Literary Devices in Book of Joshua
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
Who here likes geography? Well, since we can't see you, we're going to assume everyone who reads this raised their hands. Now that we have that settled, let's talk about Canaan. The book of Joshua,...
Genre
The book of Joshua, the first tome in the historical texts section of the Bible, is what scholars call salvation history. Joshua is not meant to be taken literally. In fact, it's discouraged. The s...
What's Up With the Title?
Whether it be Joshua or Yehoshua (the Hebrew word for "Joshua"), the title of the Book of Joshua is a misnomer. That's right, we said it. The Book of Joshua is really a story about the Israelite na...
What's Up With the Ending?
He dies? He dies! That's right Shmoopers, our scruffy nerf herder Joshua dies at the end of his own book. What a downer. It's the same feeling we got when we watched the first five minutes of Up. T...
Trivia
Ever want to float in the air like you just don't care? Well, we can't help you there, but try floating in the Dead Sea. Because the Dead Sea is ten times saltier than your average sea, you'll have...
Sex Drugs And Violence Rating
Joshua is rated R for intense violence, gore, and sexual innuendo. We thought about giving this a PG-13, but we had a hard time getting around the insane amount of violence and death in the book. L...
Allusions
In I Kings 16:34, Joshua's curse on Jericho comes to pass.In 2 Samuel 21:1-9, the Gibeonites come to David demanding justice.Israelite enemies are often so numerous that they are compared to the sa...