The Book of Joshua | Part Two

The book can be divided into three sections: the conquest of Canaan (chapters 1–12), the distribution of the land among the Israelite tribes (chapters 13–22), and Joshua’s farewell address and death (chapters 23–24). Because the possession of Canaan was fulfillment of the oft-repeated promise to the patriarchs, the Book of Joshua has usually been regarded as the completion of a literary unit comprising the first six books of the Bible. Scholars who hold this point of view have attempted to identify in Joshua the same source documents that are found in the preceding books. There has been, however, a growing tendency to view Joshua as the beginning of a history that continues in the books that follow.