This book is named after Joshua who gave the leadership to conquer the land of Canaan and divided it among the Israelite tribes. The contents of the book comprise the account of the capture of the land of Canaan by the Israelite nation under the leadership of Joshua (13th century BC), and the division of the land according to their tribes. Biblical research asserts that though the book is known by the name of Joshua, it is only by 600 BC that it received its final form.

This book has 24 chapters and can be divided chiefly into three parts.
1. The Israelite nation conquers the land of Canaan under Joshua's leadership (chs 1- 12).
2. The conquered land is divided among the different tribes (chs 13- 22).
3. The farewell speech of Joshua and his death (chs 23- 24).

The earlier section describes how the Israelite nation defeated the Canaanites according to the clear injunctions of God.

We get a clear picture of how God fought for the Israelite people and led them to victory. With the entrance of the Israelites into Canaan, God's promise to their forefathers was fulfilled (cf 21: 43- 45).

The second section describes the division of the conquered land to each of the tribes (chs 13- 22). As the inheritance of the Levites, the priestly tribe, was God himself, (13: 3), they did not receive any portion of the land. Nevertheless, the rest of the Israelite tribes gave them the towns to live in and pasture to graze their flocks, from their inheritance (cf 21: 1- 42).

The theme of the third section is the farewell message of Joshua to the assembly of the elders, the heads, the judges and the officers of Israel( cf 23- 24). The book ends with the statement of Joshua's death.
 
 
THE BOOK OF JUDGES

The book of Judges, which has twenty one chapters is the continuation of the book of Joshua. This book deals with the history of the Israelites from the time they settled down in the land of Canaan till the beginning of the reign of the Kings. It reveals the disobedience of the Israelites towards God and their return to his mercy.

After Joshua's death, the unity among the Israelites and their faith in God suffered a set- back. This led to a number of evils and disasters. They had to face persistent threats and attacks from the Canaanites, Philistines, Moabites, Medians and Ammonites. During this period God appointed strong leaders to save the Israelites from their enemies. These leaders were known as Judges. It was not as dispensers of justice, but as warriors that the Judges fulfilled their mission. We can say that this book is the history of 12 judges who, inspired by God, became liberators of Israel. Their period of activity was between the 12th and 11th century BC.

This book can be chiefly divided into 4 parts:

1. The state of affairs in the land of Canaan after the death of Joshua (1: 1- 3: 6).
2. The history of the Judges (3: 7- 16: 31).
3. Appendix -1, the migration of the tribe of Dan (chs 17- 18).
4. Appendix- 2, the war of the Israelites against the tribe of Benjamin (chs 19- 21).

The Book of Judges deals chiefly with the battles the Israelites waged against their enemies. Whenever the people were faithful to God, they were victorious, whenever they were unfaithful, defeat was the result.
 
 
THE BOOK OF RUTH

One of the small books of the Old Testament is the book of Ruth. It records the story of a virtuous woman, named Ruth, who was a nonIsraelite and an ideal wife. After the death of her husband, a Bethlehemite, Ruth refused to be separated from her mother- in- law, took good care of her, remained faithful to the God of her husband and , according to the existing custom, married Boaz, a relative of her husband. Out of this marriage was born Obed, who became the grandfather of David. In this way Ruth came to be included in the genealogy of the ancestors of David and of Christ (Mt 1: 5). This book indicates the universality of God's love and his plan of salvation.
 
 
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