[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jericho#Historicity) explains three archaeological studies of the Jericho site, and concludes that the city was abandoned at the time the supposed Biblical battle took place. How do Christians reconcile the Biblical account with this science?

Joshua 10:12–14 describes that >the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down the space of one day. Victor Warkulwiz, *Universe without Space and Time* , ch. 2 claims >Joshua’s long day was observed around the world, as indicated in the folklore of various nations. With Hezekiah’s sign (Isaiah 38:7–8 , 4 Kgs 20:8-11 , 2 Par 32:24 ), the sun momentarily went backwards. What non-biblical historical evidence is there of "Joshua's long day" and "Hezekiah's sign"?

My research into the Council of Nicaea called by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine, shows they Council of Nicaea voted to change the name to iesus kristus by a vote of 161 for & 157 against. Again, why did they vote to change the Name of The Messiah?

Joshua 24:15 “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Can parents still claim “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” if they have a child who doesn’t serve the Lord living in the house?

In terms of our current and modern dating system, what year did Joshua and the Hebrew nation cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan? Also, based on this what year would the first Jubilee year have occurred as described in Leviticus 25:1-4,8,9 > When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the LORD. 3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the LORD. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard.’ 8 “And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound.”

The book of Joshua references the book of Jasher (Joshua 10:13 ), as does 2 Samuel 1:18 . However, the quote from the book of Jasher in 2 Samuel 1:23 references both Saul and Jonathan, both of whom lived centuries after Joshua. Some Jews and Christians believe that Joshua wrote the book of Joshua, but since the book of Joshua mentions the book of Jasher, and the book of Jasher mentions Saul, logically it would seem to follow that the book of Joshua must have been written hundreds of years after the death of Joshua (i.e. sometime *after* the death of Saul). Such an account would seem to fit with the Deuteronomistic history proposed by Martin Noth . An alternate hypothesis offered by conservapedia suggests that the book of Jasher was written over the timespan of hundreds of years: > David's dirge at the death of Saul was recorded in [the book of > Jasher], indicating it was being maintained as a long-term record of > certain aspects of Israel's history. This explanation seems less likely to me, especially because the book of Jasher has been lost to time, and a book that was written over many hundreds of years would probably have increased the probability that it would have had greater distribution (and thus greater longevity) than other books written over a comparatively short time frame. Are there other explanations and/or documentation to support one timeframe or another for the chronological authorship of the books of Jasher and Joshua?

> **Genesis 21:4 (NIV)** When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham > circumcised him, as God commanded him. Starting with Abraham, the Israelite men were circumcised, and boys at the eighth day after birth. It was commanded again in the desert through Moses: > **Leviticus 12:3 (NIV)** On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised. But the children born in the desert were not circumcised: > **Joshua 5:5 (NIV)** All the people that came out had been circumcised, > but all the people born in the wilderness during the journey from > Egypt had not. How is this possible? Did they disobey God and not circumcise their children in the desert?

>“As therefore,” I say, “while Moses was still among men, God took of the spirit which was in Moses and put it on Joshua, even so God was able to cause [the spirit] of Elijah to come upon John; in order that, as Christ at His first coming appeared inglorious, even so the first coming of the spirit, which remained always pure in Elijah like that of Christ, might be perceived to be inglorious. For the Lord said He would wage war against Amalek with concealed hand; and you will not deny that Amalek fell. But if it is said that only in the glorious advent of Christ war will be waged with Amalek, how great will the fulfilment of Scripture be which says, ‘God will wage war against Amalek with concealed hand!’ You can perceive that the concealed power of God was in Christ the crucified, before whom demons, and all the principalities and powers of the earth, tremble.”… A sign of Him that was to be crucified was made… in the type of the extending of the hands of Moses, and of Oshea being named Jesus (Joshua); when you fought against Amalek: concerning which God enjoined that the incident be recorded, **and the name of Jesus laid up in your understandings; saying that this is He who would blot out the memorial of Amalek from under heaven.** Now it is clear that the memorial of Amalek remained after the son of Nave (Nun): but He makes it manifest through Jesus, who was crucified, of whom also those symbols were fore-announcements of all that would happen to Him, the demons would be destroyed, and would dread His name, and that all principalities and kingdoms would fear Him; and that they who believe in Him out of all nations would be shown as God-fearing and peaceful men. > >Justin Martyr >And in the Apocalypse the same exhortation of divine preaching speaks, saying, “Hold fast that which thou hast, lest another take thy crown;” which example of perseverance and persistence is pointed out in Exodus, when Moses, for the overthrow of Amalek, who bore the type of the devil, raised up his open hands in the sign and sacrament of the cross, and could not conquer his adversary unless when he had stedfastly persevered in the sign with hands continually lifted up. “And it came to pass,” says he, “when Moses raised up his hands, Israel prevailed; but when he let down his hands, Amalek grew mighty. And they took a stone and placed it under him, and he sate thereon. And Aaron and Hur held up his hands on the one side and on the other side, and Moses’ hands were made steady even to the going down of the sun. **And Jesus routed Amalek and all his people.** And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this, and let it be a memorial in a book, and tell it in the ears of Jesus; because in destroying I will destroy the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” > >Cyprian

One of the foundational claims of dispensational theology is that there are various land promises that God has made to the nation of Israel which He has yet to fulfill. One claim is that Israel has yet to take possession of the entirety of the land which was promised to Abraham's descendants: > The Lord makes them perfectly clear. Like any modern-day land purchase, the deed indicates the boundaries of the land given: from the Nile river (which is mainly modern Egypt and Sudan) to the Euphrates (modern-day Iraq). - from Chosen People Ministries But in Joshua 21 we see the following statement: > Thus the LORD gave to Israel **all the land that he swore to give** to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands. **Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed**; all came to pass. - Joshua 21:43-45 And in Joshua's self eulogy in chapter 23 he says to Israel: > And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that **not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you**. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. - Joshua 23:14 It appears clearly stated in these two verses that **every promise** came to pass. Additionally, the context surrounding 23:14 indicates that if Israel drifts toward unfaithfulness, God will stop restraining the surrounding nations from taking the land again. Since we know that Israel did indeed drift, this seems like an adequate explanation as to why they currently do not possess all that was promised. How do dispensationalists understand these statements of fulfillment made in Joshua?

Did the Israelites learn many languages in Egypt and pass them down (including to one of these two spies)? Is it known how Rahab was able to communicate?

When Joshua 'summomed the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half tribe of Manassheh', where did he summon them to?

Some of the early church fathers seem to condone allegorical interpretations of certain part of scripture (for example Gregory of Nyssa concerning God's killing of the firstborn in Egypt). Are there any orthodox theologians today who propagate an exclusively allegorical interpretation of major parts of the Old Testament narrative?

The Bible states in numerous places that Earth and/or man is center. > Joshua 10:12-13: On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to > Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel: "O sun, > stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon." So the > sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself > on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun > stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full > day. Copernicus proved this false. This error remains unresolved. How does the Bible resolve this discrepancy?

Since Joshua 1:8 says >Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, So which Book of the Law is Joshua 1:8 referring to, since we have 66 books in the Bible and three laws, namely The Law of Moses, Psalms, and the prophets

Messianic Jews commonly refer to Jesus as "Yeshua" or "Yehoshua," which are forms of the Hebrew (and Aramaic) name commonly translated into English as "Joshua." What is the Biblical basis for using these names for Jesus?

In [Joshua 2](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=joshua+2&version=ESV) we have a classic case of civil disobedience: >3 Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” 4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5 And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” 6 But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. (ESV) What is an overview of how Catholics and Protestants (including Church fathers), have judged Rahab's actions? Did she sin by hiding the spies? Did she sin by lying? Related: https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/41650/21576

In Joshua 1:12 , Joshua talks to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. What made the Manasseh a half-tribe? The Bible doesn't refer to the Reubenites and the Gadites as "half" a tribe. Why are they a "full" tribe compared to the tribe of Manasseh?

I know questions have been asked looking for scientific evidence; but let's set that aside. If we are to interpret the bible, we must interpret it with scripture, no? This is why I will not accept scientific evidence, because you are using the science to interpret the bible. So, how do we interpret Joshua 10's So the sun stood still and the moon stopped? What did joshua mean? Could you say that: 1) The earth is not moving and at rest, while everything else revolved around the it. 2) This was a miracle. [I would need proof from within the text, not just an 'I think'] 3) We dont know.

Has anyone presented tangible, astronomical evidence of a disruption we can see today that is claimed to be caused by the Sun/Moon "stopping" roughly 3500ish years ago as it says in Joshua 10? Has any prominent figure made any scientific observations that would point to some Sun/Moon stopping event? > **Joshua 10:12-14 ESV** At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” **And the sun stood still**, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel. I am assuming a literal interpretation of this passage--that the Sun and Moon somehow "stopped", be it miraculous or God just timing it perfectly or otherwise. Related: https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/15498/11471 . I'm looking for an example of a scientist saying "this is my evidence for it" rather than "these are all the ways it could happened."

Is there a contradiction? There were 38 / 29 cities of Judah toward Edom southward. [H, 387] Joshua 15:20-32: > 20 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families. 21 And the uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah toward the coast of Edom southward were Kabzeel , and Eder , and Jagur , 22 And Kinah , and Dimonah , and Adadah , 23 And Kedesh , and Hazor , and Ithnan , 24 Ziphv , and Telem , and Bealoth , 25 And Hazor , Hadattah , and Kerioth , and Hezron , which is Hazor, 26 Amam , and Shema , and Moladah , 27 And Hazargaddah , and Heshmon , and Bethpalet 28 And Hazarshual and Beersheba and Bizjothjah 29 Baalah , and Iim , and Azem 30And Eltolad , and Chesil , and Hormah , 31 And Ziklag , and Madmannah , and Sansannah , 32 And Lebaoth , and Shilhim , and Ain , and Rimmon : all the cities are twenty and nine, with their villages: