Volume I
The Book of Joshua
With John Brown’s marginal references, notes and reflections · Vol. I, p. 538
This book represents God's fulfilment of his promises to the patriarchs and their descendants, in giving them the land of Canaan; and the fulfilment of Noah's curse upon Canaan, in the destruction and slavery of his descendants. It relates what was transacted by Joshua as governor of Israel; particularly how God confirmed his call and encouraged him to his work; his sending spies to view Jericho; the miraculous passage through Jordan, and erecting memorials of it; his sanctification of the people by their circumcision and eating the passover, i.-v.; his miraculous conquest of Jericho, and severe punishment of Achan's theft of the spoil, vi. vii.; his conquest of Bethel and Ai, and league with the Gibeonites, viii. ix.; his conquest of the south part of Canaan, and causing the sun to stand still, x.; his conquest of the northern parts of that country, xi.; an account of Canaan, xii.-xiv.; his division of it to the nine tribes and a half; his appointment of cities of refuge and of cities to the Levites, xv.-xxi.; his kind dismission of the Reubenites and Gadites, xxii.; his solemn admonitions to the people, and renewal of their covenant with God; and, in fine, his death and burial, xxiii. xxiv. [In addition to its sacred interest, the book of Joshua is one of the most ancient and important geographical and ethnological treatises extant. In giving an account of Joshua's conquests the historian sketches briefly, but with a master's hand, the leading physical features of the country, its topography, and the characteristics of the principal tribes by which it was then held. The licentious inhabitants of Jericho, the hardy mountaineers of Ai, the wily Gibeonites, the warlike Jebusites, the trained hosts of Jabin and his allies who swept the northern plains in chariots of iron, are all passed in rapid review before the eye of the reader. Then with a geographical accuracy and minuteness of detail altogether unparalleled in ancient literature, the boundaries of the allotted territories of the twelve tribes are defined, and their principal towns enumerated. Most of the boundary lines can still be traced, and many of the old cities identified. The book of Joshua thus forms an invaluable hand-book to the ancient topography of Palestine. The list of kings or chiefs, whose cities and territories were conquered by Moses and Joshua, is also of very great importance; and there are several episodes in the book which throw light upon certain remarkable localities and peoples: such as the story of the conquest of Hebron and its giant inhabitants of the race of Anak by Caleb; the capture of Kirjath-sepher, 'the town of books,' by Othniel; and the petition of Ahsah, Caleb's daughter, 'Give me also springs of water.' These, with others of a similar character, tend to give a primeval history something of the vivid colouring of a life-picture. P.]