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It describes the [[Israelite]] conquest of [[Canaan]] by its eponymous [[Joshua (Biblical leader)|hero]] and takes place after [[Moses]] freed the Hebrews from [[Egyptian]] bondage and led them through the wilderness for 40 years.  The book ends with Joshua's dividing up the territories between the [[12 tribes]] and his subsequent death.

It describes the [[Israelite]] conquest of [[Canaan]] by its eponymous [[Joshua (Biblical leader)|hero]] and takes place after [[Moses]] freed the Hebrews from [[Egyptian]] bondage and led them through the wilderness for 40 years.  The book ends with Joshua's dividing up the territories between the [[12 tribes]] and his subsequent death.

Some have considered it one the more troubling books of the Bible due to its apparently unambiguous exhortations to the murder of civilians - for example, after Joshua has put the entire population of [[Jericho]] to the sword (Joshua 6:20), [[God]] instructs him to 'Do to Ai what you did to Jericho' (Joshua 8:1).

Some have considered it one the more troubling books of the Bible due to its apparently unambiguous exhortations to the murder of civilians - for example, after Joshua has put the entire population of [[Jericho]] to the sword (Joshua 6:20), [[God]] instructs him to 'Do to Ai what you did to Jericho' וְעָשִׂיתָ לָעַי וּלְמַלְכָּהּ כַּאֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתָ לִֽירִיחֹו(Joshua 8:1).

However, one should be careful to distinguish between murder for murder's sake, and being an instrument of God's wrath - the Canaanites at the time were practitioners of child sacrifice and other abominations<ref>http://www.theology.edu/canaan.htm</ref> and God told the children of Israel to wipe them out lest they be corrupted.  They failed to carry out his instructions, and corruption away from God was a constant problem in their history.

However, one should be careful to distinguish between murder for murder's sake, and being an instrument of God's wrath - the Canaanites at the time were practitioners of child sacrifice and other abominations<ref>http://www.theology.edu/canaan.htm</ref> and God told the children of Israel to wipe them out lest they be corrupted.  They failed to carry out his instructions, and corruption away from God was a constant problem in their history.