a sign of mourning (cf. Gen. 37:29, 34; Lev. 10:6; Jos. 7:6; 2 Sam. 13:31), and sought to encourage the people. If the Lord is pleased with us (i.e. if we do not alienate Him by rebellion), he will lead us into that land (8). 9. Their protection is gone: ‘protection’ is the shadow that protects from the heat of the eastern sun (cf. Ps. 121:5, 6; Isa. 30:2, 3; 32:2; Jon. 4:6). Keil took it to refer to the protection of God, who was about to judge them (cf. Gen. 15:16; Exod. 34:24; Lev. 18:25; 20:23), but it could refer to the protection of their own deities (cf. Dt. 32:30, 31). So ICC, JB, GNB. 10. But the whole assembly talked about stoning them: it was probably not an order of the elders, but a spontaneous reaction of the people (cf. Exod. 17:4; 1 Sam. 30:6). In Israel stoning was the usual method of execution (cf. 15:35, 36; Lev.20:2, etc.).
(d) The Glory Appears (14:10b–12)
The cloud was continually over the tabernacle (cf. Exod. 40:38) but here it evidently flashed with light at the entrance to the sanctuary (cf. 16:19; 20:6 and Exod. 16:10; 33:9, 10). With v. 12 cf. Exod. 32:9, 10. God’s purpose would not be deflected by their failure.
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Israel Crosses the Jordan
3 Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.
2 At the end of three days the officers went through the camp
3 and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it.
4 Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”
5 Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
6 And Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.
7 The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.
8 And as for you, command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’”
9 And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.”
10 And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites.
11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan.
12 Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man.
13 And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”
14 So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people,
15 and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest),
16 the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho.
17 Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.
Preparations East of the Jordan River: Israel, the Priests, and the Ark (3:1 – 17)
Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out (3:1). The crossing of the Jordan River, unlike the crossing of the Reed Sea of the previous generation (Ex. 14 – 15), was accomplished in an orderly fashion. Most of this chapter is taken up with the detailed procedure by which Israel was to cross the river. The ceremonial progression across the Jordan resembles the ancient West Semitic religious procession detailed at thirteenth-century Emar in northern Syria — in particular, the multiple processions of the image of Dagan Lord of the Firstborn, who proceeds from his temple to various gates and standing stones before returning. However, other than the connection with a deity and his movement, there is no real parallel with the biblical texts of Joshua.
The God of Israel moves in the midst of his people in a procession that leads them into enemy territory. This forms a military procession and resembles the military marches of Egypt and the other powers of the ancient Near East. Although few descriptions remain of the procedure of such marches, there is a detailed description found in the second-millennium b.c. Hittite Instruction for the Royal Bodyguard. This tablet describes the responsibilities of the palace guard for the protection of the king. Most of it concerns the movement of the king in a cart from his palace to the place where he gives judgment and the return at the end of the day. Although there are many differences, of special interest is the manner in which the location of the guard is specified. They surround the king and protect him on all sides. This reminds us of the Israelite camp’s order of march through the desert (Num. 10:14 – 28).
However, the Hittite instructions also require that the guards should keep a specific distance from the king when they march. As the guards are required to stay at a certain distance from the cart carrying the king, so the Israelites are commanded to keep “a thousand yards” of distance from the ark, representing God in its movement across the Jordan River (3:4). The specific directions and the whole ceremony of Joshua 3 – 4 suggest a movement comparable to that of a king surrounded by his army as they march to battle.
Jordan River
Revital Salomon, Israel
Standard of Ur war panel showing victory procession
Caryn Reeder, courtesy of the British Museum
Shittim (3:1). See 2:1.
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