3. Josephus wrote a narrative of his own Life in order to defend himself against the accusation brought by his enemy Justus of Tiberias to the effect that he had really been the cause of the Jewish rebellion. In his defence Josephus departs from the facts as narrated in the Jewish War and represents himself as a partisan of Rome and, therefore, as a traitor to his own people from the beginning.
4. The two books Against Apion are a defence or apology directed against current misrepresentations of the Jews. Earlier titles are Concerning the Antiquity of the Jews or Against the Greeks. Apion was the leader of the Alexandrine embassy which opposed Philo and his companions when they appeared in behalf of the Alexandrine Jews before Caligula. The defence which Josephus puts forward has a permanent value and shows him at his best.
The Greek text of Josephus’ works has been edited with full collection of different readings by B. Niese (Berlin, 1887-1895). The Teubner text by Naber is based on this. The translation into English of W. Whiston has been (superficially) revised by A. R. Shilleto (1889-1890). Schürer (History of the Jewish People) gives a full bibliography.
(J. H. A. H.)
JOSHEKAN, a small province of Persia covering about 1000 sq. m. Pop. about 5000. It has a yearly revenue of about £1200, and is held in fief by the family of Bahram Mirza, Muizz ed Dowleh (d. 1882). Its chief town and the residence of the governor used to be Joshekan-Kali, a large village with fine gardens, formerly famous for its carpets (kali), but now the chief place is Maimeh, a little city with a population of 2500, situated at an elevation of 6670 ft., about 63 m. from Isfahan in a north-westerly direction and 13 m. south-west of Joshekan-Kali.
JOSHUA, BOOK OF, the sixth book of the Old Testament, and the first of the group known as the “Former Prophets.” It takes its name from Joshua[1] the son of Nūn, an Ephraimite who, on the death of Moses, assumed the leadership to which he had previously been designated by his chief (Deut. xxxi. 14 seq., 23), and proceeded to the conquest of the land of Canaan. The book differs from the Pentateuch or Torah in the absence of legal matter, and in its intimate connexion with the narrative in the books which follow. It is, however, the proper sequel to the origins of the people as related in Genesis, to the exodus of the Israelite tribes from Egypt, and their journeyings in the wilderness. On these and also on literary grounds it is often convenient to class the first six books of the Bible as a unit under the term “Hexateuch.” For an exhaustive detailed study has revealed many signs of diversity of authorship which combine to show that the book is due to the incorporation of older material in two main redactions; one deeply imbued with the language and thought of Deuteronomy itself (D), the other of the post-exilic priestly circle (P) which gave the Pentateuch its present form. That the older sources (which often prove to be composite) are actually identical with the Yahwist or Judaean (J) and the Elohist or Ephraimite (E) narratives (on which see [Genesis]) is not improbable, though, especially as regards the former, still very uncertain. In general the literary problems are exceedingly intricate, and no attempt can be made here to deal with them as fully as they deserve.
The Invasion.—The book falls naturally into two main parts, of which the first, the crossing of the Jordan and the conquest of Palestine (i.-xii.) is mainly due to Deuteronomic compilers. It opens with the preparations for the crossing of the Jordan and the capture of the powerful city Jericho. Ai, near Bethel, is taken after a temporary repulse, and Joshua proceeds to erect an altar upon Mt Ebal (north of Shechem). For the fullness with which the events are recorded the writers were probably indebted to local stories.
The Israelites are at Abel-Shittim (already reached in Num. xxv. 1). Moses is dead, and Joshua enters upon his task with the help of the Transjordanic tribes who have already received their territory (i). The narrative is of the later prophetic stamp (D; cf. Deut. iii. 18-22, xi. 24, where Moses is the speaker; xxxi. 1-8), but may be based upon an earlier and shorter record (E; vv. 1 seq., 10, 11a). Of the mission of the spies to Jericho, two versions were current (duplicates ii. 3, 12, 18; v. 15 seq. breaks the connexion between vv. 13 and 18, but is resumed in vv. 22-24); D’s addition is to be recognized in ii. 9b-11. The incident occupies at least four days, but the main narrative reckons three days between i. 11 and iii. 2. Next follow the passage of the Jordan (commemorated by the erection of twelve stones), the encampment at Gilgal, and the observance of the rite of circumcision and of the passover (iii.-v.). The complicated narrative in iii.-iv. is of composite origin (contrast iii. 17 with iv. 10 seq., 19; iv. 3, 8 with vv. 9, 20; and cf. iii. 12 with the superfluous iv. 2, &c.). As in ii., D has amplified (iii. 4b, 7, 10b, iv. 9-10a, 12, 14; more prominently in iv. 21-v. 1, v. 4-8), and subsequently P (or a hand akin to P) has worked over the whole (iii. 4, note the number and the prohibition, cf. Num. i. 51; iii. 8, 15 seq.; iv. 13, 19; v. 10-12). Circumcision, already familiar from Exod. iv. 26, Deut. x. 16, is here regarded as a new rite (v. 2, 9, supplemented by vv. 1, 4-8), but the conflicting views have been harmonized by the words “the second time” (v. 2). Gilgal is thus named from the “rolling away” of the “reproach of Egypt” (v. 9), but iv. 20 suggests a different origin, viz. the sacred stone-circle (cf. Judges iii. 19, R.V. marg.). An older account of the divine commission to Joshua appears in the archaic passage v. 13-15 (cf. Moses in Exod. iii.). Fusion of sources is obvious in the story of the fall of Jericho (contrast vi. 5 and v. 10, vv. 21 and 24, vv. 22 and 25); according to one (E?) the people march seven times round the city on one day, the ark and the priests occupying a prominent position (vi. 4-6, 7b-9, 12 seq., 16a, 20 [part], 22-24); but in the other they march every day for seven days. Both here and in the preceding chapters the Septuagint has several variations and omissions, due either to an (unsuccessful) attempt to simplify the present difficulties, or to the use of another recension. The curse pronounced by Joshua upon the destroyed city of Jericho (vi. 26) should be associated with an incident in the reign of Ahab which is acquainted with the story (1 Kings xvi. 34); the city, however, reappears in Joshua xviii. 21; 2 Sam. x. 5. Achan’s sacrilege, the cause of the repulse at Ai and of the naming of the valley of Achor (vii.), is introduced by vi. 18 seq., 24b, and, as its spirit shows, is of relatively later date. It contains some probable traces of D (in vii. 5, 7, 11 seq., 15, 25) and P (in vv. 1, 18, 24 seq.). The capture of Ai has marks of the same dual origin as the preceding chapters (cf. viii. 3a with 10, and contrast viii. 3-9 with v. 12; vv. 5-7 with 18, 26; v. 19 with 28). The general resemblance between chs. vii.-viii. and the war with Benjamin (Judges xx.) should be noticed.