Dividing the land spoils

Boundaries are set for the tribe of Judah including the still disputed area of Jerusalem.

Faithful Caleb conquers the giants and receives the allotment promised him.

The areas that were colonized and their borders are reviewed.

This chapter recounts the battles Moses & Joshua led the congregation through.

More conquests achieved with Joshua in the Promised Land.

The congregation move through the promised land slaughtering the people who lived there as they encountered them.

Just as when Moses appointed judges to help manage the legal issues of the people without first consulting God, Joshua (the new human leader of the congregation) is deceived into making a peace treaty with some of the inhabitants of the Promised Land.

Jesus is condemned & crucified, and his body buried & put under guard.

Defeat at war is blamed on idolatry & now victory is attributed to faithfulness, but it reads more & more like 20/20 hindsight to rationalize both. The phrase “as it is this day” reveals the presence of revisions of the narrative while reflecting on past events.