A commentary on passages from the Book of Joshua examining conquest narratives and the moral questions they raise about violence, justice, and responsibility. If the Almighty is the Creator of all nations, how should such commands be understood?
This reflection continues a series of commentaries on the Tanakh, examining passages from the Book of Joshua through moral reflection and the voice of conscience.
The Book of Joshua contains conquest narratives describing the destruction of cities and the seizure of lands. These passages raise profound moral questions about war, the authority attributed to the LORD, and the interpretation of sacred texts.
If the Almighty is the Creator of all peoples and nations, how should such commands be understood?
Tanakh Context
This commentary is part of a series examining passages from the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible traditionally divided into three sections:
Torah (Pentateuch) — the foundational narratives and laws.
Nevi’im (Prophets) — historical and prophetic writings.
Ketuvim (Writings) — wisdom literature and later reflections.
The present reflection focuses on passages from the Book of Joshua, part of the section known as the Prophets.
Contents: Joshua — Reading Conquest Narratives Through Conscience
Joshua 1:3
Illustration associated with the conquest narratives described in the Book of Joshua.
3 Every spot on which your foot treads I give to you, as I promised Moses.*
The Promise of Land
This statement appears to promise the lands of other nations to one particular people.
Such a declaration raises an essential question.
If the Almighty is the Creator of all humanity, could He truly belong only to one nation while granting them the lands of others?
If a god grants one nation the right to seize the lands of another, can such a figure truly represent the universal Creator?
For the Almighty cannot have chosen or rejected nations. The Creator of the universe stands above divisions between peoples.
Joshua 2:1; 6:17–21
2:1 Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, reconnoiter the region of Jericho.” So they set out, and they came to the house of a harlot named Rahab and lodged there.
6:17 The city and everything in it are to be proscribed for the LORD; only Rahab the harlot is to be spared, and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers we sent.
6:18 But you must beware of that which is proscribed, or else you will be proscribed: if you take anything from that which is proscribed, you will cause the camp of Israel to be proscribed; you will bring calamity upon it.
6:19 All the silver and gold and objects of copper and iron are consecrated to the LORD; they must go into the treasury of the LORD.”
6:20 So the people shouted when the horns were sounded. When the people heard the sound of the horns, the people raised a mighty shout and the wall collapsed. The people rushed into the city, every man straight in front of him, and they captured the city.
6:21 They exterminated everything in the city with the sword: man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and ass.
War and Justification
The narrative continues with descriptions of conquest and destruction.
Throughout history, violence has often been accompanied by justifications intended to make it appear righteous.
Yet the conscience raises difficult questions.
If an attack is carried out in revenge against a few individuals, what justification could exist for the killing of infants, women, and other innocent people?
Can such acts truly reflect the will of the Creator of life?
If all peoples were to follow such “laws,” would the world not long ago have been destroyed by endless wars, plunder, and moral collapse?
These questions invite the reader to examine the spiritual nature of the commands described in such texts.
Joshua 7:19–24
19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, pay honor to the LORD, the God of Israel, and make confession to Him. Tell me what you have done; do not hold anything back from me.”
20 Achan answered Joshua, “It is true, I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I did:
21 I saw among the spoil a fine Shinar mantle, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, and I coveted them and took them. They are buried in the ground in my tent, with the silver under it.”
22 Joshua sent messengers, who hurried to the tent; and there it was, buried in his tent, with the silver underneath.
23 They took them from the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites, and displayed them before the LORD.
24 Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan son of Zerah—and the silver, the mantle, and the wedge of gold—his sons and daughters, and his ox, his ass, and his flock, and his tent, and all his belongings, and brought them up to the Valley of Achor.
The Problem of Loot
Another episode reveals a different moral problem.
After the destruction of a city, attention is focused not on regret over what occurred, but on whether one man kept more of the spoils than he was permitted to take.
This creates a disturbing impression.
Is the true problem the destruction of an entire population, or merely the unequal distribution of plunder?
Such passages invite readers to reflect on the moral image of righteousness that is being presented.
Joshua 8:1-35
1 The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be frightened or dismayed. Take all the fighting troops with you, go and march against Ai. See, I will deliver the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land into your hands.
2 You shall treat Ai and her king as you treated Jericho and her king; however, you may take the spoil and the cattle as booty for yourselves. Now set an ambush against the city behind it.”
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24 When Israel had killed all the inhabitants of Ai who had pursued them into the open wilderness, and all of them, to the last man, had fallen by the sword, all the Israelites turned back to Ai and put it to the sword.
25The total of those who fell that day, men and women, the entire population of Ai, came to twelve thousand.
26 Joshua did not draw back the hand with which he held out his javelin until all the inhabitants of Ai had been exterminated.
27 However, the Israelites took the cattle and the spoil of the city as their booty, in accordance with the instructions that the LORD had given to Joshua.
28 Then Joshua burned down Ai, and turned it into a mound of ruins for all time, a desolation to this day.
29 And the king of Ai was impaled on a stake until the evening. At sunset, Joshua had the corpse taken down from the stake and it was left lying at the entrance to the city gate. They raised a great heap of stones over it, which is there to this day.
30 At that time Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,
31 as Moses, the servant of the LORD, had commanded the Israelites—as is written in the Book of the Teaching of Moses—an altar of unhewn stone upon which no iron had been wielded. They offered on it burnt offerings to the LORD, and brought sacrifices of well-being.
32 And there, on the stones, he inscribed a copy of the Teaching that Moses had written for the Israelites.
33 All Israel—stranger and citizen alike—with their elders, officials, and magistrates, stood on either side of the Ark, facing the levitical priests who carried the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant. Half of them faced Mount Gerizim and half of them faced Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded them of old, in order to bless the people of Israel.
34 After that, he read all the words of the Teaching, the blessing and the curse, just as is written in the Book of the Teaching.
35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua failed to read in the presence of the entire assembly of Israel, including the women and children and the strangers who accompanied them.
Conquest and the Moral Image of the “Divine”
Further passages describe continued conquest and destruction of cities.
This again raises fundamental questions.
Does the Almighty love some nations less than others?
Would the Creator of all humanity incite one people against another by promising them victory, land, and possessions?
Or could such ideas reflect human interpretations shaped by fear, greed, or the desire for domination?
These questions challenge the reader to weigh the spiritual nature of the teaching itself.
Reading Scripture Through Conscience
Many readers attempt to decipher hidden meanings in letters and words of sacred texts.
Yet a deeper question must be asked.
Why do people search for secret codes in scripture but rarely examine the moral and spiritual level of the teachings themselves?
Only through spiritual discernment can one distinguish what truly comes from the Creator from what may have arisen through distortion or misunderstanding.
The Voice of the Almighty — Conscience
The voice of the Almighty is often heard within the human heart as conscience.
Some dismiss conscience as something immaterial or insignificant.
Yet the absence of conscience leads precisely to the kind of actions that bring destruction to the world.
When reading the words of prophets and teachers, every person faces a choice.
Will one follow the voice of fear, pride, or blind obedience?
Or will one listen to the voice of the Creator — the voice of conscience?
Each individual must make that choice consciously and independently.
Conclusion
When reading the continuation of the Book of the Prophets, each reader must examine the state of their own soul.
Will the voice of conscience be placed above fear?
Or will fear of religious authority silence the inner voice of the Creator?
Later wisdom traditions, such as the teachings of Mishlei (Proverbs), place the voice of wisdom and justice above violence and conquest.
