Part 2

A fellow reader writes, "Where was the loving, understanding God? Pretty bloody time." Yep, the late Bronze Age was a pretty bloody time, especially around the Mediterranean Sea, with most of the societies collapsing for reasons no one is too clear on. I doubt that Joshua caused collapse in areas he never entered, although he may well have capitalized on something that was already going on in Canaan. I don't know the answer, and neither does anybody else. All I can do is say, "Here's what it says." I can't say, "Here's what you should think," because that goes against the grain of my 8th-generation Methodism.

One thing I am sure of is that we should read Joshua, at most, as describing what happened. We shouldn't read it as prescribing modern foreign policy, which would go against the grain of the New Testament, not to mention most of the Old Testament.

Joshua 11:1-23, The northern cities finally decide to stand up to Joshua, but can't (10/28/25)

Here's a theme song for the book of Joshua. If yesterday's line was "something's happening here/but what it is ain't exactly clear," today's is "paranoia strikes deep." After seeing what happened to the kings and cities in the south, the kings in the north decided they'd better band together and do a preemptive strike on the Israelites. It didn't work out for them. Although what's happening still ain't exactly clear, because the armies and their kings are completely defeated in one campaign in vss. 7-13, but then we learn in vs. 18 that "Joshua was at war with the kings of this territory for a long time." There are still undefeated people left in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod, which you recognize as cities of the Philistines.

The chariots and horses interest me because they suggest an Iron Age culture for some of the cities, and the Israelites were still in the Bronze Age. We also see this a few hundred years later, in 1 Samuel 13:19-21, when the Israelites under King Saul still had no iron weapons. Chariots and horses are of limited use up in the hills, however, so the superior weaponry of the kings attacking Joshua was of no avail.

Joshua 12:1-24, A summary of the battles of Joshua (10/29/25)

I want to go back to all those "kings" defeated by Joshua. A 2013 dissertation by T.M. Kennedy (p. 579) puts the population of Canaan in the late Bronze Age at about 430,000, which means that on the average each king ruled a little less than 14,000 people. This is pretty well in accord with the 12,000 people we saw at Ai, so maybe the biblical numbers for the sizes of the cities aren't that inflated after all. However, when you consider that more than half of the population consisted of women and children, not to mention men too old to fight, I do think that "an army with as many men as there are grains of sand on the seashore," as we read yesterday in Joshua 11:4, may be a bit of an exaggeration. Joshua's fighting days are just about over, so today we read a brief summary of the battles of Moses and Joshua.

Joshua 13:1-14, A summary of what remains to be conquered and a reminder of what has been allocated to the 2 1/2 tribes east of the Jordan (10/30/25)

Am I wrong, or is this about the fourth or fifth time we've been told about the defeat of Sihon and Og and the allotment of land east of the Jordan to Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh? Two interesting bits are of note in today's reading. First, we see that Joshua's conquest of Canaan left an awful lot of Canaan unconquered. As a matter of fact, the cities of the Philistines remained unconquered at least until the time of David, hundreds of years later. Nevertheless, God tells Joshua to go ahead and allot the land to the tribes (vs. 6). And second, the Levites did not get tribal lands. We'll read more later about what they did get.

Joshua 13:15-33, Exactly what Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh got (10/31/25)

Yet another account of the defeat of Sihon and Og and the distribution of land to Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh east of Jericho and the Jordan River. You don't have to read the names of all the cities in the fine print unless you really want to. We are reminded again that the tribe of Levi got no territory. I'm not sure what they had against Balaam son of Beor, since he's the one who was hired to curse Israel and instead gave them a blessing (Numbers 23-24).

Joshua 14:1-15, What Caleb got (11/03/25)

We're finished with the conquest of Canaan. Whew! Some of that was upsetting! It may interest you to know that there seems to be no real scholarly consensus on what to make of this book or how it relates to the archaeological evidence, so if you don't know quite what to make of it, you're in good company. I operate on the principle, however, that everything in the Bible is there for a reason, and we should be at least superficially familiar with the whole thing, no matter what our favorite or least favorite book is.

So now the Israelites have conquered Canaan - for a value of "conquered" that means "not conquered," as we will see - and Joshua begins to divide it among the tribes. We are briefly reminded that the two and a half tribe east of the Jordan already got their land. This may be the first time that the cities of the Levites are mentioned, I'm not sure, but we are reminded that they get no tribal land. One day Caleb (remember Caleb from the beginning of this study) comes to Joshua to remind him that he was promised certain lands. I think he's the only individual who was assigned specific lands, which shows the importance of standing up for the right in the face of public opinion. (Hmm. See below.) His city, Hebron, is where David was king of Judah for seven years before all the tribes were united.

Joshua 15:1-63, What Caleb's daughter and the tribe of Judah got (11/04/25)

You can skip all the fine print and just look at the map. Or read only vss. 13-19 and 63 and study the map.

Caleb was a member of the tribe of Judah, so his story, which we read yesterday, is part of the report of the allocation of lands to Judah, which we read today. It's pretty boring, to tell the truth, with lots and lots of place names that you and I don't recognize. Notice that Caleb still has a lot of conquering to do, and the Jebusites never do get conquered. So the "conquest of Canaan" is starting to look a little more apparent than real.

However, the story of Caleb's daughter, Achsah, is interesting. I wonder if it's the origin of the standard fairy tale in which the king gives the hand of his daughter to whoever slays the dragon. Caleb offers the hand of Achsah to whoever conquers Kiriath Sepher, and his nephew Othniel, Achsah's cousin, does that. After they're married, Othniel says, "Hey, get your dad to give you some land." Caleb gives her some land, and she says, "Hey, the land you have given me is all dry. Give me some springs, too." So much for the idea that women were just property with no rights of their own.

Joshua 16:1-10, What Ephraim got (11/05/25)

So, there are always 12 tribes, corresponding to the 12 sons of Jacob, but how the tribes are counted varies from time to time and depends on who's counting. We've talked about this before. What's important today is why Ephraim, Jacob's grandson, is getting a whole share of the land. Back in Egypt, after Joseph had made good as Pharaoh's right-hand man (Genesis 41:38-44) and his dad Jacob had brought the whole family down from Canaan (Genesis 46:5-7), Jacob adopted Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (Genesis 48:5). Nevertheless, there are still 12 tribes, because God later took the tribe of Levi (Numbers 3:12-13, 40-41). Ephraim's territory is at D3 on the map.

Notice that the Canaanites who live in Ephraim's territory have not been destroyed, although they have been enslaved. We've talked about this before, too. If you defeated some enemy, your only choices were to kill them or enslave them. Post-war treaties were apparently not a thing. In the history of mankind, just about everybody has enslaved just about everybody else at some time or another, and it still goes on. Fight human trafficking.

Joshua 17:1-18, What the other half of Manasseh got (11/06/25)

Remember the half tribe of Manasseh that got land east of the Jordan? The other half, reasonably enough, got land west of the Jordan. One of the descendants of Manasseh had only daughters, not sons, and they also get some land, in accordance with the instructions of God and Moses (Numbers 27: 11, 36:1-13). The only stipulation, not mentioned here, is that the female heirs had to marry within their own tribe. Other than that, they could "marry anyone they wished." I checked a bunch of English translations, the Greek, and the Hebrew, and they all say the same thing: the girls get to marry "whom they think best." This is so out of kilter from what we often hear (that women had no say) that I thought I'd point it out.

Tribal lands were allocated by families and passed down in perpetuity to the male descendants. (This sounds a lot like entailment on male heirs of the body, for those of you who are fans of Masterpiece theater and English mystery novels.) Normally, women (and men, obviously) could marry outside their own tribe, but if these women do that, the property laws would then mean that some of Manasseh's tribal lands passed outside the tribe. That wasn't allowed.

Ephraim and Manasseh are populous tribes, so they say to Joshua, "We need more land!" Joshua, in some exasperation, says, "I gave you your allotment. If you're so many and want more land, go find some Canaanites and take theirs!" Notice that many Canaanites still survive within the now-Israelite territories.

Joshua 18:1-28, Territory is allocated by lot to Benjamin (11/07/25)

Have you ever read any old wills that divided property among the heirs? The system was much like what we read today. The executor (Joshua) sends out some trusted person or persons (the three men from each tribe), and they write down a fair division of the land. This doesn't mean equal acreage. One person might get 10 acres of good bottom land, that is, in the valley with a stream, while another heir gets 50 acres of less-productive upland. So, when we study the map, we see that not all the territories are the same size. Benjamin is located in E3.

Now, you probably think of Jerusalem as the center of worship, and you would be right - hundreds of years later. The earliest fixed center of worship was at Shiloh, where they first set up the Tent of the Presence.

And remember what I said about counting the tribes? Joshua refers to "Joseph," when he's really talking about "Ephraim and Manasseh," each of which already got its own allotment. So Seven unallotted + Judah + Ephraim + half Manasseh + the other half Manasseh + Reuben + Gad - Levi = 12. And this isn't the strangest count I've seen; in one, Aaron is elevated to a tribe and a couple of others are left out. But there are always 12 tribes!

Joshua 19:1-23, Territory is allocated by lot to Simeon, Zebulun, and Issachar (11/10/25)

An important consideration in the allotment of lands to the tribes was population (Numbers 26:53-56. The descendants of Joseph were so numerous that they actually got three allotments: Ephraim and the two halves of Manasseh, located in D3 and B and C 4 and 5 of our map. Judah didn't need quite as much as they thought they did, so some southern parts of their territory went to Simeon (F2). Zebulon and Issachar got medium sized territories (C3). When I compare the census to the map, there doesn't actually seem to be a strong correlation between population and territorial size, which is one reason I think that the quality of the land also played a part. In fact, we know this was true for the allotment to Reuben and Gad, who wanted their land east of the Jordan because it was "good land for livestock" (Numbers 32:3-5). After the remaining land was divided into seven portions, Joshua allocated by drawing lots.

Joshua 19:24-51, Territory is allocated by lot to Asher, Naphtali, and Dan, and Joshua gets his own city (11/11/25)

Joshua and Eleazar finish assigning tribal lands. Didn't I say a week or so ago that Caleb was the only individual to get land? I was wrong, as we see today. Joshua also got land of his own. Don't take my word for anything, or your pastor's word, or your rabbi's word, or your Sunday school teacher's word, because we make mistakes. Always read the text for yourself, because you will get this warm glow of success when you catch us in an error.

Joshua 20:1-9, Six cities of refuge are appointed (11/12/25)

For much of human history in much of the world, the vendetta was, I think, fairly standard practice. In the absence of some sort of government, legal code, and police, it was up to individuals to exact revenge or justice, depending on how you look at it. The LORD said that at least in the case of accidental death, this was not appropriate. Six cities of refuge were set up throughout the area of the tribes. If you accidentally killed somebody, you could make a dash for the closest one of these cities and be safe.

Joshua 21:1-19, The priests and Levites get 48 cities located throughout the land, not tribal land of their own (11/13/25)

We've been told a number of times that the Levites did not get tribal territory, because God had taken them for his own, and a portion of the sacrificial offerings went to them as their living. Instead, they got cities scattered throughout the other tribes. Once practical aspect to this arrangement that I don't recall being mentioned anywhere is that the priests had duties other than just attending to the altar and making sacrifices. For example, they were also responsible for teaching the Law and for determining and certifying whether a person, a garment, a house, and so on were clean or unclean (e.g., Leviticus 10:10-11, ch. 13, ch. 14:33-53). These duties and requirements would have been more onerous for priest and layperson alike if everything had been concentrated at Shiloh.

Joshua 21:20-45, The priests and Levites get 48 cities located throughout the land, not tribal land of their own (11/14/25)

You know that there are "priests and Levites." Both are descended from Jacob's son Levi. Levi had three sons, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari (Genesis 46:11), the eponymous ancestors of three Levite clans. Kohath was the father of Amram and three other boys (Exodus 6:18). Amram was the father of Aaron, Moses, and Miriam (Numbers 26:59). So Aaron is the great-grandson of Levi. All priests are descended from Aaron, the first priest. All descendants of Levi who do not descend from Aaron are just called Levites, and they had specific, non-priestly duties related to worship, temple maintenance, and so on.

Maybe that was interesting, and maybe it wasn't, but here's something important from today's reading: once all the land has been allocated to the tribes and the Levites, the LORD has "kept every one of the promises that he had made to the people of Israel" in Genesis 12:1-7.

Joshua 22:1-20, The shock troops of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh are sent home, and intertribal squabbling starts immediately (11/17/25)

Where two or three are gathered together, there will be an argument. Moses made a deal with the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh that they could have their inheritance east of the Jordan River, providing that their fighting men acted as the shock troops for the conquest of Canaan west of the Jordan. Now that the dust has settled, Joshua sends them home. They build an altar by the river, which makes all the other tribes mad, so mad they prepare for war. The tribes from the west side of the river argue that the sins of some members of the community get the whole community in trouble with God, giving concrete examples from the recent past. Although they do invite the eastern tribes to come on over and worship legally at Shiloh, I think their argument is primarily one of self-interest: if you do this, we'll suffer for it, so don't do it.

Joshua 22:21-34, This particular squabble gets sorted out without bloodshed (11/18/25)

The delegates from the tribes east of the Jordan have accused Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh of building a false altar for sacrifices other than those offered in the Tent of the Presence at Shiloh. Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh respond, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! We never intended this for sacrifices! We just intended it as a sign and witness that we worship the LORD." The delegation says, "Ooooh, we get it. That's fine."

My favorite part is that they give the altar a name, "Ed." Ed means witness in Hebrew, and some translations, e.g., King James, Bible in Basic English, and some others, use the name. Other translations, presumably less interested whimsey and more interested in your understanding of the text, say "witness" or "testimony."

Joshua 23:1-16, Joshua gives some advice in his old age (11/19/25)

No time line is given for the conquest of Canaan, but Joshua is now "very old," and it isn't completely conquered (vss. 4. 12). Joshua gets the leaders together and tells them, "God has been doing what he promised, and he will continue to do so, but he also promised that if you worship other gods, bad things will happen. So stick with God, and don't start worshiping the Canaanite gods you see all around you."

Joshua 24:1-15, Joshua gives the people a choice about gods (11/20/25)

Joshua calls all the people together and, speaking on behalf of God, summarizes how the Israelites got where they are today. He points out that God has fulfilled the promises he made to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3): God has blessed them and taken care of them, they have become numerous, and they have come into possession of the promised land. Now they have a choice. Whom will they worship from here on out - the gods of their ancestors, the gods of the lands in which they now live, or the LORD? "As for my family and me," he says, "we will serve the LORD."

Joshua 24:16-33; Judges 2:10-15, Joshua renews the covenant between God and the people, which lasts just about as long as he stays alive (2007, 5/19/09, 11/21/25)

The people choose God, and the covenant is renewed. No longer is God just "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Joseph." God is their God, and they have no excuse for their later behavior.

Did you know that the Jews were not monotheistic until after the Exile? There were dozens of gods in Palestine, Egypt, and the surrounding areas, and the Jews worshiped them all now and then. They got into a lot of trouble over this, and we see part of the reason today. After Joshua held a big conclave and told the people that God had kept his part of the deal - he had taken them out of Egypt and given them the land promised to Abraham - now it was up to the Israelites to decide what would happen next. They could stick with God, or they could make a new deal with someone else, either their old ancestral gods or the local gods. When they said they would stick with God, Joshua warned them that this was a perilous choice. They chose to serve God; they chose well. Later they forgot that choice and served other gods - and got into trouble, just as Joshua warned them.

When you choose well, follow up.

Final Comments (11/21/25)

We've come to the end of Joshua the man and Joshua the book. After Joshua warns the people that promising to serve God and then not doing it is a direct route to disaster, the people promise that they will be faithful. Hah! Read Judges. Read Kings. Their promise didn't turn out to be worth much.

The first two or three times you read Joshua, it looks like a story of invasion and genocide: go in, kill everybody, take over. The more you read it, however, the more it looks like a story of infiltration and assimilation, and it isn't at all clear who assimilates whom. We've seen that some Canaanites - and some Israelites - were killed, and some Canaanites survived and became part of the Israelite community. Some cities were taken, and some cities were not taken. In fact, whole territories were not taken. When you get to Judges, it turns out that the Israelites repeatedly became part of the Canaanite community, adopting their practices and worshiping their gods!

So I'm not sure exactly how to read Joshua, and, for what it's worth, scholars debate it, too. Read it a few more times and see what you think.

More of Joshua Fit the Battle of ... Ai?
Joshua Fit the Battle of ... Ai? - Part 1

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