Biblical Hebrew for All

Joshua

Introduction

The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian exile.
It tells of the campaigns of the Israelites in central, southern and northern Canaan, the destruction of their enemies, and the division of the land among the Twelve Tribes, framed by two set-piece speeches, the first by God commanding the conquest of the land, and, at the end, the second by Joshua warning of the need for faithful observance of the Law (torah) that was revealed to Moses.

Structure

  1. Transfer of leadership to Joshua (1:1–18)
    A. God's commission to Joshua (1:1–9)
    B. Joshua's instructions to the people (1:10–18)
  2. Entrance into and conquest of Canaan (2:1–12:24)
    A. Entry into Canaan
        1.Reconnaissance of Jericho (2:1–24)
        2. Crossing the River Jordan (3:1–17)
        3. Establishing a foothold at Gilgal (4:1–5:1)
        4. Circumcision and Passover (5:2–15)
    B. Victory over Canaan (6:1–12:24)
        1. Destruction of Jericho (6)
        2. Failure and success at Ai (7:1–8:29)
        3. Renewal of the covenant at Mount Ebal (8:30–35)
        4. Other campaigns in central Canaan. The Gibeonite Deception (9:1–27)
        5. Campaigns in southern Canaan (10:1–43)
        6. Campaigns in northern Canaan (11:1–15)
        7. Summary of lands conquered (11:16-23)
        8. Summary list of defeated kings (12:1–24)
  3. Division of the land among the tribes (13:1–22:34)
    A. God's instructions to Joshua (13:1–7)
    B. Tribal allotments (13:8–19:51)
        1. Eastern tribes (13:8–33)
        2. Western tribes (14:1–19:51)
    C. Cities of refuge and levitical cities (20:1–21:42)
    D. Summary of conquest (21:43–45)
    E. De-commissioning of the eastern tribes (22:1–34)
  4. Conclusion (23:1–24:33)
    A. Joshua's farewell address (23:1–16)
    B. Covenant at Shechem (24:1–28)
    C. Deaths of Joshua and Eleazar; burial of Joseph's bones (24:29–33)
The rest of this comprehensive Wikipedia article on the book can be read here.
An extract from BHFA Volume 5

Joshua 4:9a

וּשְׁתֵּים  עֶשְׂרֵה  אֲבָנִים    הֵקִים    יְהוֹשֻׁעַ        בְּתוֹךְ        הַיַּרְדֵּן

the Jordan   in the middle of   Joshua   he set up   stones      ten      and two

  • KJB    And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan,
  • NASB  Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan
  • ESV    And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan,
  • NLTJoshua also set up another pile of twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan,
  • NIVJoshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan
Many scholars believe that this account of events stands in contrast to the account in Jos 4:20 in which the stones are set up at Gilgal. But in 4:8-9 we learn that there were two sets of stones. Twelve stones were set up in the Jordan, and twelve stones were taken with them to later be set up at Gilgal.
The NIV attempts to harmonize these two accounts by changing this verse to say that Joshua set up the twelve stones that "had been" in the middle of the Jordan. However, the past-tense verb that the NIV has inserted does not appear in the Hebrew. To their credit, the NIV does offer an alternate translation in a footnote, which is correct as it adds “also” to imply a second set of 12 stones.