more passages, it is contended by some biblical writers, that the book of Joshua could not have been written by him whose name it bears. But in reply to these objections we merely ask, "Whether the same argument might not be urged against the genuineness of some books of the Pentateuch? And if it is not allowed to have any weight in that case, why should it in this?". Upon the whole, then, we are of opinion that the book in the main is the composition of Joshua himself. That it is as truly his work, as the commentaries of Cæsar are his; and all the real difficulties mentioned above, may be rationally and satisfactorily accounted for, on the ground, that these slight additions were made by Jeremiah or Ezra when they collected and revised the canonical books. This book then, is called the book of Joshua, 1. Because Joshua wrote it. 2. Because it is the relation of his own conduct in the conquest, division, and settlement of the Promised Land. 3. Because it contains a multitude of particulars that only himself, or a constant eye-witness, could possibly relate. 4. Because it was evidently designed to be a continuation of the book of Deuteronomy, and is so connected with it, in narrative, as to prove that it must have been immediately commenced on the termination of the other. Of the authenticity of this book we have the strongest proofs: for, 1. It was evidently compiled and received by the Jews immediately after the events recorded in it transpired, as Rahab the harlot was still living; and consequently the author's fidelity could be subjected to the test of examination. 2. We may perceive the fidelity of the author's narrations in the extreme particularity with which every thing is related:-a circumstance never to be found in spurious writings. 3. Several of the transactions related in the book of Joshua are recorded by other sacred writers with little or no material variations; thus, we find the conquest and division of Canaan,* mentioned by Asaph (Psal. lxxviii. 53-65. comp. with Psal. xliv. 2-4.); the slaughter of the Canaanites by David (Psal. lxviii. 13-15.); the division of the waters of Jordan (Psal. cxiv. 1-5; cxvi. 5, 6; Habak. iii. 8.); the terrible tempest of hail-stones after the slaughter of the southern Canaanites (Hab. iii. 11-13; comp. with Josh. x. 9-11.); and the setting up of the tabernacle at Shiloh (Josh. xviii. 1.), in the books of Judges (xviii. 31.), and Samuel. (1 Sam. i. 3, 9. 24. and iii. 21.)† 4. Several things related in this book are confirmed by the traditions current among heathen nations. Thus there are ancient monuments extant wnich prove that the Carthaginians were a colony of the Tyrians, who escaped from Joshua; as also that the inhabitants of Leptis in Africa came originally from the Zidonians, who forsook their country because of the miseries which afflicted it. The fable of the Phoenician Hercules arose from the history of Joshua ; the overthrow of the giants, and the famous Typhon, owe their origin to the overthrow of Og, the king of Bashan; and of the Anaknis, who were called giants.|| The tempest of hail-stones, mentioned in Josh. x. 11. was transformed by the poets into a tempest of stones with which, as they say, Jupiter overwhelmed the enemies of Hercules in Asim, which is exactly the country where Joshua fought with the children of Anak.§ This book comprises the history of about seventeen years; or, according to some chronologers, of twenty-seven or thirty years: it is one of the most important documents in the Old Covenant; and should never be separated from the Pentateuch, of which it is at once both the continuation and completion. Between this book and the five books of Moses, there is the same analogy as between the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The PENTATEUCH contains a history of the Acts of the great Jewish Legislator, and the LAWS on which the * On the objections which have been urged against the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, see vol. i. p. 161. note; and Horne's Introd. vol. i. Append. No. 3, Sect. 5. + Horne's Introduction, vol. iv. p. 31. Procop. Vandal. lib. ii. c. 10. Polybius, Frag. cxiv. Sallust. de Paleo Jurginthino. Allix's Reflections on the books of the Old Testament, chap. ii. Jewish Church should be established. The book of JosЯUÁ gives an account of the establishment of that church in the land of Canaan, according to the oftrepeated promises and declarations of God. The GOSPELS give an account of the transactions of Jesus Christ, the great Christian Legislator, and of those LAWS on which his Church should be established, and by which it should be governed. The ACTS of the APOSTLES, give an account of the actual establishment of that Church, according to the predictions and promises of its great founder. Thus then, the Pentateuch bears as pointed a relation to the Gospels as the book of Joshua does to the Acts of the Apostles. On this very principle it would be a matter of high utility, to read these Old Testament and the New Testament books together; as they reflect a strong and mutual light on each other; bear the most decided testimony to the words and truth of prophecy; and shew the ample fulfilment of all the ancient and gracious designs of God. This appears particularly evident in the five books of Moses and the book of Joshua, compared and collated with the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles; and the analogy will be the more complete as to the number of those books, though that is a matter of minor consideration, when we consider Joshua as we ought, a continuation of the book of Deuteronomy, though written by a different hand, which two books should be rated only as one history. Whoever goes immediately from the reading of the Pentateuch, to the reading of the Gospels; and from the reading of Joshua, to that of the Acts, will carry with him advantages, which, on no other plan, he will be able to command. Even a commentator himself will derive advantages from this plan, which he will seek in vain from any other. To see the wisdom and goodness of God in the ritual of Moses, we must have an eye continually on the incarnation and death of Christ, to which it refers. And to have a proper view of the great atonement made by the sacrifice of our Lord, we must have constant reference to the mosaic law, where this is shadowed forth. Without this reference, the law of Moses is a system of expensive and burthensome ceremonies, destitute of adequate meaning: and without this entering in of the law, that the offence might abound, to shew the exceeding awfulness of sin, the frailty of man, and the holiness of God; the Gospel of Christ, including the account of his incarnation, preaching, miracles, passion, death, burial, ascension, and intercession, would not appear to have a sufficient necessity to explain and justify it. By the LAW is the knowledge of sin; and by the GOSPEL its CURE. Either, taken separately, will not answer the purpose for which God gave these astonishing revelations of his justice and his grace.* The scope of the inspired writer of this book seems to be, to demonstrate the faithfulness of God, in the full accomplishment of his promises made to the patriarchs, that their seed should obtain possession of the land of Canaan. We also behold the divine power and mercy signally displayed in cherishing, protecting, and defending his people, amid all the trials and difficulties to which they were exposed; and as the land of Canaan is in the New Testament considered as a type of heaven, the conflicts and trials of the Israelites have been considered as adumbrating the spiritual conflicts of believers in every age of the church. Although Joshua whose courage, piety, and disinterested integrity, are conspicuous throughout his whole history, is not expressly mentioned in the New Testament as a type of the Messiah, yet he is universally allowed to have been a very eminent one. He bore our Saviour's name; the Alexandrian version, giving his name a Greek termination, uniformly calls him Inσovç―Jesus; which appella. tion is also given to him in Acts vii. 45; and Heb. iv. 8. Joshua saved the people of God (as the Israelites are emphatically styled in the Scriptures) from the Canaanites. Jesus Christ saves his people from their sins. (Matt. i. 21.)† There is considerable diversity of opinion among biblical writers respecting the book of Jasher, which is cited in Joshua x. 13, and 2 Sam. i. 18. It would be a waste of time to mention the endless conjectures of the ancients and moderns relative to this book. Calmet supposes the most probable opinion to be, that * Dr. A. Clarke. Preface to the book of Joshua. there were, from the beginning, persons among the Hebrews, who were employed in writing the annals of their nation, and recording the memorable events in it. These annals are said to have been lodged in the tabernacle, or temple, where, on occasion, recourse was had to them.* And therefore, the book of the Wars of the Lord; the book of Days or Chronicles; and the book of Jasher, or Righteous, are, properly speaking, the same, but differently denominated according to the difference of the times. Before there were kings over the Hebrews, these records might be entitled, "the book of the Wars of the Land," or "the book of Jasher or Right." After the reign of Saul, they might be called, "the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel and Judah." Dr. Lightfoot is of opinion that it was a book of remembrances and directions, written by Moses for Joshua's private instructions for the management of the wars after him, which opinion is adopted by Dr. A. Clarke. Grotius conceives it to have been a triumphant song, made purposely to celebrate the success of Joshua, and the prodigy attending it, M. Dupin declares for this opinion, as most probable, because, (1.) the words cited by Joshua are poetical expressions, not very proper for historical memoirs : (2.) because a book under the same title is referred to in Samuel, where David's song on the death of Saul and his son Jonathan is repeated. The late ingenious Editor of Calmet remarks: "May not these opinions coincide, if we suppose this book contained a collection of pieces of poetry, made on occasion of remarkable events? In this view the appeal to the book of Jasher, for a copy of David's ode called The Bow,' is very pertinent. Might it not contain the songs of Moses, of Deborah, etc.? May Jasher, the Upright,' signify the standardauthentic book "+" It is perfectly well known," he continues, "to all readers of English history, that not only are our most ancient chronicles in verse, but also that many national events are recorded in historical songs, which, though unquestionably genuine and authentic, yet are no where else to be met with. The Saxon chronicle, with several others, prove this; but the most popular instances are the "border songs," or events narrated in rhyme, of the wars between the English and the Scots on the debateable lands' before the union of the two crowns." It is necessary to remark, that there is some accidental derangement in the order of the chapters of this book, occasioned probably by the mode of rolling up manuscripts anciently observed. If chronologically placed, they should be read thus: first chapter to the tenth verse; then second chapter; then from the tenth verse to the end of the first chapter; afterwards should follow the sixth and consecutive chapters to the eleventh; then the twenty-second chapter; and, lastly, the twelfth and thirteenth chapters, to the twenty-fourth verse of the latter.|| The Samaritans are by some writers supposed to have received the book of Joshua; this, however, was not the case. It is true there is still extant a Samaritan book entitled, the book of Joshua, but it differs materially from the Hebrew copy, containing a chronicle of events, badly compiled from the death of Moses to the time of the emperor Adrian. It consists of 47 chapters, swelled with fabulous accounts. It is written in Arabic, in the Samaritan character.§ After having been long lost, it was recovered by G. Scaliger and deposited at Leyden, in manuscript, and has never been published. The history contained in the book of Joshua naturally divides itself into four parts. PART I.—The History of the entrance of the Israelites into Canaan, com prising: 1. The mission of Joshua..... 2. The spies sent out to view the land.. Chap. i. 1-10. * See Josephus, Ant. Jud. lib. v. c. i. + Parkhurst was of this opinion. See Heb. Lex. voce ". Bedford's Script. Chron. book v. p. 590, Gray's Key, p. 146. Gray, p. 149. 3. The miraculous passage of the Jordan.... 4. The renewal of the covenant...... PART II.—The victories of the Israelites under Joshua. 1. The conquest of Jericho.... 2. The capture of Ai...... 3. History of the Gibeonites-conquest of the five kings, and miracle of the sun standing still*... 4. The conquest of Canaan completed.......... 5. The tribe of Reuben return home.... 6. Recapitulation of the conquests of Israel.... PART III.-Division of the Country; containing: 1. General division of Canaan.... 9. Cities of refuge and Levitical cities.. PART IV.-The last Exhortations and Death of Joshua. 1. The assembling of the people and first address of Joshua, 2. The tribes again assembled and addressed by Joshua. 3. The death and burial of Joshua. 4. The remains of Joseph buried in Shechem... 5. The death and burial of Eleazar..... xx, xxi. comprising: } xxiii. xxiv. 1-28. xxiv. 29, 30. xxiv. 32. xxiv. 33. JOB XXVIII. 12. "Where shall wisdom be found ?” Gent's. Mag. * For some masterly observations on this stupendous miracle, the reader is referred to Dr. A. Clarke's Comment in locó. Horne's Introd. vol. i. Append. No .3. sect. 8. § 4. may also be consulted. Characteristic Notices of Biblical Works.* I.--A Treatise on the Genius and Object of the Patriarchal, the Levitical, and the Christian Dispensations. By George Stanley Faber, B. D. Rector of Long-Newton. 2 vols. 8vo. pp. 904. London, Rivingtons, 1823, 11. 1s. boards. MR. FABER, having, in the preceding chapters, shewn that "the singular theory of Bishop Warburton, which, at one blow, would annihilate the whole Patriarchal Dispensation," is perfectly untenable, "since that Dispensation has been found to have a real existence," now proceeds in Chapter IV. To enquire, what was the special object of the Patriarchal Dispensation? Now the Patriarchal Dispensation being promulgated after the fall, we may be sure, that it had respect to some special point of doctrine, which the circumstances of the fall had rendered necessary. "On these grounds, we may venture to determine, that from the history of the fall we must learn the object of the Patriarchal Dispensation." I.-The enquiry is conducted negatively, by which the question is greatly narrowed when conducted positively. 1. The object then of the Patriarchal Dispensation could not be to convey the knowledge of the Divine Unity; 2. Neither could its special object be to inculcate authoritatively the duties of morality; 3. Nor yet could its object be to teach the divine attributes of wisdom, power and justice; 4. To sum up the whole in one word, its object could not be to communicate any knowledge which man had already possessed during his abode in Paradise. II. This negative enquiry, by shutting out all which our first parents had learned during their paradisaical state, at once limits our positive enquiry to the history of the fall. 1. Now it is obvious, that the only additional knowledge which man had need to acquire after the fall, was a knowledge which respected his miserably altered condition. Hence, as the Patriarchal Dispensation wore a benign aspect, the inculcation of the doctrine of REDEMPTION must have been its especial object. 2 Agreeably to this conclusion, from the necessity of the case, we find, that the Patriarchal Dispensation actually commences with a promise of REDEMPTION, Gen. iii. 14, 15. Chapter V is then devoted to the investigation of the knowledge of this doctrine of redemption, possessed by mankind during the Patriarchal ages, so far as the matter can be ascertained from Scripture. Here, however, an enquiry arises, whether the import of the promise made to our first parents was at ALL understood by the early race of mortals; and, if at all understood by them, TO WHAT EXTENT it was understood? I. A discussion of the question, whether the import of the promise was at all understood by the early race of mortals? 1. The obvious nature and intention of the prophecy respecting the seed of the woman requires us to suppose, that man understood the drift of the first promise, so far as was necessary for every saving purpose. 2. Accordingly this is admitted by Bishop Warburton; and such an admission involves a knowledge both of redemption and of a future state. II. This important question, whether the drift of the first promise was AT ALL understood by the early race of mortals, being answered affirmatively, the next question is, TO WHAT EXTENT they understood it? 1. The primary question, which would present itself to our first parents, after the fall, would obviously respect the nature of that serpent who had so maliciously seduced them into disobedience. Now, when they perceived the lamentable effects of their transgression, they would forthwith conclude, that their seducer was no mere serpent, but their malignant foe, of whose nature and machinations they were, no doubt, previously duly warned, lurking under the form, and using the organs of that animal. Hence, from the mere terms of the oracle, and without any further instruction from heaven, they would naturally incline to a figurative exposition, * Continued from p. 48. |