An Exemplary Leader

The events recorded in the book of Joshua mark a new period in Israelite and redemptive history, and the book itself inaugurates a new section of Scripture. The transition is clearly set forth when God declares “ ‘Moses My servant is dead’ ” at the outset of the book. The man who led the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt, who mediated as God formed them as a nation and established His covenant with them, who guided them through 40 years of wanderings in the desert as a consequence of their sin, who wrote the first five books of the Bible—this man has passed from the scene and a new leader has been appointed by God. Joshua will lead the Israelites as they enter and take the land promised to them by God. The book opens the section of Scripture known in the Hebrew canon as the “Former Prophets,” the historical books covering the period from the death of Moses to the nation’s exile in Babylon.

The author of the book is unknown and the date of its authorship is disputed. Theories as to the writer have ranged from Joshua himself to Samuel to an unknown scribe; Matthew Henry suggests Jeremiah the prophet. Similarly, the date of the book’s final composition is placed anywhere from Joshua’s own lifetime to a point long after Israel’s return from Babylon. References in the book to things persisting “to this day” (4:9; 5:9; 7:26) are used by proponents of both early and late composition. The New Geneva Study Bible concludes that Joshua likely was composed sometime after the death of Joshua but before the founding of the monarchy. It may have been assembled from Joshua’s “journals or memoirs,” according to Henry, as well as other sources hinted at in its pages (10:13).

If the book is not called “Joshua” because of his authorship, it remains aptly named since he is its chief human character. As Henry says, the book “contains the history of Israel under the command and government of Joshua … in all which he was a great example of wisdom, courage, fidelity, and piety.” Furthermore, The New Geneva Study Bible says that “the author wrote doubtless to recount the astounding fulfillment of the Lord’s promises under Joshua … [and] in the hope of the rise of another faithful servant who, like Joshua, could lead the Israelites to victory over every enemy still in the land.”