The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version

by Michael D. Coogan

Connections between the book of Joshua and the preceding books led many scholars, through the midtwentieth century, to posit a “Hexateuch” (six books), with the book of Joshua completing the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch—the Hexateuch having as its main theme the promise of the land and its eventual conquest. These scholars generally understood Joshua to be comprised of Pentateuchal sources: a prophetic historical narrative (JE) constituting most of (1–12); a priestly version (P), recounting the conquest and division of the land (13–22); and a group of Deuteronomistic additions and editing.