Saint Joshua the Patriarch

Feast Day: September 1st

Saint Joshua: The Falling of the Walls of Jericho with the Trumpets and the Ark of the Covenant

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Joshua , son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, Moses' successor, the commander of the army of Israel in its battle with Amalec, and one of the spies sent in to Chanaan.

The Book of Joshua

Joshua (Josue), Book of, the sixth book of the Bible, treating of the conquest of Chanaan by the Israelites under Joshua. After crossing the Jordan and capturing Jericho the Israelites defeated the Chanaanites and divided the conquered territory among the 12 tribes. Before his death, Joshua addressed  the assembled people urging them to remain faithful to their God. The book itself was written in great part by an eye-witness, probably Joshua himself. The precise knowledge of lesser details, the ancient names of Chanaanite towns, the treating of Rahab as a living contemporary, and the mention of memorial stones as still in the Jordan (4,9), justify this view, which both the Jews and the Fathers upheld. A later writer is responsible for the account of Joshua's death, for additional explanatory glosses, and, in general, for the editing of the book. The historical value of the narrative is substantiated by its fidelity to older geographical names and to some circumstances of the time which archaeology is able to control. No Catholic exegete will regard the miracles recorded in Joshua as an objection to it historical veracity. Sts. Paul, James, and Stephen accepted the facts narrated as history, and this has ever been the opinion in the Catholic Church-C.E. Seisenberger, tr. Buchanan, Practical Handbook for the Study of the Bible, N.Y., 1911