What the book is
Joshua picks up where Deuteronomy ends. Moses has died, and his assistant Joshua leads Israel across the Jordan into the land promised to Abraham. The book tells of the spies in Jericho and Rahab who hid them, the river that stood still, the walls of Jericho falling, the defeat at Ai and its cause, the day the sun stood still, the long lists of the cities of each tribe, and the cities of refuge. It begins with a charge to Joshua:
Have I not given you this command? Be strong and courageous. Do not tremble with fear or lose heart, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
And it ends with his farewell, and the people’s choice: “My household and I will serve the LORD” (24:15).
Who wrote it, and when
The book does not name its author. Jewish tradition credited it to Joshua himself, apart from the account of his death. Many scholars see Joshua as part of a longer history running from Deuteronomy through Kings, drawn together from older sources and traditions in the seventh and sixth centuries BC, in the light of Deuteronomy’s teaching. How its accounts of the conquest relate to the archaeology of the land, at Jericho, Ai and elsewhere, is much debated. The draft takes no side on these questions; they do not change how a sentence is translated.
How the book is laid out
- Entering the land (1–5): Joshua’s charge, Rahab and the spies, crossing the Jordan, the stones of remembrance, circumcision and Passover at Gilgal, and the commander of the LORD’s army.
- The conquest (6–12): Jericho, Achan’s sin and Ai, the covenant at Mount Ebal, the treaty with the Gibeonites, the battles in the south and the north, and the list of defeated kings.
- Dividing the land (13–21): the tribes’ portions, Caleb’s inheritance, the cities of refuge, and the towns of the Levites.
- Farewell (22–24): the altar by the Jordan, Joshua’s last speeches, and the covenant renewed at Shechem.
How Open Word Bible translates Joshua
Devoted to destruction. At Jericho and in other cities, everything was “devoted to destruction” (6:21): given over wholly to the LORD and destroyed, with nothing kept as plunder. The draft translates these accounts as they stand, without softening them. A decision at 6:21 explains the command they carry out (Deuteronomy 7:2), its stated reasons and its limits: a Canaanite household that turned to Israel’s God is spared, and an Israelite who takes what is devoted falls under the ban himself. It adds that the verse reports what was done, and does not by itself settle how the strong language of war in these accounts is to be weighed.
Rahab (2:1). The Hebrew word for Rahab is the ordinary word for a prostitute, and the draft keeps it. An old Aramaic translation made her an innkeeper, perhaps to soften the story; the footnote gives that reading. The New Testament remembers her for her faith (Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25), and Matthew names her in the family line of Jesus (Matthew 1:5).
The sun stood still (10:12–14). “Sun, stand still at Gibeon,” Joshua says, and the day lasts until the battle is won. The Hebrew verb can mean “stand still” or “be silent”, and the decision on 10:13 notes that the text describes daylight held until the battle was won without saying how it happened; it is marked uncertain, and the footnote sets out the readings. The verses quote the Book of Jashar, a lost collection of poems also quoted in 2 Samuel 1:18.
The divine name. God’s personal name appears often in Joshua. The text writes it “the LORD” in small capitals, and a reader setting shows “Yahweh” instead. See the divine name.
The commander of the army of the LORD (5:13–15). Joshua meets a man with a drawn sword who is neither for Israel nor for its enemies but “the commander of the army of the LORD”, and is told to take off his sandals, as Moses was at the burning bush. A decision on 6:2 notes that the LORD may speak to Joshua through him.