YAHSHUA BEN NUN ESTABLISHES YISRAEL IN THE PROMISED LAND

Yahshua Ben Nun: the Jordan campaign and the campaign in the centre

The reader can obtain a general idea of Yahshua Ben Nun’s campaign by referring to the maps which illustrate this chapter; they will probably be clearer than a long description. Here only those historical events which require explanation will be dealt with.

The Yisraelites cross the Jordan (Yahshua Ben Nun 3:1-17)

The tribes of Yisrael, as was mentioned above, were on the plains of Moab. Opposite to them, but on the other side of the Jordan, stretched a great plain defended by the Canaanite citadel of Jericho. To cross the river and enter the Promised land Yahshua Ben Nun had the choice of two routes: either the ford generally used (on a level with Jericho) or, further to the north, another ford at the junction of the Jordan and the Wadi Fara, at a place where the valley narrowed.

Yahshua Ben Nun decided to make for the Jericho ford, a decision which in the circumstances appeared to be a mistake. For it was then, as the Scriptures tells us, the first month (Yahshua Ben Nun 4:19) and the harvest season (Yahshua Ben Nun 3:15), that is, March-April, the time of year when the snow melts on Hermon, causing the Jordan to flood. In these circumstances it hardly seemed a suitable moment to cross the river.

The Canaanite garrison of Jericho seems to have assumed that the ford was impassable and did not attempt to defend it. They preferred to send a detachment to the north to guard the junction of the Jordan with the Wadi Fara.

Beyond all expectation Yahshua Ben Nun made for the Jericho ford. And here, according to the Book of Yahshua Ben Nun, there occurred a repetition of the miracle at the Sea of Reeds; upstream stood a wall of water where the river had stopped flowing; the ark, carried by the kohen, stood still in the centre of the dried up river bed of the Jordan: they stood still on dry ground in mid-Jordan, and all Yisrael1 continued to cross dry-shod till the whole nation had finished its crossing of the river.

It is not the intention of this book to seek a logical or semi-scientific explanation for events in the Scriptures which appear to be of a supernatural character. It may be pointed out, however, that, upstream from the ford of Jericho the Jordan flows through a narrow gorge formed by limestone cliffs. Here the river is very confined and frequently, when it is in flood, these cliffs cave in; it has even happened that falling stone forms a barrage (as it is recorded to have done in A.D. 1267) large enough to block the river for a time. In this case the bed of the Jordan is dry downstream from the obstruction so long as the dyke formed higher up has not been submerged.

Directly after crossing the river Jordan Yahshua Ben Nun established his fortified camp half-way between the Jordan and Jericho at Gilgal (called Galgala by some writers, probably the modern Kh. el- Etheleh). Three important events took place at Gilgal -the erection of twelve memorial stones, the circumcision of the Yisraelites and the Passover.

The twelve memorial stones. It is difficult to say where exactly these stones came from and what function they could have fulfilled during the crossing of the Jordan.

It is very probable that these twelve menhirs, set up in a circle (archaeologists term these formations cromlechs; in the East the natives called them hag Guilgal ‘the circle’) stood in this place since Neolithic times.

Circumcision. Why did this set apart ceremony take place on entering Canaan? Obviously the descendants of the patriarchs ought to have borne this sign on their bodies, at least according to ancient Yahwistic tradition. In fact, this custom does not appear to have been strictly followed, since Mosheh himself, as we saw, was never circumcised. It was only at the time of the Babylonian exile, when the Yisraelites came in contact with the Assyro-Babylonians and the Persians, nations which practiced circumcision, that the Jews adopted it uniformly, as both a set apart and racial mark, and as a distinctive sign of the Covenant between YAHWEH and HIS people.

The Passover. It was observed, we read, at Gilgal on the 14th of the month of Nisan. A rule introduced at a later period laid down that no uncircumcised man should be present at the Passover meal. It is probably for this reason that a well-intentioned scribe placed the account of the circumcision of the Yisraelites by Yahshua Ben Nun immediately before this Passover meal -there had not been another of the kind since Sinai. Thus all took place according to rule; the ritual commemoration of the departure from Egypt was celebrated by the circumcised.

Yahshua Ben Nun’s FIRST CAMPAIGN IN CANAAN (conquest of the centre)

From Shittim to Jericho by way of Gilgal. Capture of Jericho.

From Jericho to Ai; capture of Ai. Expedition to Shechem for the confirmation of the Covenant.

From Gilgal (where Yahshua Ben Nun established his camp) to Ai and then to Gibeon. Gibeon campaign, Beth-horon, Azekah.

From Gilgal, expedition to Makkedah.

1 Three tribes, Reuben. Gad and a half of the tribe of Manasseh had asked Mosheh for permission to remain in the good pastureland of Trans-jordania. He granted them permission on condition that their men of arms accompanied the other tribes across the river to help them establish themselves in Canaan (Yahshua Ben Nun 1:10-17).

The siege and capture of Jericho

This is an event which has caused much ink to flow. The Book of Yahshua Ben Nun states that the crossing of the Jordan by the Yisraelites filled the population on the right bank of the Jordan with terror. On their arrival before the walls of Jericho, the citadel commanding the entrance to central Palestine, the Yisraelites at once made ready to lay siege to it. And the warlike ritual which they used further dismayed the Canaanites.

To begin with, once daily for the first six days the Yisraelites made a circuit of the city walls. At the head of the procession marched the vanguard, then came seven kohen blowing trumpets made of rams’ horns. Behind them followed the ark, carried in triumph. Then, after the rearguard, came all the people, walking in silence.

From the ramparts above, the besieged Canaanites followed with terror the performance of this ritual whose meaning they understood perfectly. By this succession of circling the enemy, YAHWEH of hosts ‘cut off the city from all communication with the surrounding country; he isolated it; the city was thus dedicated to YAHWEH.

And so they came to the seventh day (seven is a set apart number, the symbol of fullness, of wholeness). This time the procession went round the ramparts seven times. The kohen blew their trumpets. At the end of the seventh circuit Yahshua Ben Nun then turned to the people (who up to this moment had been ordered to keep silent) and commanded them: ‘Raise the war cry!’ A great shout greeted this order. The wall collapsed then and there. At once the people stormed the town, every man going straight ahead; and they captured the town. They enforced the ban on everything in the town: men and women, young and old, even the oxen and sheep and donkeys, massacring them all (Yahshua Ben Nun 6:20-21).

The modern reader need not be astonished at the savage application of the ban, the herem, since all this, as was explained, was customary in ancient times in the East. But the collapsing of the walls of Jericho after the series of processions must be questioned closely.

This rather odd episode has been seen by some historians as the providential result of an earthquake at the precise moment. Others believe that the walls collapsed because they were undermined and the effect was carefully timed for the seventh day at the end of the seventh circuit. Unfortunately for these explanations, archaeologists appear to be unwilling to agree with the date of the collapse of the walls; it occurred, they say, well before 1200 B.C. The philologists may have the most likely explanation. It has already been pointed out that the Hebrew vocabulary is rather limited. Thus the substantive homah means, at the material level, ‘rampart’, ‘defensive wall’; it also means garrison and, on the moral plane, can be translated as ‘resistance’. The orientalist, therefore, can translate the word in several ways: the walls of Jericho fell down; or, the garrison surrendered; or, again, resistance collapsed, although some military groups from Jericho still continued the struggle for a certain time. In this last case, the threatening procession produced the desired effect.

Yahshua Ben Nun continued his advance on Ai (ha ‘Ai, the ‘ruin’: the still imposing ruins of a city destroyed several centuries previously, held by the people of Bethel). He appears to have been repulsed before finally storming this point with success. Next, he took Bethel. After these three military operations central Palestine lay wide open to the Yisraelite invaders who at once marched on Shechem.

The federation of Shechem (Yahshua Ben Nun 8:30-35; Devarim 27)

In the valley of Shechem, where Abraham and then his grandson Yacob had formerly offered sacrifice to YAHWEH (Bereshith 12:7; 35:7), the Covenant was renewed and during the ceremony the unity of the twelve tribes of Yisrael was proclaimed. Yahshua Ben Nun built an altar of rough stones which were coated with lime; on the white surface of the sides were written the words of the Law, Then holocausts were offered and communion sacrifices,

The ark of the Covenant, surrounded by kohen, was set up in the centre of the valley of Shechem (1625 feet above sea level) which is dominated to the north by Mount Ebal (3055 feet) and to the south by Mount Gerizim (2900 feet). Six tribes (Simeon and Levi, Juda and Issachar, Yoseph and Benjamin) climbed the slopes of Gerizim, while the other six tribes (Reuben, Gad and Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali) took up their positions on Mount Ebal. From the depths of the valley arose the voices of the Levites chanting the twelve ‘curses’,2 To each of these precepts the tribes on Mount Ebal answered with a thunderous HalleluYah. There followed the recital of the blessings (also, probably, twelve in number) also by the kohen. This time it was the tribes posted on Mount Gerizim who responded with HalleluYah. The curses and blessings constituted a summary of the clauses of the Covenant renewed by the Yisraelites on their entry into the Promised Land. As has already been mentioned, it is only after the federation at Shechem that the twelve tribes may properly be spoken of. Yoseph’s body, which had been carried all the way from Egypt was buried at Shechem.

2 The curses were against anyone who had committed secret sins which the human eye was incapable of seeing but which YAHWEH’s justice could perceive and reach.

End of the campaign in central Palestine

As the population of Gibeon (they were not Canaanites but Horites) obtained admission to the circle of Yisrael’s allies by means of a clever trick, their city was not to be destroyed on this account. But the ‘kings’ (that is, the Amorite chieftains) of the region, who with justice were alarmed by the Yisraelites’ advance, decided to lay siege to Gibeon. Yahshua Ben Nun who, on return from Shechem, had rejoined his fortified camp at Gilgal, hurried by forced marches to Gibeon, engaged the coalition of five kings in battle and put them to flight. He pursued them to Beth-horon and defeated several detachments at Makkedah and Azekah. During these battles a terrible hailstorm disorganized the five kings’ retreat.

It was also at this time that Yahshua Ben Nun performed his famous miracle -making the sun and the moon stand still. Then Yahshua Ben Nun spoke to YAHWEH... .Yahshua Ben Nun declaimed: ‘Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and, moon, you also over the Vale of Ayalon’. And the sun stood still, and the moon halted, until the people had vengeance on their enemies.

Is this not written in the Book of the Just? The sun stood still in the middle of the sky, The Book of the Just, here alluded to by the writer, has not come down to us, but we know that this poem of past centuries was in epic form. And an unusual feature should be mentioned here. At this period writers were not accustomed to quote their sources, but here the author is careful to furnish a reference for this story: ‘Is this not written in the Book of the Just?’ Prudently, the writer does not wish to assume responsibility for such a statement. His position as an historian should be emphasized for it throws a curious light on the small credibility that he himself appears to give to the anecdote.

At all events, by this version the Yisraelite invasion had made its mark over the whole of the central part of the Land of Canaan.

Yahshua Ben Nun: the conquest of the South

The information furnished by the text of the Scriptures about this campaign is very fragmentary and only enables us to trace the course of events very approximately.

It is very probable that in the southern part of the country Yahshua Ben Nun encountered a section of the Yisraelites; more fortunate than the main body of Mosheh’ troops, they had been able to effect an entry and this had allowed them to settle for some decades at Hormah. These small groups of Yisraelites were probably under the leadership of Judah and Simeon. It is even possible that certain clans of Yisraelites had never left the south of Palestine, even at the time of the almost general migration of Egypt. Yahshua Ben Nun, the Scripture tells us, subdued the whole land: the highlands, the Negeb, the lowlands, the hillsides, and all the kings in them. He left not a man alive and delivered every single soul over to the ban. ...This part, of course, is a theological development, as was explained above. We shall probably be right in saying that there were a few skirmishes, and that some Yisraelite tribes settled, somewhat precariously, in the southern region.

Yahshua Ben Nun’s SECOND CAMPAIGN IN CANAAN (conquest of the south)

Thick dotted line, the route of the Calebites (from Kadesh to Lachish), a conquest later attributed to Yahshua Ben Nun. This occupation of the south of the Promised Land was effected by certain tribes who had been able to march directly on Hormah, while the main body of Mosheh’ troops were beaten back. When the Yisraelites, under Yahshua Ben Nun’s leadership, entered by way of Shittim, Gilgal and Jericho, the Calebites of the south joined up with the tribes of the centre. But these southern Yisraelites may never have been in Egypt.

Thin dotted line, the presumed route of the Yisraelites towards the southern clans (Calebites)

Yahshua Ben Nun: the conquest of the North

Jabin, the king of Hazor, worried by the presence of the Yisraelites in the land of Canaan, busied himself in forming a coalition to thrust these foreigners back to the other bank of the Jordan. The allies met at the waters of Merom, a place whose exact location has been much discussed: possibly it was in the hills running down to lake Huleh. Yahshua Ben Nun, forestalling the attack, fell upon his enemies unawares and cut them to pieces. Then he seized the city of Hazor and delivered it to the ban. Archaeologists have found that at some time in the period 1 220-11 75 (end of the Recent Bronze Age) this city was sacked and burned down. The same is true of certain other cities of the south, as Debir, lachish, etc.

The vanquished army was pursued by the Yisraelites to the north as far as Sidon, about sixty-five miles from the battlefield; to the west as far as Misrephoth-maim, and to the east as far as the valley of Mishpah.

Yahshua Ben Nun’s THIRD CAMPAIGN IN CANAAN (conquest of the north)

It appears that this was effected at a later date and was due to another leader (see Shophtim, chapters 4-5).

Yahshua Ben Nun and the division of the Promised land

Chapters 13-22 of the Book of Yahshua Ben Nun give us very circumstantial details of the ‘division’ of the Promised land among the various tribes of Yisrael. Following these indications a schematic map has been drawn. This geographical presentation can hardly fail to surprise the reader after what has been said of the very partial and incomplete conquest of the country. It was emphasized that the groups of Yisraelites had settled for better or worse and mostly for worse -generally in the poorest regions of the country, whereas the map shows a country divided with all the rigour of a modern political partition, each sector displaying proudly the name of a son or a grandson of Yacob’s, as if they were ruling over a conquered country which had been annexed and belonged to them.

It should be explained that this view of the matter is an entire anachronism. The seventh-century Devarimist writer, relying on inadequate documents, reconstructed the division of the country, effected at the beginning of the twelfth century. In this work of compilation Scriptural scholars have identified documents which must go back to the time of King David (about 1000); at that time the unity of Yisrael was a recently accomplished fact, and the scribe believed that this work should be attributed to Yahshua Ben Nun. A second source, nearer still to the final form of the text, dates from the reform of Josiah (king of Judah 640-609) when Judah was divided into twelve provinces. With the aid of these two documents the author has endeavoured to reconstruct the political state of Yisrael after Yahshua Ben Nun’s ‘conquests’. In addition this last account was revised again later on. It is obvious what ‘historical’ result was obtained from all this. Nevertheless, the documents used are fairly old and the traditions of the tribes, very particular on this point, are not without their value.

Despite the map, which is purely traditional, it must be repeated that at the death of Yahshua Ben Nun the Yisraelites remained scattered throughout the territory. They accepted the poorest land and tried to settle without attracting the attention of the Canaanite overlords.