More recently, a few scholars have treated Joshua as a middle book in a still larger composition from Genesis through 2 Kings (an Enneateuch, nine books). At the beginning of the twenty‐first century, an erosion of the Deuteronomistic History hypothesis has led some scholars to propose that Joshua was an independent book written during the postexilic period. While the final edition may date from the postexilic period, one major early edition may date to the late seventh century bce.
