Hamstring Their Horses
In Joshua 11:6 God told Joshua that he would deliver the Canaanites into the hands of Israel, and that Joshua should “hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” This raises two questions: 1) what exactly were the Israelites to do to the horses, and 2) what was the purpose of this command? The first question is more difficult, the second is pretty easy. The verb “to hamstring” is the Hebrew word iqqer (עִקֵּר). Most English versions render this as “hamstring,” although some prefer a less-specific term like “cripple” (NLT, CEB). ......
Joshua’s Covenant Renewal at Shechem
Moses commanded that the Israelites renew their covenant with Yahweh when they reached the Promised Land. Joshua 8:30-35 records how this took place. Joshua led the Israelites up to the area of Shechem (which is not mentioned by name) to build an altar, sacrifice to God, write the law on plastered stones, and rehearse the covenant with the people audibly. A couple of interesting observations can be made regarding the rehearsal of the blessings and the curses with the people. The first has to do with the location of this event. Moses......
Joshua’s Altar on Mount Ebal
It is unusual for a structure that is mentioned in the Bible to be uncovered by archaeologists. A short list might include examples like the “Temple of Baal-berith” at Shechem (Judg 9:4), the palace of Eglon at Jericho (Judg 3:20), the palace/fortress of Saul at Gibeah (1 Sam 15:34), or the palace of Omri and Ahab at Samaria (1 Kgs 16:29). We can probably add to this list the altar built by Joshua on Mount Ebal. After the conquest of Ai, Joshua and the Israelites traveled up to Mount Ebal to offer......
Locating Joshua’s Camp at Ai
Joshua 8:11 states that Joshua and the main Israelite force went up to Ai, “arrived in front of the city, and camped on the north side of Ai; now there was a valley between him and Ai.” This set of geographic details tells us that the city gate of Ai was on the north side of the city (thus it was the “front” of the city), and that Joshua camped on a ridge north of the city, across a valley from the city gate. I believe we can identify this ridge with......
Joshua’s Memorial at Gilgal
The memorial set up by Joshua and the Israelites to commemorate the crossing of the Jordan River is described in Joshua 4. The narrative slows way down and becomes a bit repetitive, indicating how important this event was for the Israelites. So what can be said about the memorial itself? The text indicates that the memorial was composed of 12 stones. They were to be carried from the place in the dry riverbed where the feet of the priests stood as the Israelites crossed. The stones were to be carried on the......
Was Rahab of Jericho an Ancestor of the Messiah?
In his genealogy of Jesus, Matthew mentions a several women along with the male ancestors of the Messiah. One of these is a certain “Rahab” who was married to Salmon (Matt 1:5). Although it might seem intuitive to identify this woman as the Rahab of Jericho (Josh 2:1ff), there are also some good reasons to think that it may have been a different person. One difference between Matthew’s “Rahab” and the woman of Jericho is the spelling of her name. The English spelling “Rahab” is an approximation of the Hebrew name. The......
