Joshua 12:7-24 The first half of the book of Joshua recounts the many battles fought during the conquest of the Promised Land. At the very end of this account, Israel’s conquests are summarized in a list of kings defeated by Moses and Joshua. Moses’ victories in the Transjordan are listed first, followed by Joshua’s victories […]
Category Archives: Exodus & Conquest Period
The Israelites’ Journeys in the Wilderness
Numbers 13-14; 20-21; 33; Deuteronomy 1-2; 10:6-9 After the Israelites received the law on Mount Sinai, which may have been located at Khashm et-Tarif (see also “The Route of the Exodus”), they traveled to Kadesh-barnea, a distance that took eleven days “by the way of Mount Seir” (Deuteronomy 1:2). The phrase “by the way of […]
The Route of the Exodus
Exodus 13-19; Numbers 33 Like several other events recorded in Scripture, the Bible’s account of the Israelites’ journey from Egypt to Mount Sinai includes an abundance of geographical references, yet it remains one of the most hotly debated topics among scholars, and numerous theories have been offered. The vast majority of geographical references provided in […]
The Ark of the Covenant in the Promised Land
As the most tangible symbol of the Lord’s presence among the Israelites, the Ark of the Covenant played a central role in the worship and religious life of Israel until it was lost or destroyed during the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. (2 Kings 25:1-21; 2 Chronicles 36:17-21; Jeremiah 39:1-10; 52:1-30). The very […]
Land Unconquered by the End of Saul’s Reign
Joshua 13:1-6; Judges 1:21-36 Though Numbers 32 and Joshua 13-20 carefully detail the boundaries of each Israelite tribe’s allotted land (see map), much of this land was still occupied by Canaanites, and the Israelites often struggled to establish dominion over their inheritance. In particular, the lands along the Mediterranean Sea, in the plain of Bashan, […]