CHAPTER X.

THE BOOK OF JOSHUA.

THE book of Joshua is regarded by Bishop Colenso as a continuation of the Jehovistic record in Numbers, written in the days of David or Solomon; containing also some fragments of earlier Elohistic documents, as well as corrections by the later Deuteronomist. Its minute critical investigation is, for the present, reserved, and he has merely pointed out certain signs of time, which fix it, he argues, as certainly not earlier than the reign of David. To dwell upon it at any length here may seem, therefore, somewhat premature. It supplies, however, such valuable and conclusive evidence upon the point at issue, the date of the Pentateuch, that our inquiries would be incomplete without some allusion to its testimony.

The first point to be determined is, manifestly, its relation to the preceding books. That it was written after the first four books of the Pentateuch, is admitted, and need not therefore be discussed. Was it, however, also written after Deuteronomy? We answer unhesitatingly, it was; and for this reason:-The book of Joshua often quotes and refers to Deuteronomy, and manifestly draws from its pages the information needed respecting former times, rather than from the earlier books, with which Bishop Colenso would connect it. The following are some of the most remarkable instances in point.*

* In making these comparisons the text has been carefully com

(1) Josh.i.3-5' Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread, have I given unto you, AS I SPAKE UNTO MOSES. From the desert and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea towards the going down of the sun, shall be your boundary. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee'.

Deut.xi.24-5 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours; from the desert and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the hinder sea, shall be your boundary. There shall not any man be able to stand before you'.†

(2) Joshua i.5-6, ‘I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and firm; for thou shalt cause this people to inherit the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them'.

Deut.xxxi.6-7 Be strong and firm; fear not, nor be terrified by them; for Jehovah thy God is he that goeth with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee... for thou must go with this people unto the land, which Jehovah sware unto their fathers to give them, and thou shalt cause them to inherit it'.

(3) Josh.i.13-5'Remember the word which MOSES THE SERVANT OF JEHOVAH COMMANDED you, saying, Jehovah your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land. Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall abide in the land which Moses gave you beside Jordan; but as for you, ye shall pass over before your brethren harnessed, all the heroes of the force, and help them; until Jehovah hath given your brethren rest, as yourselves, and they also possess the land which Jehovah your God giveth them; then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of Jehovah gave you'.

Deut.iii.18-20And I commanded you at that time, saying, Jehovah your God hath given you this land to possess it; ye shall pass over equipped before your brethren the children of Israel, all the men of force. But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle (I know that ye have much cattle) shall abide in your cities which I gave you; until Jehovah hath given your brethren rest, as yourselves, and they also possess the land which Jehovah your God giveth them beside Jordan; then ye shall return every man unto his possession, which I gave you'.

(4) Josh.xiii.14, Only unto the tribe of Levi he gave no inheritance; the fire-offerings of Jehovah God of Israel are their inheritance, as he

pared with the original Hebrew, and such renderings been adopted as should most clearly bring out the points of identity or divergence. The portions in italics may be regarded, therefore, as verbally identical in the original, with the exception of a few differences occasioned by the alterations of person, and some slight ones in orthography, which no version could represent.

The great river, the river Euphrates' occurs in Deut.i.7.

said unto them'. v.33. But unto the tribe of Levi, Moses gave not an inheritance; Jehovah, God of Israel, He is their inheritance, as he said unto them'.

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Deut.x.9, 'Wherefore Levi hath no portion or inheritance with his brethren; Jehovah, He is his inheritance, as Jehovah thy God said unto him'. xviii. 1-2 The Priests the Levites all the tribe of Levi shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the fireofferings of Jehovah, and his inheritance. But they shall have no inheritance among their brethren, Jehovah, He is their inheritance, as he said unto them'.

(5) Josh.xiv.9, And MOSES SWARE on that day, saying, The land that thy feet have trodden upon shall be unto thee for an inheritance, and unto thy children for ever, for thou hast wholly followed Jehovah my God'.

Deut.i.36, 'Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed Jehovah'.

(6) Josh.xxiii.16,When ye have transgressed the covenant of Jehovah your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and prostrate yourselves to them; then shall the wrath of Jehovah glow against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he gave you

Deut.xi.16-7, 'Take heed to yourselves that your heart mislead you not, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and prostrate yourselves to them; then shall the wrath of Jehovah glow against you,. . . and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which Jehovah gave you'.

(7) Josh.xxiv.9-10, And sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you; but I would not hearken unto Balaam'.

Deut. xxiii.4-5, 'They hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor to curse thee; but Jehovah thy God would not hearken unto Balaam'.

(8) Many other sentiments and phrases scattered throughout the book remind one strongly of Deuteronomy; e.g. the place which he should choose' (Josh.ix.27,comp. Deut.xii.5,11,14,18,21,xiv.23,24,25 &c.); Jehovah hath dispossessed from before you great nations and mighty; but you, no man hath been able to stand before you' (Josh. xxiii.9, comp. Deut.vii. 1,24,ix. 1-3,xi.23,25, &c.); one of you shall pursue a thousand' (Josh.xxiii. 10,comp. Deut.xxxii.30); 'cities which ye built not, vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not' (Josh. xxiv. 13, comp.Deut.vi. 10-1), &c. &c.

(9) The account of the blessing and cursing in Josh.viii.30-5 refers to, and presupposes, the commands laid down in Deut.xxvii.2-14 ; presents also many verbal similarities, e.g. the altar of whole stones, over which no man hath waved iron', the 'bringing up thereon burntofferings unto Jehovah, and sacrificing feast-offerings, the writing the law upon the stones' &c. While the ceremony is expressly said to have been performed according to the command of Moses, as it is written in the book of the law'.

(10) It is twice mentioned in the book of Joshua, that the dead

bodies of those who were hung were not allowed to remain on the tree after the going down of the sun (viii.29,x.27). The law which commanded this practice is contained in Deut.xxi.22-3.

(11) The utter extermination of the people of Canaan is continually said to have been as Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded' (Josh.ix.24,xi.12,15,20 &c); in allusion doubtless to the injunctions contained in Deuteronomy (vii.1-5,16,25-6,xii.2-3,xx.16-8, &c).

The passages here referred to, it will be observed, are not mere isolated scraps, such as might perhaps have been inserted by a later editor, but are intrinsic portions of the book, inextricably interwoven with its main substance, and therefore clearly due to its own author. That the Deuteronomist should have copied from Joshua is a priori most improbable, and in the case of some of the instances referred to, quite impossible. Five of them are distinctly references to Moses' words (1) (3) (4) (5) (9), one out of the number to Moses' written words (9); words which are recorded only in Deuteronomy. Allusions to the other books there also are, but by no means so frequent or so pointed; in three instances, in fact, the writer of Joshua had the choice of quoting from Exodus or Numbers, or from Deuteronomy (1) (3) (5); he invariably preferred the latter. This negatives at once the idea of its being a continuation of the earlier Jehovistic narrative. Its opening, its whole tone, its close, render it far more properly a continuation of Deuteronomy. But whatever may have been the author's purpose in composing it, whoever that author may have been, thus much at least is certain,among the materials out of which he wrought his book were the addresses of Moses, now known to us as the Second Law; addresses which he at all events regarded as genuine productions.

The establishment of this fact, the later date of the book of Joshua, gives us a new stand-point from which to regard many of the questions discussed in the preceding chapters. We have already had occasion to refer to its testimony respecting the Priests and Levites (p.227-8), and the Levitical cities (p.241-2), as demonstrating the substantial harmony existing between

In the same way we

Deuteronomy and the earlier books. might shew how it removes some of the little difficulties alleged concerning the cities of refuge, such as the mention of the highpriest's death, which is omitted by Deuteronomy, but inserted by Numbers and Joshua (xx.6). Or again, how it proves the reality of the ceremony of blessing and cursing, so much objected to (see p.280-1), by narrating its actual performance. And, in general, demonstrates the respect with which the lawgiver's commands were regarded, even in those matters on which he is supposed to have written without any view of his injunctions being carried out (see Appendix No. 3). One point only, however, would we here especially dwell upon,-the phraseology of Joshua. The following is a list of those formerly discussed peculiarities, both of the earlier books and Deuteronomy, which find place in it; those alleged as characteristic of the former being marked with an asterisk.

1.* possession', xxi.12,39,xxii.4,9,19,19; i.15,xii. 6,7.

2.*, tribe', 54 times; D, 30 times.

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3.* nin bin Dye, self same day', v.11.

4.*p, ordinance', xxiv.25.

5. land of Canaan', v.12, xxi.2, xxii.9,10,11,32,xxiv.3; 'land which I gave them', i.2,11,xxiii.13,16; 'land which I sware unto their fathers &c.', i.6,v.6,xxi.43; good land', xxiii.15,16.

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6., bullock',

vi.21, vii. 24.

7.*plains of Moab', xiii.32.

8.*, congregation', 14 times;

P, ‘assembly', viii.35.

9.*,tent of the congregation', xviii.1,xix.51.

10.*, tabernacle', xxii. 19.

11.*, testimony, iv.16.

12. 'go in to possess, i.11.

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13. fear Jehovah', iv.24, xxiv.14.

14. book of the law', i.8,viii.31,34,xxiii.6,xxiv.26.

15. D?, give up before', xi.6.

16. P, cleave', xxii.5,xxiii.12.

17. all your heart and all your soul', 18. 1, 'set' my Name &c., xxii.19. 19. be terrified', i.9.

20.

xxii.5.

take good heed', xxii.5,xxiii.11. 21. be strong and of good courage', i.6,7,9,18,x.25.