Return to
The Antiquities of the Jews - Table of Contents
The Antiquities of the Jews
Written by Flavius Josephus
Translated by William Whiston
Book Five
Chapter 1
How Joshua, The Commander Of The Hebrews,
Made War With The Canaanites, And Overcame Them, And Destroyed
Them, And Divided Their Land By Lot To The Tribes Of Israel
1. When Moses was taken away from among men, in the manner
already described, and when all the solemnities belonging to the
mourning for him were finished, and the sorrow for him was over,
Joshua commanded the multitude to get themselves ready for an
expedition. He also sent spies to Jericho to discover what
forces they had, and what were their intentions; but he put his
camp in order, as intending soon to pass over Jordan at a proper
season. And calling to him the rulers of the tribe of Reuben,
and the governors of the tribe of Gad, and [the half tribe of]
Manasseh, for half of this tribe had been permitted to have
their habitation in the country of the Amorites, which was the
seventh part of the land of Canaan, (1) he put them in mind what
they had promised Moses; and he exhorted them that, for the sake
of the care that Moses had taken of them who had never been
weary of taking pains for them no, not when he was dying, and
for the sake of the public welfare, they would prepare
themselves, and readily perform what they had promised; so he
took fifty thousand of them who followed him, and he marched
from Abila to Jordan, sixty furlongs.
2. Now when he had pitched his camp, the spies came to him
immediately, well acquainted with the whole state of the
Canaanites; for at first, before they were at all discovered,
they took a full view of the city of Jericho without
disturbance, and saw which parts of the walls were strong, and
which parts were otherwise, and indeed insecure, and which of
the gates were so weak as might afford an entrance to their
army. Now those that met them took no notice of them when they
saw them, and supposed they were only strangers, who used to be
very curious in observing everything in the city, and did not
take them for enemies; but at even they retired to a certain inn
that was near to the wall, whither they went to eat their
supper; which supper when they had done, and were considering
how to get away, information was given to the king as he was at
supper, that there were some persons come from the Hebrews' camp
to view the city as spies, and that they were in the inn kept by
Rahab, and were very solicitous that they might not be
discovered. So he sent immediately some to them, and commanded
to catch them, and bring them to him, that he might examine them
by torture, and learn what their business was there. As soon as
Rahab understood that these messengers were coming, she hid the
spies under stalks of flax, which were laid to dry on the top of
her house; and said to the messengers that were sent by the
king, that certain unknown strangers had supped with her a
little before sun-setting, and were gone away, who might easily
be taken, if they were any terror to the city, or likely to
bring any danger to the king. So these messengers being thus
deluded by the woman, (2) and suspecting no imposition, went
their ways, without so much as searching the inn; but they
immediately pursued them along those roads which they most
probably supposed them to have gone, and those particularly
which led to the river, but could hear no tidings of them; so
they left off the pains of any further pursuit. But when the
tumult was over, Rahab brought the men down, and desired them as
soon as they should have obtained possession of the land of
Canaan, when it would be in their power to make her amends for
her preservation of them, to remember what danger she had
undergone for their sakes; for that if she had been caught
concealing them, she could not have escaped a terrible
destruction, she and all her family with her, and so bid them go
home; and desired them to swear to her to preserve her and her
family when they should take the city, and destroy all its
inhabitants, as they had decreed to do; for so far she said she
had been assured by those Divine miracles of which she had been
informed. So these spies acknowledged that they owed her thanks
for what she had done already, and withal swore to requite her
kindness, not only in words, but in deeds. But they gave her
this advice, That when she should perceive that the city was
about to be taken, she should put her goods, and all her family,
by way of security, in her inn, and to hang out scarlet threads
before her doors, [or windows,] that the commander of the
Hebrews might know her house, and take care to do her no harm;
for, said they, we will inform him of this matter, because of
the concern thou hast had to preserve us: but if any one of thy
family fall in the battle, do not thou blame us; and we beseech
that God, by whom we have sworn, not then to be displeased with
us, as though we had broken our oaths. So these men, when they
had made this agreement, went away, letting themselves down by a
rope from the wall, and escaped, and came and told their own
people whatsoever they had done in their journey to this city.
Joshua also told Eleazar the high priest, and the senate, what
the spies had sworn to Rahab, who continued what had been sworn.
3. Now while Joshua, the commander, was in fear about their
passing over Jordan, for the river ran with a strong current,
and could not be passed over with bridges, for there never had
been bridges laid over it hitherto; and while he suspected, that
if he should attempt to make a bridge, that their enemies would
not afford him thee to perfect it, and for ferry-boats they had
none, God promised so to dispose of the river, that they might
pass over it, and that by taking away the main part of its
waters. So Joshua, after two days, caused the army and the whole
multitude to pass over in the manner following: The priests went
first of all, having the ark with them; then went the Levites
bearing the tabernacle and the vessels which belonged to the
sacrifices; after which the entire multitude followed, according
to their tribes, having their children and their wives in the
midst of them, as being afraid for them, lest they should be
borne away by the stream. But as soon as the priests had entered
the river first, it appeared fordable, the depth of the water
being restrained and the sand appearing at the bottom, because
the current was neither so strong nor so swift as to carry it
away by its force; so they all passed over the river without
fear, finding it to be in the very same state as God had
foretold he would put it in; but the priests stood still in the
midst of the river till the multitude should be passed over, and
should get to the shore in safety; and when all were gone over,
the priests came out also, and permitted the current to run
freely as it used to do before. Accordingly the river, as soon
as the Hebrews were come out of it, arose again presently, and
carne to its own proper magnitude as before.
4. So the Hebrews went on farther fifty furlongs, and pitched
their camp at the distance of ten furlongs from Jericho; but
Joshua built an altar of those stones which all the heads of the
tribes, at the command of the prophets, had taken out of the
deep, to be afterwards a memorial of the division of the stream
of this river, and upon it offered sacrifice to God; and in that
place celebrated the passover, and had great plenty of all the
things which they wanted hitherto; for they reaped the corn of
the Canaanites, which was now ripe, and took other things as
prey; for then it was that their former food, which was manna,
and of which they had eaten forty years, failed them.
5. Now while the Israelites did this, and the Canaanites did not
attack them, but kept themselves quiet within their own walls,
Joshua resolved to besiege them; so on the first day of the
feast [of the passover], the priests carried the ark round
about, with some part of the armed men to be a guard to it.
These priests went forward, blowing with their seven trumpets;
and exhorted the army to be of good courage, and went round
about the city, with the senate following them; and when the
priests had only blown with the trumpets, for they did nothing
more at all, they returned to the camp. And when they had done
this for six days, on the seventh Joshua gathered the armed men
and all the people together, and told them these good tidings,
That the city should now be taken, since God would on that day
give it them, by the falling down of the walls, and this of
their own accord, and without their labor. However, he charged
them to kill every one they should take, and not to abstain from
the slaughter of their enemies, either for weariness or for
pity, and not to fall on the spoil, and be thereby diverted from
pursuing their enemies as they ran away; but to destroy all the
animals, and to take nothing for their own peculiar advantage.
He commanded them also to bring together all the silver and
gold, that it might be set apart as first-fruits unto God out of
this glorious exploit, as having gotten them from the city they
first took; only that they should save Rahab and her kindred
alive, because of the oath which the spies had sworn to her.
6. When he had said this, and had set his army in order, be
brought it against the city: so they went round the city again,
the ark going before them, and the priests encouraging the
people to be zealous in the work; and when they had gone round
it seven times, and had stood still a little, the wall fell
down, while no instruments of war, nor any other force, was
applied to it by the Hebrews.
7. So they entered into Jericho, and slew all the men that were
therein, while they were aftrighted at the surprising overthrow
of the walls, and their courage was become useless, and they
were not able to defend themselves; so they were slain, and
their throats cut, some in the ways, and others as caught in
their houses; nothing afforded them assistance, but they all
perished, even to the women and the children; and the city was
filled with dead bodies, and not one person escaped. They also
burnt the whole city, and the country about it; but they saved
alive Rahab, with her family, who had fled to her inn. And when
she was brought to him, Joshua owned to her that they owed her
thanks for her preservation of the spies: so he said he would
not appear to be behind her in his benefaction to her; whereupon
he gave her certain lands immediately, and had her in great
esteem ever afterwards.
8. And if any part of the city escaped the fire, he overthrew it
from the foundation; and he denounced a curse (3)against its
inhabitants, if any should desire to rebuild it; how, upon his
laying the foundation of the walls, he should be deprived of his
eldest son; and upon finishing it, he should lose his youngest
son. But what happened hereupon we shall speak of hereafter.
9. Now there was an immense quantity of silver and gold, and
besides those of brass also, that was heaped together out of the
city when it was taken, no one transgressing the decree, nor
purloining for their own peculiar advantage; which spoils Joshua
delivered to the priests, to be laid up among their treasures.
And thus did Jericho perish.
10. But there was one Achar, (4) the son [of Charmi, the son] of
Zebedias, of the tribe of Judah, who finding a royal garment
woven entirely of gold, and a piece of gold that weighed two
hundred shekels; (5) and thinking it a very hard case, that what
spoils he, by running some hazard, had found, he must give away,
and offer it to God, who stood in no need of it, while he that
wanted it must go without it, made a deep ditch in his own tent,
and laid them up therein, as supposing he should not only be
concealed from his fellow soldiers, but from God himself also.
11. Now the place where Joshua pitched his camp was called
Gilgal, which denotes liberty; (6) for since now they had passed
over Jordan, they looked on themselves as freed from the
miseries which they had undergone from the Egyptians, and in the
wilderness.
12. Now, a few days after the calamity that befell Jericho,
Joshua sent three thousand armed men to take Ai, a city situate
above Jericho; but, upon the sight of the people of Ai, with
them they were driven back, and lost thirty-six of their men.
When this was told the Israelites, it made them very sad, and
exceeding disconsolate, not so much because of the relation the
men that were destroyed bare to them, though those that were
destroyed were all good men, and deserved their esteem, as by
the despair it occasioned; for while they believed that they
were already, in effect, in possession of the land, and should
bring back the army out of the battles without loss, as God had
promised beforehand, they now saw unexpectedly their enemies
bold with success; so they put sackcloth over their garments,
and continued in tears and lamentation all the day, without the
least inquiry after food, but laid what had happened greatly to
heart.
13. When Joshua saw the army so much afflicted, and possessed
with forebodings of evil as to their whole expedition, he used
freedom with God, and said, "We are not come thus far out of any
rashness of our own, as though we thought ourselves able to
subdue this land with our own weapons, but at the instigation of
Moses thy servant for this purpose, because thou hast promised
us, by many signs, that thou wouldst give us this land for a
possession, and that thou wouldst make our army always superior
in war to our enemies, and accordingly some success has already
attended upon us agreeably to thy promises; but because we have
now unexpectedly been foiled, and have lost some men out of our
army, we are grieved at it, as fearing what thou hast promised
us, and what Moses foretold us, cannot be depended on by us; and
our future expectation troubles us the more, because we have met
with such a disaster in this our first attempt. But do thou, O
Lord, free us from these suspicions, for thou art able to find a
cure for these disorders, by giving us victory, which will both
take away the grief we are in at present, and prevent our
distrust as to what is to come."
14. These intercessions Joshua put up to God, as he lay
prostrate on his face: whereupon God answered him, That he
should rise up, and purify his host from the pollution that had
got into it; that "things consecrated to me have been impudently
stolen from me," and that "this has been the occasion why this
defeat had happened to them;" and that when they should search
out and punish the offender, he would ever take care they should
have the victory over their enemies. This Joshua told the
people; and calling for Eleazar the high priest, and the men in
authority, he cast lots, tribe by tribe; and when the lot showed
that this wicked action was done by one of the tribe of Judah,
he then again proposed the lot to the several families thereto
belonging; so the truth of this wicked action was found to
belong to the family of Zachar; and when the inquiry was made
man by man, they took Achar, who, upon God's reducing him to a
terrible extremity, could not deny the fact: so he confessed the
theft, and produced what he had taken in the midst of them,
whereupon he was immediately put to death; and attained no more
than to be buried in the night in a disgraceful manner, and such
as was suitable to a condemned malefactor.
15. When Joshua had thus purified the host, he led them against
Ai: and having by night laid an ambush round about the city, he
attacked the enemies as soon as it was day; but as they advanced
boldly against the Israelites, because of their former victory,
he made them believe he retired, and by that means drew them a
great way from the city, they still supposing that they were
pursuing their enemies, and despised them, as though the case
had been the same with that in the former battle; after which
Joshua ordered his forces to turn about, and placed them against
their front. He then made the signals agreed upon to those that
lay in ambush, and so excited them to fight; so they ran
suddenly into the city, the inhabitants being upon the walls,
nay, others of them being in perplexity, and coming to see those
that were without the gates. Accordingly, these men took the
city, and slew all that they met with; but Joshua forced those
that came against him to come to a close fight, and discomfited
them, and made them run away; and when they were driven towards
the city, and thought it had not been touched, as soon as they
saw it was taken, and perceived it was burnt, with their wives
and children, they wandered about in the fields in a scattered
condition, and were no way able to defend themselves, because
they had none to support them. Now when this calamity was come
upon the men of Ai, there were a great number of children, and
women, and servants, and an immense quantity of other furniture.
The Hebrews also took herds of cattle, and a great deal of
money, for this was a rich country. So when Joshua came to
Gilgal, he divided all these spoils among the soldiers.
16. But the Gibeonites, who inhabited very near to Jerusalem,
when they saw what miseries had happened to the inhabitants of
Jericho; and to those of Ai, and suspected that the like sore
calamity would come as far as themselves, they did not think fit
to ask for mercy of Joshua; for they supposed they should find
little mercy from him, who made war that he might entirely
destroy the nation of the Canaanites; but they invited the
people of Cephirah and Kiriathjearim, who were their neighbors,
to join in league with them; and told them that neither could
they themselves avoid the danger they were all in, if the
Israelites should prevent them, and seize upon them: so when
they had persuaded them, they resolved to endeavor to escape the
forces of the Israelites. Accordingly, upon their agreement to
what they proposed, they sent ambassadors to Joshua to make a
league of friendship with him, and those such of the citizens as
were best approved of, and most capable of doing what was most
advantageous to the multitude. Now these ambassadors thought it
dangerous to confess themselves to be Canaanites, but thought
they might by this contrivance avoid the danger, namely, by
saying that they bare no relation to the Canaanites at all, but
dwelt at a very great distance from them: and they said further,
that they came a long way, on account of the reputation he had
gained for his virtue; and as a mark of the truth of what they
said, they showed him the habit they were in, for that their
clothes were new when they came out, but were greatly worn by
the length of thee they had been on their journey; for indeed
they took torn garments, on purpose that they might make him
believe so. So they stood in the midst of the people, and said
that they were sent by the people of Gibeon, and of the
circumjacent cities, which were very remote from the land where
they now were, to make such a league of friendship with them,
and this on such conditions as were customary among their
forefathers; for when they understood that, by the favor of God,
and his gift to them, they were to have the possession of the
land of Canaan bestowed upon them, they said that they were very
glad to hear it, and desired to be admitted into the number of
their citizens. Thus did these ambassadors speak; and showing
them the marks of their long journey, they entreated the Hebrews
to make a league of friendship with them. Accordingly Joshua,
believing what they said, that they were not of the nation of
the Canaanites, entered into friendship with them; and Eleazar
the high priest, with the senate, sware to them that they would
esteem them their friends and associates, and would attempt
nothing that should be unfair against them, the multitude also
assenting to the oaths that were made to them. So these men,
having obtained what they desired, by deceiving the Israelites,
went home: but when Joshua led his army to the country at the
bottom of the mountains of this part of Canaan, he understood
that the Gibeonites dwelt not far from Jerusalem, and that they
were of the stock of the Canaanites; so he sent for their
governors, and reproached them with the cheat they had put upon
him; but they alleged, on their own behalf, that they had no
other way to save themselves but that, and were therefore forced
to have recourse to it. So he called for Eleazar the high
priest, and for the senate, who thought it right to make them
public servants, that they might not break the oath they had
made to them; and they ordained them to be so. And this was the
method by which these men found. safety and security under the
calamity that was ready to overtake them.
17. But the king of Jerusalem took it to heart that the
Gibeonites had gone over to Joshua; so he called upon the kings
of the neighboring nations to join together, and make war
against them. Now when the Gibeonites saw these kings, which
were four, besides the king of Jerusalem, and perceived that
they had pitched their camp at a certain fountain not far from
their city, and were getting ready for the siege of it, they
called upon Joshua to assist them; for such was their case, as
to expect to be destroyed by these Canaanites, but to suppose
they should be saved by those that came for the destruction of
the Canaanites, because of the league of friendship that was
between them. Accordingly, Joshua made haste with his whole army
to assist them, and marching day and night, in the morning he
fell upon the enemies as they were going up to the siege; and
when he had discomfited them, he followed them, and pursued them
down the descent of the hills. The place is called Bethhoron;
where he also understood that God assisted him, which he
declared by thunder and thunderbolts, as also by the falling of
hail larger than usual. Moreover, it happened that the day was
lengthened (7) that the night might not come on too soon, and be
an obstruction to the zeal of the Hebrews in pursuing their
enemies; insomuch that Joshua took the kings, who were hidden in
a certain cave at Makkedah, and put them to death. Now, that the
day was lengthened at this thee, and was longer than ordinary,
is expressed in the books laid up in the temple. (8)
18. These kings which made war with, and were ready to fight the
Gibeonites, being thus overthrown, Joshua returned again to the
mountainous parts of Canaan; and when he had made a great
slaughter of the people there, and took their prey, he came to
the camp at Gilgal. And now there went a great fame abroad among
the neighboring people of the courage of the Hebrews; and those
that heard what a number of men were destroyed, were greatly
aftrighted at it: so the kings that lived about Mount Libanus,
who were Canaanites, and those Canaanites that dwelt in the
plain country, with auxiliaries out of the land of the
Philistines, pitched their camp at Beroth, a city of the Upper
Galilee, not far from Cadesh, which is itself also a place in
Galilee. Now the number of the whole army was three hundred
thousand armed footmen, and ten thousand horsemen, and twenty
thousand chariots; so that the multitude of the enemies
aftrighted both Joshua himself and the Israelites; and they,
instead of being full of hopes of good success, were
superstitiously timorous, with the great terror with which they
were stricken. Whereupon God upbraided them with the fear they
were in, and asked them whether they desired a greater help than
he could afford them; and promised them that they should
overcome their enemies; and withal charged them to make their
enemies' horses useless, and to burn their chariots. So Joshua
became full of courage upon these promises of God, and went out
suddenly against the enemies; and after five days' march he came
upon them, and joined battle with them, and there was a terrible
fight, and such a number were slain as could not be believed by
those that heard it. He also went on in the pursuit a great way,
and destroyed the entire army of the enemies, few only excepted,
and all the kings fell in the battle; insomuch, that when there
wanted men to be killed, Joshua slew their horses, and burnt
their chariots and passed all over their country without
opposition, no one daring to meet him in battle; but he still
went on, taking their cities by siege, and again killing
whatever he took.
19. The fifth year was now past, and there was not one of the
Canaanites remained any longer, excepting some that had retired
to places of great strength. So Joshua removed his camp to the
mountainous country, and placed the tabernacle in the city of
Shiloh, for that seemed a fit place for it, because of the
beauty of its situation, until such thee as their affairs would
permit them to build a temple; and from thence he went to
Shechem, together with all the people, and raised an altar where
Moses had beforehand directed; then did he divide the army, and
placed one half of them on Mount Gerizzim, and the other half on
Mount Ebal, on which mountain the altar was; he also placed
there the tribe of Levi, and the priests. And when they had
sacrificed, and denounced the [blessings and the] curses, and
had left them engraven upon the altar, they returned to Shiloh.
20. And now Joshua was old, and saw that the cities of the
Canaanites were not easily to be taken, not only because they
were situate in such strong places, but because of the strength
of the walls themselves, which being built round about, the
natural strength of the places on which the cities stood, seemed
capable of repelling their enemies from besieging them, and of
making those enemies despair of taking them; for when the
Canaanites had learned that the Israelites came out of Egypt in
order to destroy them, they were busy all that time in making
their cities strong. So he gathered the people together to a
congregation at Shiloh; and when they, with great zeal and
haste, were come thither, he observed to them what prosperous
successes they had already had, and what glorious things had
been done, and those such as were worthy of that God who enabled
them to do those things, and worthy of the virtue of those laws
which they followed. He took notice also, that thirty-one of
those kings that ventured to give them battle were overcome, and
every army, how great soever it were, that confided in their own
power, and fought with them, was utterly destroyed; so that not
so much as any of their posterity remained. And as for the
cities, since some of them were taken, but the others must be
taken in length of thee, by long sieges, both on account of the
strength of their walls, and of the confidence the inhabitants
had in them thereby, he thought it reasonable that those tribes
that came along with them from beyond Jordan, and had partaken
of the dangers they had undergone, being their own kindred,
should now be dismissed and sent home, and should have thanks
for the pains they had taken together with them. As also, he
thought it reasonable that they should send one man out of every
tribe, and he such as had the testimony of extraordinary virtue,
who should measure the land faithfully, and without any fallacy
or deceit should inform them of its real magnitude.
21. Now Joshua, when he had thus spoken to them, found that the
multitude approved of his proposal. So he sent men to measure
their country, and sent with them some geometricians, who could
not easily fail of knowing the truth, on account of their skill
in that art. He also gave them a charge to estimate the measure
of that part of the land that was most fruitful, and what was
not so good: for such is the nature of the land of Canaan, that
one may see large plains, and such as are exceeding fit to
produce fruit, which yet, if they were compared to other parts
of the country, might be reckoned exceedingly fruitful; yet, if
it be compared with the fields about Jericho, and to those that
belong to Jerusalem, will appear to be of no account at all; and
although it so falls out that these people have but a very
little of this sort of land, and that it is, for the main,
mountainous also, yet does it not come behind other parts, on
account of its exceeding goodness and beauty; for which reason
Joshua thought the land for the tribes should be divided by
estimation of its goodness, rather than the largeness of its
measure, it often happening that one acre of some sort of land
was equivalent to a thousand other acres. Now the men that were
sent, which were in number ten, traveled all about, and made an
estimation of the land, and in the seventh month came to him to
the city of Shiloh, where they had set up the tabernacle.
22. So Joshua took both Eleazar and the senate, and with them
the heads of the tribes, and distributed the land to the nine
tribes, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, appointing the
dimensions to be according to the largeness of each tribe. So
when he had cast lots, Judah had assigned him by lot the upper
part of Judea, reaching as far as Jerusalem, and its breadth
extended to the Lake of Sodom. Now in the lot of this tribe
there were the cities of Askelon and Gaza. The lot of Simeon,
which was the second, included that part of Idumea which
bordered upon Egypt and Arabia. As to the Benjamites, their lot
fell so, that its length reached from the river Jordan to the
sea, but in breadth it was bounded by Jerusalem and Bethel; and
this lot was the narrowest of all, by reason of the goodness of
the land, for it included Jericho and the city of Jerusalem. The
tribe of Ephraim had by lot the land that extended in length
from the river Jordan to Gezer; but in breadth as far as from
Bethel, till it ended at the Great Plain. The half-tribe of
Manasseh had the land from Jordan to the city of Dora; but its
breadth was at Bethsham, which is now called Scythopolis. And
after these was Issachar, which had its limits in length, Mount
Carmel and the river, but its limit in breadth was Mount Tabor.
The tribe of Zebulon's lot included the land which lay as far as
the Lake of Genesareth, and that which belonged to Carmel and
the sea. The tribe of Aser had that part which was called the
Valley, for such it was, and all that part which lay
over-against Sidon. The city Arce belonged to their share, which
is also named Actipus. The Naphthalites received the eastern
parts, as far as the city of Damascus and the Upper Galilee,
unto Mount Libanus, and the Fountains of Jordan, which rise out
of that mountain; that is, out of that part of it whose limits
belong to the neighboring city of Arce. The Danites' lot
included all that part of the valley which respects the
sun-setting, and were bounded by Azotus and Dora; as also they
had all Jamnia and Gath, from Ekron to that mountain where the
tribe of Judah begins.
23. After this manner did Joshua divide the six nations that
bear the name of the sons of Canaan, with their land, to be
possessed by the nine tribes and a half; for Moses had prevented
him, and had already distributed the land of the Amorites, which
itself was so called also from one of the sons of Canaan, to the
two tribes and a half, as we have shown already. But the parts
about Sidon, as also those that belonged to the Arkites, and the
Amathites, and the Aradians, were not yet regularly disposed of.
24. But now was Joshua hindered by his age from executing what
he intended to do (as did those that succeeded him in the
government, take little care of what was for the advantage of
the public); so he gave it in charge to every tribe to leave no
remainder of the race of the Canaanites in the land that had
been divided to them by lot; that Moses had assured them
beforehand, and they might rest fully satisfied about it, that
their own security and their observation of their own laws
depended wholly upon it. Moreover, he enjoined them to give
thirty-eight cities to the Levites, for they had already
received ten in the country of the Amorites; and three of these
he assigned to those that fled from the man-slayers, who were to
inhabit there; for he was very solicitous that nothing should be
neglected which Moses had ordained. These cities were, of the
tribe of Judah, Hebron; of that of Ephraim, Shechem; and of that
of Naphthali, Cadesh, which is a place of the Upper Galilee. He
also distributed among them the rest of the prey not yet
distributed, which was very great; whereby they had an affluence
of great riches, both all in general, and every one in
particular; and this of gold and of vestments, and of other
furniture, besides a multitude of cattle, whose number could not
be told.
25. After this was over, he gathered the army together to a
congregation, and spake thus to those tribes that had their
settlement in the land of the Amorites beyond Jordan, for fifty
thousand of them had armed themselves, and had gone to the war
along with them: "Since that God, who is the Father and Lord of
the Hebrew nation, has now given us this land for a possession,
and promised to preserve us in the enjoyment of it as our own
for ever; and since you have with alacrity offered yourselves to
assist us when we wanted that assistance on all occasions,
according to his command; it is but just, now all our
difficulties are over, that you should be permitted to enjoy
rest, and that we should trespass on your alacrity to help us no
longer; that so, if we should again stand in need of it, we may
readily have it on any future emergency, and not tire you out so
much now as may make you slower in assisting us another thee.
We, therefore, return you our thanks for the dangers you have
undergone with us, and we do it not at this thee only, but we
shall always be thus disposed; and be so good as to remember our
friends, and to preserve in mind what advantages we have had
from them; and how you have put off the enjoyments of your own
happiness for our sakes, and have labored for what we have now,
by the goodwill of God, obtained, and resolved not to enjoy your
own prosperity till you had afforded us that assistance.
However, you have, by joining your labor with ours, gotten great
plenty of riches, and will carry home with you much prey, with
gold and silver, and, what is more than all these, our good-will
towards you, and a mind willingly disposed to make a requital of
your kindness to us, in what case soever you shall desire it,
for you have not omitted any thing which Moses beforehand
required of you, nor have you despised him because he was dead
and gone from you, so that there is nothing to diminish that
gratitude which we owe to you. We therefore dismiss you joyful
to your own inheritances; and we entreat you to suppose, that
there is no limit to be set to the intimate relation that is
between us; and that you will not imagine, because this river is
interposed between us, that you are of a different race from us,
and not Hebrews; for we are all the posterity of Abraham, both
we that inhabit here, and you that inhabit there; and it is the
same God that brought our forefathers and yours into the world,
whose worship and form of government we are to take care of,
which he has ordained, and are most carefully to observe;
because while you continue in those laws, God will also show
himself merciful and assisting to you; but if you imitate the
other nations, and forsake those laws, he will reject your
nation." When Joshua had spoken thus, and saluted them all, both
those in authority one by one, and the whole multitude in
common, he himself staid where he was; but the people conducted
those tribes on their journey, and that not without tears in
their eyes; and indeed they hardly knew how to part one from the
other.
26. Now when the tribe of Reuben, and that of Gad, and as many
of the Manassites as followed them, were passed over the river,
they built an altar on the banks of Jordan, as a monument to
posterity, and a sign of their relation to those that should
inhabit on the other side. But when those on the other side
heard that those who had been dismissed had built an altar, but
did not hear with what intention they built it, but supposed it
to be by way of innovation, and for the introduction of strange
gods, they did not incline to disbelieve it; but thinking this
defamatory report, as if it were built for divine worship, was
credible, they appeared in arms, as though they would avenge
themselves on those that built the altar; and they were about to
pass over the river, and to punish them for their subversion of
the laws of their country; for they did not think it fit to
regard them on account of their kindred or the dignity of those
that had given the occasion, but to regard the will of God, and
the manner wherein he desired to be worshipped; so these men put
themselves in array for war. But Joshua, and Eleazar the high
priest, and the senate, restrained them; and persuaded them
first to make trial by words of their intention, and afterwards,
if they found that their intention was evil, then only to
proceed to make war upon them. Accordingly, they sent as
ambassadors to them Phineas the son of Eleazar, and ten more
persons that were in esteem among the Hebrews, to learn of them
what was in their mind, when, upon passing over the river, they
had built an altar upon its banks. And as soon as these
ambassadors were passed over, and were come to them, and a
congregation was assembled, Phineas stood up and said, That the
offense they had been guilty of was of too heinous a nature to
be punished by words alone, or by them only to be amended for
the future; yet that they did not so look at the heinousness of
their transgression as to have recourse to arms, and to a battle
for their punishment immediately, but that, on account of their
kindred, and the probability there was that they might be
reclaimed, they took this method of sending an ambassage to
them: "That when we have learned the true reasons by which you
have been moved to build this altar, we may neither seem to have
been too rash in assaulting you by our weapons of war, if it
prove that you made the altar for justifiable reasons, and may
then justly punish you if the accusation prove true; for we can
hardly suppose that you, have been acquainted with the will of
God and have been hearers of those laws which he himself hath
given us, now you are separated from us, and gone to that
patrimony of yours, which you, through the grace of God, and
that providence which he exercises over you, have obtained by
lot, can forget him, and can leave that ark and that altar which
is peculiar to us, and can introduce strange gods, and imitate
the wicked practices of the Canaanites. Now this will appear to
have been a small crime if you repent now, and proceed no
further in your madness, but pay a due reverence to, and keep in
mind the laws of your country; but if you persist in your sins,
we will not grudge our pains to preserve our laws; but we will
pass over Jordan and defend them, and defend God also, and shall
esteem of you as of men no way differing from the Canaanites,
but shall destroy you in the like manner as we destroyed them;
for do not you imagine that, because you are got over the river,
you are got out of the reach of God's power; you are every where
in places that belong to him, and impossible it is to overrun
his power, and the punishment he will bring on men thereby: but
if you think that your settlement here will be any obstruction
to your conversion to what is good, nothing need hinder us from
dividing the land anew, and leaving this old land to be for the
feeding of sheep; but you will do well to return to your duty,
and to leave off these new crimes; and we beseech you, by your
children and wives, not to force us to punish you. Take
therefore such measures in this assembly, as supposing that your
own safety, and the safety of those that are dearest to you, is
therein concerned, and believe that it is better for you to be
conquered by words, than to continue in your purpose, and to
experience deeds and war therefore."
27. When Phineas had discoursed thus, the governors of the
assembly, and the whole multitude, began to make an apology for
themselves, concerning what they were accused of; and they said,
That they neither would depart from the relation they bare to
them, nor had they built the altar by way of innovation; that
they owned one and the same common God with all the Hebrews, and
that brazen altar which was before the tabernacle, on which they
would offer their sacrifices; that as to the altar they had
raised, on account of which they were thus suspected, it was not
built for worship, "but that it might be a sign and a monument
of our relation to you for ever, and a necessary caution to us
to act wisely, and to continue in the laws of our country, but
not a handle for transgressing them, as you suspect: and let God
be our authentic witness, that this was the occasion of our
building this altar: whence we beg you will have a better
opinion of us, and do not impute such a thing to us as would
render any of the posterity of Abraham well worthy of perdition,
in case they attempt to bring in new rites, and such as are
different from our usual practices."
28. When they had made this answer, and Phineas had commended
them for it, he came to Joshua, and explained before the people
what answer they had received. Now Joshua was glad that he was
under no necessity of setting them in array, or of leading them
to shed blood, and make war against men of their own kindred;
and accordingly he offered sacrifices of thanksgiving to God for
the same. So Joshua after that dissolved this great assembly of
the people, and sent them to their own inheritances, while he
himself lived in Shechem. But in the twentieth year after this,
when he was very old, he sent for those of the greatest dignity
in the several cities, with those in authority, and the senate,
and as many of the common people as could be present; and when
they were come, he put them in mind of all the benefits God had
bestowed on them, which could not but be a great many, since
from a low estate they were advanced to so great a degree of
glory and plenty; and exhorted them to take notice of the
intentions of God, which had been so gracious towards them; and
told them that the Deity would continue their friend by nothing
else but their piety; and that it was proper for him, now that
he was about to depart out of this life, to leave such an
admonition to them; and he desired that they would keep in
memory this his exhortation to them.
29. So Joshua, when he had thus discoursed to them, died, having
lived a hundred and ten years; forty of which he lived with
Moses, in order to learn what might be for his advantage
afterwards. He also became their commander after his death for
twenty-five years. He was a man that wanted not wisdom nor
eloquence to declare his intentions to the people, but very
eminent on both accounts. He was of great courage and
magnanimity in action and in dangers, and very sagacious in
procuring the peace of the people, and of great virtue at all
proper seasons. He was buried in the city of Timnab, of the
tribe of Ephraim (9) About the same time died Eleazar the high
priest, leaving the high priesthood to his son Phineas. His
monument also, and sepulcher, are in the city of Gabatha.
Continue on to
Book
Five,
Chapter 2,
The Antiquities of the Jews
by
Flavius Josephus
Return to
The Antiquities of the Jews - Table of Contents
Return to the
Christians Standing with Israel
*******************************************************************
Christians Standing with Israel
About Christians Standing with Israel
Israel Resources
Israel Media
Israel News
Israel Blog
Israel Pictures
Friends of Israel
Contact Christians Standing with Israel
site map
http://www.christiansstandingwithisrael.com/