Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. '

Yahweh Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he poss ...

is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ibn Nūn''; la, Iosue functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Exodus and

Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

, and later succeeded Moses as leader of the

Israelite The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

tribes in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Book of Joshua. His name was Hoshea ( ''Hōšēaʿ'', lit. 'Save') the son of

Nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

, of the

tribe of Ephraim According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Ephraim ( he, אֶפְרַיִם, ''ʾEp̄rayīm,'' in pausa: אֶפְרָיִם, ''ʾEp̄rāyīm'') was one of the tribes of Israel. The Tribe of Manasseh together with Ephraim formed the '' House ...

, but Moses called him "Yehoshua" (translated as "Joshua" in English),''Bible'' the name by which he is commonly known in English. According to the Bible, he was born in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

prior to

the Exodus The Exodus (Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yeẓi’at Miẓrayim'': ) is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four books of the Torah (or Pentateuch, corresponding to the first five books of the Bible), namely E ...

. The Hebrew Bible identifies Joshua as one of the twelve spies of Israel sent by Moses to explore the land of

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

. In Numbers 13:1, and after the death of Moses, he led the Israelite tribes in the conquest of Canaan, and allocated lands to the tribes. According to

biblical chronology The chronology of the Bible is an elaborate system of lifespans, 'generations', and other means by which the Masoretic Hebrew Bible (the text of the Bible most commonly in use today) measures the passage of events from the creation to around 164 ...

, Joshua lived some time in the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

. According to Joshua 24:29, Joshua died at the age of 110. Joshua holds a position of respect among Muslims. Muslims also see Joshua as the leader of the faithful following the death of Moses. In Islam, it is also believed that Yusha bin Nun (Joshua) was the "attendant" of Moses mentioned in the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

before Moses meets

Khidr Al-Khidr () ( ar, ٱلْخَضِر, al-Khaḍir), also transcribed as al-Khadir, Khader, Khidr, Khizr, Khazer, Khadr, Khedher, Khizir, Khizar, is a figure described but not mentioned by name in the Quran as a righteous servant of God possessing g ...

. Joshua plays a role in Islamic literature, with significant narration in the

hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...

Name

The English name "Joshua" is a rendering of the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

''Yehoshua'', and is mostly interpreted as "

is salvation"; although others have also alternatively interpreted it as "

is lordly". The

theophoric name A theophoric name (from Greek: , ''theophoros'', literally "bearing or carrying a god") embeds the word equivalent of 'god' or God's name in a person's name, reflecting something about the character of the person so named in relation to that dei ...

appears to be constructed from a combination of the

Tetragrammaton The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are ''yodh'', '' he'', '' waw'', and ...

with the Hebrew noun יְשׁוּעָה ( Modern: ''yəšūʿa'', Tiberian: ''yăšūʿā''), meaning "salvation"; derived from the Hebrew root ישׁע (''y-š-ʿ''), meaning "to save/help/deliver". Other theophoric names sharing a similar meaning can also be found throughout the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

אֱלִישׁוּעַ (''ʾĔlīšūaʿ''), whose name means "My El (

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

) is salvation". "

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

" is the English derivative of the Greek transliteration of "Yehoshua" via Latin. In the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

, all instances of the word "Yehoshua" are rendered as "" (Iēsoūs), the closest Greek pronunciation of the arc, יֵשׁוּעַ . Thus, in modern Greek, Joshua is called "Jesus son of Naue" (, ''toũ Nauḗ'') to differentiate him from

. This is also true in some

Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the ...

following the

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

tradition (e.g. "", ''Iisús Navín'', in Bulgarian, Serbian and Russian, but not Czech).

Biblical narrative

The Exodus

Tissot Moses Blesses Joshua Before the High Priest

Joshua was a major figure in the events of the Exodus. He was charged by Moses with selecting and commanding a militia group for their first battle after exiting Egypt, against the

Amalekites Amalek (; he, עֲמָלֵק, , ar, عماليق ) was a nation described in the Hebrew Bible as a staunch enemy of the Israelites. The name "Amalek" can refer to the nation's founder, a grandson of Esau; his descendants, the Amalekites; or th ...

Rephidim Rephidim or Refidim ( he, רפידים) is one of the places visited by the Israelites in the biblical account of the Exodus from Egypt. Biblical account This episode is described in the Book of Exodus. The Israelites under Moses have come ...

, in which they were victorious. He later accompanied Moses when he ascended

biblical Mount Sinai Mount Sinai (, ''Har Sīnay'') is the mountain at which the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God, according to the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible. In the Book of Deuteronomy, these events are described as having transpired at Mount ...

to commune with God, visualize God's plan for the Israelite

tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...

and receive the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...

. Joshua was with Moses when he descended from the mountain, heard the Israelites' celebrations around the Golden Calf, and broke the tablets bearing the words of the commandments. Similarly, in the narrative which refers to Moses being able to speak with God in his tent of meeting outside the camp, Joshua is seen as custodian of the tent ('tabernacle of meeting') when Moses returned to the Israelite encampment.Exodus 33:11 However, when Moses returned to the mountain to re-create the tablets recording the Ten Commandments, Joshua was not present, as the biblical text states "no man shall come up with you". Later, Joshua was identified as one of the twelve spies sent by Moses to explore and report on the land of

, and only he and Caleb gave an encouraging report, a reward for which would be that only these two of their entire generation would enter the promised land. According to Joshua 1:1, God appointed Joshua to succeed Moses as leader of the Israelites along with giving him a blessing of invincibility during his lifetime. The first part of the book of Joshua covers the period when he led the conquest of

Conquest of Canaan

At the Jordan River, the waters parted, as they had for Moses at the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

. The first battle after the crossing of the Jordan was the

Battle of Jericho The Battle of Jericho, as described in the Biblical Book of Joshua, was the first battle fought by the Israelites in the course of the conquest of Canaan. According to , the walls of Jericho fell after the Israelites marched around the city walls ...

. Joshua led the destruction of Jericho, then moved on to Ai, a small neighboring city to the west. However, they were defeated with thirty-six Israelite deaths. The defeat was attributed to Achan taking an "accursed thing" from Jericho; and was followed by Achan and his family and animals being stoned to death to restore God's favor. Joshua then went to defeat Ai. The Israelites faced an alliance of five

Amorite The Amorites (; sux, 𒈥𒌅, MAR.TU; Akkadian: 𒀀𒈬𒊒𒌝 or 𒋾𒀉𒉡𒌝/𒊎 ; he, אֱמוֹרִי, 'Ĕmōrī; grc, Ἀμορραῖοι) were an ancient Northwest Semitic-speaking people from the Levant who also occupied la ...

kings from

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after Eas ...

Jarmuth Jarmuth, Hebrew: Yarmut (יַרְמוּת), was the name of two cities in the land of Canaan.Lemche (2010), p160 The Douai-Rheims version of the Bible has an alternative spelling, Jaramoth. Jarmuth near Beit Shemesh Jarmuth was an Amorite ci ...

Lachish Lachish ( he, לכיש; grc, Λαχίς; la, Lachis) was an ancient Canaanite and Israelite city in the Shephelah ("lowlands of Judea") region of Israel, on the South bank of the Lakhish River, mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible. Th ...

, and Eglon. At Gibeon, Joshua asked the to cause the sun and moon to stand still, so that he could finish the battle in daylight. According to the text, the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. This event is most notable because "There has been no day like it before or since, when the heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel." The also fought for the Israelites in this battle, for he hurled huge hailstones from the sky which killed more Canaanites than those which the Israelites slaughtered. From there on, Joshua was able to lead the Israelites to several victories, securing much of the land of Canaan. He presided over the Israelite gatherings at

Gilgal Gilgal ( he, גִּלְגָּל ''Gilgāl''), also known as Galgala or Galgalatokai of the 12 Stones ( grc-gre, Γαλαγα or , ''Dōdekalithōn''), is the name of one or more places in the Hebrew Bible. Gilgal is mentioned 39 times, in particula ...

and Shiloh which allocated land to the tribes of Israel (Joshua 14:1–5 and 18:1–10), and the Israelites rewarded him with the Ephraimite city of

Timnath-heres Timnath-heres or Timnath-serah ( he, תמנת חרס), later Thamna, was the town given by the Israelites to Joshua according to the Hebrew Bible. He requested it and the people gave it to him "at the order of the Lord". He built up the town an ...

or Timnath-serah, where he settled (Joshua 19:50). According to the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

, Joshua in his book enumerated only those towns on the frontier.

Death

When he was "old and well advanced in years", Joshua convened the elders and chiefs of the Israelites and exhorted them to have no fellowship with the native population, because it could lead them to be unfaithful to God. At a general assembly of the clans at

Shechem Shechem ( ), also spelled Sichem ( ; he, שְׁכֶם, ''Šəḵem''; ; grc, Συχέμ, Sykhém; Samaritan Hebrew: , ), was a Canaanite and Israelite city mentioned in the Amarna Letters, later appearing in the Hebrew Bible as the first c ...

, he took leave of the people, admonishing them to be loyal to their God, who had been so mightily manifested in the midst of them. As a witness of their promise to serve God, Joshua set up a great stone under an oak by the sanctuary of God. Soon afterward he died, at the age of 110, and was buried at

, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

Historicity

The prevailing scholarly view is that Joshua is not a factual account of historical events. The apparent setting of Joshua is the 13th century BCE which was a time of widespread city-destruction, but with a few exceptions ( Hazor,

) the destroyed cities are not the ones the Bible associates with Joshua, and the ones it does associate with him show little or no sign of even being occupied at the time. Given its lack of historicity, Carolyn Pressler in her commentary for the ''Westminster Bible Companion'' series suggests that readers of Joshua should give priority to its theological message ("what passages teach about God") and be aware of what these would have meant to audiences in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. Richard Nelson explained that the needs of the

centralised Centralisation or centralization (see spelling differences) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning and decision-making, framing strategy and policies become concentrated within a particu ...

monarchy favoured a single story of origins, combining old traditions of an

exodus from Egypt The Exodus (Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yeẓi’at Miẓrayim'': ) is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four books of the Torah (or Pentateuch, corresponding to the first five books of the Bible), namely Ex ...

, belief in a

national god A national god is a guardian divinity whose special concern is the safety and well-being of an ethnic group (''nation''), and of that group's leaders. This is contrasted with other guardian figures such as family gods responsible for the well-be ...

as "divine warrior," and explanations for ruined cities, social stratification and ethnic groups, and contemporary tribes. In the 1930s

Martin Noth Martin Noth (3 August 1902 – 30 May 1968) was a German scholar of the Hebrew Bible who specialized in the pre-Exilic history of the Hebrews and promoted the hypothesis that the Israelite tribes in the immediate period after the settlement in Can ...

made a sweeping criticism of the usefulness of the Book of Joshua for history. Noth was a student of

Albrecht Alt Albrecht Alt (20 September 1883, in Stübach (Franconia) – 24 April 1956, in Leipzig), was a leading Germany, German Protestantism, Protestant theology, theologian. Eldest son of a Lutheran minister, he completed high school in Ansbach and stud ...

, who emphasized

form criticism Form criticism as a method of biblical criticism classifies units of scripture by literary pattern and then attempts to trace each type to its period of oral transmission."form criticism." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica ...

and the importance of etiology. Alt and Noth posited a peaceful movement of the Israelites into various areas of Canaan, ''

contra Contra may refer to: Places * Contra, Virginia * Contra Costa Canal, an aqueduct in the U.S. state of California * Contra Costa County, California * Tenero-Contra, a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland ...

'' the Biblical account.

William Foxwell Albright William Foxwell Albright (May 24, 1891– September 19, 1971) was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist, and expert on ceramics. He is considered "one of the twentieth century's most influential American biblical scholars." ...

questioned the "tenacity" of etiologies, which were key to Noth's analysis of the campaigns in Joshua. Archaeological evidence in the 1930s showed that the city of Ai, an early target for conquest in the putative Joshua account, had existed and been destroyed, but in the 22nd century BCE. Some alternate sites for Ai have been proposed which would partially resolve the discrepancy in dates, but these sites have not been widely accepted. In 1951

Kathleen Kenyon Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon, (5 January 1906 – 24 August 1978) was a British archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. She led excavations of Tell es-Sultan, the site of ancient Jericho, from 1952 to 1958, and has been called ...

showed that Jericho was from the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2100–1550 BCE), not the

Late Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

(c. 1550–1200 BCE). Kenyon argued that the early Israelite campaign could not be historically corroborated, but rather explained as an etiology of the location and a representation of the Israelite settlement. In 1955, G. Ernest Wright discussed the correlation of archaeological data to the early Israelite campaigns, which he divided into three phases per the Book of Joshua. He pointed to two sets of archaeological findings that "seem to suggest that the biblical account is in general correct regarding the nature of the late thirteenth and twelfth-eleventh centuries in the country" (i.e., "a period of tremendous violence"). He gives particular weight to what were then recent digs at Hazor by

Yigael Yadin Yigael Yadin ( he, יִגָּאֵל יָדִין ) (20 March 1917 – 28 June 1984) was an Israeli archeologist, soldier and politician. He was the second Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and Deputy Prime Minister from 1977 to 1981. B ...

. The Book of Joshua holds little historical value. The archaeological evidence shows that Jericho and Ai were not occupied in the Near Eastern

. The story of the conquest perhaps represents the nationalist propaganda of the 8th century BCE kings of Judah and their claims to the territory of the Kingdom of Israel, incorporated into an early form of Joshua written late in the reign of king Josiah (reigned 640–609 BCE). The book was probably revised and completed after the fall of Jerusalem to the

Neo-Babylonian Empire The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire, historically known as the Chaldean Empire, was the last polity ruled by monarchs native to Mesopotamia. Beginning with the coronation of Nabopolassar as the King of Babylon in 626 BC and bei ...

in 586 BCE, and possibly after the return from the Babylonian exile in 538 BCE.

Views

In Judaism

In rabbinical literature

rabbinic literature Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writ ...

Joshua is regarded as a faithful, humble, deserving, wise man. Biblical verses illustrative of these qualities and of their reward are applied to him. "He that waits on his master shall be honored" is construed as a reference to Joshua, as is also the first part of the same verse, "Whoso keeps the fig-tree shall eat the fruit thereof". That "honor shall uphold the humble in spirit" is proved by Joshua's victory over Amalek. Not the sons of Moses—as Moses himself had expected—but Joshua was appointed as Moses' successor. Moses was shown how Joshua reproved that

Othniel Othniel (; he, עָתְנִיאֵל בֶּן קְנַז, ''ʿOṯnīʾēl ben Qenaz'') was the first of the biblical judges. The etymology of his name is uncertain, but may mean "God/He is my strength" or "God has helped me". Family The Hebr ...

. "God would speak to Moses face to face, like someone would speak to his friend. Then he would return to the camp. But his attendant, Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not leave the tent. Joshua never moved from the tent". Didn't Joshua leave the tent to eat, sleep or attend to his needs? This praise shows that Joshua had complete faith in Moses, the

Tzaddik Tzadik ( he, צַדִּיק , "righteous ne, also ''zadik'', ''ṣaddîq'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadiqim'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The ...

. One who has this faith is cognizant of the tzaddik in everything he does; he remains steadfastly with the tzaddik whatever he does. According to

rabbinic tradition Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writ ...

, Joshua, when dividing the

Land of Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Te ...

among the twelve tribes of Israel, planted sea squill ( he, חצוב) to mark off the

butts and bounds Butts and bounds, shortened form for "abuttals and boundaries" of a property, are the boundary lines delineated between plots of land, usually those which define the end of an estate, as used in legal deeds, titles, etc. These are usually descrip ...

of tribal properties. Moreover, Joshua, on dividing the land of Canaan amongst the tribes of Israel, made the tribes agree to ten conditions, the most important of which being the common use of the forests as pasture for cattle, and the common right of fishing in the

Sea of Tiberias The Sea of Galilee ( he, יָם כִּנֶּרֶת, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ar, بحيرة طبريا), also called Lake Tiberias, Kinneret or Kinnereth, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest f ...

. Natural springs were to be used for drinking and laundry by all tribes, although the tribe to which the water course fell had the first rights. Prickly burnet (''

Sarcopoterium spinosum ''Sarcopoterium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family. The genus is sometimes considered synonymous to ''Poterium''. The sole species within this genus, ''Sarcopoterium spinosum'', is common to the southeast Mediterranean region a ...

'') and the camelthorn ('' Alhagi maurorum'') could be freely collected as firewood by any member of any tribe, in any tribal territory.

In prayer

According to Jewish religious tradition, upon making Aliyah by crossing the Jordan River to enter the Land of Israel, Joshua composed the

Aleinu ''Aleinu'' (Hebrew: , lit. "upon us", meaning " t isour duty") or ''Aleinu leshabei'ach'' (Hebrew: " t isour duty to praise Names_of_God_in_Judaism">God.html" ;"title="Names_of_God_in_Judaism.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Names of God in Judaism">God"> ...

prayer thanking God. This idea was first cited in the

Kol Bo ''Kol Bo'' (Hebrew: כל-בו, "all is in it") is a collection of Jewish ritual and civil laws. Its author has not yet been ascertained. The work in content resembles other codes, as, for instance, the ''Orḥot Ḥayyim'', though in its form it is ...

of the late 14th Century. Several medieval commentators noticed that Joshua's shorter birth name, Hosea, appears in the first few verses of Aleinu in reverse acrostic: ע – עלינו, ש – שלא שם, ו – ואנחנו כורעים, ה – הוא אלוקינו. The Teshuvot HaGeonim, a

Geonic ''Geonim'' ( he, גאונים; ; also transliterated Gaonim, singular Gaon) were the presidents of the two great Babylonian Talmudic Academies of Sura and Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders o ...

responsum, discussed that Joshua composed the Aleinu because although the Israelites had made Aliyah to the

Promised Land The Promised Land ( he, הארץ המובטחת, translit.: ''ha'aretz hamuvtakhat''; ar, أرض الميعاد, translit.: ''ard al-mi'ad; also known as "The Land of Milk and Honey"'') is the land which, according to the Tanakh (the Hebrew ...

, they were surrounded by other peoples, and he wanted the Jews to draw a clear distinction between themselves, who knew and accepted the sovereignty of God, and those nations of the world which did not. In the modern era, religious Jews still pray the Aliyah inspired Aleinu three times daily, including on the High Holidays. The Aleinu prayer begins:

Traditional "tomb of Joshua"

According to a Samaritan tradition, noted in 1877, the tombs of Joshua and Caleb were in Kifl Haris. According to , the

tomb of Joshua The Tomb of Joshua ( he, קבר יהושע בן נון), i.e. the burial site of the biblical figure Joshua, and that of his companion Caleb are, according to a Samaritan tradition noted in 1877, at Kifl Haris in the West Bank. Religious Jews al ...

is in Timnath-heres, and Jewish tradition also places the tombs of Caleb and Nun at that site, which is identified by Orthodox Jews with Kifl Haris. Thousands make the pilgrimage to the tombs on the annual commemoration of Joshua's death, 26th of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar.

In Christianity

Most modern Bibles translate to identify Jesus as a better Joshua, as Joshua led Israel into the rest of

, but Jesus leads the people of God into "God's rest". Among the early Church Fathers, Joshua is considered a type of Jesus Christ. The story of Joshua and the Canaanite kings is also alluded to in the 2 Meqabyan, a book considered

canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical examp ...

in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

In Islam

Possible Quranic reference

Joshua ( ar, يُوشَعُ بْنُ نُونٍ, ''Yūšaʿ ibn Nūn'', /juːʃaʕ ibn nuːn/) is not mentioned by name in the

, but his name appears in other

Islamic literature Islamic literature is literature written by Muslim people, influenced by an Islamic cultural perspective, or literature that portrays Islam. It can be written in any language and portray any country or region. It includes many literary forms incl ...

. In the Quranic account of the conquest of Canaan, Joshua and Caleb are referenced, but not named, as two "Allah-fearing men", on whom Allah "had bestowed His grace".

Hadith, exegesis, traditions

Joshua was regarded by some classical scholars as the prophetic successor to Moses (). Al-Tabari relates in his '' History of the Prophets and Kings'' that Joshua was one of the twelve spies and Muslim scholars believe that the two believing spies referred to in the Quran are Joshua and Caleb. Joshua was exceptional among the

Israelites The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

for being one of the few faithful followers of Allah. Significant events from Joshua's Muslim narratives include the crossing of the Jordan river and the conquest of '' Bait al-Maqdis''. The traditional Muslim commentary '' al-Jalalayn'' says, " Ahmad . Hanbalreported in his Musnad, the ollowinghadīth, 'The sun was never detained for any human, except for Joshua during those days in which he marched towards the Holy House f Jerusalem." Muslim literature includes traditions of Joshua not found in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Sahih Bukhari Sahih al-Bukhari ( ar, صحيح البخاري, translit=Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī), group=note is a ''hadith'' collection and a book of '' sunnah'' compiled by the Persian scholar Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl al-Bukhārī (810–870) around 846. Al ...

and

Sahih Muslim Sahih Muslim ( ar, صحيح مسلم, translit=Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim), group=note is a 9th-century ''hadith'' collection and a book of '' sunnah'' compiled by the Persian scholar Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj (815–875). It is one of the most valued b ...

, Joshua is mentioned as Yusha' bin Nun and is the attendant to Moses during his meeting with Khidr.

Traditional tombs

Joshua is believed by some Muslims to be buried on

Joshua's Hill Joshua's Hill ( tr, Yuşa Tepesi or Hazreti Yuşa Tepesi), a hill located on the Anatolian shore of Bosporus in Beykoz district of Istanbul, Turkey is a shrine containing a mosque and a tomb dedicated to Yusha ( tr, Hazreti Yuşa). The sacred ...

in the

Beykoz Beykoz (), also known as Beicos and Beikos, is a district in Istanbul, Turkey at the northern end of the Bosphorus on the Anatolian side. The name is believed to be a combination of the words bey and ''kos'', which means "village" in Farsi. Bey ...

district of

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

. Alternative traditional sites for his tomb are situated in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

(the Shia shrine at

Al-Nabi Yusha' Al-Nabi Yusha' ( ar, النبي يوشع was a small Palestinian village in the Galilee situated 17 kilometers to the northeast of Safad, with an elevation of 375 meters above sea level. It became part of the Palestine Mandate under British con ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

(An-Nabi Yusha' bin Noon, a Sunni

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ...

near the city of

Al-Salt Al-Salt ( ar, السلط ''As-Salt'') is an ancient salt trading city and administrative centre in west-central Jordan. It is on the old main highway leading from Amman to Jerusalem. Situated in the Balqa (region), Balqa highland, about 790–1, ...

Mazar Hazrat Yusha’ bin Noon, on the website of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canad

),

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

(Historical cemetery of Takht e Foolad in Esfahan) and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

(the Nabi Yusha' shrine of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

). A local tradition combining three versions of three different Yushas, including biblical Joshua, places the tomb inside a cave in the Tripoli Mountains, overlooking the coastal town of el-Minyieh near

Tripoli, Lebanon Tripoli ( ar, طرابلس/ ALA-LC: ''Ṭarābulus'', Lebanese Arabic: ''Ṭrablus'') is the largest city in northern Lebanon and the second-largest city in the country. Situated north of the capital Beirut, it is the capital of the North Gove ...

In art and literature

In the literary tradition of medieval Europe, Joshua is known as one of the

Nine Worthies The Nine Worthies are nine historical, scriptural, and legendary men of distinction who personify the ideals of chivalry established in the Middle Ages, whose lives were deemed a valuable study for aspirants to chivalric status. All were commonly ...

. In ''

The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature an ...

'' Joshua's spirit appears to Dante in the Heaven of Mars, where he is grouped with the other "warriors of the faith." Baroque composer

Georg Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

composed the

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

'' in 1747. Composer

Franz Waxman Franz Waxman (né Wachsmann; December 24, 1906February 24, 1967) was a German-born composer and conductor of Jewish descent, known primarily for his work in the film music genre. His film scores include ''Bride of Frankenstein'', ''Rebecca'', ' ...

composed an oratorio ''Joshua'' in 1959.

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'', ''Marche en rondeau''. This theme is still us ...

composed ''Josue'' (H.404 and H.404 a), an oratorio for soloists, double chorus, double orchestra and continuo, in 1680.

In science

Legend has it that

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into severa ...

pioneers in the United States first referred to the ''

yucca brevifolia ''Yucca brevifolia'' is a plant species belonging to the genus ''Yucca''. It is tree-like in habit, which is reflected in its common names: Joshua tree, yucca palm, tree yucca, and palm tree yucca. This monocotyledonous tree is native to the ar ...

'' agave plant as the Joshua tree because its branches reminded them of Joshua stretching his arms upward in supplication, guiding the travelers westward. Joshua is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of snake, Joshua's blind snake (''Trilepida joshuai''), the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of sever ...

of which was collected at

Jericó, Antioquia Jericó is a town, Municipalities of Colombia, municipality and Catholic bishopric in the Colombian Departments of Colombia, department of Antioquia Department, Antioquia. It is part of the subregion of Southwestern Antioquia. The distance refere ...

, Colombia.

Jewish holidays

The annual commemoration of Joshua's

yahrtzeit Bereavement in Judaism () is a combination of '' minhag'' and ''mitzvah'' derived from the Torah and Judaism's classical rabbinic texts. The details of observance and practice vary according to each Jewish community. Mourners In Judaism, the ...

(the anniversary of his death) is marked on the 26th of Nisan on the

Hebrew calendar The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel. ...

. Thousands make the pilgrimage to the

Tomb of Joshua The Tomb of Joshua ( he, קבר יהושע בן נון), i.e. the burial site of the biblical figure Joshua, and that of his companion Caleb are, according to a Samaritan tradition noted in 1877, at Kifl Haris in the West Bank. Religious Jews al ...

at Kifl Haris near Nablus,

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, on the preceding night.

Yom HaAliyah Yom HaAliyah, or Aliyah Day ( he, יום העלייה), is an Israeli national holiday celebrated annually according to the Jewish calendar on the tenth of the Hebrew month of Nisan to commemorate the Jewish people entering the Land of Israel as ...

( Aliyah Day; he, יום העלייה) is an Israeli national holiday celebrated annually on the tenth of the

month of Nisan, as per the opening clause of the Yom HaAliyah Law, as a

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

celebration of "Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel as the basis for the existence of the State of Israel", and secondarily "to mark the date of entry into the Land of Israel", i.e. to commemorate Joshua having led the Israelites across the Jordan River into the Land of Israel while carrying the Ark of the Covenant.

References

Explanatory notes

Citations

General and cited sources

*
academia.edu
* * * * * * Brettler, Marc Zvi,
How to read the Bible
'' (Jewish Publication Society, 2005). * * Coogan, Michael D. (ed),
The Oxford History of the Biblical World
'' (Oxford University Press, 1998) * * * * Day, John
''Yahweh and the gods and goddesses of Canaan''
(Sheffield Academic Press, 2002) ** * Dever, William,
What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It?
'' (Eerdmans, 2001) * Dever, William,
Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From?
'' (Eerdmans, 2003, 2006) * * * Finkelstein, Israel; Mazar, Amihay; Schmidt, Brian B.,
The Quest for the Historical Israel
'' (Society of Biblical Literature, 2007) * Garbini, G.,
Myth and history in the Bible
'' (Sheffield Academic Press, 2003) * * Graham, M.P, and McKenzie, Steven L.,
The Hebrew Bible today: an introduction to critical issues
'' (Westminster John Knox Press, 1998) * * * * * . * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

* ttp://www.christnotes.org/dictionary.php?dict=sbd&id=2493 ''Smith’s Bible Dictionary''
''Easton's Bible Dictionary & Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia''
{{Authority control -14

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

15th-century BC biblical rulers Biblical figures in rabbinic literature Book of Exodus people Book of Numbers people Christian saints from the Old Testament Judges of ancient Israel Moses