Joshua Series

Joshua, Prophet, Righteous, Forefather

Born Goshen (Lower Egypt), Ancient Egypt

Died Canaan

Venerated in Judaism, Christianity, Islam

Major shrine

Tomb of Joshua or Joshua's Hill

Feast

• July 26: Armenian Apostolic

• September 1: Roman Catholicism

• September 1: Eastern Orthodox Church

• April 14: all saint Sinai monk

Attributes

Often depicted with Caleb, carrying the grapes out of Canaan

Joshua or Yehoshua (Hebrew: Y?hošua) functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Exodus and Numbers and later succeeded Moses as leader of the Israelite tribes in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua. His name was Hoshea (Hošea?), the son of Nun of the tribe of Ephraim, but Moses called him "Yehoshua" (translated as "Joshua" in English), the name by which he is commonly known in English. According to the Bible, he was born in Egypt prior to the Exodus

The Hebrew Bible identifies Joshua as one of the twelve spies of Israel sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan. In Numbers 13:1, and after the death of Moses, he led the Israelite tribes in the conquest of Canaan and allocated lands to the tribes. According to biblical chronology, Joshua lived sometime during the Bronze Age. According to Joshua 24:29, Joshua died at the age of 110.

Joshua holds a position of respect among Muslims. Muslims also see Joshua as the leader of the faithful following the death of Moses. In Islam, it is also believed that Yusha bin Nun (Joshua) was the "attendant" of Moses mentioned in the Quran before Moses met Khidr. Joshua plays a role in Islamic literature, with significant narration in the hadith.

Name - Joshua

The English name "Joshua" refers to the Hebrew language Yehoshua, interpreted in Christian theology as "Yahweh is salvation." This requires a different vocalization of the second name component, reading it as related to Hoshea—the name used in the Torah before Moses added the divine name. However, the modern linguistic analysis of the name is "Yahweh is lordly."

"Jesus" is the English derivative of the Greek transliteration of "Yehoshua" via Latin. In the Septuagint, all instances of the word "Yehoshua" are rendered as "??s???" (Iesous), the closest Greek pronunciation of the Aramaic: ???? Yeshua. Thus, in modern Greek, Joshua is called "Jesus son of Naue" (t?? ?a??) to differentiate him from Jesus. This is also true in some Slavic languages following the Eastern Orthodox tradition (e.g., "????? ?????," Iisús Navín, in Bulgarian, Serbian and Russian, but not Czech).

Biblical narrative

History of ancient Israel and Judah

The history of ancient Israel and Judah begins with establishing a presence in Canaan by the Twelve Tribes of Israel, who collectively formed the Israelite nation. During the Iron Age, the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah were two related Israelite societies that existed in the ancient Levant.

According to the Hebrew Bible, a United Israelite Monarchy existed as early as the 11th century BCE under the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon; the country later split into two separate kingdoms: Israel (containing the cities of Shechem and Samaria) in the north and Judah (containing Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple) in the south.

The historicity, extent, and power of the United Monarchy are debated. However, historians and archaeologists agree that a post-split Israel and Judah existed by c.?900 BCE: and c.?700 BCE, respectively.

The Kingdom of Israel was destroyed around 720 BCE. While the Kingdom of Judah remained intact, it became a client state of first the Neo-Assyrian Empire and then the Neo-Babylonian Empire. However, Jewish revolts against the latter led to the destruction of Judah in 586 BCE under the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II. According to the biblical account, Nebuchadnezzar II's armies successfully besieged Jerusalem between 589–586 BCE, which led to the destruction of Solomon's Temple and the exile of the Jews to Babylon; this event was also recorded in the Babylonian Chronicles. The Jewish exile in Babylon ended around 538 BCE with the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire to the Achaemenid Persian Empire, after which the Persian king Cyrus the Great issued a proclamation known as the Edict of Cyrus that authorized and encouraged exiled Jews to return to the Land of Israel.

Cyrus' proclamation began the exiles' return to Zion, inaugurating the formative period in which a more distinctive Jewish/Judahite identity was established in the Persian province of Yehud. During this time, the destroyed Solomon's Temple was replaced by the Second Temple, marking the beginning of Second Temple Judaism.

During the Hellenistic period, Yehud was absorbed into the subsequent Hellenistic kingdoms that followed the conquests of Alexander the Great. The 2nd century BCE saw a successful Jewish revolt against the Seleucid Empire and the subsequent formation of the Hasmonean kingdom—Israel's last nominally independent kingdom. The Hasmonean kingdom gradually lost its independence from 63 BCE onwards with its conquest by Pompey, becoming a client state of the Roman Republic and later of the Parthian Empire.