Chapter 1.
- Antiquities of the Jews -- Preface
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Chapter 1.
HOW JOSHUA, THE COMMANDER OF THE HEBREWS, MADE WAR WITH THE CANAANITES, AND OVERCAME THEM, AND DESTROYED THEM, AND DIVIDED THEIR LAND BY LOT TO THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL.FJAJ 5.3
1. WHEN Moses was taken away from among men, in the manner already described,
and when all the solemnities belonging to the mourning for him were finished,
and the sorrow for him was over, Joshua commanded the multitude to get
themselves ready for an expedition
He also sent spies to Jericho to discover
what forces they had, and what were their intentions; but he put his camp
in order, as intending soon to pass over Jordan at a proper season
And
calling to him the rulers of the tribe of Reuben, and the governors of
the tribe of Gad, and [the half tribe of] Manasseh, for half of this tribe
had been permitted to have their habitation in the country of the Amorites,
which was the seventh part of the land of Canaan, (1) The
Amorites were one of the seven nations of Canaan. Hence Reland is willing
to suppose that Josephus did not here mean that their land beyond Jordan
was a seventh part of the whole land of Canaan, but meant the Arnorites
as a seventh nation. His reason is, that Josephus, as well as our Bible,
generally distinguish the land beyond Jordan from the land of Canaan; nor
can it be denied, that in strictness they were all fercot: yet after two
tribes and a half of the twelve tribes came to inherit it, it might in
a general way altogether be well included under the land of Canaan, or
Palestine, or Judea, of which we have a clear example here before us in
Josephus, whose words evidently imply, that taking the whole land of Canaan,
or that inhabited by all the twelve tribes together, and parting it into
seven parts, the part beyond Jordan was in quantity of ground one seventh
part of the whole. And this well enough agrees to Reland's own map of that
country, although this land beyond Jordan was so peculiarly fruitful, and
good for pasturage, as the two tribes and a half took notice, Numbers 32:1,
4, 16, that it maintained about a fifth part of the whole people.
he put them in mind what they had promised Moses; and he exhorted them
that, for the sake of the care that Moses had taken of them who had never
been weary of taking pains for them no, not when he was dying, and for
the sake of the public welfare, they would prepare themselves, and readily
perform what they had promised; so he took fifty thousand of them who followed
him, and he marched from Abila to Jordan, sixty furlongs.FJAJ 5.4
2. Now when he had pitched his camp, the spies came to him immediately,
well acquainted with the whole state of the Canaanites; for at first, before
they were at all discovered, they took a full view of the city of Jericho
without disturbance, and saw which parts of the walls were strong, and
which parts were otherwise, and indeed insecure, and which of the gates
were so weak as might afford an entrance to their army
Now those that
met them took no notice of them when they saw them, and supposed they were
only strangers, who used to be very curious in observing everything in
the city, and did not take them for enemies; but at even they retired to
a certain inn that was near to the wall, whither they went to eat their
supper; which supper when they had done, and were considering how to get
away, information was given to the king as he was at supper, that there
were some persons come from the Hebrews' camp to view the city as spies,
and that they were in the inn kept by Rahab, and were very solicitous that
they might not be discovered
So he sent immediately some to them, and
commanded to catch them, and bring them to him, that he might examine them
by torture, and learn what their business was there
As soon as Rahab understood
that these messengers were coming, she hid the spies under stalks of flax,
which were laid to dry on the top of her house; and said to the messengers
that were sent by the king, that certain unknown strangers had supped with
her a little before sun-setting, and were gone away, who might easily be
taken, if they were any terror to the city, or likely to bring any danger
to the king
So these messengers being thus deluded by the woman, (2) It
plainly appears by the history of these spies, and the innkeeper Rahab's
deception of the king of Jericho's messengers, by telling them what was
false in order to save the lives of the spies, and yet the great commendation
of her faith and good works in the New Testament, Hebrews 11:31; James
2:25, as well as by many other parallel examples, both in the Old Testament
and in Josephus, that the best men did not then scruple to deceive those
public enemies who might justly be destroyed; as also might deceive ill
men in order to save life, and deliver themselves from the tyranny of their
unjust oppressors, and this by telling direct falsehoods; I mean, all this
where no oath was demanded of them, otherwise they never durst venture
on such a procedure. Nor was Josephus himself of any other opinion or practice,
as I shall remark in the note on Antiq. B. IX. ch. 4. sect. 3. And observe,
that I still call this woman Rahab, an innkeeper, not a harlot, the whole
history, both in our copies, and especially in Josephus, implying no more.
It was indeed so frequent a thing, that women who were innkeepers were
also harlots, or maintainers of harlots, that the word commonly used for
real harlots was usually given them. See Dr. Bernard's note here, and Judges
11:1, and Antiq. B. V. ch. 7. sect. 8.
and suspecting no imposition, went their ways, without so much as searching
the inn; but they immediately pursued them along those roads which they
most probably supposed them to have gone, and those particularly which
led to the river, but could hear no tidings of them; so they left off the
pains of any further pursuit
But when the tumult was over, Rahab brought
the men down, and desired them as soon as they should have obtained possession
of the land of Canaan, when it would be in their power to make her amends
for her preservation of them, to remember what danger she had undergone
for their sakes; for that if she had been caught concealing them, she could
not have escaped a terrible destruction, she and all her family with her,
and so bid them go home; and desired them to swear to her to preserve her
and her family when they should take the city, and destroy all its inhabitants,
as they had decreed to do; for so far she said she had been assured by
those Divine miracles of which she had been informed
So these spies acknowledged
that they owed her thanks for what she had done already, and withal swore
to requite her kindness, not only in words, but in deeds
But they gave
her this advice, That when she should perceive that the city was about
to be taken, she should put her goods, and all her family, by way of security,
in her inn, and to hang out scarlet threads before her doors, [or windows,]
that the commander of the Hebrews might know her house, and take care to
do her no harm; for, said they, we will inform him of this matter, because
of the concern thou hast had to preserve us: but if any one of thy family
fall in the battle, do not thou blame us; and we beseech that God, by whom
we have sworn, not then to be displeased with us, as though we had broken
our oaths
So these men, when they had made this agreement, went away,
letting themselves down by a rope from the wall, and escaped, and came
and told their own people whatsoever they had done in their journey to
this city
Joshua also told Eleazar the high priest, and the senate, what
the spies had sworn to Rahab, who continued what had been sworn.FJAJ 5.5
3. Now while Joshua, the commander, was in fear about their passing
over Jordan, for the river ran with a strong current, and could not be
passed over with bridges, for there never had been bridges laid over it
hitherto; and while he suspected, that if he should attempt to make a bridge,
that their enemies would not afford him thee to perfect it, and for ferry-boats
they had none, - God promised so to dispose of the river, that they might
pass over it, and that by taking away the main part of its waters
So Joshua,
after two days, caused the army and the whole multitude to pass over in
the manner following: - The priests went first of all, having the ark with
them; then went the Levites bearing the tabernacle and the vessels which
belonged to the sacrifices; after which the entire multitude followed,
according to their tribes, having their children and their wives in the
midst of them, as being afraid for them, lest they should be borne away
by the stream
But as soon as the priests had entered the river first,
it appeared fordable, the depth of the water being restrained and the sand
appearing at the bottom, because the current was neither so strong nor
so swift as to carry it away by its force; so they all passed over the
river without fear, finding it to be in the very same state as God had
foretold he would put it in; but the priests stood still in the midst of
the river till the multitude should be passed over, and should get to the
shore in safety; and when all were gone over, the priests came out also,
and permitted the current to run freely as it used to do before
Accordingly
the river, as soon as the Hebrews were come out of it, arose again presently,
and carne to its own proper magnitude as before.FJAJ 5.6
4. So the Hebrews went on farther fifty furlongs, and pitched their camp at the distance of ten furlongs from Jericho; but Joshua built an altar of those stones which all the heads of the tribes, at the command of the prophets, had taken out of the deep, to be afterwards a memorial of the division of the stream of this river, and upon it offered sacrifice to God; and in that place celebrated the passover, and had great plenty of all the things which they wanted hitherto; for they reaped the corn of the Canaanites, which was now ripe, and took other things as prey; for then it was that their former food, which was manna, and of which they had eaten forty years, failed them.FJAJ 5.7
5. Now while the Israelites did this, and the Canaanites did not attack
them, but kept themselves quiet within their own walls, Joshua resolved
to besiege them; so on the first day of the feast [of the passover], the
priests carried the ark round about, with some part of the armed men to
be a guard to it
These priests went forward, blowing with their seven
trumpets; and exhorted the army to be of good courage, and went round about
the city, with the senate following them; and when the priests had only
blown with the trumpets, for they did nothing more at all, they returned
to the camp
And when they had done this for six days, on the seventh Joshua
gathered the armed men and all the people together, and told them these
good tidings, That the city should now be taken, since God would on that
day give it them, by the falling down of the walls, and this of their own
accord, and without their labor
However, he charged them to kill every
one they should take, and not to abstain from the slaughter of their enemies,
either for weariness or for pity, and not to fall on the spoil, and be
thereby diverted from pursuing their enemies as they ran away; but to destroy
all the animals, and to take nothing for their own peculiar advantage.
He commanded them also to bring together all the silver and gold, that
it might be set apart as first-fruits unto God out of this glorious exploit,
as having gotten them from the city they first took; only that they should
save Rahab and her kindred alive, because of the oath which the spies had
sworn to her.FJAJ 5.8
6. When he had said this, and had set his army in order, be brought it against the city: so they went round the city again, the ark going before them, and the priests encouraging the people to be zealous in the work; and when they had gone round it seven times, and had stood still a little, the wall fell down, while no instruments of war, nor any other force, was applied to it by the Hebrews.FJAJ 5.9
7. So they entered into Jericho, and slew all the men that were therein,
while they were aftrighted at the surprising overthrow of the walls, and
their courage was become useless, and they were not able to defend themselves;
so they were slain, and their throats cut, some in the ways, and others
as caught in their houses; nothing afforded them assistance, but they all
perished, even to the women and the children; and the city was filled with
dead bodies, and not one person escaped
They also burnt the whole city,
and the country about it; but they saved alive Rahab, with her family,
who had fled to her inn
And when she was brought to him, Joshua owned
to her that they owed her thanks for her preservation of the spies: so
he said he would not appear to be behind her in his benefaction to her;
whereupon he gave her certain lands immediately, and had her in great esteem
ever afterwards.FJAJ 5.10
8. And if any part of the city escaped the fire, he overthrew it from
the foundation; and he denounced a curse (3) Upon
occasion of this devoting of Jericho to destruction, and the exemplary
punishment of Achar, who broke that duerein or anathema, and of the punishment
of the future breaker of it, Hiel, 1 Kings 16:34, as also of the punishment
of Saul, for breaking the like chefera or anathema, against the Amalekites,
1 Samuel 15., we may observe what was the true meaning of that law, Leviticus
27:28: "None devoted which shall be devoted of shall be redeemed;
but shall be put to death;" i.e. whenever any of the Jews' public
enemies had been, for their wickedness, solemnly devoted to destruction,
according to the Divine command, as were generally the seven wicked nations
of Canaan, and those sinners the Amalekites, 1 Samuel 15:18, it was utterly
unlawful to permit those enemies to be redeemed; but they were to be all
utterly destroyed. See also Numbers 23:2, 3.
against its inhabitants, if any should desire to rebuild it; how, upon
his laying the foundation of the walls, he should be deprived of his eldest
son; and upon finishing it, he should lose his youngest son
But what happened
hereupon we shall speak of hereafter.FJAJ 5.11
9. Now there was an immense quantity of silver and gold, and besides
those of brass also, that was heaped together out of the city when it was
taken, no one transgressing the decree, nor purloining for their own peculiar
advantage; which spoils Joshua delivered to the priests, to be laid up
among their treasures
And thus did Jericho perish.FJAJ 5.12
10. But there was one Achar, (4) That the name of this chief was not Achan, as in the common copies, but Achar, as here in Josephus, and in the Apostolical Constit. B. VII. ch. 2., and elsewhere, is evident by the allusion to that name in the curse of Joshua, "Why hast thou troubled us? � the Lord shall trouble thee;" where the Hebrew word alludes only to the name Achar, but not to Achan. Accordingly, this Valley of Achar, or Achor, was and is a known place, a little north of Gilgal, so called from the days of Joshua till this day. See Joshua 7:26; Isaiah 65:10; Hosea 2:15; and Dr. Bernard's notes here. the son [of Charmi, the son] of Zebedias, of the tribe of Judah, who finding a royal garment woven entirely of gold, and a piece of gold that weighed two hundred shekels; (5) Here Dr. Bernard very justly observes, that a few words are dropped out of Josephus's copies, on account of the repetition of the word shekels, and that it ought to be read thus: � "A piece of gold that weighed fifty shekels, and one of silver that weighed two hundred shekels," as in our other copies, Joshua 7:21. and thinking it a very hard case, that what spoils he, by running some hazard, had found, he must give away, and offer it to God, who stood in no need of it, while he that wanted it must go without it, - made a deep ditch in his own tent, and laid them up therein, as supposing he should not only be concealed from his fellow soldiers, but from God himself also.FJAJ 5.13
11. Now the place where Joshua pitched his camp was called Gilgal, which denotes liberty; (6) I agree here with Dr. Bernard, and approve of Josephus's interpretation of Gilgal for liberty. See Joshua 5:9. for since now they had passed over Jordan, they looked on themselves as freed from the miseries which they had undergone from the Egyptians, and in the wilderness.FJAJ 5.14
12. Now, a few days after the calamity that befell Jericho, Joshua sent
three thousand armed men to take Ai, a city situate above Jericho; but,
upon the sight of the people of Ai, with them they were driven back, and
lost thirty-six of their men
When this was told the Israelites, it made
them very sad, and exceeding disconsolate, not so much because of the relation
the men that were destroyed bare to them, though those that were destroyed
were all good men, and deserved their esteem, as by the despair it occasioned;
for while they believed that they were already, in effect, in possession
of the land, and should bring back the army out of the battles without
loss, as God had promised beforehand, they now saw unexpectedly their enemies
bold with success; so they put sackcloth over their garments, and continued
in tears and lamentation all the day, without the least inquiry after food,
but laid what had happened greatly to heart.FJAJ 5.15
13. When Joshua saw the army so much afflicted, and possessed with forebodings
of evil as to their whole expedition, he used freedom with God, and said,
"We are not come thus far out of any rashness of our own, as though
we thought ourselves able to subdue this land with our own weapons, but
at the instigation of Moses thy servant for this purpose, because thou
hast promised us, by many signs, that thou wouldst give us this land for
a possession, and that thou wouldst make our army always superior in war
to our enemies, and accordingly some success has already attended upon
us agreeably to thy promises; but because we have now unexpectedly been
foiled, and have lost some men out of our army, we are grieved at it, as
fearing what thou hast promised us, and what Moses foretold us, cannot
be depended on by us; and our future expectation troubles us the more,
because we have met with such a disaster in this our first attempt
But
do thou, O Lord, free us from these suspicions, for thou art able to find
a cure for these disorders, by giving us victory, which will both take
away the grief we are in at present, and prevent our distrust as to what
is to come."FJAJ 5.16
14. These intercessions Joshua put up to God, as he lay prostrate on
his face: whereupon God answered him, That he should rise up, and purify
his host from the pollution that had got into it; that "things consecrated
to me have been impudently stolen from me," and that "this has
been the occasion why this defeat had happened to them;" and that
when they should search out and punish the offender, he would ever take
care they should have the victory over their enemies
This Joshua told
the people; and calling for Eleazar the high priest, and the men in authority,
he cast lots, tribe by tribe; and when the lot showed that this wicked
action was done by one of the tribe of Judah, he then again proposed the
lot to the several families thereto belonging; so the truth of this wicked
action was found to belong to the family of Zachar; and when the inquiry
was made man by man, they took Achar, who, upon God's reducing him
to a terrible extremity, could not deny the fact: so he confessed the theft,
and produced what he had taken in the midst of them, whereupon he was immediately
put to death; and attained no more than to be buried in the night in a
disgraceful manner, and such as was suitable to a condemned malefactor.FJAJ 5.17
15. When Joshua had thus purified the host, he led them against Ai:
and having by night laid an ambush round about the city, he attacked the
enemies as soon as it was day; but as they advanced boldly against the
Israelites, because of their former victory, he made them believe he retired,
and by that means drew them a great way from the city, they still supposing
that they were pursuing their enemies, and despised them, as though the
case had been the same with that in the former battle; after which Joshua
ordered his forces to turn about, and placed them against their front.
He then made the signals agreed upon to those that lay in ambush, and so
excited them to fight; so they ran suddenly into the city, the inhabitants
being upon the walls, nay, others of them being in perplexity, and coming
to see those that were without the gates
Accordingly, these men took the
city, and slew all that they met with; but Joshua forced those that came
against him to come to a close fight, and discomfited them, and made them
run away; and when they were driven towards the city, and thought it had
not been touched, as soon as they saw it was taken, and perceived it was
burnt, with their wives and children, they wandered about in the fields
in a scattered condition, and were no way able to defend themselves, because
they had none to support them
Now when this calamity was come upon the
men of Ai, there were a great number of children, and women, and servants,
and an immense quantity of other furniture
The Hebrews also took herds
of cattle, and a great deal of money, for this was a rich country
So when
Joshua came to Gilgal, he divided all these spoils among the soldiers.FJAJ 5.18
16. But the Gibeonites, who inhabited very near to Jerusalem, when they
saw what miseries had happened to the inhabitants of Jericho; and to those
of Ai, and suspected that the like sore calamity would come as far as themselves,
they did not think fit to ask for mercy of Joshua; for they supposed they
should find little mercy from him, who made war that he might entirely
destroy the nation of the Canaanites; but they invited the people of Cephirah
and Kiriathjearim, who were their neighbors, to join in league with them;
and told them that neither could they themselves avoid the danger they
were all in, if the Israelites should prevent them, and seize upon them:
so when they had persuaded them, they resolved to endeavor to escape the
forces of the Israelites
Accordingly, upon their agreement to what they
proposed, they sent ambassadors to Joshua to make a league of friendship
with him, and those such of the citizens as were best approved of, and
most capable of doing what was most advantageous to the multitude
Now
these ambassadors thought it dangerous to confess themselves to be Canaanites,
but thought they might by this contrivance avoid the danger, namely, by
saying that they bare no relation to the Canaanites at all, but dwelt at
a very great distance from them: and they said further, that they came
a long way, on account of the reputation he had gained for his virtue;
and as a mark of the truth of what they said, they showed him the habit
they were in, for that their clothes were new when they came out, but were
greatly worn by the length of thee they had been on their journey; for
indeed they took torn garments, on purpose that they might make him believe
so
So they stood in the midst of the people, and said that they were sent
by the people of Gibeon, and of the circumjacent cities, which were very
remote from the land where they now were, to make such a league of friendship
with them, and this on such conditions as were customary among their forefathers;
for when they understood that, by the favor of God, and his gift to them,
they were to have the possession of the land of Canaan bestowed upon them,
they said that they were very glad to hear it, and desired to be admitted
into the number of their citizens
Thus did these ambassadors speak; and
showing them the marks of their long journey, they entreated the Hebrews
to make a league of friendship with them
Accordingly Joshua, believing
what they said, that they were not of the nation of the Canaanites, entered
into friendship with them; and Eleazar the high priest, with the senate,
sware to them that they would esteem them their friends and associates,
and would attempt nothing that should be unfair against them, the multitude
also assenting to the oaths that were made to them
So these men, having
obtained what they desired, by deceiving the Israelites, went home: but
when Joshua led his army to the country at the bottom of the mountains
of this part of Canaan, he understood that the Gibeonites dwelt not far
from Jerusalem, and that they were of the stock of the Canaanites; so he
sent for their governors, and reproached them with the cheat they had put
upon him; but they alleged, on their own behalf, that they had no other
way to save themselves but that, and were therefore forced to have recourse
to it
So he called for Eleazar the high priest, and for the senate, who
thought it right to make them public servants, that they might not break
the oath they had made to them; and they ordained them to be so
And this
was the method by which these men found
safety and security under the
calamity that was ready to overtake them.FJAJ 5.19
17. But the king of Jerusalem took it to heart that the Gibeonites had
gone over to Joshua; so he called upon the kings of the neighboring nations
to join together, and make war against them
Now when the Gibeonites saw
these kings, which were four, besides the king of Jerusalem, and perceived
that they had pitched their camp at a certain fountain not far from their
city, and were getting ready for the siege of it, they called upon Joshua
to assist them; for such was their case, as to expect to be destroyed by
these Canaanites, but to suppose they should be saved by those that came
for the destruction of the Canaanites, because of the league of friendship
that was between them
Accordingly, Joshua made haste with his whole army
to assist them, and marching day and night, in the morning he fell upon
the enemies as they were going up to the siege; and when he had discomfited
them, he followed them, and pursued them down the descent of the hills.
The place is called Bethhoron; where he also understood that God assisted
him, which he declared by thunder and thunderbolts, as also by the falling
of hail larger than usual
Moreover, it happened that the day was lengthened
(7) Whether
this lengthening of the day, by the standing still of the sun and moon,
were physical and real, by the miraculous stoppage of the diurnal motion
of the earth for about half a revolution, or whether only apparent, by
aerial phosphori imitating the sun and moon as stationary so long, while
clouds and the night hid the real ones, and this parhelion or mock sun
affording sufficient light for Joshua's pursuit and complete victory, (which
aerial phosphori in other shapes have been more than ordinarily common
of late years,) cannot now be determined: philosophers and astronomers
will naturally incline to this latter hypothesis. In the mean thee, the
fact itself was mentioned in the book of Jasher, now lost, Joshua 10:13,
and is confirmed by Isaiah, 28:21, Habakkuk, 3:11, and by the son of Sirach,
Ecclus. 46:4. In the 18th Psalm of Solomon, yet. it is also said of the
luminaries, with relation, no doubt, to this and the other miraculous standing
still and going back, in the days of Joshua and Hezekiah, "They have
not wandered, from the day that he created them; they have not forsaken
their way, from ancient generations, unless it were when God enjoined them
[so to do] by the command of his servants." See Authent. Rec. part
i. p. 154. that
the night might not come on too soon, and be an obstruction to the zeal
of the Hebrews in pursuing their enemies; insomuch that Joshua took the
kings, who were hidden in a certain cave at Makkedah, and put them to death.
Now, that the day was lengthened at this thee, and was longer than ordinary,
is expressed in the books laid up in the temple.FJAJ 5.20
(8) Of the books laid up in the temple, see the note on Antiq. B. III. ch. 1. sect. 7.FJAJ 5.21
18. These kings which made war with, and were ready to fight the Gibeonites,
being thus overthrown, Joshua returned again to the mountainous parts of
Canaan; and when he had made a great slaughter of the people there, and
took their prey, he came to the camp at Gilgal
And now there went a great
fame abroad among the neighboring people of the courage of the Hebrews;
and those that heard what a number of men were destroyed, were greatly
aftrighted at it: so the kings that lived about Mount Libanus, who were
Canaanites, and those Canaanites that dwelt in the plain country, with
auxiliaries out of the land of the Philistines, pitched their camp at Beroth,
a city of the Upper Galilee, not far from Cadesh, which is itself also
a place in Galilee
Now the number of the whole army was three hundred
thousand armed footmen, and ten thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand
chariots; so that the multitude of the enemies aftrighted both Joshua himself
and the Israelites; and they, instead of being full of hopes of good success,
were superstitiously timorous, with the great terror with which they were
stricken
Whereupon God upbraided them with the fear they were in, and
asked them whether they desired a greater help than he could afford them;
and promised them that they should overcome their enemies; and withal charged
them to make their enemies' horses useless, and to burn their chariots.
So Joshua became full of courage upon these promises of God, and went out
suddenly against the enemies; and after five days' march he came upon them,
and joined battle with them, and there was a terrible fight, and such a
number were slain as could not be believed by those that heard it
He also
went on in the pursuit a great way, and destroyed the entire army of the
enemies, few only excepted, and all the kings fell in the battle; insomuch,
that when there wanted men to be killed, Joshua slew their horses, and
burnt their chariots and passed all over their country without opposition,
no one daring to meet him in battle; but he still went on, taking their
cities by siege, and again killing whatever he took.FJAJ 5.22
19. The fifth year was now past, and there was not one of the Canaanites
remained any longer, excepting some that had retired to places of great
strength
So Joshua removed his camp to the mountainous country, and placed
the tabernacle in the city of Shiloh, for that seemed a fit place for it,
because of the beauty of its situation, until such thee as their affairs
would permit them to build a temple; and from thence he went to Shechem,
together with all the people, and raised an altar where Moses had beforehand
directed; then did he divide the army, and placed one half of them on Mount
Gerizzim, and the other half on Mount Ebal, on which mountain the altar
was; he also placed there the tribe of Levi, and the priests
And when
they had sacrificed, and denounced the [blessings and the] curses, and
had left them engraven upon the altar, they returned to Shiloh.FJAJ 5.23
20. And now Joshua was old, and saw that the cities of the Canaanites
were not easily to be taken, not only because they were situate in such
strong places, but because of the strength of the walls themselves, which
being built round about, the natural strength of the places on which the
cities stood, seemed capable of repelling their enemies from besieging
them, and of making those enemies despair of taking them; for when the
Canaanites had learned that the Israelites came out of Egypt in order to
destroy them, they were busy all that time in making their cities strong.
So he gathered the people together to a congregation at Shiloh; and when
they, with great zeal and haste, were come thither, he observed to them
what prosperous successes they had already had, and what glorious things
had been done, and those such as were worthy of that God who enabled them
to do those things, and worthy of the virtue of those laws which they followed.
He took notice also, that thirty-one of those kings that ventured to give
them battle were overcome, and every army, how great soever it were, that
confided in their own power, and fought with them, was utterly destroyed;
so that not so much as any of their posterity remained
And as for the
cities, since some of them were taken, but the others must be taken in
length of thee, by long sieges, both on account of the strength of their
walls, and of the confidence the inhabitants had in them thereby, he thought
it reasonable that those tribes that came along with them from beyond Jordan,
and had partaken of the dangers they had undergone, being their own kindred,
should now be dismissed and sent home, and should have thanks for the pains
they had taken together with them
As also, he thought it reasonable that
they should send one man out of every tribe, and he such as had the testimony
of extraordinary virtue, who should measure the land faithfully, and without
any fallacy or deceit should inform them of its real magnitude.FJAJ 5.24
21. Now Joshua, when he had thus spoken to them, found that the multitude
approved of his proposal
So he sent men to measure their country, and
sent with them some geometricians, who could not easily fail of knowing
the truth, on account of their skill in that art
He also gave them a charge
to estimate the measure of that part of the land that was most fruitful,
and what was not so good: for such is the nature of the land of Canaan,
that one may see large plains, and such as are exceeding fit to produce
fruit, which yet, if they were compared to other parts of the country,
might be reckoned exceedingly fruitful; yet, if it be compared with the
fields about Jericho, and to those that belong to Jerusalem, will appear
to be of no account at all; and although it so falls out that these people
have but a very little of this sort of land, and that it is, for the main,
mountainous also, yet does it not come behind other parts, on account of
its exceeding goodness and beauty; for which reason Joshua thought the
land for the tribes should be divided by estimation of its goodness, rather
than the largeness of its measure, it often happening that one acre of
some sort of land was equivalent to a thousand other acres
Now the men
that were sent, which were in number ten, traveled all about, and made
an estimation of the land, and in the seventh month came to him to the
city of Shiloh, where they had set up the tabernacle.FJAJ 5.25
22. So Joshua took both Eleazar and the senate, and with them the heads
of the tribes, and distributed the land to the nine tribes, and to the
half-tribe of Manasseh, appointing the dimensions to be according to the
largeness of each tribe
So when he had cast lots, Judah had assigned him
by lot the upper part of Judea, reaching as far as Jerusalem, and its breadth
extended to the Lake of Sodom
Now in the lot of this tribe there were
the cities of Askelon and Gaza
The lot of Simeon, which was the second,
included that part of Idumea which bordered upon Egypt and Arabia
As to
the Benjamites, their lot fell so, that its length reached from the river
Jordan to the sea, but in breadth it was bounded by Jerusalem and Bethel;
and this lot was the narrowest of all, by reason of the goodness of the
land, for it included Jericho and the city of Jerusalem
The tribe of Ephraim
had by lot the land that extended in length from the river Jordan to Gezer;
but in breadth as far as from Bethel, till it ended at the Great Plain.
The half-tribe of Manasseh had the land from Jordan to the city of Dora;
but its breadth was at Bethsham, which is now called Scythopolis
And after
these was Issachar, which had its limits in length, Mount Carmel and the
river, but its limit in breadth was Mount Tabor
The tribe of Zebulon's
lot included the land which lay as far as the Lake of Genesareth, and that
which belonged to Carmel and the sea
The tribe of Aser had that part which
was called the Valley, for such it was, and all that part which
lay over-against Sidon
The city Arce belonged to their share, which is
also named Actipus
The Naphthalites received the eastern parts, as far
as the city of Damascus and the Upper Galilee, unto Mount Libanus, and
the Fountains of Jordan, which rise out of that mountain; that is, out
of that part of it whose limits belong to the neighboring city of Arce.
The Danites' lot included all that part of the valley which respects the
sun-setting, and were bounded by Azotus and Dora; as also they had all
Jamnia and Gath, from Ekron to that mountain where the tribe of Judah begins.FJAJ 5.26
23. After this manner did Joshua divide the six nations that bear the name of the sons of Canaan, with their land, to be possessed by the nine tribes and a half; for Moses had prevented him, and had already distributed the land of the Amorites, which itself was so called also from one of the sons of Canaan, to the two tribes and a half, as we have shown already. But the parts about Sidon, as also those that belonged to the Arkites, and the Amathites, and the Aradians, were not yet regularly disposed of.FJAJ 5.27
24. But now was Joshua hindered by his age from executing what he intended
to do (as did those that succeeded him in the government, take little care
of what was for the advantage of the public); so he gave it in charge to
every tribe to leave no remainder of the race of the Canaanites in the
land that had been divided to them by lot; that Moses had assured them
beforehand, and they might rest fully satisfied about it, that their own
security and their observation of their own laws depended wholly upon it.
Moreover, he enjoined them to give thirty-eight cities to the Levites,
for they had already received ten in the country of the Amorites; and three
of these he assigned to those that fled from the man-slayers, who were
to inhabit there; for he was very solicitous that nothing should be neglected
which Moses had ordained
These cities were, of the tribe of Judah, Hebron;
of that of Ephraim, Shechem; and of that of Naphthali, Cadesh, which is
a place of the Upper Galilee
He also distributed among them the rest of
the prey not yet distributed, which was very great; whereby they had an
affluence of great riches, both all in general, and every one in particular;
and this of gold and of vestments, and of other furniture, besides a multitude
of cattle, whose number could not be told.FJAJ 5.28
25. After this was over, he gathered the army together to a congregation,
and spake thus to those tribes that had their settlement in the land of
the Amorites beyond Jordan, - for fifty thousand of them had armed themselves,
and had gone to the war along with them: - "Since that God, who is
the Father and Lord of the Hebrew nation, has now given us this land for
a possession, and promised to preserve us in the enjoyment of it as our
own for ever; and since you have with alacrity offered yourselves to assist
us when we wanted that assistance on all occasions, according to his command;
it is but just, now all our difficulties are over, that you should be permitted
to enjoy rest, and that we should trespass on your alacrity to help us
no longer; that so, if we should again stand in need of it, we may readily
have it on any future emergency, and not tire you out so much now as may
make you slower in assisting us another thee
We, therefore, return you
our thanks for the dangers you have undergone with us, and we do it not
at this thee only, but we shall always be thus disposed; and be so good
as to remember our friends, and to preserve in mind what advantages we
have had from them; and how you have put off the enjoyments of your own
happiness for our sakes, and have labored for what we have now, by the
goodwill of God, obtained, and resolved not to enjoy your own prosperity
till you had afforded us that assistance
However, you have, by joining
your labor with ours, gotten great plenty of riches, and will carry home
with you much prey, with gold and silver, and, what is more than all these,
our good-will towards you, and a mind willingly disposed to make a requital
of your kindness to us, in what case soever you shall desire it, for you
have not omitted any thing which Moses beforehand required of you, nor
have you despised him because he was dead and gone from you, so that there
is nothing to diminish that gratitude which we owe to you
We therefore
dismiss you joyful to your own inheritances; and we entreat you to suppose,
that there is no limit to be set to the intimate relation that is between
us; and that you will not imagine, because this river is interposed between
us, that you are of a different race from us, and not Hebrews; for we are
all the posterity of Abraham, both we that inhabit here, and you that inhabit
there; and it is the same God that brought our forefathers and yours into
the world, whose worship and form of government we are to take care of,
which he has ordained, and are most carefully to observe; because while
you continue in those laws, God will also show himself merciful and assisting
to you; but if you imitate the other nations, and forsake those laws, he
will reject your nation." When Joshua had spoken thus, and saluted
them all, both those in authority one by one, and the whole multitude in
common, he himself staid where he was; but the people conducted those tribes
on their journey, and that not without tears in their eyes; and indeed
they hardly knew how to part one from the other.FJAJ 5.29
26. Now when the tribe of Reuben, and that of Gad, and as many of the
Manassites as followed them, were passed over the river, they built an
altar on the banks of Jordan, as a monument to posterity, and a sign of
their relation to those that should inhabit on the other side
But when
those on the other side heard that those who had been dismissed had built
an altar, but did not hear with what intention they built it, but supposed
it to be by way of innovation, and for the introduction of strange gods,
they did not incline to disbelieve it; but thinking this defamatory report,
as if it were built for divine worship, was credible, they appeared in
arms, as though they would avenge themselves on those that built the altar;
and they were about to pass over the river, and to punish them for their
subversion of the laws of their country; for they did not think it fit
to regard them on account of their kindred or the dignity of those that
had given the occasion, but to regard the will of God, and the manner wherein
he desired to be worshipped; so these men put themselves in array for war.
But Joshua, and Eleazar the high priest, and the senate, restrained them;
and persuaded them first to make trial by words of their intention, and
afterwards, if they found that their intention was evil, then only to proceed
to make war upon them
Accordingly, they sent as ambassadors to them Phineas
the son of Eleazar, and ten more persons that were in esteem among the
Hebrews, to learn of them what was in their mind, when, upon passing over
the river, they had built an altar upon its banks
And as soon as these
ambassadors were passed over, and were come to them, and a congregation
was assembled, Phineas stood up and said, That the offense they had been
guilty of was of too heinous a nature to be punished by words alone, or
by them only to be amended for the future; yet that they did not so look
at the heinousness of their transgression as to have recourse to arms,
and to a battle for their punishment immediately, but that, on account
of their kindred, and the probability there was that they might be reclaimed,
they took this method of sending an ambassage to them: "That when
we have learned the true reasons by which you have been moved to build
this altar, we may neither seem to have been too rash in assaulting you
by our weapons of war, if it prove that you made the altar for justifiable
reasons, and may then justly punish you if the accusation prove true; for
we can hardlyFJAJ 5.30
hardly suppose that you, have been acquainted with the will of God and
have been hearers of those laws which he himself hath given us, now you
are separated from us, and gone to that patrimony of yours, which you,
through the grace of God, and that providence which he exercises over you,
have obtained by lot, can forget him, and can leave that ark and that altar
which is peculiar to us, and can introduce strange gods, and imitate the
wicked practices of the Canaanites
Now this will appear to have been a
small crime if you repent now, and proceed no further in your madness,
but pay a due reverence to, and keep in mind the laws of your country;
but if you persist in your sins, we will not grudge our pains to preserve
our laws; but we will pass over Jordan and defend them, and defend God
also, and shall esteem of you as of men no way differing from the Canaanites,
but shall destroy you in the like manner as we destroyed them; for do not
you imagine that, because you are got over the river, you are got out of
the reach of God's power; you are every where in places that belong to
him, and impossible it is to overrun his power, and the punishment he will
bring on men thereby: but if you think that your settlement here will be
any obstruction to your conversion to what is good, nothing need hinder
us from dividing the land anew, and leaving this old land to be for the
feeding of sheep; but you will do well to return to your duty, and to leave
off these new crimes; and we beseech you, by your children and wives, not
to force us to punish you
Take therefore such measures in this assembly,
as supposing that your own safety, and the safety of those that are dearest
to you, is therein concerned, and believe that it is better for you to
be conquered by words, than to continue in your purpose, and to experience
deeds and war therefore."FJAJ 5.31
27. When Phineas had discoursed thus, the governors of the assembly, and the whole multitude, began to make an apology for themselves, concerning what they were accused of; and they said, That they neither would depart from the relation they bare to them, nor had they built the altar by way of innovation; that they owned one and the same common God with all the Hebrews, and that brazen altar which was before the tabernacle, on which they would offer their sacrifices; that as to the altar they had raised, on account of which they were thus suspected, it was not built for worship, "but that it might be a sign and a monument of our relation to you for ever, and a necessary caution to us to act wisely, and to continue in the laws of our country, but not a handle for transgressing them, as you suspect: and let God be our authentic witness, that this was the occasion of our building this altar: whence we beg you will have a better opinion of us, and do not impute such a thing to us as would render any of the posterity of Abraham well worthy of perdition, in case they attempt to bring in new rites, and such as are different from our usual practices."FJAJ 5.32
28. When they had made this answer, and Phineas had commended them for
it, he came to Joshua, and explained before the people what answer they
had received
Now Joshua was glad that he was under no necessity of setting
them in array, or of leading them to shed blood, and make war against men
of their own kindred; and accordingly he offered sacrifices of thanksgiving
to God for the same
So Joshua after that dissolved this great assembly
of the people, and sent them to their own inheritances, while he himself
lived in Shechem
But in the twentieth year after this, when he was very
old, he sent for those of the greatest dignity in the several cities, with
those in authority, and the senate, and as many of the common people as
could be present; and when they were come, he put them in mind of all the
benefits God had bestowed on them, which could not but be a great many,
since from a low estate they were advanced to so great a degree of glory
and plenty; and exhorted them to take notice of the intentions of God,
which had been so gracious towards them; and told them that the Deity would
continue their friend by nothing else but their piety; and that it was
proper for him, now that he was about to depart out of this life, to leave
such an admonition to them; and he desired that they would keep in memory
this his exhortation to them.FJAJ 5.33
29. So Joshua, when he had thus discoursed to them, died, having lived
a hundred and ten years; forty of which he lived with Moses, in order to
learn what might be for his advantage afterwards
He also became their
commander after his death for twenty-five years
He was a man that wanted
not wisdom nor eloquence to declare his intentions to the people, but very
eminent on both accounts
He was of great courage and magnanimity in action
and in dangers, and very sagacious in procuring the peace of the people,
and of great virtue at all proper seasons
He was buried in the city of
Timnab, of the tribe of Ephraim (9) Since
not only Procopius and Suidas, but an earlier author, Moses Chorenensis,
p. 52, 53, and perhaps from his original author Mariba Carina, one as old
as Alexander the Great, sets down the famous inscription at Tangier concerning
the old Canaanites driven out of Palestine by Joshua, take it here in that
author's own words: "We are those exiles that were governors of the
Canaanites, but have been driven away by Joshua the robber, and are come
to inhabit here." See the note there. Nor is it unworthy of our notice
what Moses Chorenensis adds, p. 53, and this upon a diligent examination,
viz. that "one of those eminent men among the Canaanites came at the
same thee into Armenia, and founded the Genthuniaa family, or tribe; and
that this was confirmed by the manners of the same family or tribe, as
being like those of the Canaanites."
About the same time died Eleazar the high priest, leaving the high priesthood
to his son Phineas
His monument also, and sepulcher, are in the city of
Gabatha.FJAJ 5.34