  THE HISTORICAL BOOKS.
SPECIAL TEXT: And Joshua, the Son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him; and the children of Israel harkened unto him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses."—EZRA (supposedly.) NOTES.1. The Hexateuch: The Book of Joshua is sometimes associated with the five books of Moses and the collection is then called the Hexateuch, a term meaning "the six books." The union is made on the ground that the Book of Joshua is the proper continuation and consummation of the former five books as recording the Conquest of the Land of Canaan, in fulfillment of the promise contained in the Pentateuch; the subject of the whole six books being "the election of Israel as a people to the service of Jehovah, and their settlement for this purpose in the Land of Promise." 2. Israel Under Joshua: "Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua." The high and commanding character of this eminent leader had given so decided a tone to the sentiments and manners of his contemporaries, and the memory of his fervent piety and many virtues continued so vividly impressed on the memories of the people, that the sacred historian has recorded it to his immortal honor, 'Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua.'" (Commentary, Explanatory and Critical, p. 158.) 3. Contemporaneous Notices of Joshua: There occurs some references to the deeds of Joshua in other historians besides those of the Bible. Procopius mentions a Phoenecian inscription near the city of Tingis in Mauritania, the sense of which in Greek was: "We are those who fled before the face of Joshua the robber, the son of Nun." Again Suidas says: "We are the Canaanites whom Joshua the robber persecuted." In a letter of Shaubech, king of Armenia Minor, in the Samaritan book of Joshua (chapter 26), styles Joshua "the murderous wolf; or, according to another reading, "the evening wolf." (Condensed from Kitto's Biblical Literature, Vol. II, p. 154.) 4. Authorship of the Book of Joshua: "Viewing all the circumstances together, we consider it highly probable that the whole book of Joshua was composed by himself up to the twenty-eighth verse of the last chapter; to which a friendly hand subjoined some brief notices, contained in verses 29-33, concerning the death, age, and burial of Joshua; the continuance of his influence upon the people; the interment, in Shechem, of the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought from Egypt; and the death and burial of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, whom his son Phinehas interred in his allotment on Mount Ephraim." (Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature, Kitto, Vol. II, p. 156.) 5. Roman Catholic View of Authorship: "This book is called Josue, because it contains the history of what passed under him, and according to the common opinion was written by him. The Greeks call him Jesus; for Josue and Jesus in the Hebrew are the same name, and have the same signification, viz., a savior." (Introduction to the Book of Josue.) 6. Character of Joshua: "So Joshua, when he had thus discoursed to them [upon their obligations and duty to God], 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 afterward. 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 Timnah, of the tribe of Ephraim. About the same time died Eleazar, the high priest, leaving the high priesthood to his son Phineas. His monument also and sepulchre are in the city of Gabbatha." (Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, p. 104.) 7. Literature of Power: By "literature of power" is here meant that class of utterance that rests upon its own inherent strength for its influence or acceptance as truth. An American popular writer (Hubbard) in giving an illustration of this class of literature quoted this passage from the Bible: "The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him." Explanation, comment upon such a passage, he argues, would but mar it. One feels a force, a strength in it that admits of no doubt about its power, or truth. A still better example of the literature of power is Psalms xix, also Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. lxxxiv: 99-102. It is such a passage in Joshua that the student is directed to find. 8. Book of Ruth: "The Book is called Ruth, from the name of the person, whose history is here recorded: who being a Gentile, became a convert to the true faith, and marrying Boaz, the great-grandfather of David, was one of those from whom Christ sprung, according to the flesh, and an illustrious figure of the Gentile church. It is thought this book was written by the prophet Samuel." (Douay Bible, Introduction to the Book of Ruth, p. 303.) Footnotes |
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