JOSH'UA (Heb. Yahweh is deliv erance). The leader of the Israelites in the con quest of the land of Canaan. lle is said to have been the son of Nun. of the tribe of Ephraim (Num. xi. 28: xiii. He is represented as having led the fight against the Amalekites in the desert I Ex. xvii. S-131. was sent by Moses among the spies that went into Canaan (Num. xiii. SI. and was appointed by Moses to be his successor (Dent. xxxi. 23). Under his leadership Israel crossed the Jordan and conquered the Holy Land. and he assigned the territories to the various tribes (Joshua i.-xxiv.). He is said to have died at the age of 110 (Joshua xxiv. 29).
This account of Joshua, according to the critics, is written from the point of view which regards the conquest of Canaan as the fulfillment of a promise made by Yahweh in the clays of Moses; it is out justifiable, however, to regard Joshua as an entirely legendary character. In the united
inovements of the clans forming the Hebrew confederacy. leaders naturally arose. and there is no reason to question that a leader by the name of Joshua existed and by his deeds aided the movement which brought the Hebrews into possession of the lands to the west of the Jordan. At the same time legend and dimmed tradition are thought to have dealt generously with the historical element in the Joshua story. The long process involved in the conquest is pictured as though it took place in the clays of Joshua and through the efforts of the popular hero. It is likely that he captured Jericho. but the other deeds ascribed to him belong to later periods. The supposed distribution of the lands among the tribes merely reflects the geographical posi tion of the clans at a certain period after the conquest, probably in the ninth century me.