SlightlyCatholic
10-21-2008, 01:30 PM
Good afternoon everyone...
I was thinking of concrete ways to involve religion here while keeping the emphasis in the subject of all things military. What I'm going to do (what I'd like to do if I have the time) is to provide a chapter by chapter study of the battles and tactics in the Book of Joshua. Everything from espionage to seige warfare is discussed in the book, and when one looks at it from a military standpoint, it can be fascinating.
So I thought I'd start the thread with a little background into the book itself. Specifically, what Joshua was looking at before the conquest of Canaan.
Meanwhile Moses appointed a young man to be his close associate and trainee, his ‘servant’ or personal assistant. His name was Joshua. He was trained to be a capable general under the hand of Moses, whose training in Egypt had been of the best. Thus when Moses died on the final approach to the promised land the reins fell into the hands of Joshua. He it was who was to lead the people into Canaan. He had a twofold commission. To establish the people in the land, dividing it up among them, and to destroy or drive out the natives of Canaan so that they would not pollute Israel with idolatry and evil ways. The Book of Joshua describes how he did successfully establish the people in the land, largely in the hill country and in the forest lands, gradually moving outwards, although still with ‘much land to be possessed’.
The establishment of the people in the land was enabled by a number of factors. Primarily that when they were obedient God would fight for them, secondly that the Canaanites were split up into tribes and city states and depended on loose confederations, so that they could be picked off one by one, thirdly that just across Jordan was the hill country, which was sparsely inhabited, but could now be settled because of the invention of lime plaster enabling the preservation of water in reliable cisterns, and fourthly because there were thick forests even on the lowlands which enabled settlement in uninhabited areas until they were strong enough to take on the sophisticated Canaanites (and eventually the Philistines), who on the coastal plain and in the wide valleys had chariots.
It did rely on non-interference by Egypt who looked on Canaan as tributary to them, although sometimes only loosely, especially around the 12th and 11th centuries BC, but neither Joshua nor Judges give any hint of Egyptian interference. That there was limited interference comes out in that Pharaoh Merenptah (c.1220 BC) records (rather optimistically) destroying ‘Israel’, as a result of which he declared ‘her seed is not’. Whether ‘her seed’ meant her crops or her people we do not know. If the latter it demonstrates that Egypt was not fully aware of what was going on. They were used to the fact of constant civil wars in Canaan and wandering Habiru (stateless people) attacking cities. But on the whole Egypt at this time tended to leave Israel alone, especially in the hill country.
Certainly Israel’s first intent was to establish themselves in the less populated hill country, if for no other reason than because that was the first land they came to once they had crossed the Jordan and captured Jericho in the Jordan rift (the long rift valley largely below sea level called the Arabah stretching from the source of the Jordan in the North, through the Sea of Galilee (or Chinnereth) down to the Dead Sea). This separated the mountainous country of Transjordan from the mountains and hill country of Canaan and was below sea level.
We must recognise the difficulty of what Joshua had to do. It is one thing to win battles and capture cities, it is quite another to settle those cities and maintain a hold on them and on the land. We must remember that the mountains and forests, which were such a help to Israel, could also help those attacked to disappear and then return again, which undoubtedly regularly happened. When invading a country you cannot afford to leave too many men behind to retain possession of what is captured. Thus cities were captured, repossessed by the Canaanite and then had to be captured again. And archaeology bears witness to the frequent sacking of cities around this time. One important point as regards ‘cities’. These could vary from the huge Megiddo (60,000 inhabitants?), through Hazor and Taanach (40,000 inhabitants each?), down to many ‘cities’ of a few hundred inhabitants, or even less. But each could have their ‘king’.
But the aim of the book is to show that Joshua succeeded. It does deliberately portray his victories as though he swept all before him, and in some ways he did do so, for he successfully implanted Israel in the land. But its purpose was to show the triumph of Yahweh. It was a true account, for what it recorded was true, but it was also a prophetic writing, a selection of events to present an idea, and not a strictly unbiased history. It presented an image and a theology, and initially mainly ignored the problems and difficulties that would come.
This map is a topographical layout of the land in which the future conflicts will take place for Joshua:
http://www.jesuswalk.com/joshua/images/central-palestine.jpg
This map gives a us a timeline approach as to where exactly things happened in the Bible up until the time of Joshua:
http://www.foundationsforfreedom.net/References/OT/Historical/Joshua/_res/Joshua00/Joshua_Map-text.gif
This segment is from a very reliable commentary (http://uk.geocities.com/jonpartin/joshua1.html) that I'll be using in the thread as the book progresses. Hopefully it provides a good pedestal on which Joshua's battles will be placed. Next week, I'll start with an analysis of chapter one and the material therein.
Please feel free to comment on anything you may find interesting or problematic as I go along. This thread will work much better with questions (especially from our infantry soldiers here at Grunt's).
Thanks everybody, and I hope this works out.
God bless...
Tim
I was thinking of concrete ways to involve religion here while keeping the emphasis in the subject of all things military. What I'm going to do (what I'd like to do if I have the time) is to provide a chapter by chapter study of the battles and tactics in the Book of Joshua. Everything from espionage to seige warfare is discussed in the book, and when one looks at it from a military standpoint, it can be fascinating.
So I thought I'd start the thread with a little background into the book itself. Specifically, what Joshua was looking at before the conquest of Canaan.
Meanwhile Moses appointed a young man to be his close associate and trainee, his ‘servant’ or personal assistant. His name was Joshua. He was trained to be a capable general under the hand of Moses, whose training in Egypt had been of the best. Thus when Moses died on the final approach to the promised land the reins fell into the hands of Joshua. He it was who was to lead the people into Canaan. He had a twofold commission. To establish the people in the land, dividing it up among them, and to destroy or drive out the natives of Canaan so that they would not pollute Israel with idolatry and evil ways. The Book of Joshua describes how he did successfully establish the people in the land, largely in the hill country and in the forest lands, gradually moving outwards, although still with ‘much land to be possessed’.
The establishment of the people in the land was enabled by a number of factors. Primarily that when they were obedient God would fight for them, secondly that the Canaanites were split up into tribes and city states and depended on loose confederations, so that they could be picked off one by one, thirdly that just across Jordan was the hill country, which was sparsely inhabited, but could now be settled because of the invention of lime plaster enabling the preservation of water in reliable cisterns, and fourthly because there were thick forests even on the lowlands which enabled settlement in uninhabited areas until they were strong enough to take on the sophisticated Canaanites (and eventually the Philistines), who on the coastal plain and in the wide valleys had chariots.
It did rely on non-interference by Egypt who looked on Canaan as tributary to them, although sometimes only loosely, especially around the 12th and 11th centuries BC, but neither Joshua nor Judges give any hint of Egyptian interference. That there was limited interference comes out in that Pharaoh Merenptah (c.1220 BC) records (rather optimistically) destroying ‘Israel’, as a result of which he declared ‘her seed is not’. Whether ‘her seed’ meant her crops or her people we do not know. If the latter it demonstrates that Egypt was not fully aware of what was going on. They were used to the fact of constant civil wars in Canaan and wandering Habiru (stateless people) attacking cities. But on the whole Egypt at this time tended to leave Israel alone, especially in the hill country.
Certainly Israel’s first intent was to establish themselves in the less populated hill country, if for no other reason than because that was the first land they came to once they had crossed the Jordan and captured Jericho in the Jordan rift (the long rift valley largely below sea level called the Arabah stretching from the source of the Jordan in the North, through the Sea of Galilee (or Chinnereth) down to the Dead Sea). This separated the mountainous country of Transjordan from the mountains and hill country of Canaan and was below sea level.
We must recognise the difficulty of what Joshua had to do. It is one thing to win battles and capture cities, it is quite another to settle those cities and maintain a hold on them and on the land. We must remember that the mountains and forests, which were such a help to Israel, could also help those attacked to disappear and then return again, which undoubtedly regularly happened. When invading a country you cannot afford to leave too many men behind to retain possession of what is captured. Thus cities were captured, repossessed by the Canaanite and then had to be captured again. And archaeology bears witness to the frequent sacking of cities around this time. One important point as regards ‘cities’. These could vary from the huge Megiddo (60,000 inhabitants?), through Hazor and Taanach (40,000 inhabitants each?), down to many ‘cities’ of a few hundred inhabitants, or even less. But each could have their ‘king’.
But the aim of the book is to show that Joshua succeeded. It does deliberately portray his victories as though he swept all before him, and in some ways he did do so, for he successfully implanted Israel in the land. But its purpose was to show the triumph of Yahweh. It was a true account, for what it recorded was true, but it was also a prophetic writing, a selection of events to present an idea, and not a strictly unbiased history. It presented an image and a theology, and initially mainly ignored the problems and difficulties that would come.
This map is a topographical layout of the land in which the future conflicts will take place for Joshua:
http://www.jesuswalk.com/joshua/images/central-palestine.jpg
This map gives a us a timeline approach as to where exactly things happened in the Bible up until the time of Joshua:
http://www.foundationsforfreedom.net/References/OT/Historical/Joshua/_res/Joshua00/Joshua_Map-text.gif
This segment is from a very reliable commentary (http://uk.geocities.com/jonpartin/joshua1.html) that I'll be using in the thread as the book progresses. Hopefully it provides a good pedestal on which Joshua's battles will be placed. Next week, I'll start with an analysis of chapter one and the material therein.
Please feel free to comment on anything you may find interesting or problematic as I go along. This thread will work much better with questions (especially from our infantry soldiers here at Grunt's).
Thanks everybody, and I hope this works out.
God bless...
Tim