Analyzing Passages of Joshua 1:1-9: A Religious and Historical Study

This essay provides a detailed analysis of the passages of Joshua 1:1-9, focusing on the historical and cultural background, including authorship, date, and audience. It delves into the literary background, examining the genre, flow of thought, and theological themes present in the text, such as God's promises and covenant. The essay further explores the meaning of the text, particularly God's fulfillment of promises, drawing on the interpretations of scholars like John Calvin. Finally, it discusses the application of the text's meaning to contemporary life, emphasizing the importance of leadership, determination, and trusting in God's commands. The essay concludes by highlighting the rich literary and theological significance of the Book of Joshua, and the need for further research on the other passages of the book in order to understand God’s messages more clearly.

Running head: ANALYZING THE PASSAGES OF JOSHUA
ANALYZING THE PASSAGES OF JOSHUA
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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ANALYZING THE PASSAGES OF JOSHUA
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2
BACKGROUND OF THE PASSAGE...........................................................................................2
Historical /Cultural Background..................................................................................................2
Author......................................................................................................................................2
Date..........................................................................................................................................3
Audience..................................................................................................................................3
Literary Background....................................................................................................................3
Genre........................................................................................................................................3
Flow of Thought......................................................................................................................4
Theological themes..................................................................................................................4
MEANING OF THE TEXT............................................................................................................4
God’s fulfillment of promises......................................................................................................4
APPLICATION OF THE MEANING............................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES:...............................................................................................................................8

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INTRODUCTION
The aim of this paper is to analyze the cultural and historical background of Joshua’s
passage, 1:1-9 in the book titled Book of Joshua. The paper is divided into three parts – Part 1,
Part 2 and Part 3. In Part 1, the paper will first provide the background of the book, which will
include both historical and cultural background. This will include the name of the author, the
date of publication, and the audience amongst other information. Further, the essay will provide
the literary background that will include the genre, the flow of thought structure of the book. In
addition, the paper will discuss the the theological themes that are there in the passage. In Part 2,
the paper will provide meaning of the passage and then apply the meaning in Part 3.
BACKGROUND OF THE PASSAGE
Historical /Cultural Background
Author
The book has no author. It is anonymous although the Talmud and certain rabbis such as
Rashi and David Kimchi attribute the authorship to Joshua. However, it would be wrong to
attribute the authorship to Joshua, as there is evidence that some parts of the book were written
by later writers. Those sections included fragments of Joshua’s life and accounts of his death as
well1. Other findings reveal that Samuel was the writer of the book (found by Avravanel)
especially because of the portions written in 4:9, 5:9 and 7:26 along with some other verses.
According to the modern critical scholars, the attribute of writing the book must be given to the
Deuteronomistic writers present during the 6th and 7th centuries2.
1 Howard, David M. Joshua: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture. Vol. 5. B&H Publishing
Group, 1998.
2 Ibid 1

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Date
Similar to its authorship, the book’s date of composition is also not certain. The book
gives no formal signs about the date of its publication or writing. Nonetheless, many have
attempted to find the actual date of its publication using the “until this day” phrase3. This phrase
was used as the formula, which was taken as an instructive meaning that could have indicated a
common date or even close to the date. In the views of B. S. Childs, the “until this day” formula
used in Joshua 15:63 and 16:10 indicate that the book might have been written during the tenth
century BC. The reason the author provides is that in 15:63, Joshua mentions the Judah residing
in Jerusalem together with Jebusites who had lived during that time4.
Audience
The Book of Joshua was targeted mainly for the people of Israel to let them know about
God’s plan to provide them everything as he had promised. The book specifically mentions the
period when Israel came into the scene and settled in the land as Abraham and his descendants
were promised5.
Literary Background
Genre
The genre of the book is historical and religious. George W Coats addresses it as the
“salvation history genre”, which tells a tale using the perception of God6. According to the
author, salvation history is a genre that allows the audience or readers to interpret a text from the
3 Greenspoon, Leonard. "The Book of Joshua—Part 1: Texts and Versions." Currents in Research 3, no. 2 (2005):
229-261.
4 Ibid 1
5 Bibliques de Louvain, Journées. The book of Joshua. Edited by Edward Noort. Leuven: Peeters, 2012.
6 Coats, George W. "The Book of Joshua: Heroic Saga or Conquest Theme?." Journal for the Study of the Old
Testament 12, no. 38 (1987): 15-32.

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ANALYZING THE PASSAGES OF JOSHUA
lens of the God. To give an instance, one might ask the question whether God was helping the
Allies in the Second World War, in what way humans could write that story. Salvation history
focuses on teaching history about God’s teaching and his presence but never accurate
historically.
Flow of Thought
The thought that flows throughout the book is the description of God’s fulfillment of the
promise made to Abraham and his descendants.
Theological themes
As David J Howard identified, seven theological themes could be found in the book,
which includes the land, promises of God, the covenant, obedience, godly leadership, purity of
worship, and rest7. The theme of land referred to the promised land of Israel to Abraham and his
descendants. The theme of God’s promises refers to the promise-keeping god Yahweh and his
faithfulness. The covenant theme refers to the keeping of the agreement by Israel along with the
promises of God.
MEANING OF THE TEXT
God’s fulfillment of promises
The focus of the text is chiefly on the passages from 1 to 9 from the Book of Joshua
(Joshua 1:1-9). John Calvin deciphers the passages succinctly and clearly to provide the readers a
better old on the text. With Calvin’s understanding of the book, the meaning of the text becomes
clear. In the initial, four passages of the book, that is, Joshua 1:1-4, God’s steadfastness could be
7 Ibid 1

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visible concerning the protection of his people and looking after their safety8. After the death of
Moses, the servant, God speaks to Joshua, the Nun’s son. He promises Joshua that he would give
him the land as promised and to his people as well.
Brian G Toews explains the meaning of the text to be an “account of Israel’s entry into
the land” and states that it is considered “an amalgam of early traditions, successive
interpretations, and late editorial comments”9. The author further comments that the text lacks
unity as identified by W Rudolph in his analysis. Rudolph rejected the existing solution that
dispersed chunks of the text amongst the pentateuchal sources. Brian Peckham on the other hand,
provides a separate meaning in which he proposes that the passage “serves as the theological
introduction to the Scripture and the chapters create the theological prototypes for the Old
Testament”10.
The next five passages, Joshua 1:5-9, in the Old Testament, as described by John Calvin,
talks about the promise made by God to be with them in all their dark and bright days as he was
with Moses11. God announces this to Joshua to inspire him to protect his empire. Richard D
Nelson provides another interesting meaning especially of the passage 7-8. The author explains
that Yahweh had instructed Joshua to concentrate day and night on the book of the law12. This is
similar to what the king was assigned in the Deuteronomy 17:18-19. David Howard has also
drawn similarities of this text to the text of Deuteronomy in his commentary on the Book of
Joshua.
APPLICATION OF THE MEANING
8 Biddle, M.E., 1998. Literary Structures in the Book of Joshua. Review & Expositor, 95(2), pp.189-201.
9 Toews, Brian G. "Genesis 1–4: The Genesis of Old Testament Instruction." Old Testament Theology: Retrospect &
Prospect (2000).
10 Peckham, Brian. "The Composition of Joshua 3-4." The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 46, no. 3 (1984): 413-431.
11 Gleason L. Archer, Jr. A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, Chicago: Moody, 2007.
12 Nelson, Richard D. "Josiah in the Book of Joshua." Journal of Biblical Literature 100, no. 4 (1981): 531-540.

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After understanding the meaning of the text, it becomes evident that there is a lot to learn
about fulfilling promises, leadership and determination. The passage 1:1-9 in the Old Testament
conveys the message that God fulfills all his promises even in the face of adversity. He never
leaves his people in trouble and inspires them to rise up and stand for what they deserve. As
David Howard states, the last passage “also teaches that nothing is more effectual to produce
confidence than when trusting to the call and the command of God”13. This meaning could be
applied in real life, as people often feel disillusioned and low in confidence. In such situations, if
they read the passage. They would be able to understand the power in following the command of
God because Joshua had done the same and he was able to overcome his troubles14.
CONCLUSION
The conclusion thus can be drawn that the Book of Joshua is a rich literary text that has
deep meaning and significance even in the contemporary world. The passages that were chosen,
1:1-9 are rich in vocabulary, theological themes, historical and cultural contexts. The paper made
use of several sources in order to understand the passages. In particular, the works of David
Howard and John Calvin have been used to explain the passages in the book. Other than that,
other sources explaining the text have been used as well. However, it needs mentioning that
further research on the other passages of the book should be carried out in order to understand
God’s messages more clearly.
13 Ibid 1
14 Durso, Pamela. "Living in the Interim Time: Lessons to be Learned from Joshua 1–4." Review & Expositor 100,
no. 2 (2003): 257-267.

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REFERENCES:
Nelson, Richard D. "Josiah in the Book of Joshua." Journal of Biblical Literature 100, no. 4
(1981): 531-540.
Greenspoon, Leonard. "The Book of Joshua—Part 1: Texts and Versions." Currents in
Research 3, no. 2 (2005): 229-261.
Bibliques de Louvain, Journées. The book of Joshua. Edited by Edward Noort. Leuven: Peeters,
2012.
Biddle, M.E., 1998. Literary Structures in the Book of Joshua. Review & Expositor, 95(2),
pp.189-201.
Gleason L. Archer, Jr. A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, Chicago: Moody, 2007.
Howard, David M. Joshua: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture. Vol. 5.
B&H Publishing Group, 1998.
Durso, Pamela. "Living in the Interim Time: Lessons to be Learned from Joshua 1–4." Review &
Expositor 100, no. 2 (2003): 257-267.
Coats, George W. "The Book of Joshua: Heroic Saga or Conquest Theme?." Journal for the
Study of the Old Testament 12, no. 38 (1987): 15-32.
Toews, Brian G. "Genesis 1–4: The Genesis of Old Testament Instruction." Old Testament
Theology: Retrospect & Prospect (2000).
Peckham, Brian. "The Composition of Joshua 3-4." The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 46, no. 3
(1984): 413-431.