Joshua

Joshua is Moses' successor who leads Israel across the Jordan into the promised land, conducting the conquest of Canaan as detailed in the closing chapters of Jasher - from the fall of Jericho through the division of the land among the tribes. In Jasher, Joshua emerges first as a military commander at Rephidim, leading Israel's forces against Amalek while Moses intercedes from the hilltop. After Moses' death, Joshua assumes full leadership, crossing the Jordan, conquering Jericho through ritual procession, and systematically subduing the Canaanite kingdoms. The Book of Jubilees situates his role within the broader framework of divine promise and jubilee chronology, presenting the conquest as the fulfillment of covenants made to Abraham centuries earlier. Within the broader narrative preserved across these three ancient texts, Joshua occupies a distinctive position in the Exodus that connects to figures such as moses, pharaoh. The pseudepigraphal accounts provide details and perspectives absent from other ancient sources, offering readers a more complete portrait of this figure's significance within the cosmic drama of covenant, rebellion, and restoration that defines the Enochian worldview. These expanded narratives invite deeper reflection on the moral and spiritual dimensions of Joshua's story as it relates to the overarching themes of divine sovereignty, human agency, and the consequences of choices made in the presence of heavenly realities.

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Biography

Occupation: Military Commander, Leader of Israel
Era: Exodus
Nationality: Hebrew

Warrior Leader Conquest

Key Chapters

The Book of Jasher 82 The Ten Commandments are Given. While Moses is in the Mount, Aaron makes a Golden Calf, and Israel Worships it. Civil War. The Lord has a Sanctuary Bu... 7 min read The Book of Jasher 87 Moses appoints Joshua his successor. The Lord encourages Joshua. Moses teaches the children of Israel to Walk in the Way of the Lord. He goes up to Mo... 3 min read The Book of Jasher 88 The Lord commands Joshua to prepare the People to pass over Jordan to possess the Land. Jericho is Besieged, Taken, and Destroyed. Achan brings evil u... 13 min read The Book of Jasher 89 Joshua's Song of Praise. The Wars of Israel. 10 min read The Book of Jasher 90 The Edomites are Smitten by Chittim. The Land is Divided, and the people have Rest. Joshua being Advanced in Years Exhorts the people to Observe all t... 10 min read

Key Passages

Joshua leads against Amalek

The Book of Jasher 82:1-10

And the children of Israel proceeded from Rephidim and they encamped in the wilderness of Sinai, in the third month from...

A¹nd the children of Israel proceeded from Rephidim and they encamped in the wilderness of Sinai, in the third month from their going forth from Egypt.

² At that time came Reuel the Midianite, the father-in-law of Moses, with Zipporah his daughter and her two sons, for he had heard of the wonders of the Lord which he had done to Israel, that he had delivered them from the hand of Egypt. ³ And Reuel came to Moses to the wilderness where he was encamped, where was the mountain of God. ⁴ And Moses went forth to meet his father-in-law with great honor, and all Israel was with him. ⁵ And Reuel and his children remained amongst the Israelites for many days, and Reuel knew the Lord from that day forward. ⁶ And in the third month from the children of Israel's departure from Egypt, on the sixth day thereof, the Lord gave to Israel the ten commandments on Mount Sinai. ⁷ And all Israel heard all these commandments, and all Israel rejoiced exceedingly in the Lord on that day. ⁸ And the glory of the Lord rested upon Mount Sinai, and he called to Moses, and Moses came in the midst of a cloud and ascended the mountain. ⁹ And Moses was upon the mount forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water, and the Lord instructed him in the statutes and judgments in order to teach the children of Israel. ¹⁰ And the Lord wrote the ten commandments which he had commanded the children of Israel upon two tablets of stone, which he gave to Moses to command the children of Israel.

Read full chapter: The Book of Jasher 82 →

Moses appoints Joshua

The Book of Jasher 87:1-10

At that time the Lord said to Moses, Behold thy days are approaching to an end, take now Joshua the son of Nun thy serva...

A¹t that time the Lord said to Moses, Behold thy days are approaching to an end, take now Joshua the son of Nun thy servant and place him in the tabernacle, and I will command him, and Moses did so.

² And the Lord appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the entrance of the tabernacle. ³ And the Lord commanded Joshua the son of Nun and said unto him, Be strong and courageous, for thou shalt bring the children of Israel to the land which I swore to give them, and I will be with thee. ⁴ And Moses said to Joshua, Be strong and courageous, for thou wilt make the children of Israel inherit the land, and the Lord will be with thee, he will not leave thee nor forsake thee, be not afraid nor disheartened. ⁵ And Moses called to all the children of Israel and said to them, You have seen all the good which the Lord your God has done for you in the wilderness. ⁶ Now therefore observe all the words of this law, and walk in the way of the Lord your God, turn not from the way which the Lord has commanded you, either to the right or to the left. ⁷ And Moses taught the children of Israel statutes and judgments and laws to do in the land as the Lord had commanded him. ⁸ And he taught them the way of the Lord and his laws; behold they are written upon the book of the law of God which he gave to the children of Israel by the hand of Moses. ⁹ And Moses finished commanding the children of Israel, and the Lord said to him, saying, Go up to the Mount Abarim and die there, and be gathered unto thy people as Aaron thy brother was gathered. ¹⁰ And Moses went up as the Lord had commanded him, and he died there in the land of Moab by the order of the Lord, in the fortieth year from the Israelites going forth from the land of Egypt.

Read full chapter: The Book of Jasher 87 →

Joshua crosses Jordan

The Book of Jasher 88:1-15

And it was after the death of Moses that the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, saying,...

A¹nd it was after the death of Moses that the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, saying,

² Rise up and pass the Jordan to the land which I have given to the children of Israel, and thou shalt make the children of Israel inherit the land. ³ Every place upon which the sole of your feet shall tread shall belong to you, from the wilderness of Lebanon unto the great river the river of Perath shall be your boundary. ⁴ No man shall stand up against thee all the days of thy life; as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee, only be strong and of good courage to observe all the law which Moses commanded thee, turn not from the way either to the right or to the left, in order that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest. ⁵ And Joshua commanded the officers of Israel, saying, Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, Prepare for yourselves provisions, for in three days more you will pass the Jordan to possess the land. ⁶ And the officers of the children of Israel did so, and they commanded the people and they did all that Joshua had commanded. ⁷ And Joshua sent two men to spy out the land of Jericho, and the men went and spied out Jericho. ⁸ And at the end of seven days they came to Joshua in the camp and said to him, The Lord has delivered the whole land into our hand, and the inhabitants thereof are melted with fear because of us. ⁹ And it came to pass after that, that Joshua rose up in the morning and all Israel with him, and they journeyed from Shittim, and Joshua and all Israel with him passed the Jordan; and Joshua was eighty-two years old when he passed the Jordan with Israel. ¹⁰ And the people went up from Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped in Gilgal at the eastern corner of Jericho. ¹¹ And the children of Israel kept the Passover in Gilgal, in the plains of Jericho, on the fourteenth day at the month, as it is written in the law of Moses. ¹² And the manna ceased at that time on the morrow of the Passover, and there was no more manna for the children of Israel, and they ate of the produce of the land of Canaan. ¹³ And Jericho was entirely closed against the children of Israel, no one came out or went in. ¹⁴ And it was in the second month, on the first day of the month, that the Lord said to Joshua, Rise up, behold I have given Jericho into thy hand with all the people thereof; and all your fighting men shall go round the city, once each day, thus shall you do for six days. ¹⁵ And the priests shall blow upon trumpets, and when you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall give a great shouting, that the walls of the city shall fall down; all the people shall go up every man against his opponent.

Read full chapter: The Book of Jasher 88 →

Joshua's wars

The Book of Jasher 89:1-20

Then spoke Joshua this song, on the day that the Lord had given the Amorites into the hand of Joshua and the children of...

T¹hen spoke Joshua this song, on the day that the Lord had given the Amorites into the hand of Joshua and the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of all Israel,

² Thou hast done mighty things, O Lord, thou hast performed great deeds; who is like unto thee? my lips shall sing to thy name. ³ My goodness and my fortress, my high tower, I will sing a new song unto thee, with thanksgiving will I sing to thee, thou art the strength of my salvation. ⁴ All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, the princes of the world shall sing to thee, the children of Israel shall rejoice in thy salvation, they shall sing and praise thy power. ⁵ To thee, O Lord, did we confide; we said thou art our God, for thou wast our shelter and strong tower against our enemies. ⁶ To thee we cried and were not ashamed, in thee we trusted and were delivered; when we cried unto thee, thou didst hear our voice, thou didst deliver our souls from the sword, thou didst show unto us thy grace, thou didst give unto us thy salvation, thou didst rejoice our hearts with thy strength. ⁷ Thou didst go forth for our salvation, with thine arm thou didst redeem thy people; thou didst answer us from the heavens of thy holiness, thou didst save us from ten thousands of people. ⁸ The sun and moon stood still in heaven, and thou didst stand in thy wrath against our oppressors and didst command thy judgments over them. ⁹ All the princes of the earth stood up, the kings of the nations had gathered themselves together, they were not moved at thy presence, they desired thy battles. ¹⁰ Thou didst rise against them in thine anger, and didst bring down thy wrath upon them; thou didst destroy them in thine anger, and cut them off in thine heart. ¹¹ Nations have been consumed with thy fury, kingdoms have declined because of thy wrath, thou didst wound kings in the day of thine anger. ¹² Thou didst pour out thy fury upon them, thy wrathful anger took hold of them; thou didst turn their iniquity upon them, and didst cut them off in their wickedness. ¹³ They did spread a trap, they fell therein, in the net they hid, their foot was caught. ¹⁴ Thine hand was ready for all thine enemies who said, Through their sword they possessed the land, through their arm they dwelt in the city; thou didst fill their faces with shame, thou didst bring their horns down to the ground, thou didst terrify them in thy wrath, and didst destroy them in thine anger. ¹⁵ The earth trembled and shook at the sound of thy storm over them, thou didst not withhold their souls from death, and didst bring down their lives to the grave. ¹⁶ Thou didst pursue them in thy storm, thou didst consume them in thy whirlwind, thou didst turn their rain into hail, they fell in deep pits so that they could not rise. ¹⁷ Their carcasses were like rubbish cast out in the middle of the streets. ¹⁸ They were consumed and destroyed in thine anger, thou didst save thy people with thy might. ¹⁹ Therefore our hearts rejoice in thee, our souls exalt in thy salvation. ²⁰ Our tongues shall relate thy might, we will sing and praise thy wondrous works.

Read full chapter: The Book of Jasher 89 →

Land divided

The Book of Jasher 90:1-15

At that time in the fifth year after the children of Israel had passed over Jordan, after the children of Israel had res...

A¹t that time in the fifth year after the children of Israel had passed over Jordan, after the children of Israel had rested from their war with the Canaanites, at that time great and severe battles arose between Edom and the children of Chittim, and the children of Chittim fought against Edom.

² And Abianus king of Chittim went forth in that year, that is in the thirty-first year of his reign, and a great force with him of the mighty men of the children of Chittim, and he went to Seir to fight against the children of Esau. ³ And Hadad the king of Edom heard of his report, and he went forth to meet him with a heavy people and strong force, and engaged in battle with him in the field of Edom. ⁴ And the hand of Chittim prevailed over the children of Esau, and the children of Chittim slew of the children of Esau, two and twenty thousand men, and all the children of Esau fled from before them. ⁵ And the children of Chittim pursued them and they reached Hadad king of Edom, who was running before them and they caught him alive, and brought him to Abianus king of Chittim. ⁶ And Abianus ordered him to be slain, and Hadad king of Edom died in the forty-eighth year of his reign. ⁷ And the children of Chittim continued their pursuit of Edom, and they smote them with a great slaughter and Edom became subject to the children of Chittim. ⁸ And the children of Chittim ruled over Edom, and Edom became under the hand of the children of Chittim and became one kingdom from that day. ⁹ And from that time they could no more lift up their heads, and their kingdom became one with the children of Chittim. ¹⁰ And Abianus placed officers in Edom and all the children of Edom became subject and tributary to Abianus, and Abianus turned back to his own land, Chittim. ¹¹ And when he returned he renewed his government and built for himself a spacious and fortified palace for a royal residence, and reigned securely over the children of Chittim and over Edom. ¹² In those days, after the children of Israel had driven away all the Canaanites and the Amorites, Joshua was old and advanced in years. ¹³ And the Lord said to Joshua, Thou art old, advanced in life, and a great part of the land remains to be possessed. ¹⁴ Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and to the half tribe of Manasseh, and Joshua rose up and did as the Lord had spoken to him. ¹⁵ And he divided the whole land to the tribes of Israel as an inheritance according to their divisions.

Read full chapter: The Book of Jasher 90 →

Did You Know?

Joshua first appears as a military commander at Rephidim, chosen by Moses to lead the fight against Amalek.

He is one of only two spies (with Caleb) who bring a faithful report about Canaan.

Jasher describes his strategic warfare in detail, including the sun standing still at Gibeon.