Tomline, and Dr. Gray, who ground their hypothesis principally upon the following arguments: 1. Joshua is said (ch. xxiv. 26.) to have written the transactions there recorded "in the book of the law of God," so that the book which bears his name forms a continuation of the book of Deuteronomy, the two last chapters of which they think were written by Joshua. But, if we examine the context of the passage just cited, we shall find that it refers, not to the entire book, but solely to the renewal of the covenant with Jehovah by the Israelites. 2. In the passage (chap. xxiv. 29. et seq.) where the death and burial of Joshua are related, the style differs from the rest of the book, in the same manner as the style of Deut. xxiii. and xxxiv. varies, in which the decease and burial of Moses are recorded: and Joshua is here called, as Moses is in Deuteronomy, the servant of God, which plainly proves that this passage was added by a later hand. 3. The author intimates (v. 1.) that he was one of those who passed into Canaan. 4. The whole book savours of the law of Moses, which is a strong argument in favour of its having been written by Joshua, the particular servant of Moses. The last three of these arguments are by no means destitute of weight, but they are opposed by others which show that the book, as we now have it, was not coeval with the transactions it records. Thus, we read in Josh. xv. 63. that the children of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, "but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem to this day." Now this joint occupation of Jerusalem by these two classes of inhabitants did not take place till after Joshua's death, when the children of Judah took that city, (Judg. i. 8.) though the Jebusites continued to keep possession of the strong hold of Zion, whence they were not finally expelled until the reign of David, (2 Sam. v. 6-8.) The statement in Josh. iv. 9. (that the stones set up as a memorial of the passage of the Israelites over Jordan are standing to this day), was evidently added by some later writer. The same remark will apply to Josh. xv. 13-19. compared with Judg. i. 10-15. Josh. xvi. 10. with Judg. i. 29. and to Josh. xix. 47. collated with Judg. xviii. 29. Since, then, it appears from internal evidence that the book was not written by Joshua himself, the question recurs again, by whom was the book composed or compiled? Dr. Lightfoot ascribes it to Phineas; Calvin thinks their conjecture most probable, who refer the writing of this book, or at least the compilation of the history, to the high priest Eleazar, (whose death is recorded in the very last verse of the book); because it was the high priest's duty not only to teach the people orally, but also by writing to instruct posterity in the ways of God. Henry, as we have already seen,2 ascribes it to Jeremiah; and Van Til, to Samuel.3 But, by whatever 1 Calvin, Proleg. in Jos. op. tom. i. in fine. This great reformer, however, leaves the question undetermined, as being at most conjectural and uncertain. 2 See p. 27. supra. 3 Opus Analyticum, vol. i. p. 410. prophet or inspired writer this book was composed, it is evident from comparing Josh. xv. 63. with 2 Sam. v. 6—8. that it was written before the seventh year of David's reign. Further, if the book of Judges were not written later than the beginning of Saul's reign, as some eminent critics are disposed to think, or later than the seventh year of David's reign, which is the opinion of others, the book of Joshua must necessarily have been written before one or other of those dates, because the author of the book of Judges not only repeats some things verbatim from Joshua,' and slightly touches upon others which derive illustration from it; but also in two several instances (Judg. i. 1. and ii. 6—8.), commences his narrative from the death of Joshua, which was related in the close of the preceding book. If the book of Joshua had not been previously extant, the author of Judges would have begun his history from the occupation and division of the land of Canaan, which was suitable to his design in writing that book. Whoever was the author of the book of Joshua, it is manifest that it was compiled from antient, authentic, and contemporary documents. The example of Moses, indeed, who committed to writing the transactions of his own time, leads us to expect that some continuation would necessarily be made, not only to narrate the signal fulfilment of those promises, which had been given to the patriarchs, but also to preserve an account of the division of the land of Canaan among the particular tribes, as a record for future ages; and thus prevent disputes and civil wars, which in process of time might rise between powerful and rival tribes. This remark is corroborated by express testimony for in Josh. xviii. we not only read that the great captain of the Israelites caused a survey of the land to be made and described in a book, but in xxiv. 25. the author relates that Joshua committed to writing an account of the renewal of the covenant with God; whence it is justly inferred that the other transactions of this period were preserved in some authentic and contemporaneous document or commentary. Further, without some such document, the author of this book could not have specified the limits of each tribe with so much minuteness, nor have related with accuracy the discourses of Caleb (Josh. xiv. 6-12.); neither could he have correctly related the discourses of Phinehas and the delegates who accompanied him, to the tribes beyond Jordan (Josh. xxii. 18-20.), nor the discourses of the tribes themselves (xxii. 21-30.), nor of Joshua (xxiii. and xxiv.); nor could he have so arranged the whole, as to be in perfect harmony with the law of Moses. Lastly, without a contemporaneous and authentic document, the author would not have expressed himself, as in ch. v. 1. as if he had been present in the transactions which he has related, nor would he have written, as he has done in vi. 26. that "she dwelleth in Israel unto this day;" and this document he has expressly cited in x. 13. by the title of the 'Book of Jasher,' or of the Upright. 1 Judg. ii. 6-9. is repeated from Josh. xxiv. 28-31. and Judg. i. 29. from Josh. xvi. 10. 2 Thus Judg. i. 10—15. 20. derives light from Josh. xv. Equally clear is it that the author of this book has made his extracts from authentic documents with religious fidelity, and consequently is worthy of credit: for, In the first place, he has literally copied the speeches of Caleb, Phinehas, of the tribes beyond Jordan, and of Joshua, and in other passages has so closely followed his authority, as to write in v. 1. "until we were passed over," and in vi. 25. that Rahab "dwelleth in Israel until this day." Hence also, the tribes are not mentioned in the geographical order in which their respective territories were situate, but according to the order pursued in the original document, namely, according to the order in which they received their tracts of land by lot, (Josh. xv. xvi. xviii. xix.) Lastly, in conformity to his original document, the author has made no honourable mention of Joshua until after his death; whence it is highly probable that the commentary from which this book was compiled, was originally written by Joshua himself. Secondly, this book was received as authentic by the Jews in that age when the original commentary was extant, and the author's fidelity could be subjected to the test of examination: and, Thirdly, several of the transactions related in the book of Joshua are recorded by other sacred writers with little or no material variations; thus, we find the conquest and division of Canaan, mentioned by Asaph (Psal. lxxviii. 53-65. compared with Psal. xliv. 2—4.); the slaughter of the Canaanites by David (Psal. lxviii. 13-15.); the division of the waters of Jordan (Psal. cxiv. 1—5. cxvi. 5, 6. Habak. iii. 8.); the terrible tempest of hail-stones after the slaughter of the southern Canaanites (Heb. iii. 11-13. compared with Josh. x. 9-11.); and the setting up of the tabernacle at Shiloh, (Josh. xviii. 1.) in the books of Judges (xviii. 31.) and Samuel. (1 Sam. i. 3. 9. 24. and iii. 21.) Lastly, every thing related in the book of Joshua not only accurately corresponds with the age in which that hero lived, but is further confirmed by the traditions current among heathen nations, some of which have been preserved by antient and profane historians of undoubted character.1 Thus there are antient monuments extant, which prove that the Carthaginians were a colony of Tyrians who escaped from Joshua; as also that the inhabitants of Leptis in Africa came originally from the Sidonians, who abandoned their country on account of the calamities with which it was overwhelmed. The fable of the Phenician Hercules originated in the history of Joshua :3 1 See particularly Justin, lib. xxxvi. c. 2. and Tacitus, Hist. lib. v. cc. 2, 3. On the falsely alleged contradictions between the sacred and profane historians, sec Vol. I. Appendix, No. III. Sect. VII. pp. 584-590. 2 Allix's Reflections upon the Books of the Old Testament, chap. ii. (Bishop Watson's Collection of Theological Tracts, vol. i. p. 354.) 3 Procopius (Vandal. lib. ii. e. 10.) cites a Phenician inscription; containing a passage which he has translated into Greek, to the following purport:-"We are they who flee from the face of Jesus (the Greek name of Joshua) the robber, the son of Nave." Suidas cites the inscription thus : —“We are the Canaanites whom Jesus the robber expelled." The difference between these two writers is not material, and may be accounted for by the same passage being differently rendered by and the overthrow of Og the king of Bashan, and of the Anakims who were called giants, is considered as having given rise to the fable of the overthrow of the giants. The tempest of hail-stones mentioned in Josh. x. 11. was transformed by the poets into a tempest of stones, with which (they pretend) Jupiter overwhelmed the enemies of Hercules in Arim, which is exactly the country where Joshua fought with the children of Anak.2 The Samaritans are by some writers supposed to have received the book of Joshua, but this opinion appears to have originated in mistake. They have indeed two books extant, bearing the name of Joshua, which differ very materially from our Hebrew copies. One of these is a chronicle of events from Adam to the year of the Hijra 898, corresponding with A. D. 1492;3 and the other is a similar chronicle badly compiled, from the death of Moses to the death of Alexander Severus. It consists of forty-seven chapters, filled with fabulous accounts, written in the Arabic language, but in Samaritan characters.4 II. The book of Joshua comprises the history of about seventeen years, or, according to some chronologers, of twenty-seven or thirty years: it is one of the most important documents in the old covenant; and it should never be separated from the Pentateuch, of which it is at once both the continuation and the completion. The Pentateuch contains a history of the acts of the great Jewish legislator, and the laws upon which the Jewish church was to be established: and the book of Joshua relates the history of Israel under the command and government of Joshua, the conquest of Canaan, and its subsequent division among the Israelites; together with the provision made for the settlement and establishment of the Jewish church in that country. III. From this view of the argument of Joshua, we may easily perceive that the scope of the inspired writer of this book was, to demonstrate the faithfulness of God, in the perfect accomplishment of all his often-repeated promises to the patriarchs, that their posterity should obtain possession of the land of Canaan. At the same time we behold the divine power and mercy signally displayed in cherishing, protecting, and defending his people, amid all the trials and difficulties to which they were exposed; and as the land of Canaan is in the New Testament considered as a type of heaven, the conflicts and trials of the Israelites have been considered as adumbrating the spiritual conflicts of believers in every age of the church. Although Joshua, whose piety, courage, and disinterested integrity, different translators, or being quoted from memory, -no unusual occurrence among profane writers. 1 Polybius, Frag. cxiv. Sallust. Bell. Jugurthin. c. xxii. 2 Allix's Reflections, ut supra. Huet, Demonstratio Evangelica, vol. i. pp. 273 -262. Amstel. 1680. 8vo. Some learned men have supposed that the poetical fable of Phaeton was founded on the miracle of the sun standing still (Josh. x. 12 -14.); but on a calm investigation of the supposed resemblance, there does not appear to be any foundation for such an opinion. 3 Jahn, Introd. in Vet. Fæd. p. 246. note. 4 Ibid. Fabricii Codex Apocryphus Veteris Testamenti, p. 876, et seq. are conspicuous throughout his whole history, is not expressly mentioned in the New Testament as a type of the Messiah, yet he is universally allowed to have been a very eminent one. He bore our Saviour's name; the Alexandrian version, giving his name a Greek termination, uniformly calls him Indous-Jesus; which appellation is also given to him in Acts vii. 45. and Heb. iv. 8. Joshua saved the people of God (as the Israelites are emphatically styled in the Scriptures) from the Canaanites: Jesus Christ saves his people from their sins. (Matt. i. 21.) IV. The book of Joshua may be conveniently divided into three parts: viz. PART I. The history of the occupation of Canaan1 by the Israelites (cc. i.-xii.) comprising, SECT. 1. The call and appointment of Joshua to be captaingeneral of that people. (i.) SECT. 2. The sending out of the spies to bring an account of the city of Jericho. (ii.) SECT. 3. The miraculous passage of the Israelites over Jordan (iii.), and the setting up of twelve memorial stones. (iv.) SECT. 4. The circumcision of the Israelites, and their celebration of the first passover in the land of Canaan; the appearance of the "captain of the Lord's host" to Joshua. (v.) SECT. 5. The capture of Jericho (vi.) and of Ai. (vii. viii.) SECT. 6. The politic confederacy of the Gibeonites with the children of Israel. (ix.) SECT. 7. The war with the Canaanitish kings, and the miracle of the sun standing still. (x.) SECT. 8. The defeat of Jabin and his confederates. (xi.) SECT. 9. A summary recapitulation of the conquests of the Isra elites both under Moses (xii. 1—6.), and also under Joshua himself. (xii. 7-24.) PART II. The division of the conquered land: containing, SECT. 2. A particular appointment of it among the Israelites, including the portion of Caleb (xiv.); the lot of Judah (xv.); of Ephraim (xvi.); of Manasseh (xvii.); of Benjamin (xviii.); and of the six tribes of Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, Dan, and of Joshua himself. (xix.) SECT. 3. The appointment of the cities of refuge (xx.) and of the Levitical cities. (xxi.) SECT. 4. The dismission from the camp of Israel of the militia of the two tribes and a half who settled on the other side of Jordan, their consequent return, and the transactions_resulting from the altar which they erected on the borders of Jordan in token of their communion with the children of Israel. (xxii.) ART III. The assembling of the people (xxiii.); the dying address and counsels of Joshua (xxiv. 1-28.); his death and burial, &c. (xxiv. 29-33.) 1 On the objections which have been brought against the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, see Vol. I. Appendix, No. III. Section V. pp. 560-562. 5 VOL. IV. |