5 min read

Joshua Wrote a Letter Before He Raised His Spear

Three choices went out ahead of the army. Leave, make peace, or fight. The Girgashites packed and left their graves behind.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The Girgashites Read It and Packed
  2. Jericho Fell Without His Spear
  3. The Arm That Would Not Come Down
  4. The Sun Stopped Over Gibeon

Joshua sat with a letter before he sat with a spear.

Joshua Wrote a Letter Before He Raised His Spear Click for full size

The Jordan was still in front of the camp. Jericho's walls were still standing. He wrote to every people whose land Israel was about to enter. He listed the plagues in Egypt, the sea that split, the manna that fell each morning, the water struck from rock. Forty years of impossible history, written in plain sentences, and at the end of it an army on the bank. He was not bluffing. He was also not swinging yet.

Three choices. Leave, and go in peace. Stay, and make peace. Stay, and fight.

He sealed it with a last line. "If the hero Japheth is with you, we have in our midst the Hero of heroes, the Highest above all the high."

The Girgashites Read It and Packed

The messenger who carried that letter did not go empty-handed. He told the cities what he had seen in Israel's camp: the discipline, Joshua standing five ells high, a crown cut with the Name of God. The nations were already afraid. Then they read the three roads.

The Girgashites packed.

They had houses. They had fields. They had graves in the soil. They looked at the record of what God had done for Israel and made the plain choice left to them. They left. God gave them a land as beautiful as the one they abandoned, in Africa, so the leaving would not be a death. A whole nation stepped out of the war before the first trumpet.

The Gibeonites chose the middle road and came later in worn sacks with dry bread, asking for a covenant. Joshua made peace with them, and that peace would drag him into a night march before the story was done. The rest reached for weapons. Thirty-one kings chose the third option.

Jericho Fell Without His Spear

Jericho required no javelin. For six days the ark went around the city and the trumpets sounded and the people kept silent. On the seventh day they circled seven times, shouted, and the wall dropped (Joshua 6:20). No captain could claim that afternoon as tactics. The remaining cities heard it anyway.

Ai was supposed to be smaller. The first assault failed. Thirty-six men died. The rest fled. Joshua tore his garments and fell on his face before the ark until evening (Joshua 7:6). The break was inside the camp. Achan had taken from the devoted things of Jericho. Once that theft was pulled out of Israel, God spoke again. Go up to Ai. I have given it into your hand.

The Arm That Would Not Come Down

Joshua set a large force in hiding west of the city. He came from the north with the main army, drew the garrison out by pretending to run, and waited.

The signal was his arm.

God told him to stretch the spear toward Ai, and God would deliver the city (Joshua 8:18). Joshua raised it. The hidden men saw the spear, rose, entered Ai, and set it on fire. The garrison, caught in the valley with their own town burning behind them, had nowhere to turn.

Joshua did not lower his arm.

Morning passed. Afternoon passed. Smoke went up. Men fought under the line of that spear, and he held it out until there was nothing left to hold it for (Joshua 8:26). He drew it back when Ai was gone.

The Sun Stopped Over Gibeon

The spear was not the last time his arm governed a day. Five Amorite kings came against Gibeon because Gibeon had made peace. Joshua marched all night from Gilgal and struck them at dawn. God threw great hailstones on the fleeing kings. More died by hail than by sword (Joshua 10:11).

There was still not enough light to finish it.

Joshua spoke to the Lord, then spoke in the hearing of Israel. He told the sun to stand still over Gibeon, and the moon to halt in the valley of Aijalon (Joshua 10:12). The sun held. The moon did not move. A whole day stretched where only an afternoon had been.

Who could stand against him, for the wars of the Lord were being fought? The Girgashites had understood the letter. The garrison of Ai understood the spear. The kings at Gibeon understood the sky refusing to go dark. Each of them received the same news. Only the delivery changed.

He had written first. He raised the spear only after the letter had been refused.

JoshuaConquestCanaanHoly LandDivine Names
← All myths

From the tradition

Sources

3 sources

The texts behind this telling. Some cards carry a translation of the source; others are our own retelling of it, and each card says which. Every card links out to the original.

Legends of the Jews 1:47Legends of the Jews

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909) · Public Domain

The familiar story is this: – the Exodus, the wandering in the desert, and finally, the moment to claim their inheritance. But it wasn’t just a simple walk in the park. There were nations already there, powerful and not exactly thrilled to see the Israelites arriving. And Joshua, ever the strategist, knew that words could be just as important as swords.

In Legends of the Jews, compiled by Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, Joshua sent a letter ahead to these nations, a kind of "heads up" before they arrived. It wasn't just a polite invitation; it was a powerful declaration. He reminded them of all the miracles God had performed for Israel, a history of divine intervention that should make anyone think twice before messing with them. And he ended with a bold statement: "If the hero Japheth is with you, we have in the midst of us the Hero of heroes, the Highest above all the high."

The reaction of those "heathen" nations must have been a mix of fear and disbelief. And it only intensified when Joshua's messenger started talking about the Israelite army's discipline, the sheer size of Joshua himself – reportedly five amot (ells) tall!, his regal attire, and a crown inscribed with the very Name of God. It was a full-on intimidation tactic.

Words can only go so far. After seven days, Joshua appeared with twelve thousand troops. And that’s when things got really interesting.

Enter the mother of King Shobach, described as a powerful witch. Not one to back down from a challenge, she used her magic to trap the Israelite army within seven walls. Talk about a magical checkmate! What could Joshua do?

He sent a carrier pigeon – yes, a carrier pigeon!, to Nabiah, king of the tribes east of the Jordan, urging him to come quickly with the priest Phinehas and, crucially, the sacred trumpets, the shofarot (plural of shofar).

Nabiah didn't waste any time. But before he even arrived, Shobach’s mother, the witch, realized her magic was failing. She saw a star rising in the East, a sign that her power was useless against the divine force backing the Israelites. In a fit of rage, Shobach threw his own mother from the wall! He didn't last much longer himself, falling to Nabiah in battle.

Finally, Phinehas arrived with the shofarot. And here's where the story takes a truly wondrous turn. At the sound of those trumpets, a blast of sacred sound, the walls toppled! Just like that.

A pitched battle followed, and according to the legend, the heathen were completely annihilated.

What does this all mean? It's more than just a war story. Joshua's story reminds us of the power of faith, of strategic thinking, and of the unwavering belief in something greater than ourselves. And maybe, just maybe, the right sound at the right time can bring down even the strongest walls.

Full source
Ben Sira 46:6Ben Sira

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Wisdom of Ben Sira, Cambridge University Press (1899) · CC-BY

Ben Sira turns to Joshua Raised His Javelin Against the City.

Ben Sira, in his wisdom, certainly did. He paints a picture of Joshua in chapter 46 that's nothing short of awe-inspiring.

"To avenge vengeance on the enemies, and to inherit Israel. How admirable when he stretched out his hand, when he waved his javelin at a city." Can you just see that image? Joshua, hand outstretched, javelin raised, a figure of righteous fury and divine purpose.

It wasn't just about brute strength. Ben Sira asks, "Who is it who could stand against him? For the wars of ADONAI were fought." That's Adonai, Hebrew for "Lord," often used as a substitute name for God. This wasn't just Joshua's fight; it was God's. He was an instrument, a conduit for divine will.

And here's where it gets really interesting. "Was it not by his hand that the sun stood still, a single day as if it were two?"

Now, that's a story you might remember. It's the miracle recounted in the Book of Joshua itself ((Joshua 10:1)3). The sun and moon stopped in the sky, allowing Joshua and his army to complete their victory against the Amorites. Ben Sira emphasizes that this wasn't just some lucky break. This was a direct intervention, a bending of the very laws of nature.

Why?

Because, as Ben Sira tells it, "For he called to God the Highest, as his enemies surrounding forced him; and God the Highest answered him, with stones of ice and hail." Joshua cried out in desperation, and God responded with a literal storm of divine force. "He threw them down on the enemy nation, and as they fled destroyed them all; so that all battling nations knew, that ADONAI guards their wars."

It's a powerful reminder that even in the face of overwhelming odds, faith and righteous action can bring about the seemingly impossible. It's also a potent image of God's active involvement in the world, protecting those who fight for what is right.

Are we meant to expect the sun to stand still when we face our own challenges? Probably not literally. But perhaps the story of Joshua and his divinely-aided battles is a call to have faith in the face of adversity, to trust that even when we feel surrounded, we are not alone. And maybe, just maybe, to remember that sometimes, the greatest victories are won not through our own strength, but through the power of something much, much larger than ourselves.

Full source
Devarim Rabbah 5:14Devarim Rabbah

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah, 2022 · CC-BY

Devarim Rabbah turns to Joshua's Surprising Call for Peace Before Battle.

(Deuteronomy 20:10) tells us, "When you approach a city to wage war against it, you shall call to it for peace. But the rabbis of Devarim Rabbah, a collection of homiletic interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, saw profound wisdom in this verse. They asked: Who actually did this? Who embodied this call for peace before war?

The answer? Joshua son of Nun.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman paints a vivid picture of Joshua's approach. Before engaging in battle, Joshua would issue a public decree in every place he intended to conquer. This wasn't just a formality. It was a genuine invitation, a three-pronged offer: "Anyone who wishes to leave, let him leave; whoever wishes to make peace let him do so; and whoever wishes to wage war, let him do so.” He gave the inhabitants a choice. It wasn't just about brute force. It was about offering options, respecting agency, and perhaps, even minimizing bloodshed.

So, what happened?

Well, the Girgashites, one of the Canaanite nations, took Joshua up on his offer. They chose exile. They evacuated their land and, according to the midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), were blessed by God with a land just as beautiful as their former home – Africa. Yes, Africa!

The Givonites, on the other hand, chose a different path. They opted for peace treaties. And Joshua, true to his word, honored their decision and made peace with them.

But what about those who chose war? The thirty-one kings who decided to fight Joshua? Devarim Rabbah tells us that the Holy One, blessed be He, caused them to fall into Joshua's hands. The text references (Deuteronomy 3:3), "We smote him until we left him no remnant," to illustrate the completeness of their defeat.

So, what does this tell us? It's not just a simple war story. It's a story about choices. A story about the potential for peace, even in the face of conflict. It's a story about how offering alternatives can lead to unexpected outcomes, both for those who choose to fight and those who choose to flee. And perhaps most importantly, it's a story reminding us that even in times of war, the call for peace should always be the first, and perhaps most powerful, weapon.

Full source