The Fall of Jericho

The siege of Jericho is constructed as a kind of anti-siege. Every element of conventional ancient Near Eastern siegecraft is absent. There is no assault, no siege tower, no tunnel, no treaty. There is a march, a number of horns, an ark, and a shout. The seven-day structure, with the seventh day containing seven circuits and culminating in the wall's collapse, is numerologically loaded in the same way the seven days of creation are loaded — seven being the number of completion. What is being completed here is the giving of the city, a giving enacted through liturgy rather than military action. The first city in the land is taken on God's terms, not Israel's, demonstrating from the outset that the conquest is God's project and that Israel is participating in it rather than executing it.

The herem applied to Jericho is total — the text lists men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys. The only exception is Rahab's household, protected by their prior agreement and the scarlet cord in the window. The herem is one of the most contested categories in the Hebrew Bible. The term describes a kind of total dedication to God through destruction — a warfare practice attested also in other ancient Near Eastern sources, notably the Mesha Stele from Moab. Modern readers across theological traditions have struggled to reconcile the herem with broader ethical frameworks; Joshua does not reconcile it, presenting it as a divine command executed without hesitation. The subsequent narrative shows that the herem was, in practice, not carried out completely — many Canaanite groups survive through the book and the following period — a tension the book does not resolve.