{"id":53840,"date":"2019-04-17T00:02:52","date_gmt":"2019-04-16T21:02:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=53840"},"modified":"2022-11-09T08:05:56","modified_gmt":"2022-11-09T06:05:56","slug":"joshuas-last-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/joshuas-last-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Joshua\u2019s Last War"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[806,363,597,863],"acf":{"old_id":"53840","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33877,"related_cahpter":"200","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"And its commemoration to this day","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the beginning of our chapter we are told: \u201cJoshua was now old, advanced in years\u2026\u201d (13:1). The rest of his days seem to have been devoted to allotting portions of the Promised Land to the various Israelite tribes (chapters 13-22). Joshua dies, \u201ca very old man\u201d (23:2) at the age of 110 (24:29). In comparison, Moses was \u201c120 years old when he died; his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated\u201d (Deuteronomy 24:7). Despite Joshua\u2019s advanced age, after having defeated 31 kings (12:24), according to the medieval Samaritan Chronicle (see Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, \u201cWar with the Armenians\u201d), Joshua waged one last war.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">King Shobach (compare 2 Samuel 10:16 and I Chronicles 19:16) is said to have united 45 kings of Persia and Media, who were joined, quite surprisingly, by Japheth, one of the sons of Noah! These kings send a letter to Joshua, addressing him as \u201cYou, Wolf of the Desert\u201d. They inform him that in 30 days they will attack, each king with 60,000 warriors. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Joshua replies in equally bellicose terms: \u201cIn the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel, who saps the strength of the iniquitous warrior &#8230; He breaks up the assemblies of marauding transgressors, and He gathers together in council the pious and the just scattered abroad \u2026 God is the Lord of war! From me, Joshua, the servant of God, and from the holy and chosen congregation to the impious nations \u2026 No peace unto you, saith my God! Know that ye acted foolishly to awaken the slumbering lion, to rouse up the lion&#8217;s whelp, to excite his wrath &#8230; Be ye prepared to meet me, for within a week I shall be with you to slay your warriors to a man \u2026&#8221; <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite the enemy\u2019s use of witchcraft, which is initially successful, ultimately Joshua is victorious with an Israelite army of just 12,000 troops. Joshua is assisted by the priest Phinehas, who arrives just in the nick of time, trumpets blaring. Despite the obviously anachronistic and decidedly imaginative nature of this Samaritan tradition, it is reflected in medieval Jewish sources about Joshua (see Legends cited above).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As we approach the Pesach holiday, it may be recalled that the first Passover in the Promised Land was celebrated by Joshua immediately after leading the Israelites\u2019 crossing of the Jordan and before beginning the Conquest of Canaan (5:10-12). Significantly, the Samaritans [Shomronim], who preserved the tradition of Joshua\u2019s Last War, have continued to celebrate their Passover by sacrificing the Paschal lamb, as in Biblical and Second Temple times, but at their sanctuary at Mount Gerizim, near Shechem (Nablus). The present-day Samaritans celebrate their Passover this year today, on April 18, 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image by: Flavio Grynszpan, Samaritan passover, 2011 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":53841,"id":53841,"title":"jo13-Samaritans'_Passover_at_Mount_Gerizim_5671133587","filename":"jo13-Samaritans_Passover_at_Mount_Gerizim_5671133587.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo13-Samaritans_Passover_at_Mount_Gerizim_5671133587.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/joshuas-last-war\/jo13-samaritans_passover_at_mount_gerizim_5671133587\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jo13-samaritans_passover_at_mount_gerizim_5671133587","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":53840,"date":"2019-04-16 21:02:37","modified":"2019-04-16 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