JOSHUA, BOOK OF. The first in order of the 1::13$71 irt:41) in the Hebrew Canon. ". Con tents. —This book contains an account of the fortunes of the Israelites from the death of Moses to that of Joshua, the son of Nun. Beoinning with the appointment of Joshua to succeeSMoses as the leader of the people, it proceeds to describe the arrangements made by Joshua in prospect of passing over Jordan (i.-ii.) • the crossing of the river, and the setting up Of a memorial on the further side at Gilgal (iii.-iv.) ; the dismay which this occasioned to the Canaanites (v. r) ; the cir cumcision pf the males among the people, that rite having, been neglected in the wilderness ; the observance of the Passover by them in the camp at Gilgal ; the ceasing of the manna on the day after they had entered Canaan (v. 2-12) ; the encouragement given to Joshua to proceed on his enterprise by the appearance of an angel to him (v. 13-13) ; the siege and capture of Jericho (vi.) ; the defeat of the Israelites at Ai (vii.); the taking of Ai (viii. 1-29) ; the writing of the law on tables of stone, and the solemn repetition from Ebal and Gerizim of the blessings and the curses which Moses had written in the book of the law 3° 35) ; the confederation of the kings of Northerr anaan against the Israelites ; the cunning device by which the Gibeonites secured themselves from being destroyed by the Israelites ; the indignation of the other Canaanites against the Gibeonites, and the confederation of the kings around Jeru salem against Joshua, with their signal defeat by him (ix.-x.) ; the overthrow at the waters of Megiddo of the great northern confederacy, with the destruction of the Anakim (xi.) ; the list of kings whose country the Israelites had taken under Moses and Joshua (xii.) ; the division of the country, both the parts conquered and those yet remaining under the power of the Canaanites, among the different tribes, chiefly by lot ; the setting up of the tabernacle in Shiloh ; the ap pointment of cities of refuge and of cities for the Levites ; the return of the Reubenites, the Gad-' ites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, to their possessions on the east of the Jordan, after the settlement of their brethren in Canaan (xiii.-xxii.) ;
and the farewell addresses of Joshua to the people, his death and burial (xxiii.-xxiv.) The book naturally divides itself into two parts ; the former (i.-xii.) containing an account of the conquest of the land; the latter (xiii.-xxiv.) of the division of it among the tribes. These are frequently distinc tively cited as the historical and the geographical portions of the book.
2. Design.—The design of the book is mani festly to furnish a continuation of the history of the Israelites from the point at which it is left in the closing book of the Pentateuch, and at the same time to illustrate the faithfulness of Jehovah to his word of promise, and his grace in aiding his people by miraculous interference to obtain posses sion of the land promised to Abraham. The ground idea of the book, as Maurer (Comment., p. 3) observes, is furnished by God's declaration to Joshua, recorded i. 5, 6, that the work which Moses commenced he should finish by subduing and dividing to the tribes of Israel the promised land. The book, therefore, may be regarded as setting forth historically the grounds on which the claims of Israel to the proprietorship of the land rested ; and as possessing, consequently, not merely an historical, but also a constitutional and legal worth. As illustrating God's grace and power in dealing with his people, it possesses also a religion: and spiritual interest.
3. Structure.—On this head a variety of opinions have been entertained. It has been asserted— '. That the book is a collection of fragments from different hands, put together at different times, and the whole revised and enlarged by a later writer. Some make the number of sources whence these fraginents have been derived ten (Henverden, Dirp. de. Libra 7os., Groning. '826); othersfive, including the reviser (Knobel, Exeget. Hdb. pt. 13; Ewald, Gesch. der Israel., i. 73, ff.) ; while others content themselves with three (Bleek, Einleit. ins. T, p. 325).