1) this is a mythic account, similar to the Red Sea parting. God demonstrates power over the waters again. to me it has echoes of the ancient Baal story in a fight with Judge River. (see chapter on this crossing in slaying the Dragon by a professor from DePauw . To me, it shows the immense religious confidence of israel to appropriate other stories and fold them into their story.
2) it seems to me to be crucial to note that this military campaign is more like a religious procession and will show itself again in a similar fashion in Jericho.this is an interesting take on the violence of the conquest that is such canard with those who stereotype the OT without bothering to read it at times.
3) the river marks a boundary. so for me it is a liminal place, a threshold.
4) Recall Joshua is the name of Jesus in Hebrew (god saves/helps/delivers)
5) what do you think it felt like for Joshua to enter this long-Promised Land? did he think of Moses, do you wonder?
6) this is a good place to remind the gentle reader that many folks see the conquest stories as not accurately depicting the rise of Israel. Gottwald, for instance, imagines a sort of Maoist peasant revolt from the inside that linked Hebrew settlers with other groups. We catch hints in the stories that the three lightning strikes of Joshua’s blitz did not roll over so easily. Consider that Jerusalem remained a city state for quite some time under the Jebusites.
7) The great Bruce Springsteen has a song the Promised Land, and it also appears in at least one other song, if I am not mistaken.This would be a good place to consider the pluses and minuses of the dream of the Promised Land as physical reality or metaphor.
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