Book of Joshua: Story, Map, Themes, and Difficult Questions

Joshua tells how Israel crossed the Jordan, took and divided the land promised to its ancestors, and was called to keep covenant with the Lord who gave it.

The book of Joshua narrates Israel's entry into Canaan after the wilderness years, its campaigns against a coalition of Canaanite kings, the division of the land among the tribes, and Joshua's closing calls to covenant loyalty. It opens with Joshua commissioned as Moses' successor and closes with the nation gathered at Shechem to renew its commitment to the Lord. Along the way the text recounts the crossing of the Jordan, the fall of Jericho, the sin of Achan, the Gibeonite treaty, the southern and northern campaigns, and the tribal allotments. This atlas divides the book into four movements: entering the land, conquering the land, dividing the land, and renewing the covenant. Readers meet figures such as Rahab, Caleb, Eleazar and Phinehas, and encounter difficult themes including devotion to destruction and shared responsibility. Throughout, the atlas carefully distinguishes what the text plainly says from later Jewish, Catholic, evangelical, historical and archaeological interpretation.

• Entering the Land (1–5)
• Conquering the Land (6–12)
• Dividing the Land (13–22)
• Renewing the Covenant (23–24)