Did Jehovah really order the excution of men, women, and children in the land of Canaan?

I been researching information on “Why the The Conquest of Canaan” could not be a real historical account.

I found this on Bart’s blog:

When considering the historicity of the narratives of Joshua, the first thing to re-emphasize is that these are not accounts written by eyewitnesses or by anyone who knew an eyewitness. They were written some 600 years later,

So all the killing of men, women, and children described in the book of Joshua, were false stories that got exaggerated into fictional stories.

The only problem scholars seem to have is-

Where then did Israel come from? Were they already in the land of Canaan? Were they a mixture of the people living in Canaan?

http://ehrmanblog.org/historical-problems-with-the-hebrew-bible-the-conquest-of-canaan/

Archeologists have come to the conclusion that most of the people we refure to as Israelites were in fact cannaanites with possible mix of some refugee of other races settling into the area. One 1century historian stated that the Hycsos (I spelled it wrong) settled in the area of Jerusalem. Other groups may have also settled in the area. But one thing is for sure the area known as Judea did not have the population to be a mighty kingdom like that of David. It was only after the Assyria conquered the northern kingdom that people fled south driving up the population of Judea.

John Aquila

Crazyguy

Archeologists have come to the conclusion that most of the people we refure to as Israelites were in fact cannaanites with possible mix of some refugee of other races settling into the area.

I was thinking of that as an explanation.

I wonder what the motive was for whoever wrote the account in Joshua, to elevate the Israelites? And why did the other people living in Canaan not object when they read the makeup account? It would have been easy for them to call the accounts a lie and write their own version of what really happened. Why didn’t they? It would have put a stop back then to the rest of the compilation of the Bible.

If there would have been two accounts or even several accounts, one Jewish and one or several from any of those nations, Hittites, Philistines, or Edomite’s, it would have called into question all the Bible books.

Instead, because no one challenged the stories back then, and let the stories slide throughout history, we now have an “INSPIRED BOOK FROM GOD” and it’s very difficult to convince Christians and Jews, otherwise.

Xanthippe

Yeah I think the clue in the book of Joshua is they marched around the city of Jericho, blew trumpets and the walls fell down. Therefore a legend? I would say so.

Witness My Fury

The Bible Unearthed

Finkelstein

The majority of ancient mythological writings or pictographs placed on temples of worship were fictional but were told as such to bring or create power and relevance to a certain God, even the stories told by the ancient Hebrews and their specific god YHWH..

John Aquila

Thanks Witness My Fury, looks like a good read.

Crazyguy

These stories many of them were written while they the Jews were in captivity in Babylon. Maybe they were written for political reasons or to keep the race together who knows but most were just stories. The early stories like those in Genesis were written by Sumerians and babylonians and the Jews just took them and made them thier own. So again who knows thier motives.

Finkelstein

As stories of god(s) were developed, the adherent worshipers of those stories specific to certain gods identified a tribal civilization, it also cultivated a semblance of empowerment to those persons who were recognized as channeled spiritual seers to those specific god(s)

Fisherman

That is what the Bible says.

Bible also says that he executed the first born of Egypt (to avenge the murder of Israels firstborn by Pharaoh.) And ordered the extermination of the nation of Amalek, again to avenge his people.

I think that if people do not submit to his will to the point where they cause harm to his friends and if those that trust him cry to him for help, He will come to the rescue.