Prophets
יְהוֹשֻׁעַ
Joshua
Entry, campaign, and then a long and unglamorous division of land.
Hebrew nameYehoshua, meaning the lord savesChapters24Position1 of 8 in Prophets
What is in it
The first half is conquest narrative, compressed and stylised. The second half is boundaries: which tribe gets what, town by town, in lists most readers skim.
The lists matter more than they look. A people who were slaves are being given addresses, and the book treats that as the payoff.
If you read one chapter
Joshua 24
The closing assembly, where the people are told they are free to refuse.
Passages worth knowing
- Joshua 1:8The charge to Joshua: this book of the law shall not depart.
- Joshua 2Rahab, and a foreign woman who acts before Israel does.
- Joshua 6Jericho.
- Joshua 24:15Choose you this day whom ye will serve.
Questions to sit with
- 01
The archaeology of this period is heavily debated. Does that change how the book should be read?
- 02
Why give so much space to boundary lists?