Joshua 12 is the twelfth chapter of the Book of Joshua in the Hebrew Bible or in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the Joshua, with additions by the high priests Eleazar and Phinehas, but modern scholars view it as part of the Deuteronomistic History, which spans the books of Deuteronomy to 2 Kings, attributed to nationalistic and devotedly Yahwistic writers during the time of the reformer Judean king Josiah in 7th century BCE. This chapter records the list of kings defeated by the Israelites under the leadership of Moses and Joshua, a part of a section comprising Joshua 5:13–12:24 about the conquest of Canaan.
Text
This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language. It is divided into 24 verses.
Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).
Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint (originally was made in the last few centuries BCE) include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century) and Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century).
Analysis
The narrative of the Israelites conquering the land of Canaan comprises verses 5:13 to 12:24 of the Book of Joshua and has the following outline:
A. Jericho (5:13–6:27) B. Achan and Ai (7:1–8:29) C. Renewal at Mount Ebal (8:30–35) D. The Gibeonite Deception (9:1–27) E. The Campaign in the South (10:1–43) F. The Campaign in the North and Summary List of Kings (11:1–12:24) 1. Victory over the Northern Alliance (11:1-15) a. The Northern Alliance (11:1-5) b. Divine Reassurance (11:6) c. Victory at Merom (11:7-9) d. Destruction of Hazor (11:10–11) e. Summation of Obedience and Victory (11:12–15) 2. Summaries of Taking the Land (11:16-12:24) a. Taking the Land (11:16-20) b. Extermination of the Anakim (11:21-22) c. Narrative Pivot: Taking and Allotting (11:23) d. Capture of Land and Kings (12:1-24) i. East of the Jordan (12:1-6) ii. West of the Jordan (12:7-24)
Chapter 12 provides the closing the account of Israel's conquest of the territory in both Transjordan (verses 1–6) and Cisjordan (verses 7–24), as 'the promises land', which comprises lands allocated to all tribes of Israel.
Kings defeated east of the Jordan (12:1–6)
This section recalls once again the victories in Transjordan (cf. Joshua 1:12-15; Numbers 21; Deuteronomy 2–3), especially mentioning that the herem ("ban" or holy war) was applied there first (Deuteronomy 2:34; 3:6). The two defeated kings in Transjordan were Sihon of Heshbon and Og of Bashan. Sihon's territory extended from the river Arnon —running from the east into the Dead Sea, and forming the northern boundary of Moab — northwards along the east bank of the Jordan River to its next major tributary, the Jabbok (where Jacob had wrestled with God; Genesis 32:22–32), including a stretch of the Arabah well to the north of the Jabbok, east of "Chinneroth" (= Sea of Galilee), and eastwards to the Ammonites' borderland. Og's territory lay to the north and east of Sihon's, with two major cities, Ashtaroth and Edrei, in the east of the Sea of Galilee. By taking both territories, Moses took all the Transjordan from the Arnon (river) to (mount) Hermon, then distributed it to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh (cf. Numbers 32: Deuteronomy 2–3).
Verse 1
Now these are the kings of the land whom the people of Israel defeated and took possession of their land beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon, with all the Arabah eastward: The Transjordanian territory of Israel is defined by the Arnon river (Seil el-Mojib (Wadi Mujib) in the south and Mount Hermon in the north.
Kings defeated west of the Jordan (12:7–24)