In Front | Workbook: Answering the Issue of Holy War in Joshua

Grab your Workbook Journal!

[Record your answers in the workbook provided at the beginning of this course.]

As you reflect on the treatment of holy war in Joshua, notice the following points: 

1) YHWH commands Israel to destroy the Canaanites, with additional emphasis on the destruction of their idols and other items involved in religious ritual. (See Deuteronomy 7 and 13:12–18, as well as Genesis 15:16.)
2) YHWH limits His judgment to the land of Canaan.
3) Conquest literature was an historically recognized literary form that would invoke certain ways of thinking about divine intervention.

Reference: Brent Strawn, The Old Testament Is Dying, 2017, pp. 93-94.

13. In your workbook, respond to the following accusation: “The concept of holy war in Joshua pictures a vengeful God who does not really care for humanity.”