Editing Joshua (section)

===Conquest of Canaan===
{{main|Book of Joshua}}
[[File:JoshuaSun Martin.jpg|thumb|''[[Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon]]'' by [[John Martin (painter)|John Martin]], 1816]]

At the [[Jordan River]], the waters parted, as they had for Moses at the [[Red Sea]]. The first battle after the crossing of the Jordan was the [[Battle of Jericho]]. Joshua led the destruction of [[Jericho]], then moved on to [[Ai (Bible)|Ai]], a small neighboring city to the west. However, they were defeated with thirty-six Israelite deaths. The defeat was attributed to [[Achan (Bible)|Achan]] taking an "accursed thing" from Jericho; and was followed by Achan and his family and animals being stoned to death to restore God's favor. Joshua then went to defeat Ai.

The Israelites faced an alliance of five [[Amorite]] kings from [[Jerusalem]], [[Hebron]], [[Jarmuth]], [[Lachish]], and [[Eglon, Canaan|Eglon]]. At [[Gibeon (ancient city)|Gibeon]], Joshua asked the {{Lord}} to cause the Sun and Moon to stand still, so that he could finish the battle in daylight. According to the text, the Sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. This event is most notable because "There has been no day like it before or since, when the {{Lord}} heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel."<ref>''Bible'' {{bibleverse||Joshua|10:14|ESV}}</ref> The {{Lord}} also fought for the Israelites in this battle, for he hurled huge hailstones from the sky which killed more Canaanites than those which the Israelites slaughtered. From there on, Joshua was able to lead the Israelites to several victories, securing much of the land of Canaan. He presided over the Israelite gatherings at [[Gilgal]] and [[Shiloh (biblical city)|Shiloh]] which [[Land lottery|allocated land]] to the tribes of Israel (Joshua 14:1–5 and 18:1–10), and the Israelites rewarded him with the Ephraimite city of [[Timnath-heres]] or Timnath-serah, where he settled (Joshua 19:50).

According to the [[Talmud]], Joshua in his book enumerated only those towns on the frontier.{{efn|name=BabaBathra}}