QfiS JOS 
fent to his countrymen with offers of peace upon fub- 
miflion ; but they, who defpifed and hated him as a de- 
ferter, rejecled the propofals with fcorn. During the 
progrefs of the fiege, he did not ceafe exhorting them to 
avoid their inevitable fate by a timely furrender ; and 
once, approaching too near the walls, he received fuch a 
wound on the head by a ftone, as laid him fenfelefs. At 
the miferable capture of the city, Jofephus obtained the 
•liberation without ranfom of his brother Matthias and fe- 
veral friends and relations. Such was the favour he en¬ 
joyed with Titus, that permiffion was given him to fave 
what he pleafed out of the ruins ; but he contented him- 
felf with a copy of the facred writings. He accompanied 
Titus to Rome, where he was rewarded with the freedom 
of that city, and with a penfion and other favours from 
Vefpalian and his fon, as a mark of gratitude to whom he 
affumed their family furname of Flavius. He employed 
his leifure in drawing up thofe works which have perpe- 
.tuated his name. Thefe are, his Hillory of the jewilh 
War, in (even books, which is faid to have been fo much 
approved, as to have gained him the honour of a public 
ftatue; his Jewilh Antiquities, in twenty books $ Two 
Books againft Apion of Alexandria, a declared enemy of 
his nation ; a Difcourfe on the Martyrdom of the Macca¬ 
bees; and a Treatile on his own Life. All thefe are writ¬ 
ten in Greek, in which language his ftyle is judged by 
Photius to be pure, polite, agreeable, and fometimes elo¬ 
quent. Jerome terms him the Greek Livy ; and, like 
that Roman writer, he is fond of difpiaying his eloquence 
in long fpeeches. Few works, however, are more intereft- 
ing than his account of the Jewilh war, of which he was 
a fpe&ator. With relpeft to his fidelity, very different 
opinions have prevailed. In his Jewilh Antiquities, he 
frequently differs from the fcriptural accounts, and ma- 
nifeltly avoids Ihocking the prejudices of his Gentile 
readers. In his other narrations, afpirit of exaggeration, 
and a delire of exalting the honour of his nation, may be 
difcerned, as well as the party-fpirit of a feclary. Upon 
the whole, however, his works rank among the molt va¬ 
luable remains of that age. The belt editions of Jofephus 
are thofe of Hudlon, two volumes folio, Oxford, 17105 
and of Havercamp, two volumes folio, Amlterdam, 1726. 
There are Englilh tranllations of his works, by L’Eltrange 
and Whilton. 
JO'SEPIN, a celebrated painter. See Arpinas, vol. ii. 
,p. 210. 
JO'SES, a man’s name. 
JOS'HABAD, [Hebrew.] The name of a man. 
JO'SHAH, [Hebrew.] A man’s name. 
JOSH'APHAT, [Hebrew.] A man’s name. 
JOSHANI'AH, [Hebrew.] A man’s name. 
JOSHBEK'ASHAH, [Hebrew.] A man’s name. 
JOSH'UA, [Heb. the faviour.] A man’s name. 
JOSH'UA, the fucceffor of Mofes in the government of 
the Ifraelites, and their leader in the conqueft of Canaan, 
was the fon of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, and born in 
the land of Golhen, in the year 1536 B.C. He was ori¬ 
ginally called Ofcak ; which name was changed, as is fup- 
pofed by Mofes, into that of JoJkua , fignifying a faviour, 
iuch as he proved himfelf in the fequel. He appears to 
have been a perfon of eminence at the time of the depar¬ 
ture from Egypt, who, on account of his talents and vir¬ 
tues, was taken into the confidence of Mofes, and was 
feledfed by him to command the Ifraelites, when the Am- 
alekites advanced to attack them on their march from 
mount Horeb to mount Sinai. This was the fir It engage¬ 
ment of the inexperienced Ifraelites with their powerful 
foes, which terminated in a fignal victory; and from this 
time Jolhua became famous for his valour, and for his 
zeal for God and the public welfare. He was the only 
perfon who was with Mofes on mount Sinai during the 
forty days in which he received the divine directions for 
the government of the Ifraelites, and the laws written on 
£he tirft tables of ftone. He and Caleb were two of the 
twelve perfons who were fent to examine the land of Ca- 
J O s 
naan, the [Length of its cities and inhabitants, and the 
fertility of the foil ; and when, upon their return, their 
companions endeavoured to reprefent the conqueft of the 
country to be impracticable, from the [Length of the for¬ 
tified places, and the bravery and gigantic ftature of the 
inhabitants, they alone made a juft report. For the fide* 
lity with which they difcharged their commiffion, they 
had an aflurance that they fiiould enter the promifed land ; 
while God was provoked to declare, in confequence of 
the murmurings and infurreftions of the people, who were 
terrified by the reprefentations of the ten cowards, and 
projected a return to Egypt, that none others who were 
then above twenty years of age (hould have that privilege, 
but that they [hould all die in the Wildernefs. This fen- 
tence was found to have been literally fulfilled, when, af¬ 
ter the wandering of the Ifraelites from place to place 
during forty years, and their approach to the borders of 
Canaan, Mofes was ordered to take an account of all who 
were able to bear arms, from twenty years old and up¬ 
wards. Immediately after this cenfus had been taken, 
Mofes was informed of his approaching diffolution, and 
was inftruCted to confirm Jofhua as his fuccelTor, in the 
moft public and folemn manner. Accordingly, in an af- 
fembly of all the people, he laid his hands upon him, and, 
having prefented him to Eleazar the high-prieft, and given 
directions for his guidance in his high office, he caufed 
him to be proclaimed future head and general of all Ifrael. 
Moles alfo received directions to communicate a part of 
his authority to Joffiua during his own life ; in confe¬ 
quence of which he left it principally to his care, in con¬ 
junction with the affiltance of Eleazar the high-prieft, and 
that of one of the chiefs of each of the tribes, to deter¬ 
mine by lot the diftribution of the land of Canaan among 
them, and to fettle their refpective limits. 
Jolhua fucceeded Mofes as governor and leader of Ifrael 
in the year 1451 B.C. He was now ninety-three years of 
age, and, from his fagacity as well as paft experience, mull 
have been fully fenfible of the difficulties which lay be¬ 
fore him, in the arduous talk which he was about to un¬ 
dertake of conquering the land of Canaan. His courage, 
however, did not fail 5 and it was invigorated by repeated 
promifes of the Divine affiltance. As foon as he received 
the order to prepare for this undertaking, he fent two 
perfons, properly inftructed, to examine the condition of 
the cities and people, who arrived fafe at Jericho, where 
they lodged at a houfe of entertainment kept by a woman 
named Rahab. Flere they were difcovered to be Ifrael¬ 
ites, of which the king of Jericho was informed, who fent 
officers to apprehend them. In the mean time Rahab, 
having probably heard that they were fufpeffed,concealed 
them on the roof of her houfe, under Hacks of flax ; 
and, when the king’s officers came to demand them, ffie 
pretended that they were gone, and had left the city juft 
before the time of [hutting the gates, adding that, if they 
were quickly purfued, they would doubtlels be overtaken. 
Having fucceeded in deceiving them, (lie went up to the 
two fpies, to whom flie freely owned the dread which had 
feized not only that city, but the whole land of Canaan, 
upon hearing what the God of Ifrael had done in favour 
of that nation, both at the Red Sea, and againft the Amo- 
rites whom they had lately conquered 5 to this lhe added, 
that (he was perluaded that he alone was the true God, 
and that (lie was now ready to fave them from the danger 
to which they were expofed, upon condition of their 
fwearing to fave her and her whole family on their be¬ 
coming mailers of that city. To this generous offer they 
gladly acceded ; and as her houfe was clofe to the city- 
wall, at midnight file let them down by a rope out of one 
of her back windows, advifing them to lie concealed in 
fome cliff of the neighbouring mountains for two or three 
days, till the perfons who had been fent out in purfuit of 
them were returned. Before they went, they agreed upon 
a fignal by which her houfe might, be diftinguithcd when 
.the city (hould be taken. Having returned to the camp, 
and related to Jofliua the account which they had received 
of 
