Additional Information Lesson: The date of the conquest
Our video presentation discusses the date of composition of the Book of Joshua, but in this mini-lesson, we will deal with the date of Joshua himself, and the date of the conquest narrated in the Book of Joshua.
There is debate about the date of the conquest, partly because of doubts about archaeological discoveries and because of more liberal perspectives about the Bible itself. However, here we will quote the view of more conservative scholars, who start with biblical evidence for the date of the Exodus.
Raymond B. Dillard and Tremper Longman III argue:
Solomon began construction of the temple 480 years after the Exodus (1 Kings 6:1), making the date for the Exodus approximately 1446 B.C. ...If the judge Jephthah is assigned a date (c. 11 B.C.) a century or so before the appearance of the monarchy in Israel, his boast to the Ammonites that Israel had been in the land for 300 years (Judg. 11:26) would mean the conquest began around 1400 B.C., after the 40 years in the wilderness.
[Raymond B. Dillard and Tremper Longman III, An Introduction to the Old Testament, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994, p. 110]
Regarding the archaeological evidence, they say that some scholars find evidence of the development of hundreds of new settlements in Israel around 1200 B.C., which would favor a later date for the conquest. But they disagree with that conclusion, saying:
On the whole the archaeological data will not settle the question of the date of the conquest (Waltke 1990). Today's archaeology too often becomes tomorrow's footnote about earlier mistaken efforts. One can only hope that further excavation will eventually put the question of date beyond reasonable doubt. [p. 111]
1500 B.C.
1300 B.C.
1200 B.C.
1400 B.C.
