The Conquest
excerpt from Joshua and the Promised Land
by Roy H. May, Jr.
The Hebrews crossed the Jordan river and erected a sanctuary at Gilgal (4:1-24). The reaffirmed a new generation of male identity with Israel through ritual circumcision (5:1-10). then they began their warfare for the Promised Land. The Book of Joshua presents the warfare as a sweeping conquest: "So Joshua defeated the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the Lowland and the slopes, and all their kings; he left no one remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded" (10:40). Scholars call this the "conquest" model or theory about taking the Promised Land. Because of its emphasis on the extermination of whole peoples, it is similar to the "ethnic cleansing" example of land conflict.
In this "conquest" model, the Israelite tribes are presented as united into a single fighting force under the command of Joshua. This army was successful through three major campaigns: one central (6:1-10:15), another south (10:16-43), and one north (11:1-23). The battles, in which miracles played a major role, were against cities such as Jericho and Ai. The battle of Jericho is presented as the pattern for the destruction of all Canaan's cities and their kings.(18) The formula, "as you did to Jericho," or similar wording is connected to the destruction of the major cities. (19) This reinforces the account that all the cities and their kings were utterly destroyed. The Amorite and other kings either fled in fear or were totally unsuccessful against the Israelites. The Hebrew army killed thousands and thousands, yet there was not a single Israelite casualty. The only exception was Ai when 36 Israelites were killed during the failed first attempt to take the city (7:5). Following the battles, "all Israel" (10:21). "So," the biblical text informs us, "Joshua defeated the whole land...at one time" (10:40-42; cf. 11:23). The battle stories in Joshua 6-11 also suggest that these military campaigns were accomplished in a relatively short period of time.
Footnotes: (return to text)
18. Gordon Mitchell, Together in the Land: A Reading of the Book of Joshua. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Supplement Series 134 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993), p. 84
19. Ibid., pg. 81.
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