101 Myths of the Bible: how ancient scribes - Conscious Evolution TV

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yth #90:
Joshua led Israel after the death of Moses.
The Myth: Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to
pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,
Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this
people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. ( Josh.
1:1–2)
The Reality: Joshua’s name indicates that he was a mythological figure named
after two Egyptian creation deities.
Before leaving Joshua’s campaigns in Canaan, we should ask ourselves: if almost
every major battle story is fictitious, did Joshua himself actually exist? No, he didn’t.
The Bible frequently refers to Joshua as “Joshua, Son of Nun.” This name raises
some questions. In Hebrew, Joshua’s actual name is“Jeho-shua.” The Jeho portion represents
JHWH, the name of the Hebrew God, and many Israelites had that element
in their name. Scholars usually translate his name as“God saves” or“God is salvation.”
( Jeho-shua is also the proper Hebrew name for Jesus.)
But we have a chronological problem with Joshua having the element“Jeho” in his
name. The name JHWH did not become known to the Israelites until Moses
brought it into Egypt at the time of the Exodus. He himself didn’t learn that name of
God until just before going back to Egypt to confront the pharaoh. The Hebrew Patriarchs
apparently knew God only under the name El Shaddai. Exodus 6:3 proves this:
“And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of El Shaddai,
but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.” (English translations
usually substitute “God Almighty” for the Hebrew words “El Shaddai.”“El Shaddai”
means“El the Mighty.” El is the chief Canaanite God, whose name is subsumed in the
Hebrew Elohim.)
But Joshua already had reached adulthood and served under Moses at the time of
the Exodus. He couldn’t have had the element“Jeho” in his birth name because his par-