James Baquet

“Joshua Fit [Fought] the Battle of Jericho” was a popular African-American spiritual when I was a kid. These songs had played a powerful role in the slave communities of 19th-century America, singing of freedom, and of the power of God to save his people. In 1960, Elvis Presley, perhaps the hottest performer of the day, recorded a version of it. That’s probably why we all knew such an old song.

The song was based on a story told in the Book of Joshua, in the Hebrew Bible, and tells of a battle (perhaps around 1550 B.C.) in which the People of God defeated a city under siege in a miraculous way.

The Jewish people had been held captive in Egypt for generations, and when freed under their leader Moses, they returned to Israel, “The Promised Land.” By the time they reached it, Moses had died, and Joshua had become their leader.

Thwarting their plans was the fact that the land was occupied by the Canaanites when they arrived. Thus, the Hebrew people were forced to fight a bloody war of re-occupation to reclaim their land.

And the first place they did so was at the town of Jericho. A walled city, Jericho was well-prepared to withstand a siege. But God instructed the Hebrews: “March your army once around the city every day for six days, and let seven priests blow on seven rams’ horns. On the seventh day, march around seven times; when the priests blow on their horns, instruct all the people to give a great shout, and the walls will fall down flat.”

And so it came to pass. Then, at God’s command, the Hebrews killed all in the city, “both man and woman, both young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword” except for one woman who had helped their spies. Precious metals were placed into “the Lord’s treasury,” and everything else in the city was burned. God declared that anyone who tried to rebuild the city would be cursed. (It was rebuilt a few centuries later, nevertheless.)

Of course, this is another literary battle with little basis in fact (though some have speculated perhaps there was a well-timed earthquake, or that the walls were brought down by resonance). There was a town of Jericho, but neither archaeology nor history support the story as shown in the Bible.

Vocabulary:

Which word above means:

1. male sheep

2. study of ruins

3. held as prisoners

4. take back

5. guessed, imagined

6. preventing

7. vibration

8. at just the right moment

9. supernatural

10. people who steal information secretly