Joshua

Believers Church Bible Commentary

Gordon H. Matties

• Publisher: Herald Press
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9780836198058
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

In an age of fear and insecurity, in which ethnic nationalism continues to give rise to conflict and war, we dare not avoid critical engagement with biblical texts that have been used to justify colonialism, conquest, occupation, and ethnic cleansing. Building on the idea of Scripture as dialogue partner, Matties advocates for the book of Joshua even as he engages in a difficult conversation with it.

In his commentary, the twenty-fifth volume in the Believers Church Bible Commentary series, Matties calls for an openness to the unexpected in the book of Joshua. He suggests that reading Joshua carefully will open windows into how and why we read Scripture at all.

Part 1

Entering the Land

Joshua 1:1-18

The Promise and the Preparation

PREVIEW

Joshua 1 has been the sermon text for at least two Christian college presidential installation services that I have attended. Each one saw in God’s instructions to Joshua a model for faithful leadership in the ministry of educational administration. Considering the prominence given to Scripture instruction in Christian colleges and universities, an emphasis on the importance of the Bible for those in leadership is not surprising. The first chapter of Joshua is among the first biblical texts to highlight the importance of being faithful to the written “word” (cf. Deut 8:3). Not only that, it also sets the reader on the way to recognizing that obedience involves attentiveness to Another, to a Thou, to a relationship. Attentiveness to the text thus becomes a listening and respectful conversation that begins within Scripture itself.

Joshua 1, as an “overture” to the book (Lohfink: 237), presents its main motifs and themes: the promise, instruction, and encouragement of God; and human leadership and responsibility. Joshua’s story is bound up with the story of Moses. God’s presence with Joshua is likened to God’s presence with Moses. The divine instruction to Moses (Torah) is commended to Joshua. And the promise of land looks backward not only to Deuteronomy but also to Israel’s story beginning with the ancestors in Genesis [Composition of Joshua, p. 398].

Verses 1-9 introduce the entire book and set the stage for recognizing Joshua as servant of the Lord in 24:29-33. Verses 10-18 prepare for the plot developments and complications that lie ahead, with the crossing sequence that ends in chapter 4 and the conquest narrative that concludes in chapter 12. The prominence of the two and a half Transjordan tribes here looks ahead to the distribution narrative, which begins with a reiteration of the Transjordan tribes’ inheritance (13:8-31) and ends with a sending and conflict story concerning “Israel” and the Transjordan tribes (ch. 22). The book begins with an assurance of what the Lord promises to do and ends with a note about Israel’s recognition of the Lord’s work on Israel’s behalf (24:31).

The chapter also imagines the hoped-for unity of the people, even while it foreshadows the risk of fall and failure (Winther-Nielsen: 297-99). God’s promises are mentioned in various ways throughout the chapter (vv. 2, 3, 4, 6, 11, 13, 14, and twice in 15), beginning with the declaration I am giving in verse 2. That promise of land is linked explicitly to God’s promise to Moses (v. 3), and to the assurance of divine presence (v. 5). Joshua’s responsibility to be faithful to God’s instruction is at the heart of God’s first speech to Joshua (vv. 7-8). And the response of the people in verses 16-18 affirms their willing obedience to God and to God’s chosen leaders. The speeches of Joshua 1 look forward to an end of warfare through the motif of “rest.”

Speeches and conversation initiate the story’s action. God speaks first: God will take the primary role in the drama by giving the land. Joshua speaks next: he will carry out God’s instructions. And the people speak last: they promise faithfulness. But readers who know both the beginning and the end of Israel’s story may wonder about the promises and commitments. Not all had gone well under Moses’ leadership. Nor does the end of the story in Babylonian exile leave much room for hope (2 Kings 25). The chapter, therefore, invites questions about how the story will turn out. Will we discover that indeed we are participating in a drama in which God fulfills promises, people respond to God’s gift, and land has rest from war?

OUTLINE

A Joshua Commissioned for the Task, 1:1-9

1:1-5	God’s Promise to Joshua
1:6-9	God’s Charge to Joshua

B Joshua’s Preparation of the People, 1:10-11

B′ Joshua’s Preparation of the Transjordan Tribes, 1:12-15

A′ Response of the People, 1:16-18

The chiastic structure of the chapter (A, B, B′, A′) is suggested by the role of Joshua as listener in the two A sections and as speaker in the two B sections. Significantly, the speech of the Transjordan tribes in A′ echoes the first speech of God in A (Hawk 1991: 58-59). Verses 1-9 are linked to verses 10-18 through verses 1 and 13, in which Moses is named servant of the Lord; through the repetition of strong and courageous in verses 9 and 18; and through repetition of the motif of “crossing” (vv. 2, 11).

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Joshua Commissioned for the Task 1:1-9

This section’s central focus is not the task itself, but the promise and instruction of God. That emphasis provides the interpretive key to the entire book of Joshua, which is confirmed at the end of the book. There, both in Joshua’s address to the Transjordan tribes (22:2-5) and in his charge to Israel (23:6, 8, 11), the Lord’s promise (cf. 1:3, 6) and the people’s love for God’s instruction (Torah) stand at the center (cf. 1:7, 8). God’s instruction shapes Israel’s identity and is the ground of Israel’s gaining, keeping, and losing the land [Torah, p. 462]. These motifs are woven throughout the fabric of the book. The promise, initiated by God (1:2-5), is repeated by Joshua to the people (1:11, 13, 15), by Rahab (2:9), by the two spies (2:24), and by the Gibeonites (9:24). And in good Deuteronomic language, the narrator even reminds readers of God’s promise (5:6).

The book begins with a speech by God. Readers familiar with the stories in the Pentateuch know that reporting God’s speaking voice is not unusual in biblical narratives. This speaking voice ties the book of Joshua to that same word of promise in Genesis 12, to God’s “gift” of land and presence, and to God’s assumption and command that God’s people are to act with justice and righteousness (Gen 18:19). In Martin Buber’s terms, God’s speech in Joshua 1 reveals an ultimate encounter of an “I” and a “Thou.” As the first chapter unfolds, it becomes clear that the “Thou” has a spokesperson, Moses, and that God’s voice continues to instruct through a book of the law (1:8). The text now comes to us similarly as an invitation to an encounter of an “I” and a “Thou,” inviting readers to be attentive to God’s word now mediated through the narrative (Kepnes).

Repetition of key words and phrases highlight the central themes of this section: the figure of Moses (vv. 1a, 1b, 2, 3, 5, 7); give (vv. 2, 3, 6); all (vv. 2, 3, 4, 5, 7a, 7b, 8, 9); will be with you (vv. 5, 9); strength and courage (vv. 6, 7, 9). The notions of success (vv. 7, 8), invincibility (v. 5a), and lack of fear (v. 9); God’s promise of presence (vv. 5b, 9b) along with the first person “I” who promises (vv. 2, 3, 5, 6) and commands (v. 9a)—all draw us into the story’s heart. This is no ordinary story of human achievement. Not only does God speak to Joshua in the first person; the speech also ends with a third-person reminder to all who read that the Lord is a living and active presence (v. 9).

1:1-5 God’s Promise to Joshua

Joshua has already been featured as the successor to Moses (Num 27:12-23; Deut 1:37-38; 3:21-22, 28; 31:1-8, 14-15, 23; 34:9). Now Moses’ death marks a turning point in the story. After verse 1, Joshua is no longer Moses’ assistant but the one to whom God speaks and whom God commissions for a new task. Joshua does not replace Moses (Deut 34:10-12). Yet a kind of succession links the two figures through literary and theological connections between the books of Deuteronomy and Joshua. What we expect in the story that follows, therefore, is that God is about to use another servant to bring God’s promises to reality (cf. 5:14; 24:29-33).

It comes as no surprise that the book of Joshua begins with God’s addressing Joshua. Joshua has already been commissioned and was declared capable of wise leadership (Deut 34:9). The twice-repeated mention of Moses’ exalted position as God’s servant (vv. 1, 2), however, emphasizes the central place of Moses in the narrative that follows (see also 1:7, 13, 15; 8:31, 33; 9:24; 11:12, 15; 12:6; 13:8; 14:7; 18:7; 22:2, 4, 5). But Moses is not revered as a cult figure; he is servant and prophet (vv. 1, 7, 13, 15; cf. Deut 34:10). His role as God’s agent is to mediate God’s instruction. Joshua is above all a listener, for as successor to Moses he becomes servant as he fulfills the commission to attend to the divine instruction (cf. 24:29). But before he becomes servant, he is witness to and mediator of God’s salvation. The transition from Moses’ leadership to that of Joshua marks a transition symbolized by Joshua’s name. In the book of Numbers we read that Moses changes Joshua’s original name, Hoshea (salvation), to Joshua, which means “the Lord is salvation” (Num 13:8, 16). Joshua’s name itself reflects the central theological affirmation of the book of Joshua.

Although Moses is important, the Lord is the one who promises to act (note the pronoun “I”). The Lord is about to give the land, as promised to the ancestors (e.g., Gen 12:7), a promise that is reiterated throughout Deuteronomy (e.g., 1:8). The motif of “giving” occurs eight times in Joshua 1 alone and numerous times throughout the book [Land: Gifted and Lost, p. 440]. The Hebrew forms of the verb “to give” highlight a dynamic tension in the theology of a gifting God. On the one hand, God is in the process of giving the land (participle, v. 2). On the other, God has already given the land even though no one has yet crossed the river. Although God is speaking to Joshua (v. 1), all the “you” pronouns in verses 3-4 are plural. Joshua attends to God on Israel’s behalf. He is the conduit of God’s words to them.

Joshua 1 sets the stage: God’s word of promise places the people at the threshold of a new world. At stake is the veracity of the Lord’s word, which is the starting point for theological reflection on the book of Joshua and on the entire history as told by the prophet-historians of Israel. The speech makes the point that Joshua is as much a recipient of God’s gracious presence as was Moses. Ultimately the divine “I” defines the shape of the future: as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you (v. 5). God’s promise of presence repeats Moses’ words to all Israel (Deut 31:6) and to Joshua (Deut 31:8). God’s negative promise of not failing or forsaking also echoes Deuteronomy’s affirmations (11:25; 31:6, 8).

Even though the Lord begins with assurances of presence and promises fulfilled, the declaration that no one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life (v. 5a) also alerts the reader that surely some will take a stand against Joshua. The expression “to take a stand against” reminds readers of the folly of such presumption as expressed in Psalm 2:2. They also bring to mind God’s similar words to Moses (Deut 7:24; 11:25). The promise of divine presence recalls the promises to Israel’s ancestors (Gen 26:3; 31:3; Exod 3:12), which are even echoed by Moses to Joshua (in Deut 31:8, 23) and repeated by the Lord (31:23).

The description of the extent of the land (v. 4) reflects traditional Egyptian descriptions of Canaan during the fourteenth and thirteenth centuries BC (Weinfeld 1983: 65-66) [Extent of the Land, p. 424]. The phrase all the land of the Hittites, which does not occur in other depictions of the extent of the land (Gen 15:18-21; Exod 23:31; Num 34:1-12; Deut 1:7; 11:24), reflects memory of an even older imperial power that held sway in the ancient Near East west of the Euphrates before Israel’s arrival on the scene. Such traditional ancient imperial boundary descriptions seem to have become the basis for describing the land of promise, a larger-than-life depiction that extends from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean and from the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates (cf. Gen 15:18). Although this old description extends far to the east, Joshua 1:2 states that the crossing of the Jordan marks the entry into the land of promise. The grand scope of the promise (all the way to the Euphrates) hints that God’s promise here (and in Deuteronomy) is a divine appropriation of imperial claims. Territorial descriptions normally included as bragging rights of the great powers, Assyria/Babylon and Egypt, have now been taken over by the Lord, who is Sovereign over all empires. An even greater imperium now holds sway, that of God’s sovereign rule over all nations and all lands. This Sovereign has the prerogative to assign land and to take it away [Land: Gifted and Lost, p. 440].

One small detail makes clear that this text does not define actual boundaries of Israel’s land. The expression this Jordan (MT, KJV, NASB, RSV) marks a boundary that is confirmed in the crossing motif throughout Deuteronomy and in the first four chapters of Joshua (the phrase occurs only in Josh 1:2 and Deut 31:2). Although Solomon is said to have dominion as far as the Euphrates (1 Kings 4:21, 24), the area east of the Jordan was contested by imperial powers (cf. 2 Kings 23:29; 24:7; and the words of King Mesha of Moab) [Mesha Inscription, p. 447]. In the light of that, Solomon fulfills the geographic promise of Joshua 1, but he fails to be faithful to God alone and to God’s instruction.

The ambiguities inherent in this boundary description invite reflection on how geographical boundaries and peoplehood are related. Perhaps verses 1-5 introduce the seeds of tension between the tribes east of the Jordan and those west of the Jordan (Josh 22:9-34). The narrator’s summary that Joshua took the whole land (11:23; cf. 11:16) restricts interpretation of the promise of 1:3-4 to lands west of the Jordan (not surprising, given Deut 2-3; Josh 1:12-15; 12:1-6). Similarly, the promise of 1:5 that no one shall be able to stand against you also stands in tension with the partial occupation reported in Joshua 13:1, and the picture of people who remain in the land to this day (6:25; 9:27; 13:13; 15:63; 16:10; 17:12-13; cf. Deut 7:22-24; Josh 23:5). Could it be that all the land was promised, but not all was settled? Both boundary descriptions and settlement patterns will contribute to questions that arise for readers several times later in the book. Which people ought to be considered part of the people “Israel”? Who can be considered “in” or “out”? What is the relationship between geography and peoplehood? [Plot Tensions in Joshua, p. 452].

In spite of that potential ambiguity, the first words of promise set the stage for the book. Land is a gift from the One who promises to fulfill a word spoken earlier to the ancestors and to Moses, and who promises to be an unfailing presence with the one to whom that One speaks: Joshua. Because the essence of land theology here is its character as a gift, Israel’s own claims of ownership may well be limited [Land: Gifted and Lost, p. 440]. “The homeland comes from God, not from natural rights nor from human claims of possession or power” (Butler 1983: 12). Therefore the first command in the book, Now proceed to cross the Jordan (v. 2), makes sense only in the light of the gift of land and the promise of divine presence. Yet the book of Joshua may not be a straightforward narrative of success. The narrator will affirm that all of God’s good promises come to pass (21:45), yet Joshua will cajole the people by suggesting that they cannot serve the Lord (24:19-20).

1:6-9 God’s Charge to Joshua

Now God addresses Joshua with an invitation to act on the truth of what has already been spoken. God commissions Joshua with a twofold task: to lead the people across in order to possess the land, and to distribute the inheritance. Three times in these verses Joshua is called to be strong and courageous (vv. 6, 7, 9; note very in v. 7), a charge that is picked up later by the Transjordan tribes (v. 18). The repetition is significant because it frames the central command to be faithful to torah/book of the torah (1:7b-8) and because it prefaces three distinct sayings.

First, verse 6 focuses on the task with which Joshua is commissioned. Although the land is given by God, Joshua is clearly named as God’s agent who will bring the people into the reality of the gift. God reminds Joshua that this task places him into the larger story of the ancestors, to whom God has spoken a word of promise about land. Thus, although Moses is preeminent, he is not the first nor the last recipient of the promise.

Second, verses 7 and 8 include a double encouragement to be faithful to the Lord’s instructions through Moses [Torah, p. 462]. Such diligent action will bring both prosperity and success. Faithfulness to Torah, however, is not a prerequisite for the presence of God. God is already present and speaking to Joshua. There is already a relationship characterized by gift giving. Torah faithfulness is Joshua’s response to the initiative of God. The words for success and prosperity are often used in the wisdom tradition to describe the positive effects of a character formed in keeping with morally upright conduct, even in the face of evil. God’s admonition to Joshua to be strong and courageous is therefore an encouragement to live in the light of God’s instruction, which is a life-giving orientation (cf. admonitions in Deut 30:19-20 to “choose life” by loving and obeying the Lord). That way leads to a good life in the good land. Joshua’s “prosperity” and “success” have little to do with financial success and economic prosperity. Joshua’s success is linked to his receiving the gift, which ultimately is contingent upon his (and Israel’s) attentiveness to God’s instruction.

The twofold emphasis on being careful to act in accordance with God’s instruction complements the encouragements to strength and courage (vv. 7, 9). The two verbs used to form this common expression (lit., “to keep/observe” and “to do/obey”) occur together in the OT only in Deuteronomy, as a stereotypical way of encouraging faithfulness to God’s instruction (e.g., Deut 6:25; 7:12; 8:1; 11:22, 32). Although the NRSV translates this word pair in Deuteronomy as “diligently observe/observing,” in Joshua 1:7 it reads being careful to act. God exhorts Joshua to pay deliberate attention to all the law (v. 7), to this book of the law (v. 8a), to all that is written in it (v. 8b). Through attentiveness to the written Torah (perhaps an early version of the book of Deuteronomy), Joshua will get his bearings in this new endeavor [Composition of Joshua, p. 398]. This emphasis on God’s written instruction stands out at critical moments in the book (see also 8:31-34; 22:5; 23:6; 24:26). The threefold mention of the written instructions in verses 7-8 stands at the center of the Lord’s spee...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Abbreviations
• Contents
• Pronunciation Guide
• Series Foreword
• Author’s Preface
• Introduction to Joshua
• Part 1 (1:1-12:24): Entering the Land
• Part 2 (13:1-24:33): Distributing the Land
• Outline of Joshua
• Essays
• Map of Conquest of Canaan
• Map of Tribal Allotment
• Map of the Ancient Near East in the Time of Joshua
• Bibliography
• Selected Resources
• Index of Ancient Sources
• The Author