CONTRADICTION · HISTORICAL
Capture of Jerusalem by Joshua?
Joshua 10:23,40 ⟷ Joshua 15:63
...So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and left none remaining: he utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded.
As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day.
This matters because it deals directly with the historical accuracy of the conquest narratives. If one passage suggests total annihilation and another acknowledges survivors, it indicates either differing traditions or editorial inconsistencies. Such issues challenge the idea of the Bible as a perfectly consistent historical record and invite comparison with texts that maintain narrative coherence across their accounts.
THE CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
Some suggest the first text speaks generally of a campaign’s success, while the later verse reflects a more nuanced reality that not every city was fully secured. The account in Joshua is thematic, emphasizing divine victory, not a precise record of every city’s fate.
THE ISLAMIC POSITION
If the Bible’s narratives were divinely guided and historically exact, such internal tension should not occur. How can Joshua have utterly destroyed all inhabitants if some remained? Muslims point to the Qur’an’s consistent narrative clarity, free from such contradictory details.
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Capture of Jerusalem by Joshua?