Notes, critical and practical, on the book of Joshua: designed as a general help to Biblical reading and instruction

Front matter

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Book

Introduction

TO THE

^ HISTORICAL BOOKS IN GENERAL

That portion of the Old Testament which contains the history of the affairs of the Jewish nation, from the death of Moses to its conquest by the Chaldeans, is comprised in the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. These, in the Hebrew classification, are termed the F'ormer Prophets. The title Prophets is giv^en them on the ground of the general belief, that they were written under the prompting of a Divine impulse ; and the epithet Former is applied in reference to the place which they occupy in the Sacred Canon, as preceding the books of the Latter Prophets^ an appellation bestowed upon those whose character is more strictly prophetical, viz., Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve Minor Prophets. The records of the nation from the time of the exile and the return thence, down to the close of the Persian empire, are contained in the books of Esther, Ezra, and Nehemiah, which the Hebrews attach to that part of the canon called the Hagiographa, in which are included also the books of Ruth and Chronicles. How ancient this division was, we cannot positively affirm; but it was current at least as early as the time of Jerome and the later Talmudists.

As to the sources from which these records were derived, there is a very great degree of uncertainty, although it is admitted that they are a species of compilation, made up, for the most part, from pre-existing documents, in the shape of annals or chronicles, which were doubtless co-eval with the events narrated. The evidence of such an origin discloses itself repeatedly in the texture of the records themselves, as we shall have occasion hereafter to notice, although it does not seem to have entered into the design of the writers to designate, by formal reference or citation, the sources from which they drew. The mere circumstance that we have, in the Sacred Canon, a number of books bearing the names of certain individuals, does not of itself prove that the books were originally written, or even subsequently compiled, by the persons whose names they bear. Thus, if we admit that Joshua wrote the book

IV INTRODUCTION.

which has come down to us with his name, yet as he could not have written the account of his own death, or of the subsequent events, it is clear that some hand besides his own is to be recognized in the composition. So neither was the book of Judges written as the joint production of those whose names it bears ; nor the books of Samuel by Samuel, as a great part of the events related in them occurred after his decease : nor the book of Ruth by Ruth ; nor the books of Kings and Chronicles by the kings, each furnishing the history of his own reign ; nor, finally, the book of Esther by Esther herself. In regard to Ezra and Nehemiah, the case is somewhat different ; as they expressly declare themselves the authors, and nothing in the contents invalidates the claim. As, then, it is as common for historical documents to bear a title derived from the personages and the subject-matter treated, as from the writers themselves, nothing definite gan be inferred as to the authorship of any of the sacred books from the simple name by which it is distinguished. This is a question that is to be determined by a variety of considerations, in which the voice of tradition is entitled to weigh just in proportion as there is nothing in the internal evidence of the book itself, or in the statements of contemporaneous history, to countervail its testimony. The question of the inspiration of these writings is not affected by the question of their origin. Their derivation from anterior documents, as we have remarked in regard to the book of Genesis, does not militate with their claims to the character of absolutely truthful and infallible records of the events which they relate. It is clear that the purposes of a Divine revelation require the character of unimpeachable truth in the communications which shall comprise it, and equally clear is it, that under the superintending control of Providence, an inspired man may make use of an uninspired document, handed down to him from a prior period, if that document be true in itself, and adapted to the object for which it is employed. But, in fact, nothing forbids that such preceding documents should themselves have originated in a supernatural prompting, of which the authors were unconscious. The Divine Spirit, who sees the end from the beginning, may have had in view an ultimate use of the written records of his servants, which governed, unknown to them, their form and structure from their very inception ; and a song of triumph chanted over a slain or routed foe, the memoir of a distinguished deliverer, the narrative of a siege in some " war of the Lord," the legend of a miracle, the inscription on a pillar or the certificate of a sale, may have been as truly suggested, overruled, and preserved by the Spirit of inspiration, as any precept of the decalogue, or any vision of a prophet. Whatever God sees fit to authenticate^ by adopting into His word, is to be considered as having virtually the stamp of inspiration.

INTRODUCTION. V

The character and attributes of the several historical books will come separately to be considered as we enter upon the exposition of each ; but we may here remark, as lo the sources from which the materials are drawn, that there is a high probability that persons of a prophetical character existed all along the line of the Hebrew annals, whose office it was to record the leading events of their history, and deposit them in the public archives of the nation. The books of Kings and Chronicles seem to be mainly made up from these sources.

THE BOOK OF JOSHUA.

INTRODUCTION.

§ 1 . Title ^ AiUhor^ and Age.

The titles of the several books in the Sacred Canon, as we have already remarked, designate, for the most part, rather their subject-matter than their authors. The book before us is the first that is called by the name of an individual, and that probably for the reason now suggested, that it relates exclusively to the important series of events in the Israelitish history in which Joshua was so conspicuous an actor. It details the various proceedings of this illustrious leader in the execution of the high trust committed to him as the successor of Moses. Yet this leaves undetermined the question respecting its true authorship. The voice of Jewish tradition very generally ascribes the book to Joshua, and there is nothing to be gathered from internal evidence which militates with the conclusion that the bulk of it may have proceeded from his hand. That certain passages, however, were, iipon this supposition, inserted at a later period, as is evidently the case in regard to the Pentateuch, may safely be admitted, without detracting from its canonical authority or genuineness. Indeed, should it be maintained, as is done by some critics, that it was wholly composed after his demise, from documents penned by him or under his direction, this will still leave its claims to a place, in its present form, in the inspired writings, unaflfected. The arguments sustaining this position have already been given in the preceding section. Yet, on the whole, the evidence appears to preponderate in favor of the opinion which makes Joshua the author, with the exception of the parts above alluded to. We cannot, indeed, place 1*

VJ INTRODUCTION.

much Stress upon the passage, ch. 24. 26, in which Joshua is said to have ' written these words in the book of the law of God,' for it is not clear that any thing more is there intended than the words uttered on that occasion, and in which the people express their solemn engagements to be faithful to the covenant. See Note in loc. But the following considerations have more weight.

(1.) The style of the composition is remarkably pure, free from foreign words, forms, or idioms, and so strikingly conformed to that of the Pentateuch as to argue a date nearly co-eval with it.

(2.) The writer speaks of himself as one that participated in the transactions which he records, ch. 5. 1 : ' And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites which were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, ifTt^// ice ir ere passed over, that their heart melted; neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.' As it is said, moreover, ch. 6. 25, that ' Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all thai she had ; a7id she dicelleth in Israel even U7ito this dap,^ there is a strong presumption that this was not written later than near the close of Joshua's life; and if so, he would be as likely to have written it as any one else.

(3.) It is scarcely conceivable that so many names of persons and places as occur in this book, should have been preserved, unless in a cotemporary document ; and from whom would such a document have been more likely to proceed than from Joshua himself? He might naturally be expected to record such transactions as went to illustrate the truth of the Divine promises made to his people.

(4.) The division of the land among the different tribes was doubtless recorded at the time it was made, and it was certainly made by Joshua in person, immediately after the conquest. The account of this division occupies a very considerable portion of the whole book (ch. 14-21.), and as it is difficult, in the absence of all testimony to the contrary, to assign a reason why Joshua should not have written the bulk of the other parts as well as this, the presumption undoubtedly is, especially as tradition affirms it, that he is the principal author. The truth of the tradition may fairly be taken for granted, unless the work itself can be shown to contain internal evidence against it.

(5.) In ch. 17. 13, it is said, 'It came to pass, when the children of Israel werl waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute; but did not utterly drive them out.' This has the air of having been written shortly after the conquest. Had it been penned at a much later period, the writer would scarcely have failed to mention the well known

LNTRODUCTION.

Vll fact, that the Israelites were soon seduced into idolatry by these very tributaries. The date of the writing was undoubtedly prior to this apostacy.

The principal objections against assigning the authorship of the look to Daniel, are the following: —

(1.) In ch. 10. 13. the circumstance of the sun and moon being stayed in their course is said to be written in the book of Jasher. This testimony, it is contended, would not have been quoted by Joshua, or any other contemporary writer, concerning transactions of recent occurrence and unusual notoriety. The inference therefore is, that the book entitled ' the Wars of the Lord' mast have been written at a much earlier period than that in which it is cited. But there is no difliculty in supposing, that, as Joshua probably composed his book towards the latter part of his life, he might have introduced an apposite quotation from a history or poem containing a more minute or vivid description of the miracle, and written some years before his own.

(2.) The use of the phrase ^ to this day ' is supposed to indicate a period very considerably subsequent to the date of the events. Thus c-f the stones set up in the Jordan, ch. 4. 9. • they are there unto this day ;' — of the place where the reproach of Eg\'pt was rolled away, ch. 5. 9, 'the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day ;' — of the valley of Achor. ch. 7. 26, 'it is so called U7ito this day;' — of the ruins of Ai, ch. S. 28, • it is a desolation unto this day ;^ — and so in other instances. In reply to this it can only be said, that the phrase does not necessarily imply any considerable length of time. If Washington had written annals of the American Revolution in the last year or two of his life, no one would have been surprised to hear him saying of certain monuments or memorials of battles and ^-ictories. that they remained 'unto this day.' In like manner Joshua might have expressed himself in the same language in similar circumstances,

(3.) An argument to the same effect is derived from the narrative ch. 19. 48, 49, of the taking of Leshem by the Danites. This event, it is said, appears from Judges IS. 27-29, to have occurred after the death of Joshua, and therefore the present account of it is inconsistent with the asserted authorship of the book. Hence some have attributed its composition to Eleazar, some to Samuel, and some to Isaiah or Ezra. But it is not necessary, on this account, to attempt to invalidate the claims of Joshua to the authorship of the substance of the book. It is -^t denied that occasional interpolations have been made by later hands, aad this may safely be admitted to be one. although it is to be remarked, that Jahn and others express strong doubts whether the two narratives refer to the same expedition, as they they vary in several particulars.

(4.) It is objected that certain places are called in tbis book bynames which they did not acquire till some ages afterwards. But as to ' the stray city Tyre/ ch. 19. 29, Bochart contends that this is not the celebrated city of that name^ but an inland fortified place. So the Cabul mentioned ch. 19. 27, is affirmed by Reland not to have been the country to which that name was applied by Hiram in Solomon's time, but a city which in the age of Josephus had degenerated into a village. We may observe, too, in this connexion, that the expression ' house of God/ ch, 9. 23, is not exclusively applied to the temple^ but also to ^Ae tabernacle^ as the Bedouins apply the terra to a tent.

On the wholcy therefore, we feel little hesitation in refering the authorship of the book, as a whole, to Joshua, though we doubt not that certain isolated passages have been inserted by copyists or revisers at a subsequent period. We see no good reason to doubt that the history here given is his work, as truly as the Commentaries of Cgesar are his ; and in this view we are confirmed by the a priori probabilities of the case. Moses, it is certain, kept an accurate register of the various events that took place during his administration in the wilderness ^ and as Joshua was his constant servant and companion, he could not but be aware of the importance of such historical memoranda, nor can it well be supposed that, having succeeded him in the same office^ he should not have continued the same practice.

§ 2. Contents^ Scope ^ and Design. The book relates the history of Israel while under the command and government of Joshua; the entrance of the Hebrews into Canaan ; their conquest of the greater part of the country ; the division of the territory by lot among the several tribes \ and the provision made for the settlement and establishment of the Jev/ish church in that country. The length of time embraced in this history is variously stated by chronologists, at seventeen^ twenty-seven, and thirty years. Between twenty-six and twenty-seven years is the usually received and most probable period. The leading drift of the writer is to demonstrate the faithfulness of God in the perfect accomplishment of all his promises to the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, and also to Moses, that the children of Israel should obtain possession o-f the land of Canaan. Viewed in this light, it is an invaluable appendage to the preceding five books af Moses, and indeed bears to them very much the same relation as does the Acts of the Apostles to the Gaspels of the four Evangelists. The inspired historian relates, with all the animation of one who was an actual eye-witness and participator of the scenes described, the successive miracles that favored and secured the conquest of the country^ tke

INTRODUCTION. IX

general zeal, activity, and obedience of Israel in prosecuting their wars, with the occasional lapses and transgressions that interrupted the career of their victories. We see the Divine power and faithfulness conspicuously displayed in guiding, cherishing, and defending the chosen peoj-^e amidst all the trials to which they were exposed ; and while the general tenor of the narrative affords a striking emblem of the warfare of the Christian in gaining possession of his heavenly inheritance, it ministers the most abundant encouragement to those who in sincerity and faith throw themselves upon the superintending care of that Being, who keepeth covenant and mercy for ever.

The following will serve as a synopsis of the contents of the several chapters :

Part I. — The Entrance of the Israelites into Ca7iaan

1. The appointment of Joshua as leader of Israel, ch. 1.

2. The spies sent out to view the land, ch. 2.

3. The miraculous passage of the Jordan, ch. 1. 10-18, ch. 2. 4

4. The renewal of the covenant, ch. 5. 1-13.

Part II. — The Victories of the Israelites under Joshiui

1. The conquest of Jericho, ch. 6.

2. The capture of Ai, ch. 7. 8.

3. Fraud of the Gibeonites — conquest of the five kings — miracle

of the sun's standing still, ch. 9. 10.

4. Conquest of Canaan completed, ch. 11.

5. Recapitulation of the conquests of Israel, ch. 12. 13.

Part III. — Division of the Country

1. Inheritance of the two tribes and a half, ch. 13.

2. General division of Canaan, ch. 14.

3. Inheritance of Caleb, ch. 14. 15.

4. Lot of Judah, ch. 15.

5. Lot of Joseph, ch. 16. 17.

6. The Tabernacle set up, ch. 18.

7. Lot of Benjamin and the remaining tribes, ch. 18. 19.

8. Inheritance of Joshua, ch. 19.

9. Cities of refuge and Levitical cities, ch. 20, 21.

Part IV. — The last Exhortations and Death of Joshua

1. The assembling of the people and first address of Joshua, ch. 23,

2. The tribes again assembled and addressed by Joshua, ch. 24.

3. The death and burial of Joshua, ch. 24. <.

4. The death and burial of Eleazar, ch. 24.

X mfRoDucnow.

§ 3. Commentators. (1.) Jewish.

Rabbi Schelomoh Ben Jizchak, commonly called Rasche, or Jarchij R. David Kimchi ; and R. Levi Ben Gerson, commonly denominated Ralbag, have each of them furnished commentaries on this book, which are found in the Biblia Rabbinica of Buxtorf, published A. D. 1618. For a character of Jarchi, see Introduction to Judges.

n"i5?i:^ ^n"li 5?:z:in'' "^^^t^ pirosh YehosJma lerabbi Yeshayah, i. e. The Commentary of JR. Isaiah on Joshua, written out, translated, and illustrated with notes, from a Manuscript in the Library of the Senate of Leipsic, by D. George Abicht. Leips. 1712. Republished in the Thesaurus Novus Theologico-PMlologicOj or Sylloge of Exegetical Dissertations on Select Passages of the Old and New Testament, from the Museum of Theod. Hase and Conrad Iken, Leyden, 1732, vol. i., p. 474, seqq. This Rabbi Isaiah, the son of Elias, who is called Isaiah the latter, flourished in the 1 3th century^ and wrote commentaries on the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Ezra, which Masius says, in the catalogue of Jewish authors subjoined to his Commentary on Joshua, that he possessed in manuscript, and from which he often quotes. Comp. WoLFii Biblioth. Hebr. T. L, p. 705, seqq.

(2.) Christian.

Masius, though a lawyer and a Catholic, has produced by far the most elaborate work ever published on the book of Joshua, and probably the most valuable commentary, with the single exception of that of Calmet, to which the Roman church can lay claim. Considering the age in which it was written, and the limited facilities which the author could have enjoyed for such a performance, it is truly a remarkable work; and it will rather enhance the reader's estimation of its merit to know, that it comes within the list of books prohibited by the Papal see — a fate which we might be certain a priori its excellence would secure to it. Pool, in the preface to his Synopsis, says of Masius, * Vir longiore vita et immortali memoria dignus ; interpres cni parem ingenio^ judicio, rerum ac linguarum peritia, eandore et modestia, baud facile leperies,'— «fl^ man v)orthy of a longer life and of an undying celebrity / tNTRODCCTlON. Xl

itn interpreteTj whose equ<zl in taknf, judgment, histvrictil knowledge^ skill in languages, candor ^nd mod-esty^ is not easily to he found. Similar commendation is bestowed by Buddeus, Walchius, and other bibliographers upon the commentary of Masius; and from having it constantly before me in the preparation of the ensuing notes, I feel no hesitation in subscribing to the general justice of these encomiums. The work contains, besides the commentary^ the book of Joshua in the original Hebrew, with the Greek of the Septuagint, and a three-fold Latin translation^ together with a preface containing valuable readings to the Greek, from a manuscript copy in his possession, which since his death has unfortunately been lost to the learned world.

For the character of Schmid as a Scriptural critic, see the list of Commentators prefixed to the book of Judges. His t^relections on Joshua, w^hich were arrested at the eighth chapter by the death of the author, are of similar character and value with those on the succeeding book. He affords very important aid to the commentator.

Xll INTRODUCTiOiV.

The object of the author is to show that the book of Joshua is composed often diiFerent documents, each of which is clearly distinguished from the others in style, diction, and scope. These various portions he has designated, and contends that they are distinctly marked by certain peculiarities of verbal usage, running through them respectively. Rosenmueller, however, objects that this is very precarious ground on which to form a definite decision of this nature; and though he gives the author credit for great research and acumen, he evidently deems his conclusions of little value.

F. J. V. D. Maurer Commeniar uber das Buck Joshua. Stuttgard. 1831. 8vo.

This is mainly a verbo-critical commentary, detailing the nice points of grammatical construction, and indicating the application of certain philological principles, fixed by Gesenius and Ewald, to the language of the book. In this respect it has some value, but very little in any other. The author belongs to the freest school of biblical criticism, and does not scruple to call all the supernatural events recorded mythical, and like De Wette and others, considers the book a sort of patchwork, made up of the shreds of pre-existing rhapsodies and fragments.

In the ensuing Commentary, as well as in all my former vols, on the Pentateuch, I have adopted the plan of giving the Hebrew without points, simply with a view to preserve uniformity in the appearance of the printed page ; as the insertion of the points would necessarily throw the lines, between which they occurred, wider asunder than the rest. By way of compensation I have endeavored to express the pronunciation of the Hebrew words in English letters ; and as for this purpose the sounds of the vowels have to be modified by accenis, the reader will bear in mind that they are indicated as follows: —

d=a in halL e—a in hate. i=?; in shire. 0=^om bone. U= 00 in moon.

THE BOOK OF JOSHUA.

N

Chapter I

OW after the death of Mothe servant of the ses.

1. Now after the death of Moses ^ (f'C. The literal rendering of the Heb. is, ' And it was (or happened) after the death of Moses, and the Lord spake, &c.' This rendering discloses more perfectly the use of the copulative ' and ' in the original, which is SO employed as to bring this book into immediate connexion with the foregoing, and thus makes it a regular continuation of the sacred narrative begun and carried on by Moses in the five preceeding books. In like manner the book of Ruth commences with a similar phraseology, "^rr^l And it came to pass^ &c., although it cannot be questioned that there are other instances, as in the opening of the books of Esther and Ezekiel, where the 1 v cannot have a copulative^ but merely a conversive sense ; i. e., it converts, according to a peculiarity of the language, the future into the past or pretorite sense. — The time referred to at the opening of this book, was probably at the conclusion of the thirty day's mourning for Moses, spoken of Deut. 34, 8 ; or it might have been during that period ; in which time also it is the opinion of some commentators that the spies (chap. 2, 1) were sent out. IT The servant of the Lord. A

Lord, it came to pass that t:>e Lord spake unto Joshua the scri of Nun, Moses' ''minister, saying, high and honorable title, applied to Moses, not merely in the sense in which it is applied to pious and good men generally^ who may justly be styled servants of the Most High, inasmuch a:^ it is the grand aim of their lives to serve and obey him ; but in this connexion carrying with it a reference to the peculiar nature of the service in w^hich Moses Vv^as employed, viz., that of a minister, mediator, deputy, or vicegerent of God, the honored organ through whom he communicated his will to his chosen people and managed all their varied interests. It is in this character that he stands so highly commended in the sacred volume, having received the divine testimony to his being ' found faithful in all God's house as a servant,^ and being expressly distinguished by this title, not only here, where God himself is pleased so to denominate him, v. 2, but also in Rev. 15. 3, where it is said of the company standing upon the sea of glass, that they ' sing the song of Moses the servant of God.^ On the sense of ministerial ruling oftentimes involved in the term servant, see Note

Gen. 24. 2. "^The Lord spake vntn

Joshua, (^c. The name of this illustrious leader of Israel appears in a somewhat different form in several different connexions in which it occurs. In Num. 13. 16, we are informed that < Mobes called Oshea the son of Nun, Jehoshua,' where the original is in the first instance 5>Ii:in ho.s/iea, the same name with that of the Prophet Hosea, and in the second S^iLnrr^ yekoshua, having the firi^ letter of 'Jehovah' (mn"^) appended. The first of these theGr. of the Sept. represents by Avarj^ Ause, the other by hiaavfj Jesus. The Hebrew root of the name has the import of salvation, and from this the sense of Saviour has been transferred into the Greek Iriyjvg. Jcsus. In Neh. 8. 17, we have still another form ; 5?1Ii:"i yeshua, Jeshua, where the Gr. preserves the usual form l^ovg, Jesus. It was doubtless from this current usage of the Septuagint that the New Testament writers have in two instances applied to Joshua the name of the Saviour, of whom he was undoubtedly an eminent type. The first is Acts 7. 45, ' Which also our fathers, that came after, brought in \\Ai\\Jesus; i.e. Josh^ ua. The other is Heb. 4. 8, ' For if Jesus (Joshua) had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.' This change of names, in the case of various Scripture personages, appears to have been governed by a change of relations, either to God or to man, as in the case of Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Daniel, Paul, and others. See Note on Gen. 17. 5. Of the manner of the communication nowmade to Joshua, we are not expressly informed.

From the fact that Moses and Joshua, just before the death of the former, were summoned together into the ' tabernacle of the congregation,' Deut. 31. 14, that the dying charge of Moses migh^, be given to his successor, it seems highly probable that the in^- structions and encouragements imparled on this occasion were delivered from the same place. — — n Moses minister. Heb. H^:^ niir?3 meshdreth Mosheh, he that served, or mi?iisiered to, Moses. The original tl^lD sharath, to minister, is used with the accusative of the person ministered to, and is found for the most part in those connexions, where the service of God is spoken of, especially that which was rendered by the Priests and Levites. Joshua was Moses' minister in the sense of an immediate attendant, one who waited upon his person, and assisted him in business ; one of whose services he availed himself in a variety of ways, as Elisha, of those of Gehazi. In Deut. 1. 38, it is expressed by a different, but equivalent phrase 1?3S)n "["^D&i) haomed lepaneka, who standeth before thee, a usual mode of expressing the idea of ministration. The word is rendered in some copies of the Greek, vTrspyog^ an under-worh man, in others, Bepdiroiv, one that waits^ attends wpon, ministers to. Previous to the death of Moses, Joshua had been specially designated to the office which he is now called to assume, Deut. 1. 38; 31. 3, 6—8; and for which he was peculiarly qualified by his long familiarity with Moses, and by the training which he would naturally receive in the station occupied under him. An humble and devoted spirit, a willingness to serve God in the meanest employments, is the best preparative, and often the surest precursor to posts of honor and dignity in the church. Wherever this is the case, no previous lowness or obscurity of origin is, in