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Added the outline of the book
===Authorship===
===Themes=== ===Outline and Themes=======The conquest of the land====A. Preparations for the conquest (1:1-5:12) B. Program of conquest (5:13-12:24) ====The division of the land====A. The apportioning of Trans-Jordan (13:1-33) B. The apportioning of Canaan (14:1-19:51) ====The directions for the land====A. The command concerning the cities of refuge (20:1-9) B. The command concerning the Levitical cities (21:1-45) C. The compromise with the eastern tribes (22:1-34) D. The commander's farewell (23:1-24:33)
===Difficulties in understanding the Conquest===
Inconsistencies of the conquest of Canaan in the Old Testament are sometimes cited by readers. On the one hand, Joshua shows the conquest as rapid and successful (see for example [[Joshua 21]]). On the other hand, the [[Book of Judges]] shows the conquest as prolonged and unsuccessful. However, as many some Christians scholars note, the Biblical data can be considered consistent when considering the different perspectives of the books. In Joshua, God's faithfulness is emphasized, whereas in Judges, Isreal's flawed response in is emphasized.
Joshua uses hyperbole, that is, exaggeration. When the book describes that "all" was destroyed, it does not always mean that there was complete annihilation. A similar modern day example would be general descriptions of the Jewish Holocaust, where a historian might say that the Nazis rounded up all the Jews in the city - it is clear that all may not mean every Jew because some may have been hiding and others may have fled the city.
