Joshua’s Commission and the Covenant Framework of Conquest

Joshua’s leadership begins in continuity with Moses’ established covenant administration, not as a break from it. When Moses died, Jehovah did not leave Israel leaderless or directionless. Joshua was commissioned to bring Israel into the land sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to do so under the same covenant obligations already articulated in the Law. The conquest beginning in 1406 B.C.E. therefore must be read historically and grammatically as covenant enforcement and covenant fulfillment at the same time: fulfillment of the land promise, and enforcement of the judicial sentences Jehovah had already announced against entrenched Canaanite iniquity.

Joshua’s mandate repeatedly ties success to obedience. The text does not present military ingenuity as the decisive factor; it presents covenant fidelity as decisive, while never denying the reality of strategy, courage, and disciplined action. This is essential to understanding why the narratives linger on matters that a merely human war chronicle would treat as secondary: sanctification, obedience to specific instructions, the place of the ark, memorial stones, covenant reading, and the removal of banned things. These features are not ornaments. They are the historical mechanism by which Israel was to learn that the land was Jehovah’s gift and that Israel would remain in it only by faithful obedience.

Crossing the Jordan and the Public Vindication of Joshua

The crossing of the Jordan functions as a public vindication of Joshua’s leadership before Israel. Jehovah acted so that Israel would know He was with Joshua as He had been with Moses. The timing of the crossing, when the Jordan was at flood stage, underscores that this was not a convenient ford or a seasonal trickle. The narrative is structured to show that the same God who divided the Red Sea could halt the Jordan’s flow. The priests bearing the ark step into the river, the waters are stopped, and Israel passes over on dry ground. The memorial stones taken from the riverbed are not folklore tokens; they are covenant pedagogy anchored to a real location and a real event, intended to shape generational memory and to provoke questions from children that fathers would answer with history.

In archaeological and geographical terms, the Jordan Valley’s seasonal hydrology and the narrow corridors of approach into the central hill country make the crossing point strategically meaningful. Yet the account insists that the decisive issue was not Israel’s cleverness but Jehovah’s act. The conquest begins, then, with Israel learning that entry into the land is an act of divine grant, and that Israel’s first steps must be taken in reverent dependence.

Gilgal, Covenant Identity, and the Reordering of Israel’s Life in the Land

At Gilgal the narrative emphasizes covenant identity: circumcision of the new generation and the celebration of Passover. These are not incidental religious episodes inserted into a war story; they are the reordering of Israel’s life as a holy nation now standing on promised soil. The cessation of manna at this moment underscores a historical transition. Jehovah had sustained Israel in the wilderness by direct provision; now He would sustain them through the land’s produce, which Israel would cultivate and gather as stewards under covenant terms.

This moment also signals that the conquest is not a campaign of mere land acquisition. It is the establishment of a covenant people in a covenant land. Israel’s identity is not defined by chariots, fortifications, or alliances, but by belonging to Jehovah and walking in His ways.

Jericho and the Priority of Obedience Over Conventional Siegecraft

Jericho is presented as the first major fortified obstacle, and Jehovah’s instructions intentionally deny Israel the ability to credit victory to standard siegecraft. The marching pattern, the priests’ trumpets, the ark’s presence, and the climactic shout are framed as obedient participation in Jehovah’s decisive act. When the walls fell, it was Jehovah who gave the city into Israel’s hand. The devotion of Jericho to destruction, with specific exceptions, also displays the judicial character of the conquest and the moral boundary Israel was not permitted to cross. Israel was not authorized to treat Jericho as plunder for self-enrichment; the firstfruits principle is implicit in the narrative’s stress on what belonged to Jehovah.

Jericho’s location near the entry route into the hill country explains why its fall mattered militarily, but the text’s theological point remains primary: Israel’s victories would be conditioned on obedient submission to Jehovah’s word. The account also presents the rescue of Rahab as a real historical case of faith expressed in action, and as evidence that Jehovah’s judgments were not blind ethnic hostility but moral governance. Those who turned to Jehovah and aligned themselves with His people were spared, as the narrative explicitly demonstrates.

Ai, Achan’s Sin, and the Reality of Covenant Sanctions

The defeat at Ai is historically plausible in military terms—overconfidence, poor reconnaissance, and the danger of underestimating a smaller target—but the narrative identifies the true cause as covenant violation. Achan’s theft of devoted items introduces a crucial principle for Israel’s life in the land: hidden sin is not hidden from Jehovah, and covenant disobedience weakens the community. The process of investigation and judgment is presented as public, careful, and communal, underscoring that Israel’s holiness was not a private spirituality but a national covenant requirement.

After judgment and restoration, Ai is taken with tactics that include ambush and coordinated movement. The text does not deny strategy; it places strategy under covenant obedience. The lesson is not that Israel should refuse planning, but that planning cannot substitute for loyalty to Jehovah. When Israel walks in obedience, Jehovah grants success; when Israel rebels, defeat follows.

Covenant Renewal at Shechem and the Historical Centering of the Law

Joshua’s covenant renewal at Shechem situates the conquest within the historical covenant promises and obligations. The reading of blessings and curses at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, and the writing and reading of the Law, anchor Israel’s occupation of the land to Jehovah’s expressed terms. This is not a later invention to moralize a conquest story; it is the stated constitutional act by which Israel acknowledged Jehovah’s kingship and the binding nature of His Law. The geography of Shechem, at a central crossroads in the hill country, makes it an apt national assembly place, and the account presents it as such: a public reaffirmation that Israel’s continued life in the land depends on covenant faithfulness.

The Gibeonite Treaty and the Necessity of Consulting Jehovah

The Gibeonite episode demonstrates a different danger: not overt rebellion, but practical decision-making detached from consultation with Jehovah. Israel is deceived by appearances and enters a covenant with Gibeon. The narrative does not present Israel as free to discard their word once deception is discovered; rather, it presents oath obligations as binding, even when entered unwisely. Israel’s failure is not the keeping of the oath, but the making of it without seeking Jehovah’s direction.

This episode also shows how the conquest unfolds among real populations employing real diplomacy, ruses, and survival strategies. The Canaanite city-states are not imaginary villains; they are historical polities reacting to Israel’s advance. The text’s moral emphasis remains: Israel must consult Jehovah, because the land is governed by His will, not by Israel’s instincts.

Southern and Northern Campaigns and Jehovah’s Sovereign Interventions

Joshua’s campaigns include rapid marches, decisive engagements, and the breaking of coalitions. The narrative places special emphasis on Jehovah’s interventions in battle. In the southern campaign, the account describes hailstones that killed more of the enemy than Israel’s sword. The historical-grammatical reading treats this as a real act of Jehovah in real time, not poetic exaggeration designed to inflate Israel’s legend. The account of extended daylight likewise is presented as Jehovah’s sovereign manipulation of the natural order to accomplish His purposes. The text explicitly grounds this event as exceptional, not routine, and ties it to the covenant goal of granting Israel victory.

In the northern campaign, Hazor’s prominence is noted, and its destruction is described as decisive. The northern coalition’s reliance on chariots and horses is historically consistent with the military realities of the region’s plains and valleys, where such forces could be deployed effectively. Israel’s cutting of hamstrings and burning of chariots reflects obedience to instructions that prevented Israel from turning conquered technology into a basis for future pride or dependence. The conquest is therefore not merely about winning; it is about remaining a people whose confidence rests in Jehovah.

The Nature of “Driving Out” and the Realism of Progressive Occupation

The conquest narratives include both decisive victories and ongoing tasks. The text can state that Jehovah gave Israel the land and also state that certain groups remained to be driven out. This is not contradiction; it is the realism of progressive occupation. Israel broke the major coalitions, shattered key strongholds, and established footholds that enabled tribal allotments to be possessed over time. The text presents the land as granted by Jehovah and to be possessed through obedient effort. Where Israel later fails to complete the dispossession, the text assigns moral and spiritual causation, not a failure of Jehovah’s promise.

This framework prepares for the later struggles recorded in Judges without turning Joshua into a mythical golden age. Joshua’s leadership is portrayed as faithful and courageous, but always under the greater reality that Israel’s future would depend on continued obedience.

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