At Gibeon, Joshua asked the L ORD to cause the sun and moon to stand still, so that he could finish the battle in daylight. The Israelites faced an alliance of five Amorite kings from Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. 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. However, they were defeated with thirty-six Israelite deaths.
Joshua led the destruction of Jericho, then moved on to Ai, a small neighboring city to the west. The first battle after the crossing of the Jordan was the Battle of Jericho. Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon by John MartinĪt the Jordan River, the waters parted, as they had for Moses at the Red Sea. The first part of the book of Joshua covers the period when he led the conquest of Canaan. Īccording 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. Later, Joshua was identified as one of the twelve spies sent by Moses to explore and report on the land of Canaan, 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. 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'. 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. 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. He later accompanied Moses when he ascended biblical Mount Sinai to commune with God, visualize God's plan for the Israelite tabernacle and receive the Ten Commandments. He was charged by Moses with selecting and commanding a militia group for their first battle after exiting Egypt, against the Amalekites in Rephidim, in which they were victorious. Joshua was a major figure in the events of the Exodus. Moses Blesses Joshua Before the High Priest (watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot) " Иисус Навин", Iisús Navín, in Bulgarian, Serbian and Russian, but not Czech). This is also true in some Slavic languages following the Eastern Orthodox tradition (e.g. Thus, in modern Greek, Joshua is called "Jesus son of Naue" ( τοῦ Ναυή) to differentiate him from Jesus. In the Septuagint, all instances of the word "Yehoshua" are rendered as " Ἰησοῦς" (Iēsoūs), the closest Greek pronunciation of the Aramaic: ישוע Yeshua. " Jesus" is the English derivative of the Greek transliteration of "Yehoshua" via Latin. The modern linguistic analysis of the name, however, is " Yahweh is lordly". This requires a different vocalization of the second name component, reading it as related to Hoshea-the name used in the Torah before Moses added the divine name. The English name "Joshua" is a rendering of the Hebrew language Yehoshua, interpreted in Christian theology as " Yahweh is salvation". Joshua plays a role in Islamic literature, with significant narration in the hadith. In Islam, it is also believed that Yusha bin Nun (Joshua) was the "attendant" of Moses mentioned in the Quran before Moses meets Khidr. Muslims also see Joshua as the leader of the faithful following the death of Moses. Joshua holds a position of respect among Muslims. According to Joshua 24:29, Joshua died at the age of 110.
According to biblical chronology, Joshua lived some time in the Bronze Age. 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.
The Hebrew Bible identifies Joshua as one of the twelve spies of Israel sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan. According to the Bible he was born in Egypt prior to the Exodus. His name was Hoshea ( הוֹשֵׁעַ Hōšēaʿ ) the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, but Moses called him "Yehoshua" (translated as "Joshua" in English), the name by which he is commonly known in English. Joshua ( / ˈ dʒ ɒ ʃ u ə/) or Yehoshua ( Hebrew: יְהוֹשֻׁעַ Yəhōšūaʿ ) functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Exodus and Numbers, and later succeeded Moses as leader of the Israelite tribes in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua.