Joshua, meaning "God saves." Assistant to Moses in leading the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan; as Moses' successor, he led the conquest of Canaan. As in the case of the stories of Moses, the stories of Joshua were very old when they were put in written form, and htus include many tales emphasizing hhis heroism. Stories in Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua. See Ex. 24:13; Deut. 31:3; Josh. 1:1-2; Judg. 2:8-9; Acts 7:45.

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Joshua. 1 The dominant figure in the book of Joshua: the successor of Moses and the supervisor of Israel’s conquest of Canaan and of the allotment of the land to the tribes. According to Num. 13:16, Joshua was an Ephraimite, originally called Hoshea and renamed by Moses. An Ephraimite genealogy is provided for him in 1 Chron. 7:20-27. He first appears in Exod. 17:8-13, where Moses appoints him to lead the battle against Amalek, which he does successfully. In Exod. 33:11 he appears as a young man serving as Moses’ assistant in the tent of meeting. He urges Moses to restrict spirit-inspired behavior but is overruled by Moses (Num. 11:28-29). As one of the twelve spies sent to reconnoiter Canaan, he agrees with Caleb; Joshua and Caleb constitute the minority who recommend confidence in God and a direct assault (Num. 14:6-10). For this God exempts them from the general condemnation of that generation to death in the wilderness. God then tells Moses to lay his hands on Joshua and designate him a leader like Moses, who will be obeyed fully by all the people (Num. 27:18-23; cf. Deut. 34:9). In Num. 34:17 God tells Moses that Joshua, along with Eleazer and an officer from each tribe, will be responsible for allotting the land to the people. Moses publicly encourages Joshua and recognizes his future role in Deut. 31:7-8 (cf. 3:28; 31:3). Joshua is commissioned by God himself in Deut. 31:14, 23 and Josh. 1:1-9. The book of Joshua then relates how Joshua fulfilled his dual role as conqueror and distributor of the promised land, concluding with a notice of Joshua’s death at the age of one hundred and ten and his burial in his allotted territory (Josh. 24:29-30; Judg. 2:8-9).

Many of Joshua’s deeds are analogous to those of Moses, and the text says that God was with Joshua as with Moses (Josh. 3:9) and that Israel revered Joshua as they had Moses (4:14). Like Moses, the original Joshua probably would have had a much more restricted historical role. But the present, developed literary figure is of greater theological significance than any historical antecedent—as an archetypal leader, who by his faith and obedience to God accomplished his mission effectively and completely. He has some of the characteristics of a monarch and may have been modeled on or served as a model for such kings as Josiah. In later tradition Joshua is remembered for his great deeds (Ecclus. 46:1-8) and cited specifically for his obedience to the law (1 Macc. 2:55) and his intercession for Israel (2 Esd. 7:107). 2 A resident of Beth-shemesh on whose land the cows bringing the Ark from its Philistine captivity came to a standstill (1 Sam. 6:14, 18). 3 A governor of Jerusalem, after whom a gate was named during the late monarchical period (2 Kings 23:8). 4 An alternate form of the name Jeshua.

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