"Three days" in Joshua 1-3: Resolving a chronological conundrum

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Dec 1998 by Howard, David M

More optimistic assessments offer plausible solutions that reconstruct a fairly accurate account of the sequence of events. One such solution is suggested by both C. F. Keil and C. J. Goslinga (in slightly different forms), who see the three days of 1:11 as referring to the time before the people are to be on their way-that is, to be leaving to cross the Jordan-and the three days of 3:2 as referring to a second period coming after a move had begun (3:1). Is If this were true, then there is less of a problem with the chronology: The people were merely to be ready to cross by the third day. They would not necessarily be doing so. The first actual move by the people (3:1) took place three days after the instructions to the officers in 1:11, on the fourth day (see below).

Thus Keil, for example, sees a total of eight days from the time the instructions were given in 1:11 and the time the crossing took place in chap. 3: four days for the spies' trip to Jericho and their hiding in the hills (2:1, 22), one day for their return (3:1) and three more days at the edge of the Jordan (3:2). 17 Likewise Goslinga sees "at least four or five days" for the spies' mission plus three more waiting by the Jordan.ls This is a serious, plausible solution. But I believe that the total time frame in question is only seven days, for reasons I shall show below. An eight-day period may also be questioned on grammatical grounds.19

Another possibility, which is compatible with this last-mentioned solution but does not require it, is that Joshua simply was mistaken in his announcement and proven wrong by subsequent events. Both Goslinga and Keil assume this in their reconstructions. Goslinga states that Joshua's command was "not a prophecy,"20 and Keil states that "Joshua no doubt intended to proceed to the Jordan" but that events forced a postponement.21 It is possible that he truly did intend to cross over within three days (1:11), thinking that the spies' mission would be completed in one or two days and envisioning the preparations among the tribes taking place while the spies were gone. The people would certainly be ready, then, to cross on the third day.22 But the spies were unexpectedly delayed due to the goings-on in Jericho once they entered the city.23 Thus they hid in the hills for three days until the pursuers had returned to Jericho (2:22). Then there was a further delay once the nation reached the Jordan (3:2) that rendered Joshua's plans unrealistic. This second delay is unexplained in the text, and we can only speculate as to its cause or nature.24

In principle, there is no real problem with seeing Joshua's estimate in 1:11 in this way-that is, as being mistaken. He is not referred to anywhere as a prophet, a test of whom is absolute accuracy in prediction (cf. Deut 18:22), and here he is not speaking in the name of YHWH in any case. The delay of the spies in Josh 2:22-or the later, unexplained delay in 3:1-2merely forced a longer period of time to elapse than Joshua had anticipated.