Joshua’s conquest of the city of Jericho is the start of God’s fulfillment of His covenant with the Israelites—their settlement of Canaan, the Promised Land. Drawing on oral traditions and written sources, the authors of Joshua probably wrote the account during the Babylonian captivity of around 560 BCE in order to raise the spirits of the exiles. The story encourages the Israelites to believe that they can prevail, however poor their chances, if they put their trust in God. Having crossed the Jordan River, Joshua plans to take Jericho, a seemingly impregnable structure. Archaeological evidence reveals that the city was built on a mound surrounded by a massive earthen embankment, with a 12–15 foot (3.6–4.6m) high retaining wall around its base. Two mudbrick walls augmented this: one on top of the base and the other at the crest of the embankment. In addition, the Bible tells us, Jericho is well provisioned for a siege. A spring inside the city walls provides fresh water, while the city’s granaries are full to bursting with freshly harvested grain.

The Israelites have been transported to a Renaissance-style cityscape in this 17th-century engraving of a work by Maarten van Heemskerck.

The faith of Rahab

To find out as much as he can about the city’s defenses, Joshua sends two followers—Caleb and the high priest Eleazar—to spy on the city. Once inside Jericho, the men rest for the night in the house of a woman named Rahab near the city gates. Rahab, either a prostitute or innkeeper according to different translations, is soon faced with a dilemma. The Israelites have been spotted and the king’s guards are in pursuit. Rahab hides the spies under stalks of flax drying on her roof and tells the guards that the men left at dusk.

When the coast is clear, Rahab helps the Israelites escape. She says, “The Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below” (Joshua 2:11). They promise that she and her family will be spared when the Israelites attack. She is told to hang a scarlet thread, or cord, out of her window as a signal to keep her home safe. The spies report back to Joshua that, although Jericho’s defenses are strong, its people are demoralized by the Israelite threat.

While Joshua considers his best strategy, a man carrying a drawn sword appears before him. Some biblical scholars say this is the angel of the Lord, but others argue that it is God himself. The figure tells Joshua exactly what he must do. He is to march his soldiers in silence around Jericho once a day for six days, bearing the Ark of the Covenant and preceded by the priests blowing rams’ horns. On the seventh day, the Israelites are to march around the city seven times. The priests must then blow a last blast on the trumpets while the people raise a mighty shout.

Joshua does what God has ordered. After the final trumpet blast and the shout, the walls of the city crumble and fall down flat. Joshua’s soldiers storm into Jericho, slaughtering its inhabitants and then burning it to the ground. Rahab and her family are spared.

God’s triumph

The Israelite victory is complete. God has shown the Israelites He is on their side and Joshua’s unwavering obedience to God has allowed them to prosper under his leadership. However, the story of a city razed to the ground, its women and children slaughtered, unsettles many modern readers, to whom indiscriminate destruction is incompatible with the concept of an ethical God. The explanation, perhaps, lies in the conquest being a metaphor for the power of faith and obedience. The character of Rahab is key. Although she is a foreigner, and possibly a prostitute, she is redeemed through her faith and good works.

Archaeological finds at Jericho

One of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, ancient Jericho is a site of considerable archaeological importance. Excavations show that the first settlements appeared about 8000 BCE and were repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt over the following millennia. However, while it is clear that the city was invaded at some point in its history, most archaeologists dispute the biblical account.

British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon, who worked at Jericho in the 1950s, concluded that Jericho did not exist at the time Joshua is said to have conquered it. Jericho, Kenyon postulated, was destroyed, but it was by the Hyksos of northern Egypt in around 1550 BCE, about 150 years earlier than the biblical account. Kenyon’s findings also suggest that the city wall, which previously had been dated to the time of the Israelites, actually dates from the early Bronze Age, 1,000 years before. However, the story of the Israelite conquest may have some credence. It is possible that the Israelites conquered a town that had sprung up on the ruins of an earlier settlement.

See also: Sodom and Gomorrah • Covenants • Entering the Promised Land • The Nature of Faith