Complete v. Incomplete Conquest: A Re-Examination of Three Passages in Joshua.

Abstract

Most commentaries and articles regarding the book of Joshua take as a starting point an apparent contradiction between a complete and an incomplete conquest. Surprisingly, as Kitchen observes, there has not been a ‘careful and close’ reading of the passages taken as evidence of a complete conquest (i.e. Josh. 10:40-43; 11:16-23; 21:43-45). This article seeks to fill that gap in the literature. A close reading of these passages suggests that the author carefully describes the extent of the conquest. It seems the apparent contradiction regarding these passages has been overstated.