Old Testament · Book 6 of 66
Joshua
The entry narrative — Israel crosses the Jordan, takes the Land through three conquest campaigns, and renews covenant at Shechem. The hinge between Torah's promises and the historical record of those promises unfolding.
- 24Chapters
- 3 campaignsCentral · South · North
- 12 tribesAllotted inheritance
“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Three Campaigns · Twelve Tribes
Joshua narrates three conquest campaigns — central, southern, northern — followed by the tribal allotments and covenant renewal at Shechem. Click any waypoint to jump into the chapter.
- 01 · Jordan crossingJosh 3–4
Waters stand in a heap; the ark goes over before the people.
- 02 · JerichoJosh 6
Seven priests, seven trumpets, seven days — walls fall flat.
- 03 · Ai (after Achan)Josh 7–8
Covenant solidarity taught by defeat; then victory.
- 04 · Gibeonite allianceJosh 9
The ruse; Israel swears an oath and keeps it.
- 01 · East-of-Jordan tribesJosh 13
Reuben, Gad, half-Manasseh settled east of the river.
- 02 · West-of-Jordan allotmentJosh 14–19
Judah, Joseph, and the seven remaining tribes by lot.
- 03 · Cities of refugeJosh 20
Six cities distributed for the manslayer.
- 04 · Levitical citiesJosh 21
Forty-eight cities; Torah teaching saturates every territory.
- 05 · Shechem covenantJosh 24:15
‘As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.’
Entry → conquest → inheritance → covenant renewed. The hinge between Torah's promises and the historical unfolding.
Structure
- 1–5Entry into the LandCommissioning of Joshua; Rahab and the spies; Jordan crossing; memorial stones at Gilgal; circumcision and Passover; the Captain of the LORD's host.
- 6–12Conquest campaignsJericho and Ai (central); Gibeonite alliance; five-king coalition at Beth-horon (southern); Hazor and the northern kings.
- 13–22Tribal allotmentsThe east-of-Jordan and west-of-Jordan inheritances; Levitical cities; cities of refuge; the altar of Ed and the east-tribe controversy.
- 23–24Covenant renewal at ShechemJoshua's farewell; the rehearsal of what the LORD has done; the witness stone; ‘as for me and my house.’
Section pages
Each section is one focused part of Joshua — purpose, key movements, key verses, Christ-in-this-section. Roughly five minutes each.
Themes
Be strong and courageous: The threefold charge at Joshua 1:6, 7, 9 — God's repeated assurance to the successor of Moses. Not morale-boost psychology; obedience to the Law is the thing for which courage is required (1:7).
The Conquest debate: Four interpretive framings surfaced per §7.9: maximalist historical (traditional evangelical, 15th c. BC, literal 7-year campaign), minimalist archaeological (Kenyon / Finkelstein, late-date and limited), social-conflict (Mendenhall / Gottwald, internal peasant revolt), biblical-theological (the conquest as redemptive-historical, not a template for future warfare). Pastor Marc's drawer is load-bearing.
Cities of refuge and Levitical cities: Six refuge cities (ch. 20), forty-eight Levitical cities (ch. 21). The distribution ensures Torah teaching and judicial protection saturate every tribal territory. Spurgeon reads the refuge cities as a type of Christ (Treasury, Psalm 46).
The Captain of the LORD's host: Joshua 5:13–15 — a theophany of the pre-incarnate Christ by traditional Christian reading. ‘Loose thy shoe from off thy foot’ links the encounter to Exodus 3:5 at the burning bush.
Land as inheritance: The Land is not seized and kept; it is given and received. The tribal allotments (13–21) name a share for each tribe — and name what has to be cleared out for each tribe to live there. The Land fulfils the Gen 12 / 15 promise to Abraham.
Shechem covenant renewal (ch. 24): Ancient Near Eastern treaty form — preamble, historical prologue, stipulations, witnesses. Joshua's charge; the people's response; the witness stone. Continuity with Deut 27–30; forward-echo into the divided kingdom's later failures.
If you only read a few chapters
- 1Joshua commissioned‘Be strong and of a good courage’; the Law not to depart from thy mouth.
- 2Rahab and the spiesThe scarlet cord in the window — genealogy-of-Christ foreshadow (Matt 1:5).
- 3Crossing the JordanThe ark of the covenant goes before; the waters stand in a heap.
- 5The Captain of the LORD's host‘Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?’ — the answer: ‘Nay, but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come.’
- 6Jericho fallsSeven priests with seven trumpets; seven days' march; the walls fall flat.
- 7Achan and the trespassThe Babylonish garment, the silver, the wedge of gold; defeat at Ai teaches covenant solidarity.
- 10The sun stands still‘Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon’ — five-king southern coalition defeated in the long day.
- 20Cities of refugeSix cities for the manslayer; the mechanism of covenant justice inside the Land.
- 22The altar of EdThe east-tribe altar; civil war averted; ‘witness between us’.
- 24Covenant at Shechem‘Choose you this day whom ye will serve … as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.’
Featured studies in this book
The gold numeral is how many passages of Joshua each study touches — the brighter the border, the deeper it reaches here.
Where Joshua leads
988 cross-references flow out of its 5 heaviest chapters · 8 words are distinctively its own · 3 featured studies cite it.
Counted live from the reference floor (heaviest chapter pairs · tagged word floor · featured-page citations).