What was Jericho?

Answer 1

It's the story of how the Israelites -after having been lead out of slavery in Egypt by Moses, and after having wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, finally entered the promised land of Canaan (Israel) and began to take possession of the land through conquest. Jericho was the first city they came across having entered Canaan. Following God's instructions, they marched around the city once a day for seven days, then on the seventh day they marched around it seven times. Then they blew on their trumpets and made a big noise and God caused the walls of Jericho to fall down.

Answer 2

The city walls came down after Joshua and the armies of Israel marched around them for seven days and on the seventh day, in obedience to God's word, blew the Trumpet and shouted. After the people shouted, the walls came tumbling down, which in turn allowed the armies of Israel to conquer Jericho, as promised by God.

Answer 3

Ancient Jericho was destroyed and later rebuilt several times. Archaeologists have found layer upon layer, resulting from the city being abandoned and covered with dust, then rebuit on top of the old ruins. The last time before Hebrew occupation of the Palestinian hinterland appears to have been the result of an earthquake that caused widespread damage throughout the Levant.

At the time attributed to the Israelite conquest of Canaan, scholars say that there was, at most, a small mud-brick village on the site of Jericho. However, when The Bible was written, many centuries later, the Hebrews probably knew that there had been a walled city on that city, but did not know when it was destroyed or what brought down the walls. They simply assumed that it must have been the result of their own glorious conquest of the ancient inhabitants.

Answer 4

A:There are two important parallels between the story of the Exodus and the story of the conquest of Jericho. One is the use of spies, the other involves the historicity of the stories.

In the Book of Numbers account of the Exodus, Moses sent spies to search the land of Canaan, but the narrative is actually two versions of the same story, by two different authors, blended together in the same book. As a result, there are two different reports about the land of Canaan and two different responses to those reports. Scholars are almost unanimous in saying there was no Exodus from Egypt as described in the Bible, so this is not a historical account.

In the Book of Joshua, spies are sent into Jericho, where they found refuge with the harlot, Rahab. This is an equally improbable story as, even if there really had been an assault on Jericho, the spies risked their lives but provided no information of value and were unlikely to do so. From a historical viewpoint, we now know there was no longer a city where Jericho had once stood. The name Rahab (or Rachab) is very similar to the Hebrew verb rāhab, which can mean 'to beset, storm or assault'. If Joshua was about to storm or assault Jericho, would this have given rise to the fictional harlot's name?

A biblical perspective:Both incidents involved God "parting waters." In the exodus, the Israelites made good their escape from the Egyptians when God parted the waters of the Red Sea, allowing them to cross (Exodus 14).

In the book of Joshua, God parted the waters of the Jordan River to facilitate the Israelites' entry into the land just prior to the conquest of Jericho (Joshua 3).

Answer 5

Jericho was located at that site because a small spring provided enough drinking water for a small city based on farming. During the bronze age, prior to the introduction of iron ploughs and terracing, the region around Jericho was quite marginal, and the people would have struggled to make a living.

An earthquake around 1550 BCE caused widespread damage to the city buildings and walls, after which the city was simply abandoned. Afterwards, a small, unwalled village grew up on the site, once again because of the reliable water supply from the spring. Jericho was not rebuilt as a substantial town or city until well into the Israelite period.

Answer 6

Jericho was one of the most ancient cities in the world. Built in the Canaanite hinterland, the city was abandoned after an earthquake in about 1550 BCE and not reoccupied until well into the Israelite period. Although there was no city at the time attributed to Joshua, there was a small, unwalled village on or near the site of the ancient city.

When the Israelites began to develop traditions of a glorious military conquest, it was natural that they assumed that the city walls lay in ruins because they had conquered Jericho centuries earlier.

Answer 7

Joshua conquered the city at God's command and miraculously, with the walls collapsing after the Israelites had marched around the city seven times. Joshua ch.5. See also:

Evidence of the Joshua's conquest of Jericho

Archaeology and the Hebrew Bible